[Peace-discuss] [sf-core] Oppose the so-called war on ISIS!

[C. G. Estabrook]

Q: [In March 1999 the Clinton administration began] the bombing of Yugoslavia. Why did NATO wage that war or I should say why did the United States wage that war?

Noam Chomsky: Actually, we have for the first time a very authoritative comment on that from the highest level of Clinton administration, which is something that one could have surmised before, but now it is asserted. This is from Strobe Talbott, who ran the Pentagon/State Department intelligence Joint Committee on the diplomacy during the whole affair including the bombing, so that's very top of Clinton administration; he just wrote the forward to a book by his Director of Communications, John Norris, and in the forward he says if you really want to understand what the thinking was of the top of Clinton administration this is the book you should read and take a look on John Norris's book and what he says is that *the real purpose of the war had nothing to do with concern for Kosovar Albanians. It was because Serbia was not carrying out the required social and economic reforms, meaning it was the last corner of Europe which had not subordinated itself to the US-run neoliberal programs*, so therefore it had to be eliminated. That's from the highest level...

--"On the NATO Bombing of Yugoslavia," Noam Chomsky interviewed April 25, 2006 <http://www.chomsky.info/interviews/20060425.htm>

Strobe Talbott is now the head of the Brookings Institution and one of the most hysterical voices calling for war in Ukraine.

The war against Serbia, justified under the hypocritical "responsibility to protect" argument of the Democratic liberals, resembles the Democrats' war against Vietnam in that in each case the US was willing to kill thousands to counter the "threat of a good example" - the danger that a country (Yugoslavia or Vietnam) could remove itself from the world-wide US economic control and develop in a manner beneficial to its own population, and not to the US 1%. That was the real "domino theory" - that it might work, and provide an attractive model. (Cf. George Kennan in 1948: "...maintain the disparity...")  

The US today is using the threat of ISIS and terrorism as it once used the threat of Russia and communism - to convince the US populace (and some others) that the US military (and associated forces) gets to kill people to ensure US economic control. In each case, the threat was vastly overstated (e.g., killings by an official enemy become "genocide.")

In the Middle East, the US for two generations has insisted on control of the region's energy resources. Control, not just access, is what the US demands, because control of world energy gives the US an unparalleled advantage over its economic rivals in Europe and Asia - as the current manipulation of oil prices makes clear.

One might ask why the Obama administration (and Belden) is so concerned about the atrocities of ISIS while similar activities elsewhere - by the Uighurs, say, or Boko Haram, not different in quantity or quality - don't call for American bombing. The answer is not far to seek: the US has a peculiar concern for the Mideast...

But what then is to be done about ISIS? The US has studiously avoided the requirements of international law. Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter sets out the UN Security Council's powers to maintain peace: it allows the Council to "determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression" and to take military and nonmilitary action to "restore international peace and security". Obviously the US and others should submit the matter of ISIS to the Security Council - but the Obama administration has not done so. Again, the reason is not far to seek: an international force (containing, say, Russian and Chinese troops) might not maintain the US' peculiar control of the Mideast...

American liberals who justify the Obama administration's particularly egregious imperialist military actions - US "special forces" are now active (killing, kidnapping, torturing) in a majority of the countries in world - cannot justify those crimes by pointing to crimes committed elsewhere in the world, especially when international law provides remedies that the US refuses to employ.  

--CGE  


On Feb 15, 2015, at 7:46 PM, David Johnson <davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net> wrote:

> From: David Johnson [mailto:davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net] 
> Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2015 1:14 PM
> To: 'Fields, A Belden'
> Subject: RE: [sf-core] FW: Oppose the so-called war on ISIS!
>  
> 
> Yes Belden,
> 
>  
> 
> I read your article and I am sorry to say that I totally disagree with your reasoning !
> 
> The greatest purveyor of violence and instability in the world today is the corporate controlled U.S. government.
> 
> They are the enemy !
> 
> Your reference to Yugoslavia in the 1990’s I also disagree with.
> 
> You should read Dianna Johnstone’s article written several years ago ( “ Through the looking glass darkly “ ) about the origins of the Yugoslavian conflict.
> 
> The Corporate interests of the U.S. and Europe had to get rid of the only non-market / politically independent government in Europe after the end of the cold war and they did.
> 
> As anti-capitalist Socialists we should not be confused by propaganda and lies formulated by the government of , by and for the 1 % and THEIR corporate media.
> 
> Sincerely
> 
>  
> 
> David Johnson  
> 
>  
> 
> From: Fields, A Belden [mailto:a-fields at illinois.edu] 
> Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2015 12:48 PM
> To: David Johnson
> Cc: sf-core at yahoogroups.com
> Subject: RE: [sf-core] FW: Oppose the so-called war on ISIS!
>  
> 
>  
> Hi David,
>  
> While I do agree with much that is in this statement on the US and ISIS, I come to a different conclusion--that ISIS does need to be checked militarily--but not only by military means.  My reasoning for supporting military action  is in the attached article that appears in the current Public i.
>  
> In solidarity,
> Belden
>  
> From: sf-core at yahoogroups.com [sf-core at yahoogroups.com] on behalf of 'David Johnson' davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net [sf-core] [sf-core-noreply at yahoogroups.com]
> Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2015 12:13 PM
> To: David Johnson
> Subject: [sf-core] FW: Oppose the so-called war on ISIS!
> 
>  
> 
>     Oppose the so-called war on ISIS!       
> 
>      Join the fight for justice here!
> 
>  
> 
> The government says it’s fighting to stop ISIS’ terrorism. If that’s the reason, we’d bomb Saudi Arabia!
> 
> In fact, US bombings started right after ISIS captured oil-rich areas of Iraq. Before then, the US did nothing for over a year while ISIS imprisoned, tortured and murdered Syrians fighting against the dictator Assad. This is another war over corporate oil profits and defending corrupt “allies” , not ‘ fighting terrorism”
> 
> What impact does US coalition bombing ISIS have in Syria and Iraq?  It makes ISIS stronger.  It makes ISISlook like the defender of Sunni Muslims against 3 widely-hated “evils”: western imperialist countries (US, Britain, France);  Iran and Iraq; and regional tyrants (Saudi Arabia, Gulf oil monarchies). As a result, they’ve recruited 10,000 new fighters since the bombings began 2 months ago. Good for ISIS and war profiteers; bad for us.
> 
> What should be done about ISIS?  Support those fighting repression, poverty and corrupt regimes in Syria ( Kurdistan Workers Party ) and Saudi Arabia.  Their victory will end ISIS’ appeal. All these governments suppressed the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011. They all use religious and national differences to divide and rule. All these US allies enrich their 1% and make life worse for most people there, just like here. That’s why the US coalition cannot possibly bring the reforms needed to end support for ISIS. They can only make things worse, just like the US invasion, occupation and massive destruction did in Iraq.
> 
> If the US and allies’ war is not the answer, what is?  Popular revolutions there will use the vast oil wealth for education and provide useful work for all. They will have to develop unity against their 1% to do that.  Only that  can overcome the religious divisions perpetuated by their elites and by ISIS. People here also need to take control over our vast resources for a decent life and our future. Just like there, our 1%  holds most wealth and power. (Fact:  the richest 400 Americans own more wealth than 100,000,000 of us.) We need America’s great wealth to better our lives while our government promotes the 1% here, just like there.
> 
> Can we change this?  We think so, but this will require a massive popular movement against the power of the 1%- there and here.  We will have to create unity for our common aspirations. We have done this in limited ways. For example, the Civil Rights, anti-war, women’s and gay rights, and workers’ struggles of the 50s-70s created unity and won things we benefit from today. They had to fight the big powers too. Yes, money is power, but so is people power. After all, together, we do the work that makes all the products and all that wealth; our combined work makes everything run, and we are the huge majority. We can shape our future.
> 
> What can we do?   Get an organization you’re part of to take a stand against this war and actively support fights for justice like living wages, taxing the super-rich, , improving public education, ending corporate welfare, cutting greenhouse emissions, fighting for equal rights for all, etc.
> 
> Give people-to-people support to real allies, like the Syrians fighting for justice against Syrian dictator Assad andISIS. Syrian American Medical Society (www.sams.org) provides medical help to that popular revolution. Get more  info at http://syriafreedomforever.blog ; google “Syrian popular revolution” for other sources.
> 
> Yes, ISIS is vicious and should be defeated, but can the US and its allies, like Saudi Arabia, defeat ISIS? Can they counter the support ISIS gets from Sunni Muslims? We don’t think so. The US invasion of Iraq opened the door for a regime there that makes war on many Sunnis who now back ISIS. The US and its allies generate support for ISIS. How can the cause of the problem be the solution? These regimes, like the US superpower, cannot end the very system of exploitation, repression and power they all defend, can they? We think it’s more likely that popular uprisings against these regimes can reclaim their vast oil resources and use it to provide themselves a better life. That change will end ISIS’s appeal. Not bombings by the US and its allies.
> 
> We urge you to oppose this new war.  It’s part of a larger war by rich corporate owners against most of us, here and overseas. For example, the US Senate voted $28 Billion for these attacks. To pay the bill, they cut foodstamps for 800,000 U.S. families an average of $90/month. The US spends trillions of our money to finance over 600 military bases overseas to promote corporate profits while our wages are frozen, prices go up, public schools are underfunded and overcrowded, discrimination continues, and most new jobs don’t pay a living wage and have no benefits.  This is imperialism-where powerful countries like the US do dirty deals with local rulers to take the wealth for the 1%. This hurts most of us here and overseas. We need to join hands in this common effort and fight for a better future here and there. Muslims are not our enemy. Our problems come from elite rule, not ordinary people.     
> 
>  Fox Valley Citizens for Peace and Justice       www.fvc4pnj.org
> 
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