What a freaking mess. What have we done to deserve this? [I'm sure the many targeted peoples under the bombs raining down on them from the Empire Above wonder the same damn thing...]
Views from Damascus overnight resemble Baghdad on Shock n Awe night so many years ago. Remember? I don't know anymore whether people do. There's been so much misery, mayhem and bloodshed Over There, it's hard to keep track, isn't it?
The proximate cause of the latest "coalition" air strikes (primarily from off shore missile launches) of yet another Middle Eastern city is the supposed use of prohibited chemical weapons against a rebel stronghold in the suburbs of Damascus.
Whether it actually happened and who did it if it did is subject of some dispute. There are statements that it didn't happen at all. There are statements that it was staged. There are statements that it was done by outside forces. There are statements that it was done by the rebels themselves... Yadda, yadda.
None of us is in a position to know. Whether our military and civilian rulers know much more than we do is a mystery. All we can say with any certainty is that the protagonists of these wars and rebellions tend to be dissemblers.
The launching of retaliatory missiles is essentially de rigeur these days. It's what's done to show the non-compliant who's the boss. It hasn't worked very well with the Assad regime, and it doesn't seem to quell rebellions either. It's just a Thing. Blowing shit up is the way things are done by the Empire and by the Rebel Alliance. Sometimes I think they cause misery for the fun of it.
So they just blow things up. People are in the way, oh well!
Jeepus, I hate this. I was going round and round about the Stephon Clark Thing in Sacramento. My point was that I just want the killing to stop, and he didn't quite get it. Huh? Whut?
The killing. To. Stop.
We seem to be locked into this situation where killing is the number one option when things go sideways or there's a perception of a threat of some sort. When police kill, they're just taking their cue from our Dauntless Leaders. Killing is their Go To solution to practically everything. They're no too bright are they?
Meanwhile the White House (and many other prominent elements of society) are enveloped in one scandal after another. I don't think we've ever had a mobbed up gangster sitting on the throne, but we do now, and our institutions have no idea how to deal with it/him. He's been hamstrung in various ways, but that's not sufficient. He uses what powers he has remaining for making much mischief and propping up his frail ego. This is hardly presidential, but I don't think it much matters any more.
The presidency itself has long since been diminished by various unfortunate and unpleasant occupants and their scandals, deceptions, and military adventures. It's close to time for something else again.
The Ruling Class seems happy to have the Rabble wallowing in it. Distraction? Sure. Entertainment? Yep. A masque?
The downward spiral seems inescapable.
And yet, there must be hope somewhere.
I noticed this about the latest [illegal] bombing of Syria: if those buildings really had been chemical weapons storage or manufacturing plants, we would have released a shitload of deadly chemicals into the surrounding area when we blew them up. We would have killed potentially tens of thousands of people, given where these places were (in Damascus, one of the largest cities in Syria). Yet not only were there no toxic fumes released and no explosions beyond those of our own weapons, within hours, reporters were allowed to walk around the rubble taking pictures and filming without having to wear protective clothing.
ReplyDeleteWe knew there weren't chemical weapons there. Either that, or we were willing to call thousands of dead civilians "collateral damage", proving us worse animals than Assad is claimed to be.
Welp.
DeleteCoupla things: No, they weren't "chemical weapons research, storage, or manufacturing sites" as the lack of casualties in the aftermath makes plain. They were likely pre-selected sites of no particular importance (from the Empire's point of view) that could be blown up as needed to satisfy domestic political objectives. Syria is one of several punching bags where these things take place. It has little/nothing to do with any alleged "chemical attack."
The hypocrisy of it is striking. Somebody actually pointed to it on one of the Sunday Gabfests. So there's all this "moral outrage" when there's an accusation of chemical weapons use by the designated Animal-Monster of the day, but the slaughter of tens of thousands and the destruction of whole cities with conventional weapons is A-OK. What's prohibited and what's allowed makes no sense at all -- on any side.
Dog wagging? Sure it is. But it's pretty transparent, too. Despite all the chest beating, it doesn't look to me like the military is willing to do more than token actions on behalf of Our Rulers' objectives Over There. It just isn't worth it.
Much mischief to be sure, but beyond that...?
[I should prolly go back and edit the post given all the typos and such...]