Syria, and America's responsibility

Today is a day when many think about all the lost lives from the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001. Almost 3,000 lives ended that day, and countless more affected. Since then, September 11th is a day where people remember, mourn, and feel a sense of patriotism regarding the United States invading other countries--and ironically, other countries which were not responsible for that US tragedy.

While the average American is aware of how both North Korea and the "The Great Firewall of China" biases their media, few Americans understand that the United States news is also biased and full of propaganda. Most Americans get their news about what has happened from American news sources.

"More than 60 million people have been displaced by conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Ukraine and elsewhere, and the violence is expected to drive hundreds of thousands more to seek asylum this year and next." (source) -- What do the majority of these countries have in common? Yes, oil-related military intervention from the US which led to millions of innocent lives being permanently and negatively affected. It is not the job of the US to be the world savior. It is--apparently--the intent of the US to send in troops when doing so creates a chess-like tactical long-term gain of resources. The United States, whether we like it or not, is the world bully.

Syria could foresee the potential of civil war and wanted their Assad government to stay in place. The Syrian government had a 55% approval rating--that is higher than Obama, Bush, and Reagan. Just two months after the United States agreed to allow Syria to decide it's own political future and to not have military intervention, Obama publicly threatened force. Fear of chemical weapon use was a convenient excuse. Yet, it wasn't America's place. I have serious reservations about who actually used the chemical weapons the following year and honestly believe it was a false flag operation.

Even those who do not watch television are aware of the mass refugees trying to escape Syria. How many know that the US intervention was a catalyst for Syria's civil war? How many know that Syria was a prosperous country before the United States strategically decided to enter it as a political chess move against the Middle East?

How many have heard that Syria wanted peace and was prepared for peace--yet were blocked every step of the way by America? How many of you have heard that it was the United States who reneged on the Geneva Convention?

Close to 250,000 people have died in Syria, with 30% being civilians.

Be informed. Read the ACTUAL AGREEMENT from 2012 between the United States, United Nations, the League of Arab States, China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, Turkey, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, the European Union, and Syria:. I dare you, because then you will realize just how the United States attacking Syria was both inappropriate and broke international law. The US acts as if breaking international law is acceptable.

...then, if you want to continue reading...

• Most Syrians back President Assad, but you'd never know from western media:  http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jan/17/syrians-support-assad-western-propaganda  (January 2012) 
• 9 Ways America Has Fueled the Bloody Civil War in Syria: http://www.alternet.org/world/america-has-fueled-bloody-civil-war-syria  (September 2013, and it has gotten worse since) 
• Failure of Syria diplomacy exposes enduring divisions over Assad:  http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/09/09/world/politics-diplomacy-world/failure-syria-diplomacy-exposes-enduring-divisions-assad/  (2 days ago)

What do people think in other parts of the world?

Canada: The Ghouta Chemical Attacks a US-Backed False Flag? Killing Syrian Children to Justify a “Humanitarian” Military Intervention -- http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-ghouta-chemical-attacks-us-backed-false-flag-killing-children-to-justify-a-humanitarian-military-intervention/5351363
China: US responsible for refugee crises in Syria, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan  --  http://www.firstpost.com/world/us-responsible-for-refugee-crises-in-syria-libya-iraq-afghanistan-chinese-commentary-2422432.html
India: Is US not morally obliged to take responsibility of war-torn Syrians? --  http://www.india.com/news/world/europe-migrant-crisis-is-us-not-morally-obliged-to-take-responsibility-of-war-torn-syrians-538381/
Russia: Putin blames US for migrant crisis in Europe  -- http://www.dw.com/en/putin-blames-us-for-migrant-crisis-in-europe/a-18694852
UK: Are the US-led air strikes in Syria legal - and what does it mean if they are not? --  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11116792/Are-the-US-led-air-strikes-in-Syria-legal-and-what-does-it-mean-if-they-are-not.html


Many of the World Powers are involved here, and they disagree.  Read up on World War I and World War II if you still think this doesn't affect you. History repeats itself and we are getting scary close. 

Saving America & Preventing World War III

Generally I try to avoid talking about politics with this blog. However, this is too important to stand by and not speak up. Going to war with Iran is not only costly (both in money and lives), but would likely collapse the entire world's economy. ...And that is thinking positively. Realistically, it would be World War 3.



Really think about this.. Who would side with us? Isreal, maybe England, and the Gulf States. Who would side with Iran? China, Russia, Pakistan, and the former Soviet states.

If we have a ground war, we put the 100,000 U.S. troops at risk. They would be trapped in Afghanistan unless we can air lift them out. If it goes nuclear, the world is over. The United States is the only country in history to ever use nuclear weapons. If we did that again, it wouldn't matter that Iran doesn't have nukes--their allies do.



Ron Paul is the only presidential candidate who will not lead us into World War III. The other candidates have very publicly stated in the debates that they think going to war with Iran is a good idea. Obama has already shown that he was not worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize by keeping us in Afghanistan and Iraq for 3 years and initiating proxy wars with Yemen, Somalia, and Libya. In addition, Obama has already invaded Iran's airspace (an act of war). We need to focus on our own country and stop trying to control the rest of the world.

"We have enough time taking care of things back here at home, where we have 50 million people without healthcare, 14 million people who are out of work, millions of people who are losing their homes, and we're going to tell the Iranians how to run their country! Are you kidding me!"

I travel abroad a lot. In much of the world, the United States is not seen in the same good light Americans believe about their country. Instead, there have been lots of parallels drawn between Nazi Germany and the recent United States! How could this be, you may ask? Think about it. Since WW2 ended, the U.S. and Russia were the two superpowers until the Soviet Union collapsed, and then the United States took over as the world bully. We have invaded numerous countries (without ever making a legal declaration of war--as required by the Constitution)--and, since the War Powers Act, we have been in a constant state of war. When we declared "The War on Terror" in 2001, we left the definition so open to be never-ending. This is what the world sees.

The Patriot Act is very similar to Germany's Enabling Act. The Enabling Act didn't grant as much authority to the executive as the PATRIOT Act, but it was enough to allow a dictatorship to form. The National Defense Authorization Act for 2012 (NDAA), which Obama just signed into law, is also very similar to Germany's Reichstag Fire Decree (which nullified many of the key civil liberties of German citizens). We have crossed the line and it keeps getting worse.



No matter what your political beliefs are, this next election is more than just Republican vs Democrat, gun rights, taxes, and the other normal issues. This next election could make the difference between the U.S. staying a world power or collapsing!! We need massive changes to stop spending money overseas, reduce our multi-trillion dollar deficit, and reinstate our civil liberties. We have already lost many rights. Most of the candidates see nothing wrong with this and want to continue it. History repeats itself. We need to learn from the past to save our future.

Now is the time to take action. Obama cannot be trusted--he has already proven that he is willing to lead us into war and was directly responsible for signing the NDAA. Register as a Republican so you can vote in the primaries. To make a difference, you must make a stand now.

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This is the kind of disaster that would be easy to spot in hindsight. And it's easy to spot now with open eyes. Vote for Ron Paul. Stand up for America!

Shon Meckfessel's letter to the President of Iran

A Letter to Ahmadinejad

H.E. Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Tehran, Iran

November 2, 2009

Dear Mr. President,

I am writing to appeal to you to intercede with the appropriate authorities for the immediate release of my friends Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal from detention in Iran.

I traveled from Damascus to Iraqi Kurdistan on vacation with Shane, Sarah and Josh in July. Several of our friends in Damascus had previously visited northern Iraq and recommended that we too make the trip to a region they told us was beautiful, peaceful and safe. We set out the day after celebrating the wedding of local friends at Shane and Sarah's apartment and had planned to be away for one week. That was three months ago.

Had I not had a cold and remained behind at our hotel when my friends hiked to the Ahmed Awa waterfall near your country's border, I would undoubtedly be in detention with them now. I was, in fact, en route to meet them when I received Shane's call that they had been taken into custody.

On August 6, I published a statement about our trip to northern Iraq which I attach to this letter. I had hoped the statement might clarify why we were in the area and help the authorities understand that Shane, Sarah and Josh had no intention of entering Iran. As I said in that statement, if they did so, it was because of a simple and very regrettable mistake.

Since then, I have maintained silence in deference to the investigation. As much as my friends' absence has been acutely painful, I understood that investigators would want to clarify the circumstances of their trip. I had hoped that the misunderstanding would be resolved quickly. Three months have now passed, and I cannot imagine what more the Iranian authorities might have to learn about my friends or what they were doing in the area. To help put to rest any such questions, I would like to offer to submit a notarized statement to your country's mission to the United Nations vouching for my friends and detailing the circumstances of our trip. If this is not sufficient, I would be willing to come to Tehran to attest to their characters in person.

Mr. President, by continuing to deprive Shane, Sarah and Josh of their liberty, Iran is working against some of the very causes it supports. Each of these three has a long and public record of contesting injustice in the world and addressing some of the inequities between rich and poor which you have spoken about through their humanitarian work in their own country and overseas.

I first met Shane in October 2005, after we had corresponded about our common interest in the Balkans, where I had lived for a time and where Shane had worked for one year in "Balkan Sunflowers," an independent organization helping Albanian and Roma youth in post-war Kosovo. Back in the United States, Shane continued his work with the underprivileged, as illustrated by his excellent "Hotel Poverty" photographic essay for the San Francisco Chronicle, and his article "Divorcing the US," from a trip we took to the poorest county in our country.

As a fluent speaker of Arabic, Shane has focused on injustices in the Arab world, in Iraq and Palestine in particular. The Christian Science Monitor published Shane's January 7 interview with Musa Abu Marzook, the only English-language interview with a Hamas leader during Israel's attack on Gaza. Two of his articles on the American occupation of Iraq were published as cover stories of major magazines just this summer.

Sarah and I met, by coincidence, the month after Shane and I met, when we found ourselves in the same car from San Francisco to New Orleans to help poor people begin to rebuild their homes after Hurricane Katrina. We both appear in a documentary entitled "Solidarity Not Charity" made about our group of volunteers. In Oakland, Sarah worked for one year in "Just Cause," which helped poor people fight evictions from their homes in the US.

I met Josh a week before we left on our trip, and was immediately drawn in by his warmth and humor. In the time we spent together, I was struck by his passion for justice, environmental sustainability, and intercultural understanding, as attested by his work with the Aprovecho community in Oregon, and as a teaching fellow on a study abroad program for university students.

I would like to mention one more friend who may be relevant. Earlier in July, Shane and I traveled to an Israeli hospital to spend time with Tristan Anderson, an American peace activist with whom Shane, Sarah and I have been close friends for many years. Tristan was shot in the head and critically wounded by an Israeli soldier after attending a non-violent protest against Israel's separation wall. He continues to fight for recovery. Shane and Sarah also visited Tristan in late March with Sarah's mother Nora, a nurse who counseled Tristan's family. There's a very simple explanation for these trips: We wanted to show solidarity with a dear friend whose support for Palestinian rights has been acknowledged in the Iranian media, throughout the Middle East and beyond.

I hope that this letter will help the Iranian authorities understand the true character of my friends. They have now been in custody for almost 100 days, which I hope you agree is more than sufficient punishment for their mistake. Please do everything you can to ensure that they are immediately released into the arms of their loving friends and families, who miss them more than my words can express.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Sincerely

Shon Meckfessel

Source: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091116/meckfessel

---

FREE THE HIKERS - SHANE BAUER,
SARAH SHOURD, JOSH FATTAL

Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal have been detained in Iran since July 31, 2009, when news reports say they accidentally crossed an unmarked border while hiking in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan near the Ahmed Awa waterfall, a local beauty spot. They were in a peaceful region of northern Iraq that is increasingly popular with Western tourists attracted by its natural beauty, traditional culture and long history. The three hikers, all graduates of UC Berkeley, entered northern Iraq with visas from Turkey on July 28 and had planned to spend five days visiting the area. A fourth friend, Shon Meckfessel had stayed behind in Sulaimaniya when Shane, Josh and Sarah set out on their hike because he was feeling unwell.

Shane Bauer, 27, has been living in Damascus, Syria with Sarah Shourd since late 2008 and is a student of Arabic, which he speaks fluently. He is a freelance journalist whose writing and award-winning photographs have been published in the US, UK, Middle East, and Canada. Shane, who has two younger sisters, grew up in Onamia, Minnesota and graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Peace and Conflict Studies in 2007. Shane has reported from Syria, Iraq, Darfur in Sudan, Yemen and Ethiopia but has never reported from Iran, nor expressed any interest in doing so. He had hoped to offer photographs and a story on the aftermath of recent elections in Kurdistan to the online news network New America Media, but was not on a formal news assignment.

Sarah Shourd, 31, has been living with Shane in Damascus, where she teaches English and is learning Arabic. She previously taught as part of the Iraqi Student Project, a program which gives Iraqi students living in Damascus the skills to continue their education in US schools. She was on a break from her teaching responsibilities for a week, and she and Shane decided to take a hiking trip with their friends Josh and Shon. Sarah has written articles on travel and social issues reflecting her time in Syria, Ethiopia, Yemen and Mexico. Sarah, who has an older brother and sister, was born in Chicago, Illinois, grew up in Los Angeles, California and recently moved to the San Francisco
Bay Area.

Josh Fattal, 27, is an environmentalist who worked for three years at the Aprovecho Research Center in Cottage Grove, Oregon, which teaches sustainable living skills. From January to June 2009, Josh was a Teaching Fellow with the International Honors Program (IHP) Health and Community study abroad program in Switzerland, India, China, and South Africa. Josh and his elder brother grew up in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. He spent his junior year of college on an IHP study abroad program in the UK, India, the Philippines, New Zealand, and Mexico and graduated from UC Berkeley in 2004 with a degree in environmental economics and policy from the College of Natural Resources. Josh was visiting Sarah and Shane in Damascus when they went on their trip.

For more information about the hikers and how you can help secure their release, please visit:
http://www.freethehikers.org

Scary shit... but it COULD happen if we LET IT HAPPEN....