Op-Ed
But new variables have opened up possibilities for disrupting the repetitive plunge to war. Syria is in the crosshairs of U.S. firepower, but cracks in the political machinery of the warfare state are widening here at home. For advocates of militarism and empire by any other name, the specter of democratic constraint looms as an ominous threat.
Into the Capitol Hill arena, the Obama White House sent Secretary of State John Kerry to speak in a best-and-brightest dialect of neocon tongues. The congressional hierarchies of both parties -- Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, John Boehner, Eric Cantor -- are on the same page for an attack on Syria. And meanwhile, the U.S. mass media have been cranking up the usual adrenalin-pumped hype for war.
For more than two years President Assad of Syria has led the slaughter of his own population without remorse. Approximately 100,000 people have been killed by the regime and over one million children alone have been forced to flee the state. These numbers by themselves are staggering and deserve due attention. When a leader of any state commits these kinds of atrocities against his own people it becomes a moral imperative to intervene. Further, this imperative should strike us at our core not as merely citizens of America, but as members of the human race.
That book has sold more than any of my others, and I like to think it's contributed some teeny bit to the remarkable and very welcome skepticism that is greeting the U.S. government's current claims about Syria. The fact is that, were the White House telling the truth about the need for an attack on Syria, it would be a first in history. Every other case for war has always been dishonest.
Obama appears to be sinking deeper into his war- making plan on Syria. He has probably gone too far to reverse the momentum toward a military strike for which he and his administration are most responsible. But many in Congress seem eager to jump on the bandwagon. Obama worries about his credibility and the credibility of the nation's military might and power to intimidate.
But a diplomatic option is right there, right now, within talking distance, at the G-20 meeting taking place in St. Petersburg, Russia. The US and Russia are the key actors in the terrible Syrian "civil war." They each have important allies - proxies - in the Middle East Region. What could they do? They could influence their respective allies to stop the flow of weapons into Syria. For example, Russia could stops arming Assad. The US could use its considerable influence to stop Saudi Arabia and Qatar from sending arms to its favored "rebel" groups.
This is the time, as the next war strains to be born, amid the same old lies as last time, amid the same urgency and pseudo-debate and pretensions of seriousness:
The government of Syria has crossed a “red line.” It has used poison gas, killing hundreds of innocent people and committing a heinous war crime. And suddenly, clear as a bell, we have good vs. evil. Our only course of action, President Obama and his spokespersons tell us, is to “carry out a punitive strike against the Syrian government.”
In my line of work attention to detail is essential. Too bad more people in the workforce can't say the same.
A few days ago, while taking a stroll around our stately digs here on E. Broad St., I encountered one of the many security guards who patrol our block, which includes The American Red Cross of Greater Columbus, hence the security. We chatted a moment before he pointed out that a road crew from the City of Columbus had been through the alley behind our buildings. The crew had scraped the surface with a road grader. The security guard explained that they were planning to repave said alley.
I happened to be headed for the parking lot when a crew returned to accomplish the “paving.” The five-person crew swept through a block-long stretch of alley in under 30 minutes. It was a sight to see. And not a sight such as the Grand Canyon or amber waves of grain. No, it was a pitiful sight to see.
One person drove the asphalt truck while three more workers walked behind, spreading out the noxious goo that spewed from the back of the truck. A fifth worker brought up the rear on a steamroller, flattening out the asphalt as he went.
Hello, I'm Lady Monster. I'm a Certified Sex Specialist.
Sex is my passion, especially sexuality studies. In 1992, I began reading my own sexual stories and poetry aloud. In 1998, I volunteered for Columbus Ohio Sex Information, a hotline providing anonymous, non-judgmental information to callers with questions.
I moved to San Francisco in 2001. I received more training from San Francisco Sex Information and worked on their hotline and events. I progressed to co-producing events at Carol Queen's Center for Sex and Culture and then worked as a Production Assistant for Annie Sprinkle's Love Art Lab for three years. I was immersed in the sex-positive culture of San Francisco.
I have no issues regarding sex, except when they hinge on issues of consent. I maintain the three basics of sex-positive interactions: Safe, Sane and Consensual.
Regardless of the questions I receive in this column, I will respond with positive, non-judgmental information. My goal is to provide educational, progressive and provocative insight to one's most primal of urges, and shine a light into our bedrooms to bring us all closer together.
I visited my mother today. Entering the long term care unit in which she spends her final days, I hear the blare of her television. As I sit down next to her hospital bed, I realize that we’re viewing live coverage of the 50th anniversary of the famed 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. In an instant, I flash back to myself as a 10 year old girl watching the black and white evening news with her parents, transfixed by this seminal event. It's only in the present that I realize its impact.
This past January, I helped form the Ohio Rights Group to advocate for the medical, therapeutic and industrial uses of cannabis. I then co-authored the Ohio Cannabis Rights Amendment based on the inalienable rights named in the Ohio Constitution’s Bill of Rights: life, liberty, property, happiness and safety.
As echoed from the Lincoln Memorial 50 years ago, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream, "deeply rooted in the American dream – one day this nation will rise up and live up to its creed."
Some might ask how cannabis, a scorned drug, fits into Dr. King's dream.
Opposition to a U.S.-led attack on Syria is growing rapidly in Europe and the United States, drawing its strength from public awareness that the case made for attacking Iraq had holes in it.
A majority in the United States, still very much aware of Iraq war deceptions, opposes arming the "rebel" force in Syria, so heavily dominated by foreign fighters and al Qaeda. And a majority opposes U.S. military action in Syria.
But that public opinion is only just beginning to get expressed as activism. With Republicans more willing to actively oppose a war this time, and some section of Democrats still opposed, there's actually potential to build a larger antiwar movement than that of 2003-2006.
Thus far, however, what's discouraging an attack on Syria is the public uproar that was created back then over the disastrous attack on Iraq.
President Barack Obama's preferred method for dealing with targeted individuals is not to throw them into lawless prisons. But it's also not to indict and prosecute them.
On June 7th, Yemeni tribal leader Saleh Bin Fareed told Democracy Now that Anwar al Awlaki could have been turned over and put on trial, but "they never asked us." In numerous other cases it is evident that drone strike victims could have been arrested if that avenue had ever been attempted.
A memorable example was the November 2011 drone killing in Pakistan of 16-year-old Tariq Aziz, days after he'd attended an anti-drone meeting in the capital, where he might easily have been arrested -- had he been charged with some crime.
Missile-strike law enforcement is now being applied to governments as well. The Libyan government was given a death sentence. The Syrian government is being sentenced to the loss of some citizens, buildings, and supplies.