[Peace-discuss] A phony progressive & the pro-war Left

Wed May 1 21:08:56 UTC 2013

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Just Foreign Policy <info at justforeignpolicy.org>
Date: Wed, May 1, 2013 at 1:42 PM
Subject: No to U.S. Military Intervention in Syria
To: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org

Dear Robert,

Tell President Obama and Congress not to intervene militarily in Syria, and to support a political solution instead.

Take Action

Republican Senators like Lindsey Graham and John McCain are demanding that the Obama Administration get the U.S. involved militarily in Syria's sectarian civil war. [1] But after the experience of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, President Obama and U.S. military leaders are right to be wary of these calls. And if we don't have enough money for Social Security, veterans' benefits, Head Start, and cancer clinics, we certainly don't have enough money for another war. 

Urge Congress and the President to resist calls for another rush to war in the Middle East, and to support a political solution instead.

http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/no-intervention-syria

There's something particularly troubling about all this Sunday talk show blather about U.S. military action in Syria: it seems to assume that the President can order military action in Syria without anyone else's approval. But Syria hasn't attacked us, and as far as we know, has no plans to attack us. 

Given the absence of a Syrian attack on or imminent threat to the United States:

If the President ordered military action against Syria without Congressional authorization, that would violate the U.S. Constitution and the War Powers Resolution.
If the President ordered military action in Syria without the approval of the United Nations Security Council, that would violate the United Nations Charter—just like the Iraq war did.
If Congressional authorization and UN Security Council approval can be treated as trivial inconveniences for war in Syria, they can be treated as trivial inconveniences for war with Iran, or for drone strikes anywhere. 

Urge Congress and the President to resist calls for a rush to war in Syria, and to ensure that U.S. actions comply fully with U.S. and international law. 

http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/no-intervention-syria

Thank you for all you do to help bring about a more just foreign policy,

Robert Naiman, Chelsea Mozen, Sarah Burns and Megan Iorio
Just Foreign Policy

Help fund our work—donate to Just Foreign Policy! With our small staff and minimal overhead, you know your contribution will go a long way.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate

References:

1. "U.S. lawmakers press Obama to take action on Syria," Jason Lange, Reuters, Sun, Apr 28, 2013,http://news.yahoo.com/international-troops-prepare-syria-u-senator-150852575.html

-- 

Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org

On May 1, 2013, at 4:06 PM, C. G. Estabrook <carl at newsfromneptune.com> wrote:

> If purity means stopping a criminal government form killing people in our name, then yes, indeed.
> 
> 
> On May 1, 2013, at 2:21 PM, David Gehrig <david-cu at nukulele.org> wrote:
> 
>> I see we're back to Purity Test Carl, keeper of the One True Progressivism. 
>> 
>> 
>> On May 1, 2013, at 12:00 PM, "C. G. Estabrook" <carl at newsfromneptune.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> Published on Black Agenda Report (http://www.blackagendareport.com)
>>> 
>>> Rep. Keith Ellison, the Personification of the Phony, Pro-War “Progressive”
>>> 
>>> A Black Agenda Radio commentary by executive editor Glen Ford
>>> Hard right Republican Senator John McCain and Progressive Caucus co-chair Rep. Keith Ellison both support no-fly zones over Syria. That's because, on U.S. imperial policy, there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between between the pro-war Left and the Right.
>>> 
>>> “Ellison is part of the pro-war Left, whose primary mission is make self-described liberals and leftists comfortable supporting imperial wars.”
>>> Keith Ellison, the Black U.S. House member from Minneapolis who is co-chair of the Progressive Caucus, says the U.S. should push for a no-fly zone over rebel-held areas in Syria. Ellison, who is also one of only two Muslim members of Congress, appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press [8]” on Sunday, as did Republican Arizona Senator John McCain. It is a measure of how far to the right the Democratic Party has come under President Obama, that McCain, the war monger who likes to sing about bombing Iran, and Ellison, who claims to be a progressive, are in basic agreement over Syria. Both McCain and Ellison want no-fly zones, and both claim to prefer that there be no U.S. “boots on the ground” in country. Both are raving American imperialists who believe that the U.S. has not merely the right, but the obligation to intervene in the internal affairs of other countries. As Ellison, the phony progressive, puts it, “I don’t think the world’s greatest superpower, the United States, can stand by and do nothing” – which is, essentially, John McCain’s position.
>>> Ellison has been advocating a no-fly zone for Syria for at least a year. Last May, he told U.S. News and World Report [9] that so-called “safe zones” should be set up by the U.S. and its allies around the borders of Syria. Ellison made it quite clear that he sees such zones as a prelude to regime change. “I think the Libyan action was a good example of that,” he said.
>>> “Both are raving American imperialists.”
>>> On U.S. imperial policy, there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between McCain, the hard-right Republican, and Ellison, who purports to be a progressive Democrat. Neither gives a damn about international law or the rights of smaller people’s to shape their own destinies. Ellison went to Saudi Arabia, the most socially backward rich country on the planet, and described the King as a “visionary leader [10].” He rejected George Bush’s troop “surge in 2007, by calling it “too little, too late.” Like Obama, he quibbles about whether U.S. wars are smart or dumb, too late or right on time, but never about the inherent right of the United States to wage war against the weaker nations of the world.
>>> Ellison is part of the pro-war Left, which includes Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, whose primary mission is make self-described liberals and leftists comfortable supporting imperial wars. McCain can’t do that, but Ellison can. Amnesty International is shameless enough to use women’s rights as an excuse to support continued occupation of Afghanistan.
>>> Much of the pro-war left has been forced by events to recognize that the U.S. and its allies are backing jihadist Islamic fundamentalist terrorists in Syria – people they wouldn’t like to have brunch with. Therefore, they now demand that the U.S. intervene to make sure that the jihadists don’t get their hands on chemical weapons. Thus, the pro-war left starts off by advocating U.S. intervention to facilitate the coming to power of the rebels, but in the end winds up demanding that the U.S. do whatever it can to stop these guys from taking power. Either way, it ends with U.S. intervention. John McCain and Keith Ellison pretend to be on opposite ideological ends, but they are like Jack and Jill walking up the same hill when it comes to the obligations and privileges of U.S. imperialism.
>>> For Black Agenda Radio, I’m Glen Ford. On the web, go to BlackAgendaReport.com.
>>> BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen.Ford at BlackAgendaReport.com [11].
>>> 
>>> http://traffic.libsyn.com/blackagendareport/20130501_gf_EllisonProWar.mp3
>>> [12]
>>> Source URL: http://www.blackagendareport.com/content/rep-keith-ellison-personification-phony-pro-war-%E2%80%9Cprogressive%E2%80%9D
>>> Links:
>>> [1] http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/war-against-syria
>>> [2] http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/no-fly-zone-syria
>>> [3] http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/no-fly-zone-libya
>>> [4] http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/iraq-troop-surge
>>> [5] http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/human-right-watch
>>> [6] http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/amnesty-international
>>> [7] http://www.blackagendareport.com/sites/www.blackagendareport.com/files/keith_ellison.jpg
>>> [8] http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2013/apr/28/rep-keith-ellison-syrian-red-line-does-not-mean-bo/print/
>>> [9] http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2012/05/15/rep-keith-ellison-us-must-protect-syrias-innocent_print.html
>>> [10] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/07/AR2007040700951.html
>>> [11] mailto:Glen.Ford at BlackAgendaReport.com
>>> [12] http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackagendareport.com%2Fcontent%2Frep-keith-ellison-personification-phony-pro-war-%25E2%2580%259Cprogressive%25E2%2580%259D&linkname=Rep.%20Keith%20Ellison%2C%20the%20Personification%20of%20the%20Phony%2C%20Pro-War%20%E2%80%9CProgressive%E2%80%9D
>>> _______________________________________________
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> 

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