{"id":9764,"date":"2013-08-28T17:12:56","date_gmt":"2013-08-28T17:12:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/praag.org\/?p=9764"},"modified":"2013-08-28T17:19:16","modified_gmt":"2013-08-28T17:19:16","slug":"syria-another-western-war-crime-in-the-making","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praag.org\/?p=9764","title":{"rendered":"Syria: Another Western war crime in the making"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/praag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/paulcraigroberts.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2958 alignleft\" alt=\"Dr Paul Craig Roberts\" src=\"http:\/\/praag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/paulcraigroberts-300x125.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"125\" srcset=\"https:\/\/praag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/paulcraigroberts-300x125.jpg 300w, https:\/\/praag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/paulcraigroberts-148x62.jpg 148w, https:\/\/praag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/paulcraigroberts-31x13.jpg 31w, https:\/\/praag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/paulcraigroberts-38x16.jpg 38w, https:\/\/praag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/paulcraigroberts-425x177.jpg 425w, https:\/\/praag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/paulcraigroberts-535x223.jpg 535w, https:\/\/praag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/paulcraigroberts.jpg 570w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>by\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.paulcraigroberts.org\/pages\/about-paul-craig-roberts\/\" target=\"_blank\">Paul Craig Roberts<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Update:<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>The war criminals in Washington and other Western capitals are determined to maintain their lie that the Syrian government used chemical weapons. Having failed in efforts to intimidate the UN chemical inspectors in Syria, Washington has demanded that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon withdraw the chemical weapons inspectors before they can assess the evidence and make their report. The UN Secretary General stood up to the Washington war criminals and rejected their demand. However, as with Iraq, Washington\u2019s decision to commit aggression against Syria <a title=\"Syria charade: West bent on war, UN investigation meaningless\" href=\"http:\/\/rt.com\/op-edge\/syria-un-war-investigation-006\/\" target=\"_blank\">is not based on any facts<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>The US and UK governments have revealed none of the \u201cconclusive evidence\u201d they claim to have that the Syrian government used chemical weapons. Listening to their voices, observing their body language, and looking into their eyes, it is completely obvious that John Kerry and his British and German puppets are lying through their teeth. This is a far more shameful situation than the massive lies that former Secretary of State Colin Powell told the UN about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Colin Powell claims that he was deceived by the White House and did not know that he was lying. Kerry and the British, French, and German puppets know full well that they are lying.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>The face that the West presents to the world is the brazen face of a liar.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Washington and its British and French puppet governments are poised to yet again reveal their criminality. The image of the West as War Criminal is not a propaganda image created by the West\u2019s enemies, but the portrait that the West has painted of itself.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The UK Independent reports that over this past week-end Obama, Cameron, and Hollande agreed to launch cruise missile attacks against the Syrian government within two weeks despite the lack of any authorization from the UN and despite <a title=\"Syria: UN weapons inspectors attacked as they try to reach site of alleged poison gas attack\" href=\"http:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/middle-east\/syria-un-weapons-inspectors-attacked-as-they-try-to-enter-poison-gas-attack-site-8784435.html\" target=\"_blank\">the absence of any evidence<\/a> in behalf of Washington\u2019s claim that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against the Washington-backed \u201crebels\u201d, largely US supported external forces, seeking to overthrow the Syrian government.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Indeed, one reason for the rush to war is to prevent the UN inspection that Washington knows would disprove its claim and possibly implicate Washington in the false flag attack by the \u201crebels,\u201d who assembled a large number of children into one area to be chemically murdered with the blame pinned by Washington on the Syrian government.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Another reason for the rush to war is that Cameron, the UK prime minister, wants to get the war going before the British parliament can block him for providing cover for Obama\u2019s war crimes the way that Tony Blair provided cover for George W. Bush, for which Blair was duly rewarded. What does Cameron care about Syrian lives when he can leave office into the waiting arms of a $50 million fortune.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Syrian government, knowing that it is not responsible for the chemical weapons incident, has agreed for the UN to send in chemical inspectors to determine the substance used and the method of delivery. However, Washington has declared that it is \u201ctoo late\u201d for UN inspectors and that <a title=\"Obama Administration Accepts Rebels\u2019 Account on Syria, Prepares for War\" href=\"http:\/\/news.antiwar.com\/2013\/08\/25\/obama-administration-accepts-rebels-account-on-syria-prepares-for-war\/\" target=\"_blank\">Washington accepts the self-serving claim of the al Qaeda affiliated \u201crebels\u201d<\/a> that the Syrian government attacked civilians with chemical weapons.\u00a0\u00a0See also\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/news.antiwar.com\/2013\/08\/25\/syria-accepts-un-inspectors-us-spurns-call-as-too-late\/\">Syria Accepts UN Inspectors, US Spurns Call as \u2018Too Late\u2019<\/a>.<a href=\"http:\/\/news.antiwar.com\/2013\/08\/25\/syria-accepts-un-inspectors-us-spurns-call-as-too-late\/\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In an attempt to prevent the UN chemical inspectors who arrived on the scene from doing their work, the inspectors were fired upon by snipers in \u201crebel\u201d held territory and forced off site, although a later report from RT says the inspectors <a title=\"UN inspectors visit site of alleged Syria chemical attack despite sniper fire\" href=\"http:\/\/rt.com\/news\/un-chemical-oservers-shot-000\/\" target=\"_blank\">have returned to the site to conduct their inspection<\/a>.<a href=\"http:\/\/rt.com\/news\/un-chemical-oservers-shot-000\/\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The corrupt British government has declared that Syria can be attacked without UN authorization, just as Serbia and Libya were militarily attacked without UN authorization. In other words, the Western democracies have already established precedents for violating international law. \u201cInternational law? We don\u2019t need no stinking international law!\u201d The West knows only one rule: Might is Right. As long as the West has the Might, the West has the Right.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In a response to the news report that the US, UK, and France are preparing to attack Syria, the Russian Foreign Minister, Lavrov, said that such unilateral action is a \u201csevere violation of international law,\u201d and that the violation was not only a legal one but also an ethical and moral violation. Lavrov referred to the lies and deception used by the West to justify its grave violations of international law in military attacks on Serbia, Iraq, and Libya and how the US government used preemptive moves to undermine every hope for peaceful settlements in Iraq, Libya, and Syria.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Once again Washington has preempted any hope of peaceful settlement. By announcing the forthcoming attack, the US destroyed any incentive for the \u201crebels\u201d to participate in the peace talks with the Syrian government. On the verge of these talks taking place, the \u201crebels\u201d now have no incentive to participate as the West\u2019s military is coming to their aid.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In his press conference Lavrov spoke of how the ruling parties in the US, UK, and France stir up emotions among poorly informed people that, once aroused, have to be satisfied by war. This, of course, is the way the US manipulated the public in order to attack Afghanistan and Iraq. But the American public is tired of the wars, the goal of which is never made clear, and has grown suspicious of the government\u2019s justifications for more wars.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A Reuters\/Ipsos poll finds that \u201cAmericans strongly oppose U.S. intervention in Syria\u2019s civil war and believe Washington should stay out of the conflict even if reports that Syria\u2019s government used deadly chemicals to attack civilians are confirmed.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0However, Obama could not care less<a title=\"As Syria war escalates, Americans cool to U.S. intervention: Reuters\/Ipsos poll\" href=\"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/syria-war-escalates-americans-cool-u-intervention-reuters-003146054.html\" target=\"_blank\"> that only 9 percent of the public supports his warmongering<\/a>. As former president <a title=\"\u2018America has no functioning democracy\u2019 \u2013 Jimmy Carter on NSA\" href=\"http:\/\/rt.com\/usa\/carter-comment-nsa-snowden-261\/\" target=\"_blank\">Jimmy Carter recently stated<\/a>, \u201cAmerica has no functioning democracy.\u201d\u00a0It has a police state in which the executive branch has placed itself above all law and the Constitution.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This police state is now going to commit yet another Nazi-style war crime of unprovoked aggression. At Nuremberg the Nazis were sentenced to death for precisely the identical actions being committed by Obama, Cameron, and Hollande. The West is banking on might, not right, to keep it out of the criminal dock.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The US, UK, and French governments have not explained why it matters whether people in the wars initiated by the West are killed by explosives made of depleted uranium or with chemical agents or any other weapon. It was obvious from the beginning that Obama was setting up the Syrian government for attack. Obama demonized chemical weapons\u2013but not nuclear \u201cbunker busters\u201d that the US might use on Iran. Then Obama drew a red line, saying that the use of chemical weapons by the Syrians was such a great crime that the West would be obliged to attack Syria. Washington\u2019s UK puppets, William Hague and Cameron, <a title=\"Syria chemical attack response possible without unanimous UN backing - UK\" href=\"http:\/\/rt.com\/news\/uk-response-without-un-backing-979\/\" target=\"_blank\">have just repeated this nonsensical claim<\/a>.\u00a0The final step in the frame-up was to orchestrate a chemical incident and blame the Syrian government.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>What is the West\u2019s real agenda?<\/em>\u00a0This is the unasked and unanswered question. Clearly, the US, UK, and French governments, which have displayed continuously their support for dictatorial regimes that serve their purposes, are not the least disturbed by dictatorships. They brand Assad a dictator as a means of demonizing him for the ill-informed Western masses. But Washington, UK, and France support any number of dictatorial regimes, such as the ones in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and now the military dictatorship in Egypt that is ruthlessly killing Egyptians without any Western government speaking of invading Egypt for \u201ckilling its own people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Clearly also, the forthcoming Western attack on Syria has nothing whatsoever to do with bringing \u201cfreedom and democracy\u201d to Syria any more than freedom and democracy were reasons for the attacks on Iraq and Libya, neither of which gained any \u201cfreedom and democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Western attack on Syria is unrelated to human rights, justice or any of the high sounding causes with which the West cloaks its criminality.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Western media, and least of all the American presstitutes, never ask Obama, Cameron, or Hollande what the real agenda is. It is difficult to believe than any reporter is sufficiently stupid or gullible to believe that the agenda is bringing \u201cfreedom and democracy\u201d to Syria or punishing Assad for allegedly using chemical weapons against murderous thugs trying to overthrow the Syrian government.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Of course, the question wouldn\u2019t be answered if asked. But the act of asking it would help make the public aware that more is afoot than meets the eye. Originally, the excuse for Washington\u2019s wars was to keep Americans safe from terrorists. Now Washington is endeavoring to turn Syria over to jihad terrorists by helping them to overthrow the secular, non-terrorist Assad government. What is the agenda behind Washington\u2019s support of terrorism?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Perhaps the purpose of the wars is to radicalize Muslims and, thereby, destabilize Russia and even China. Russia has large populations of Muslims and is bordered by Muslim countries. Even China has some Muslim population. As radicalization spreads strife into the only two countries capable of being an obstacle to Washington\u2019s world hegemony, Western media propaganda and the large number of US financed NGOs, posing as \u201chuman rights\u201d organizations, can be counted on by Washington to demonize the Russian and Chinese governments for harsh measures against \u201crebels.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Another advantage of the radicalization of Muslims is that it leaves former Muslim countries in long-term turmoil or civil wars, as is currently the case in Iraq and Libya, thus removing any organized state power from obstructing Israeli purposes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Secretary of State John Kerry is working the phones using bribes and threats to build acceptance, if not support, for Washington\u2019s war crime-in-the-making against Syria.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Washington is driving the world closer to nuclear war than it ever was even in the most dangerous periods of the Cold War. When Washington finishes with Syria, the next target is Iran. Russia and China will no longer be able to fool themselves that there is any system of international law or restraint on Western criminality. Western aggression is already forcing both countries to develop their strategic nuclear forces and to curtail the Western-financed NGOs that pose as \u201chuman rights organizations,\u201d but in reality comprise a fifth column that Washington can use to destroy the legitimacy of the Russian and Chinese governments.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Russia and China have been extremely careless in their dealings with the United States. Essentially, the Russian political opposition is financed by Washington. Even the Chinese government is being undermined. When a US corporation opens a company in China, it creates a Chinese board on which are put relatives of the local political authorities. These boards create a conduit for payments that influence the decisions and loyalties of local and regional party members. The US has penetrated Chinese universities and intellectual attitudes. The Rockefeller University is active in China as is Rockefeller philanthropy. Dissenting voices are being created that are arrayed against the Chinese government. Demands for \u201cliberalization\u201d can resurrect regional and ethnic differences and undermine the cohesiveness of the national government.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Once Russia and China realize that they are riven with American fifth columns, isolated diplomatically, and outgunned militarily, nuclear weapons become the only guarantor of their sovereignty. This suggests that nuclear war is likely to terminate humanity well before humanity succumbs to global warming or rising national debts.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the <\/em>Wall Street Journal<em>. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. His latest book,\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Failure-Capitalism-Economic-Dissolution-ebook\/dp\/B00BLPJNWE\/?tag=paulcraigrobe-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West<\/a><em>\u00a0is now available.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Copyright \u00a9 Paul Craig Roberts 2013.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Originally published on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.paulcraigroberts.org\/2013\/08\/26\/syria-another-western-war-crime-in-the-making-paul-craig-roberts\/\" target=\"_blank\">Paul Craig Roberts &#8211; Institute for Political Economy<\/a>. Reproduced with the author&#8217;s permission. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.paulcraigroberts.org\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\">Contact information<\/a> for syndication rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by\u00a0Paul Craig Roberts Update: The war criminals in Washington and other Western capitals are determined to maintain their lie that the Syrian government used chemical weapons. Having failed in efforts to intimidate the UN chemical inspectors in Syria, Washington has demanded that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon withdraw the chemical weapons inspectors before they can &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/praag.org\/?p=9764\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Syria: Another Western war crime in the making&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2958,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[492],"tags":[5628,3515,144,1149,534,535,4028,2791,5627,726,3452,90,12268,66,994,198,2358,12251,1808,2972],"class_list":["post-9764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-assad","tag-ban-ki-moon","tag-china","tag-david-cameron","tag-france","tag-francois-hollande","tag-jimmy-carter","tag-john-kerry","tag-lavrov","tag-muslims","tag-nuclear-war","tag-obama","tag-paul-craig-roberts","tag-russia","tag-sovereignty","tag-syria","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-states","tag-war","tag-william-hague"],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/praag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/paulcraigroberts.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9764"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9767,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9764\/revisions\/9767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}