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Emillereid Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 04:06 PM
Original message
Pentagon official: US may take action against Syria


10/14/03: (ASSOCIATED PRESS) Pentagon adviser Richard Perle said Tuesday that the recent Israeli attack on an alleged training camp for Palestinian militants in Syria was long overdue and that he would not rule out U.S. military action against the Arab state. 

Perle, a close adviser to U.S. President George W. Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, spoke at a Jerusalem conference of conservatives from the United States and Israel. 

"President Bush transformed the American approach to terrorism on Sept. 11, 2001, when he said he will not distinguish between terrorists and the states who harbor them," Perle said. 

"I was happy to see that Israel has now taken a similar step in responding to acts of terror that originate in Lebanese territory by going to the rulers of Lebanon in Damascus." ,,,

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4975.htm

You'd think that the mess they've made in Iraq would humble these neo-con assholes a little, but no -- they still push preventive war. If we don't get these idiots out of power soon, they're going to take the whole planet down in constant war.

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Emillereid Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 04:08 PM
Response to Original message
1. Here's the companion piece --
Bush's War Plan Is Scarier Than He's Saying: The Widening Crusade

by Sydney H. Schanberg

October 15 - 21, 2003: (Village Voice) f some wishful Americans are still hoping President Bush will acknowledge that his imperial foreign policy has stumbled in Iraq and needs fixing or reining in, they should put aside those reveries. He's going all the way—and taking us with him. 

The Israeli bombing raid on Syria October 5 was an expansion of the Bush policy, carried out by the Sharon government but with the implicit approval of Washington. The government in Iran, said to be seeking to develop a nuclear weapon, reportedly expects to be the next target. 

No one who believes in democracy need feel any empathy toward the governments of Syria and Iran, for they assist the terrorist movement, yet if the Bush White House is going to use its preeminent military force to subdue and neutralize all "evildoers" and adversaries everywhere in the world, the American public should be told now. Such an undertaking would be virtually endless and would require the sacrifice of enormous blood and treasure. 

With no guarantee of success. And no precedent in history for such a crusade having lasting effect. 

People close to the president say that his conversion to evangelical Methodism, after a life of aimless carousing, markedly informs his policies, both foreign and domestic. In the soon-to-be-published The Faith of George W. Bush (Tarcher/Penguin), a sympathetic account of this religious journey, author Stephen Mansfield writes (in the advance proofs) that in the election year 2000, Bush told Texas preacher James Robison, one of his spiritual mentors: "I feel like God wants me to run for president. I can't explain it, but I sense my country is going to need me. . . . I know it won't be easy on me or my family, but God wants me to do it." ...

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4975.htm

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morebunk Donating Member (202 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 06:27 PM
Response to Reply #1
18. See what AIPAC money can buy!
When are we going to wake up?
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Malva Zebrina Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-15-03 03:45 PM
Response to Reply #1
26. with photos like this
Edited on Wed Oct-15-03 03:45 PM by Marianne


that accompanied an AP article on the Yahoo politics news Oct,14, it is little wonder that religion will be brought up--the photo release seems to usher in the talking points as in this article on this thread.

I am not a person of faith and can plainly see the disgusting propaganda methods employed by this disgusting evil man, George Bush--why more religious people are not objecting loudly against photos like this tells me they are somehow roped in, whether they want to be or not and Bush knows it. How can any question his sincere belief that a god sent him to wage wars--many of them.

Imagine there's no religion
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prolesunited Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 04:12 PM
Response to Original message
2. The fact that Perle
is even a Pentagon adviser makes my blood boil. :mad: :mad: :mad:

"Humble" They don't know the meaning of the word. They don't operate in the same plain as the rest of us. They don't care that thousands are dead and that we've spent billions of dollars. In fact, they probably relish the idea of a constant state of war.

What a perfect plan: The Carlyle Group supplies the ammunition and then Halliburton and Bechtel move in to clean up.

Just like with the economy, this isn't happening because they are inept. THIS IS THE WORLD THEY WANT!!!
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realFedUp Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 04:13 PM
Response to Original message
3. I guess Bush has signed up fully on the PNAC
someone should ask him if he's read the fine print.
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Noordam Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 04:26 PM
Response to Reply #3
4. I wonder if all the Bush military voters read
read the fine print.

You are going to every hell hole Perle and friends want you to go to.

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Maine-i-acs Donating Member (989 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 04:34 PM
Response to Reply #3
6. The President is not a Fact-checker
This has been said about him by his own handlers - who no doubt are rubbing their hands with glee.


Pakistan holds more terrorist training camps than Syria. Yet we negotiated with the Pakistani gov't, handed them a few blank checks, and are presumably helping them root out terrorism in their country.


Has anyone offered the same to Bashir Assad? Renouncing terrorism sure beats Israeli preemptive airstrikes! Did we even give them an option?
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ameriphile Donating Member (214 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 04:29 PM
Response to Original message
5. Richard Perle is one scary mo-fo
Have you ever heard him speak? He makes Dick Cheney sound like Mary Poppins.

He is truly the Prince of Darkness.
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SoCalDem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 04:40 PM
Response to Reply #5
7. Perle, circa Feb 03.. ( I heard him utter "bound and determined" on CNN
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paulk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 04:41 PM
Response to Original message
8. if there is any justice in this world
Perle will end up hanging from his heels.
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hatrack Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 04:47 PM
Response to Original message
9. Yeah, that makes a LOT of f*****g sense!
Let's see - one unfinished war in Iraq, another unfinished war in Afghanistan, no Osama, no Saddam, no anthrax killer, no (all together now!) weapons of mass destruction, 330 US KIA, 1,800+ WIA, $150 billion in unpaid bills from Iraq, a $.5 trillion federal deficit, an economy that's in the crapper (I don't give a tin shit what Loud Blobbs may say on Moneyline), jobs evaporating like camel spit on Mojave asphalt . . . what to do, what to do . . .

Oh, yeah, - that's it - let's start ANOTHER WAR!!

What fucking planet do these bipeds inhabit?
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IndianaGreen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 05:03 PM
Response to Reply #9
11. Let's not forget US intervention in Cuba. Venezuela, and Bolivia
If you are in the National Guard, don't expect to come home anytime soon!
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legin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 05:02 PM
Response to Original message
10. Oh Shit
Whatever pressure the u.s. and israel put on Syria to undertake reforms or change policies, it is never going to be enough.

The preident of Syria isn't going to one day wipe out all israel's enemies residing in Syria and Lebanon, it just won't happen. He might say to them "look i'm under a bit of pressure here, you wouldn't mind getting lost for a bit."

israel wants to get into Syria and Lebanon and deal with it's enemies it's traditional way.

The 1st Calvary division (probably armour) and the 1st Infantry division and a couple of National Gaurd brigades rotate into Iraq in February to April, if the people rotating out don't rotate out immediatly that leaves these two divisions slightly at a loose end, to understate things.

Poor Wesley Clarke's driver/lawyer might get to visit Syria too if he is very unlucky.
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legin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 05:16 PM
Response to Reply #10
12. And it is cheap too
These guys are already going out there. So they take a little detour before taking up their duties as Iraq's occupying army. There is no special force being drawn up and transported halfway across the world.
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legin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 05:38 PM
Response to Reply #10
14. It would be interesting to know
Exactly what sort of training the 1st Calvary and the 1st Infantry are up to at the moment.
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neverforget Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 05:44 PM
Response to Reply #10
15. Iraq has stretched the US to the breaking point militarily. Unless
there is something of full mobilization, invading Syria will not happen.
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legin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 06:05 PM
Response to Reply #15
16. Agreed, but this is a sort of finesse
to take a hypothetical example

If you have 100,000 troops in a country you're occupying. They have been there a year and it is time to releive them and send in replacements.

When the replacements go in, the troops being replaced don't immediatly leave, there is sort of an overlap period of about 2 weeks to a month when you actually have 200,000 troops in the occupied country. If you stretch this overlap period by telling the troops being replaced that they have to serve an extra month, you then have a brief period when you have an extra 100,000 troops in the country that can do other things.
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jayfish Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 10:46 PM
Response to Reply #16
22. WWIII?
Do we expect Iran to sit idly bye and watch yet another regional power fall to forces of the United States? 200,000 is not nearly enough force to defend against an attack on a newly opened eastern front let alone instigate an attack to the north. So what happens next? I think that if the above scenario unfolded we would see Turkey join the fray from the North in order to cut off an Iranian advance. At that point we would expect to see the Russian army walk through Georgia and and attack Turkey from the north. Remember Russia and Iran have a mutual defense pact. Also remember the subtle hint that Putin gave to the US regarding the situation in Afghanistan. There are also a lot of unknowns in the area (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan). A popular uprising in SA would undoubtedly spell trouble for us. Also, lets not forget that the Iraqi army itself is in hiding right in the midst of our forces and they know where all of Iraq’s remaining conventional weaponry is and that it is mostly unguarded Talk about a clusterfuck. We could be looking at WWIII only not in the European theater.
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sungkathak Donating Member (65 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 05:17 PM
Response to Original message
13. A result of extortion
If you until now can't see the Iraq war is for the interest of Israel, and you don't realize US government is under stronghold of Israel influence, then you are real dumb in politics.

Bush has been extorted,

The CIA undercover leaking is an extortion.

It's not a big deal. There is no danger for the exposed CIA undercover officer. But when they make it a big topic, there is something in it.

I think it maybe an extortion on Bush administration. For the security of Israel, The insider group wants more war in Mid-east. Iran is their next target because Iran has the ability to develop nuclear weapon. Bush Sr. and Kissinger visited Russia on Sept. 10. Then Putin came to US meeting Bush. Bush request Russia dropping out its nuclear reactor aiding project but was refused. Or a secret deal to take Iran was not succeeded with Russia? CIA case out broke right away after that.

Israel poised to attack Syria and Iran, or better, let US start another war for Israel. Bush, embarrased by failure to find WMD in Iraq and downward economy in domestic, unwill to start another war in Mid-east. That's why he is extorted. Israel's recent attack on Syria might be an erge.

If you have noticed the CIA leak case is silenced these days, then a deal may has been reached and another war in Mid-east is at hand. Either Syria, or Iran.
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sungkathak Donating Member (65 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-15-03 03:32 PM
Response to Reply #13
25. Syria war is what Israel wants
Quote, "U.S. Syria raid killed 80


By Richard Sale
UPI Intelligence Correspondent

Depicted by the Pentagon as a mere border skirmish, the June 18 strike into Syria by U.S. military forces was, in fact, based on mistaken intelligence and penetrated more than 25 miles into that country, causing numerous Syrian casualties, several serving and former administration officials said.....

One former senior CIA official with access to current intelligence information said he believed the source of the intelligence was Israel, which for months has said either Saddam or weapons of mass destruction were being smuggled into Syria.

"The Izzies (Israelis) have been pitching this to anyone who would listen," the former CIA official said.
....
Serving and former U.S. intelligence officials attributed a political motive to the attacks, alleging they were designed to disrupt cooperation between the CIA and Syrian intelligence......
Senior Pentagon leaders, who administration officials describe as being very close to Israel, have been unhappy with the increasingly close CIA-Syria ties and used the June 18 attack to disrupt the CIA-Syrian intelligence relationship......

But instead of capturing any high-value Iraqi targets, the Task Force destroyed "a gas smuggling ring," a former senior U.S. intelligence official said. This official labeled the attack "a colossal blunder."

http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20030716-024423-7885r.htm
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Media_Lies_Daily Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 06:16 PM
Response to Original message
17. Last I looked, we're involved in Afghanistan and Iraq,...
...and we're sword-rattling against Iran, Syria, and North Korea. At the same time, those same PNAC bright-boys are trying to get us involved in military action in several other places around the world.

Meanwhile, Rummy staggers to the podium and proposes that the DoD will be closing 100 bases over the next few years. In addition to that, the Bushies are cutting benefits to veterans as well as benefits to the troops in the field.

At the same time, they seem to be getting plenty of taxpayer cash to spend on the totally discredited Star Wars system.

Does anyone else feel a little confused?
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wabeewoman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-15-03 12:10 AM
Response to Reply #17
23. Exactly Media Lies Daily!
I was just reading about the biggest base closing in history today and wondering how this all fit together. Are we missing something?? Last I read was we would be in deep shit in the spring when the tour of duty was up for the guys in Iraq and there weren't enough soldiers to replace them. Or will there be a push for the UN to take over about then? Are some of the UN reservations due to the fact they know we're going to attack somebody else? Or are we going to use the mini nukes they're working on?? And don't they believe these other countries will fight back? Just when I think these idiots are truly barking mad, I find out there is a plan. What is it this time??
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damnraddem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 06:50 PM
Response to Original message
19. They'd better not:
the Iraqi Council has said that they support Syria, so the U.S. could end up with a war in Iraq, too. ;-)

They keep tossing these Perles before Bushista swine.
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Flying_Pig Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 07:58 PM
Response to Original message
20. Yes, and a number of top Dems have been enabling swine like
Perle, and his fascist friends at PNAC. Vis-a-vis their blind support for Israel, and their recent vote for Syrian Sanctions, they are helping Bush and Sharon/Likud too. Why are these Dems helping Bush's "re-election" chances by supporting PNAC?

Perle, truly, one of the most evil people living on this planet, and perhaps one of the most evil since the Third Reich. Zeig Heil! Why are some Democrats helping his dreams come true??

:grr:

<http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,287510,00.jpg>
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Saudade Donating Member (373 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-15-03 08:20 AM
Response to Reply #20
24. Democrats
"Why are some Democrats helping his dreams come true??"

Words cannot express the disgust I feel for these pandering fool "democrats." They make me want to leave the country.
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teryang Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Oct-14-03 08:34 PM
Response to Original message
21. He's a lunatic extremist
He was bragging about the performance of American armed forces in Iraq a couple of days ago. He has absolutely no understanding of armed conflict.
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rdub Donating Member (19 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-15-03 04:21 PM
Response to Original message
27. Several killed after infiltrating Iraq from Syria: coalition
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1514&e=8&u=/afp/20031015/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_us_attack_031015164314


"BAGHDAD (AFP) - Several people were killed by US troops after infiltrating Iraq (news - web sites) from Syria and shooting at a US helicopter, forcing it to land but causing no US casualties."

<snip>

Being a bit of a lurker, I don't have enough posts to post a new thread on this one, but it looks like the PR machine is gearing up on this one....

-Deckard
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jayfish Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-15-03 04:27 PM
Response to Reply #27
28. Welcome Rick.
:hi:. Yep, I can see the smoke billowing in from the horizon. Now all we need is a few more well placed mirrors. Maybe they can drag a few up from Baghdad.

Jay
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rdub Donating Member (19 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-15-03 04:36 PM
Response to Reply #28
29. thanks
Let's hope not, right?

Thanks for the welcome!
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