Kucinich: Syria Strike Would Turn US Into 'Al Qaeda's Air Force'

[big_dog]

Source: The HIll (Washington DC)

Airstrikes on Syria would turn the U.S. military into “al Qaeda's air force,” former Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) told The Hill.

The outspoken anti-war activist said any such action would plunge the United States into another war in the Middle East and embolden Islamist militants fighting Bashar Assad's regime.

“So what, we're about to become Al Qaeda's air force now?” Kucinich said. “This is a very, very serious matter that has broad implications internationally. And to try to minimize it by saying we're just going to have a 'targeted strike' — that's an act of war. It's not anything to be trifled with.”

Kucinich also said President Obama would be violating the Constitution if he doesn't get congressional approval before taking any military action in Syria.
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas) warned that “any response should include collaboration with other nations and consultation with the United Nations to figure out what weapons have been used.



Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/middle-east-north-africa/319037-kucinich-syria-strike-will-turn-us-into-al-qaedas-air-force

[BainsBane]

1. Kucinich became irrelevant when he started taking a paycheck from Fox

[snappyturtle]

3. Well think of Kucinich on faux news as speaking from behind

enemy lines. He's dead on in my book.

[truth2power]

18. Yes, he is dead on. If we're supporting the rebels we're supporting al Qaeda.

Not that you'll get any traction on that, here. But you can find info on it all over the internet.

[JRLeft]

49. This has nothing to do with either Google Syria oil pipeline.

[truth2power]

57. It has to do with both. One is about who we support in our march

to imperial conquest.

We support Al Qaeda whenever it's in our National interest. It's our proxy army. All the pompous jargon aside, the US doesn't give a fat rat's ass about women going to school, winning hearts and minds, human rights, or whether innocent people are burned, gassed or roasted alive. THAT'S the real "moral obscenity" that SOS Kerry should be talking about.

But he won't, because it's all about profits over people, don'tcha know. And that's where the Syrian oil pipeline and various other profit making enterprises come in. And Kerry is in the thick of paving the way, by any means necessary, for the war-mongers and the defense contractors to continue their predations.

Iraq redux!

[JRLeft]

58. I agree, we never gave a damn about the 5,000 people who were killed a month previously for the last

2 years.

[upi402]

6. I suspect he was irrelevant to you before well that

Even though Kucinich was right all along. Still likely IS right.
The fact that he's irrelevant is is due to fools drinkin' the Kool Aid and allowing the corporatrist bullshit.

[BainsBane]

7. He's the one taking the big corporate paycheck

Not me. Pretty ironic that you defend someone in Fox's pocket by assuming anyone who doesn't like that has drunk corporate Kool-Aid. That's not even logical. So sorry I insulted your favorite Fox-bot.

[Fuddnik]

10. He had more principals than becoming a lobbyist, like most do.

Why didn't any of the mainstream media offer him a job?

[Summer Hathaway]

44. Working for FOX News

requires more principals (I think you mean 'principles') than becoming a lobbyist?

Who knew? I figured both of them to be pretty much the bottom of the barrel - who being lower down in the barrel than the other being a distinction without a difference.

"Why didn't any of the mainstream media offer him a job?"

Are we to take it from that comment that it's the MSM's fault that Kooch ended up on a RW propaganda network?

[frylock]

20. it's unfortunate that he doesn't command six-figure speaking engagements, like the clintons

[leftynyc]

48. Not really surprising

On one side are a former President and a former Senator and SOS. On the other is a former congressional representative.

[elehhhhna]

13. it's fucking true, don't care who says it

[BainsBane]

15. Actually it's not true

The situation in Syria is far more complicated than just Al Qaeda vs. Assad. I don't see the advantage of casting the situation in such simplistic terms. It doesn't contribute to understanding the problem.

[Arctic Dave]

21. He didn't become a douchebag lobbyist for an MIC corporations

Those are the true pieces of garbage.

[uhnope]

22. Shameful for Kucinich to oversimplify the issue (lie) in this way. He's lost it totally.

It's a very complex and ugly thing, this civil war in Syria and what to do about it, esp. in the context of the Middle East.

[HumansAndResources]

33. Did MSNBC (aka General Electric Military-Industrial-Complex-Speak) Offer Him a Spot??

This sounds like the spin from the "Right" when they say Michael Moore should "give all his money to charity," to prove he is sincere. Out of the other side of their mouths, they equate "money" with "speech." Add that up, and it means, "Silence Michael Moore."

Fox-viewers love to hate Kucinich - that is why is was given the gig. They think they are playing him - and, depending on your political calculus, perhaps they are.

OTOH, I suspect that he saw this as the ONLY open path to reach an audience, given the so-called "Left Leaning" (read: "Fake Controlled Opposition&quot press would not allow his voice to be heard.

Remember what MSNBC did to Donahue before you go crowing about Fox. MSNBC is just as committed to Wars for their Owner's Benefit; they just use different "spin" to beat the drums.

The Corporate "left" and "right" outlets feed off each other - peas in a pod. Hate 'em both and the Transnational Owned Fake Media as a whole, but don't blame Kuchinich for taking the only opportunity available to Spread Truths that MSNBC won't "tolerate" coming from the so-called "legitimate (DLC) left."

Add up the argument here, and we get, "Silence Dennis Kuchinich."

[BainsBane]

41. I love this argument that he deserved to be handed a highly paid gig

either as a MSNBC talking head or highly paid speaker. It is possible for people to make an honest living. They don't have to profit from public service. That is what representatives used to do.

I don't give a fuck about MSNBC. Cable news is garbage, as Kucinich's overly simplistic about Syria demonstrates.

[HumansAndResources]

47. Not "Overly Simplistic" - More Like "Straight To The Point"

The long and detailed story of US/Euro Imperialism is the creation / funding / arming of Terrorists - whether in the Middle East or Latin America. That is half of the hypocrisy. The other half being the taxpayer-funded support of the "official" state-militaries which protect the Stolen Vested-Interests of Billionaires, who keep their "Profit" offshore, and thereby receive "free" protection for their various global exploitation-rackets. The operant term is "Externalizing Expenses," I believe.

I am glad we agree about the MSM, and I am sure that frees up more of your time for reading, as it does mine. Although I disagree with some of his economics-perspectives, may I suggest reading some of Professor Michael Parenti's books and articles to get a fuller-grasp on the primary motivations and history of Western Foreign Policy. Start with his lectures - "The Sword and the Dollar" { http://www.takeoverworld.info/mp3/parenti/Michael_Parenti__Sword_and_the_Dollar.mp3 } is good in this context.

To understand the "American Exceptionalism lie, "Slavery from Aristotle to George H.W. Bush" { http://mp3.lpi.org.uk/resistancemp3/slavery-from-aristotle-to-george-bush.mp3 } and "Super Patriotism" { http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/23514 } are classics. The A-Infos site with that last lecture has hundreds of hours of great material. The "Unwelcome Guests" shows are among the best.

[sabrina 1]

40. He just made himself VERY relevant as he is speaking the truth. I guess the truth IS

irrelevant though when we are in a rush to go kill some more people in the ME. It sure wasn't relevant the last few times.

Thank you Dennis for never hesitating to tell the truth. And he was so right after all the last time. Did anyone ever apologize to him when he turned out to be correct about EVERYTHING.

I definitely take someone who got it right last time, far more seriously than Cheney and all the Neocons who signed the letter to Obama.

[The Stranger]

52. No, not really.

Take their money and use it against them.

[NorthCarolina]

56. To you maybe, but you hardly speak for everyone. kucinich is on-the-mark here.

Why not spend a few seconds rebutting his comment, rather than assuming you speak for everyone concerning his "relevance".

[BainsBane]

64. Tell me where I claimed to speak for everyone?

What you mean is I should shut up because you don't like my opinion.

[Pterodactyl]

62. Nah, I think he was irrelevant even before that.

[warrant46]

2. Well why not ? We gave them support 30 years ago we can renew an old Contract

We also helped Saddam Gas and kill a whole bunch of Iranians after they disrespected our Embassy

[babylonsister]

4. So Obama shared with Kucinich what he's going to do?

I thought no one knew yet.

[Jesus Malverde]

5. bump... nt

[adieu]

8. Agree with Kucinich.

Under no circumstances should we intervene in what is essentially a civil war in Syria.

We can effect change more effectively through diplomacy and economic incentives.

The only time to go to war is when the war is brought to our doorsteps. And even then, we should follow constitutional procedures and declare war in the proper way.

If anything, this is a golden opportunity for the Obama administration and the US to lead in crafting a peaceful resolution to this turmoil. We've stained out reputation with one too many shoot-first-ask-questions-later policies which makes us out as just an international level bully.

Let's see if we have the diplomatic mettle to formulate a peaceful settlement that all sides will agree to. Let's try to lead the world as the standard bearer for peace.

/Ok, so how many of you cracked up by now?

[David__77]

9. Agree. It would be treason and giving aid and comfort to al Qaeda.

It's not just Kucinich saying this. The blowback would be tremendous, and it would truly by an impeachable offense.

[Fuddnik]

11. There will be blowback.

Some fools never learn.

[joshcryer]

25. I think it unwise to attack al Qaeda with chemical weapons, myself.

[David__77]

26. I don't think the US will do that, unless you count phosphorus, etc.

...

[joshcryer]

28. I think government forces launched the weapons against al Qaeda.

I think though that the Defense Minister didn't sign off on it.

[David__77]

29. The US should stand back from this.

If anything, it will only create positive political polarization for the Syrian government.

[joshcryer]

31. That's why I feel this has already played out.

The US doesn't really want AQ in power and all the rhetoric from the start supporting the FSA was completely wrong.

So the US gets to blow up some chemical stockpiles. Syria gets to annihilate the terrorist threat with conventional means.

[David__77]

32. This is such a mess.

And it has led to some evolution of my own thinking, to be honest. I have far more respect for a state like Israel, that has had to face the most heinous forms of terrorism. Much of the Western left is blind to this threat. The way to defeat international terror is through economic development and cooperation between states on the basis of mutual respect and sovereignty, in my opinion.

[joshcryer]

34. Completely agree with that.

[David__77]

35. Off topic, somewhat...

But I still think that the NATO intervention in Libya was mistaken. I think that the "revolution" was in reality a coup gone wrong, because it was supposed to take a day or two but went off the rails. Although the Libyan opposition was much, much more unified than that in Syria, it had the dangerous elements of warlordism from the start. Around July or so, there were rumblings of a peace settlement involving Gaddafi "retiring" in Libya and a handover to some opposition elements. In my view, that would have been preferable, as it would have kept the state more intact, and perhaps kept some of the more unsavory AQ types behind bars. That's all conjectural and irrelevant at this point, of course.

Beyond all that, I see little comparison between Syria and Libya.

[joshcryer]

36. Fair enough. And you shouldn't forget Israel did strike Syria.

Though probably not as shock and awe as the US is about to do.

Libya is still dealing with the warlordism and militias, and the west wants to split the country up. Putin already considers it split up but there are secularists in the country trying to keep it united. It's a very precarious situation, especially if Syria's impeding crackdown is going to make the AQ elements spread out to places where they think they could get a hold (Libya is in such a situation where that is a real possibility).

[David__77]

38. Also how Egypt factors in will be interesting.

Some of those traveling elements might try to infiltrate there possibly.

For now, Egypt hasn't changed its foreign policy much, but I expect it to be closer to the Algerian position soon.

[elehhhhna]

12. We don't negotiate with terriorists, but we do give them air cover

shit why not? the bushes and bin ladens go back along way


this is just business development on a global scale

[jessie04]

16. Syria could use nukes and Kucinich would be against any response.

I'm glad he wasn't around in WWII.

[sabrina 1]

42. Kucinich was right from the beginning about Iraq. One of the few, sadly. I wish he had

been around for WW1 and there probably wouldn't have been a WW11

One of the best Democrats we have right now. I trust people like Kucinich who GOT IT RIGHT ON IRAQ, way, way more than the Neocons who are pushing this next war, who LIED and tried to smear those who saw right through them, like Kucinich to hide their lies.

I have zero faith in those who got it so wrong on Iraq. To fail so miserably on such a huge issue, to vote for a LIE when most people on the planet knew they were lying, leaves you with no credibility.

Kucinich saw through the lies. That makes him qualified to speak on these issues.

[telclaven]

51. WW1 started three years before the US got involved

WW1 was inevitable due to the European alliance systems built up tensions. Whether we went in or not was irrelevant. That the impossed peace was so harsh (counter to US wishes) set the stage for round 2.

[WatermelonRat]

17. To basically write off the entirety of the rebels as al-Qaeda is as foolish

as saying that they're exclusively pro-democracy liberals. It's an oversimplification of the issue.

[David__77]

39. Who are these "liberal" insurgents in Syria?

Syrian Islamic Liberation Front? Which gang of jihadis do you refer to?

[sabrina 1]

43. The Syrian people want these Extremists out of their country. Have you been following this

two year 'war' at all? The whole thing is being instigated from the outside. Even some of the original UNARMED protesters are horrified at how they were used and now back Assad who bad as he was didn't destroy their homes and country.

These extremists have to be really bad when people are turning to Assad.

Unless you've been following it from the beginning, you cannot possibly know what has been going there. International news has been covering from the beginning. At first most people backed the protesters. But they were NOT armed and rampaging around the country killing people.

It is heartbreaking to hear women crying 'they are not Syrians, they are murdering our people'

And we have been arming them. We used them in Libya and now are using them in Syria. And Libya is a travesty. These extremists went on murderous rampages in Libya.

And now we are going to protect THEM?

The first reports of the chemical came from people on the ground, through the social media. No one knew if it was true or not. But the people reporting blamed the extremists and that was the consensus until later.

I believe nothing about what is going on in Syria. And certainly nothing from the MSM or from the list of Neocons who are pushing this.

[WatermelonRat]

50. Again, it's much more complicated than that.

I'm well aware that as the uprising dragged on, several Islamist factions cropped up, some domestic, others foreign. What I object to is that the notion that virtually the entire opposition consists of them. If the argument were that you thought that the moderate factions weren't strong enough to come out in control, or that it's too difficult to distinguish between the factions to give them aid, I could respect your opinion, but as it is you're oversimplifying it.

[sabrina 1]

54. Of course it's more complicated than can be written in a comment here. But the US media

doesn't cover these events from beginning to end as other news media around the world does. The fact is IF the Syrian people were supportive of the armed 'rebels' this would have been over at least one year ago.


No country, no matter how much they disagree with their leaders, wants outside, armed forces who discriminately kill and have no national interest in the outcome, in their country. Why are they there? Who is arming them?

Right now, eg, the Kurds are being slaughtered and attacked in their homes by the same 'rebels' we are supporting and about to give air cover to.

That is a whole other aspect of this situation. How will this help the Kurds?

You are correct, and I never said otherwise. It IS way more complicated. But maybe it would not be if the West stopped arming people who have no business being there in the first place. Their interests certainly aren't the Syrian people, and I question what ours are either. We sure didn't help the people of Iraq who also after a short time of our 'humanitarian invasion' even those who opposed him, stated that they wished for the days before the invasion.

[wordpix]

19. complicated mishmash of rebel groups - pres should consult with Congress, UN, everyone before

embarking on a bombing adventure in the ME. He does not need to hear from the "cakewalk" crowd at DOD.

[GliderGuider]

23. That's a zingy little meme you got there, Dennis! nt

[Monk06]

24. Kucinich has a way of cutting through the fog and getting to the heart of the issue. Obama is

giving Islamic fundamentalists 1st world force projection for free. My question is why is the US seemingly trying to physically eliminate all the mid east dictators they have created, supported or tolerated in the last thirty years?

Two of the baddies that fit that description were murdered by fundamentalist mobs with no complaints from the US. Sorta tells you something. Is there a noose in store for Assad before he gets a chance to spill the beans on the US.

Syria and Egypt were preferred locations for renditioning and torturing of AQ suspects after 9/11. Mahar Arar is one famous example. He was detained by the INS in New York and put aboard a CIA renditioning flight to Jordan and handed over to the Syrians. All based on information from the always dim witted RCMP.

Maybe Assad knows a few things that the US would like to keep quite about after Snowden document dumps.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maher_Arar

[Gman]

27. Kucinich needs to just go away. Like Ralph Nader

[HumansAndResources]

37. And Then? Who Would Speak for Real Democrats?

The "Democratic Wing" of the Democratic Party needs spokespersons with principles. You know the types - Anti-War, Pro-Civil Liberties - THOSE Democrats.

If you want Kucinich to "just go away," you are asking for millions of others who see through the "spin and wedge game" to "go away" too. Good luck with that.

[Gman]

46. Real Democrats?

"Real Democrats" are in the eye of the beholder.

[Pterodactyl]

63. Obama speaks for Democrats of course. Democrats overwhelmingly voted for him.

Maybe Obama isn't a real liberal or real progressive or real whatever, but he certainly is a real Democrat.

[CanSocDem]

45. No kidding.

The USA needs to get rid of all their progressive voices. Corporate Amerika is getting uncomfortable.


.

[NealK]

30. K&R

[Amonester]

53. Over-the-top hyperbole.

Not helping.

[treestar]

55. That is not helpful

The question at hand is use of chemical weapons, the Convention against them that we signed, and what we are going to do about it.

[warrant46]

59. Never signed the treaty against CBUs

Which are lethal in a class all by themselves.

US plan to sell cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia draws condemnation...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014575877

The United States has announced to sell controversial cluster munitions worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Saudi Arabia, a move that has drawn condemnation from campaigners and rights groups.


Last week, the US Defense Department gave a contract valued at $641 million to manufacture 1,300 cluster bombs for Saudi Arabia to Textron Defense Systems, a unit of Textron Inc. (TXT.N), according to the Pentagon and Textron.

[Myrina]

60. Putting it that way will make Faux heads explode!!

Dropping bombs on brown people = "good!!"
Al Queda = "bad!!"

War with Al Queda as an ally? "Oh noes!! What should we think? USA USA USA USA USA!!!"


That will just be too complex for them to contemplate.

[bvar22]

61. There he goes again!

Dennis Kucinich, that arrogant, Pualite, narcissistic troll
..telling the TRUTH again.

How DARE HE!!
Looks like getting him re-districted wasn't enough.
We need to be rid of that Truth Teller.

[brooklynite]

65. Well, if KUCINICH says it's wrong.....

...it must be the right thing to do.