American update

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Russia deploying warship, missile cruiser to Mediterranean

Russia, China object to intervention, Ban calls for more time

Thursday, 29 August 2013

The UN Security Council's five permanent members have ended a meeting, with members fiercely divided over a British-proposed resolution. The resolution aimed to authorize the use of military force to punish Syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons. Russia and China firmly opposed the resolution. And, UN chief Ban Ki-moon also pleaded for more time to give diplomacy another chance. For his part, Syria’s representative to the UN says his country is in a "state of war."

In a surprise appearance, Syria’s UN envoy lashed out at the U-K’s attempt to bring a new resolution to the Security Council.

Syrian ambassador to UN Bashar Ja' Afari said, "There is no consensus in the council on any draft resolution, whether it is British, French or American-number one, number one! Because members on the council, they don’t believe the authenticity of the accusations provided by this delegation or that delegation."

Adding to the dueling accusations over chemical weapons’ use, Jaafari claimed opposition forces had gassed dozens of Syrian troops over the past week.

He called on UN weapons inspectors currently in the country to broaden their mission once again to investigate the new allegations.

Earlier, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the inspection team needed at least a few more days to finish their work.

Ban said, "They have completed as of this moment the second day of investigations. Just days after the attacks they have collected valuable samples and interviewed a number of victims and witnesses. The team needs time to do the job."

Though Security Council action appeared increasingly unlikely, Secretary-general Ban said the 15-nation body needed to act.

Ban said, "Syria is the biggest challenge of war and peace in the world today. The party interested with maintaining international peace and security cannot be missing in action."

In Geneva, the UN’s special envoy for Syria said he had spoken to all stakeholders-adding that the Obama administration is "not known to be ’trigger happy. Nonetheless he too said any retaliation against the Syrian regime would need the Security Council’s blessing. 

Attack on Syria would be the most unpopular war ever

Wednesday, 28 August 2013

Support for an attack on Syria amongst Americans is

 more than three times lower than support for US

 involvement in Vietnam at the very lowest ebb of the war,

 illustrating how universally unpopular such a move would

 be despite the media claiming Obama would “lose credibility”

 if he does not launch a military assault.

Chickenhawk politicians and the corporate press have repeatedly floated the talking point that Obama must follow through on his “red line” threat in order to save face and rescue credibility. Credibility with whom? Certainly not the American people - only 9 per cent of which support intervention in Syria according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

If Obama got the United States embroiled in a conflict with Syria, it would be the least popular war in the history of the country.

Even at its most dire point in May 1971, 28 percent of the American people still thought it was the right decision to send troops into Vietnam.

Despite the predictable hellhole it later turned into, Obama’s intervention in Libya was supported by a comparatively huge 47 per cent of Americans back in 2011, while 76 percent initially supported the invasion of Iraq and 90 percent backed the assault on Afghanistan.

As Washington’s Blog highlights, other things that Americans find more appealing than attacking Syria include “North Korea, cockroaches, lice, root canals, colonoscopies, traffic jams, used car salesmen, Genghis Khan, Communism, BP during the Gulf oil spill, Nixon during Watergate or King George during the American Revolution.”

Even Congress with its 15 per cent approval rating is almost twice as popular as the notion of attacking Syria.

With missile strikes set to be launched as early as Thursday, it seems the only “credibility” the Obama administration is concerned about retaining is their credibility with the military-industrial complex, which is about to lead America into yet another ludicrous, dangerous and unaffordable conflict which will empower Al-Qaeda led terrorists in seizing control of a major middle eastern country.

Forget claims about chemical weapons attacks, Syria has been targeted for annihilation for at least 12 years. As General Wesley Clark explains in a clip, the Pentagon put the country on a list of seven nations destined for destruction in the weeks after 9/11.

This is why the White House couldn’t care less about the fact that the vast majority of Americans oppose intervention - the fix is already in. 

Hunger ‘serious issue’ in US classrooms

Wednesday, 28 August 2013

Three-quarters of teachers in the United States have 
students who regularly show up to school hungry,
 according to a new report.

Half of the teachers surveyed by the No Kid Hungry organization said hunger poses a “serious issue” in their classroom.

The organization, which works to end child hunger, surveyed more than 1,000 teachers and principals around the country for the report.

The survey also found that teachers spend nearly $40 a month from their pocket to buy food for hungry kids.

“I think what has happened is the so-called economic recovery hasn’t really reached low-income people. People are still really having a tough time, and that’s what we’re seeing,” said Christy Felling, public relations director of No Kid Hungry.

“We’ve seen it anecdotally with some of our campaigns around the country. People still haven’t gone back to work, or they’ve blown through savings.”

Previous studies have shown that child hunger has a profound impact on educational achievement.

Hungry kids are at far greater risk of emotional and psychological problems that undermine their education, are far more likely to drop out of high school, and don’t have proper cognitive development.

"As an elementary school teacher, I can assure you that I had students who came into my classroom without having eaten anything since lunch the previous day,” said Princess Moss, an elementary school teacher from Virginia.

A Colorado teacher remarked, "I can tell based on grades when students haven't had enough to eat that day. Scores are much lower when students haven't eaten breakfast."

The number of children living in American families with incomes below the official poverty level rose to 16.4 million in 2011, up by 4.2 million from 2000, according to the annual Kids Count report released in July 2013. 

Israel behind violence in Syria

Wednesday, 28 August 2013

Investigative journalist Wayne Madsen says Israel is behind the scenes to foment violence in Syria because toppling of President Bashar al-Assad is in the interests of Tel Aviv.

“This is all time that the Israelis are really playing a lot of games behind the scenes to foment violence in Syria and if we see Assad’s overthrown,” he told Press TV on Tuesday.

“I don’t think they have to worry at all about al-Qaeda elements coming to power in Damascus because al-Qaeda has never had a problem with the Israelis,” Madsen added.

He also noted that a coalition, largely consists of the United States, Britain, Turkey, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Israel are behind the possible military action in Syria as they were behind similar interventions in Iraq and Libya.

“Israel is playing a very hidden hand not only in Syria, but only trying to stoke tensions now in neighboring Lebanon,” Madsen said.

The United States is getting closer to military action in Syria after Secretary of State John Kerry accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons.

Following Kerry’s statement, US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power repeated the same allegations against Syria.

However, Syria said on Tuesday that Kerry's insistence on "jumping over" the work of UN experts, who are in Syria to investigate last week’s chemical attack, shows that Washington has deliberate intentions to exploit events. 

US stocks sink on Syria, debt limit 

Wednesday, 28 August 2013

Worries of a US-led military intervention in Syria sent US stocks lower on opening Tuesday.

The reaction came after US Secretary of State John Kerry said the US would hold Damascus accountable for a chemical attack near Damascus which left hundreds killed. Syrian government has denied the claim. It’s blaming foreign-backed insurgents for the attack.

According to AP “five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 107.96 points (0.72 percent) at 14,838.50. The broader S&P 500 index fell 14.91 (0.90 percent) to 1,641.87, while the tech-heavy nasdaq Composite was off 35.98 (0.98 percent) to 3,621.59.”

Wall Street Journal also reported that fears of military intervention in Syria weighed on the US stocks, oil prices and other assets.

“The escalating tensions over Syria also pushed up oil prices and other assets seen as havens during times of crisis, such as U.S. Treasurys and gold,” it reported.

A bipartisan stalemate over the US debt ceiling and a protracted debate over spending cuts have also been cited as another reason for the slump.

The US government will run out of money to pay its bills in mid-October unless lawmakers raise the country's borrowing limit, which is capped at $16.7 trillion.

The US Secretary of the Treasury, Jack Lew, warned Monday that unless a bipartisan agreement can be reached to increase the ceiling then the Federal government risks running out of money to meet its obligations for government salaries, pensions and Medicare payments.

The current debt ceiling is $16.7 trillion. A debt limit stalemate in 2011 pushed the government to the brink of a shutdown and an unprecedented default. Congress eventually last passed legislation to increase the borrowing limit in the summer of 2011 after a months-long negotiation between President Barack Obama and Congressional leaders.

Obama was forced by Republicans to accept about $2 trillion in spending cuts over the coming decade in exchange for an increase in the borrowing limit.

Lew has warned that the Obama administration would not allow politicians to use the debt ceiling as political leverage.