[Peace-discuss] Freedom Rider: Putin Bombs Islamic State, Obama Bombs a Hospital

[David Johnson]

Freedom Rider: Putin Bombs Islamic State, Obama Bombs a Hospital

by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley

"Imperialism must be met with as much force as can be mustered from the
outside."

The mendacity of the United States and its allies has been on full and
transparent display as the pace of events quicken around the world. On
September 28, 2015 Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin each made his case
<http://www.blackagendareport.com/freedom_rider_putin_trumps_obama_at_un>
before the United Nations General Assembly and both were true to form. Putin
said that America should respect other nations' sovereignty. Obama exceeded
his allotted speaking time by twenty minutes only to say that he didn't care
about anyone else's sovereignty.

While Putin's comments were worthy it must be pointed out that he is
somewhat late in showing up for the party. Despite claims to the contrary,
Russia has wavered in its response to the United States, NATO and gulf
monarchy attack on Syria. Whether out of fear, weakness, or other factors,
the Russians have done little except veto security council resolutions which
would have spelled the end of the Bashir al-Assad government.

According to Finnish diplomat
<http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/15/west-ignored-russian-offer-in-
2012-to-have-syrias-assad-step-aside> Martti Ahtisaari, the Russians
expressed a willingness to cut Assad loose if the terms were right. In 2012
the Russian United Nations ambassador told Ahtisaari that his government was
willing to work out a deal. This hypothetical arrangement might have
included Assad stepping down from office. Because of hubris and wishful
thinking that his fall was imminent, neither the United States, Great
Britain nor France responded to the overture. In a just world, no country
would have a say in the fate of another, but the episode shows America's
uncompromising stand on gaining hegemony.

"In their attempts to deceive they admitted their own links with a group
they once labeled as terrorist."

Now thousands of people are dead, millions are displaced refugees and Assad
is on the ropes because of ISIS. The western nations were never interested
in defeating ISIS, the child they spawned through their interventions.
Fighting them only with rhetoric and one hand tied behind their backs, they
hoped that ISIS would  <http://www.blackagendareport.com/node/805> hasten
Assad's exit.

Not so Putin, who after firmly stating his intentions went about the
business of bombing ISIS held territory. Because he exposed the big lie, the
western governments and their media lap dogs are left with nothing but
bizarre assertions. First they suddenly expressed concern about civilian
collateral damage. Then they criticized Putin for bombing the Al Nusra
front, an al qaeda off-shoot, instead of ISIS. In their attempts to deceive
they admitted their own links with a group they once labeled as terrorist.

Now Putin is going after everyone who threatens Assad. This decisiveness
ought to be cause for some relief but too many lies have been told at this
juncture. While the man painted as a monstrous dictator dispatches the
groups America claimed to want gone, the real face of terror makes itself
known. The same week of the Obama/Putin United Nations showdown, Saudi
bombing killed 130 people who were
<http://mondoweiss.net/2015/09/coalition-killing-civilians> attending a
wedding in Yemen. That toll was bad enough but their American partners in
crime were bound to out-do them in the war crimes department.

"Doctors Without Borders clearly refuted the lie and also pointed out that
this particularly disgraceful attempt to escape blame was a de facto
admission of a war crime."

The Nobel Peace Prize-winning group Doctors Without Borders operated a
hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan. They did so until an American gunship
attacked in the early morning hours of October 3, 2015. Twenty-two people
were killed including both staff and patients, some of whom burned to death
in their beds. As fighting intensified days earlier the hospital notified
coalition command, that is to say the United States, of its exact GPS
coordinates. This effort to save staff and patients was for naught, as the
Afghans and the Americans showed no regard for human life.

The horror of the slaughter was magnified by the corporate media's collusion
with the government. The New York Times had
<http://fair.org/home/media-are-blamed-as-us-bombing-of-afghan-hospital-is-c
overed-up/> twenty different versions of online reporting about the attack
but not one stated clearly that the United States military had carried out
the crime. Without any evidence to back up the assertion, the Associated
Press repeated and
<http://bigstory.ap.org/article/8508b50cad7141efaa442fffb3aba7a2/doctors-wit
hout-borders-leaves-afghan-city-after-airstrike> later retracted a claim
that the Taliban were using the hospital as a base. Doctors Without Borders
clearly
<http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/article/msf-response-spurious-claims-k
unduz-hospital-was-taliban-base> refuted the lie and also pointed out that
this particularly disgraceful attempt to escape blame was a de facto
admission of a war crime.

Obviously there should be an investigation of the hospital attack, but the
most important question is why the United States still occupies Afghanistan
at all. The Nobel Peace Prize-winning president is so committed to
imperialism that even other laureates aren't safe from him. Nor will they be
after January 20, 2017 when a successor takes office. The willingness to
spill blood is a prerequisite for getting the seat behind the oval office
desk.

"The most important question is why the United States still occupies
Afghanistan at all."

Bombs will fall on the innocent and the guilty alike. The best hope for
Afghanistan and for Syria is if their people have real democracy and are
empowered to choose the governments they want. In the meantime, imperialism
must be met with as much force as can be mustered from the outside.

While the corporate media mouthpieces repeat spurious claims about Putin
"biting off more than he can chew" the truth is clear for all to see. The
Russian president made it plain when he said, "I relate to my colleagues the
American and French presidents with great respect but they aren't citizens
of Syria and so should not be involved in choosing the leadership of another
country." When that definition of democracy is protected and respected,
people will be safe all over the world. Until that time the criminals must
know that they face opposition. Then perhaps hospital patients can rest a
little easier.

 

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