Meet the New War, Same As The Old War...

Syria.

It’s a far-off land, not only geographically but also in the minds of most Americans.

Wrapping my brain around the exact reasons why were there and why we’re trying to overthrow Assad has been quite the challenge, largely because I don’t know who or what to believe.   Believe T-Rump?  Really - given his track record of lying (thousands of recorded, provable lies since he took office, and yes, there are people and entities checking this stuff).   Believe our Congress Critters?  Given how bought and paid for most of them are....right.   Believe the American Mainstream Media? Hahahahahah...our media has been one of the most useful tools in manufacturing consent around any kind of government action, and those for-profit concerns are either owned  or have board members from (or both) the Military Industrial Complex.   Between this and the “war” on “fake news” - it seems like everything has to be taken with greater quantities of seasoning so it will go down more palatably.

Did Assad truly gas his own people or was it all al setup?  Are we truly going there for lily-white-pure humanitarians reasons, or what else is driving the decision making?  Who really gains from all of this and who loses?  We can guess, surmise, or deduce anything from what we know - but there’s still a whole lot of wiggle room.

But what do we know?   First, there are two key oil pipelines which run through Syria.   Second, Syria is a geographic neighbor to Israel, and has openly criticized the Israeli Government’s policies toward the Palestinian people and settlements.      Third, Syria is one of very view countries who has a central bank not controlled by the infamous Rothschild family.   Fourth, Syria has its own large petroleum reserves.   Fifth, Syria has banned GMO agriculture.    These facts do not sit well with those behind the scenes - the big bankers and corporations.  Also, the Democratic Party’s official bogeyman - Vladimir Putin - support Syria.   In short - Syria possesses strategic resources, can control the flow of said resources, and thinks and does things for itself.    To me, the response to all of this adds up to the “Disaster Capitalism” described by Naomi Klein in her seminal work The Shock Doctrine, as well as John Perkins’ writings, such as Confessions Of An Economic Hitman.  It also smacks of a proxy war - with Russia being played by Syria, and the US being played by Israel, France, Britain, and...the US.   Shades of Vietnam.  

Doubt abounds.   And where doubt abounds, decisions will always carry the taint of ulterior motives and untruth.   To put simply:  The T-Rump Administration has not made the case to send bombs, troops, and war materiel, to Syria for humanitarian reasons.   The Congress Critters squalling about escalations (such as Lindsey Graham), as well as dilettantes like former governor (and current Health Care industry shill) Howard Dean, have not made the case.   The Media has certainly not made the case for military action - and of all people, Tucker Carlson (yes, the bow tie boy) pointed this out in a recent commentary.    We live in a different era now, one where the citizens are far more aware of terms like “Disaster Capitalism”, and the use of human suffering to push economic and political agendas, because people like Naomi Klein and John Perkins helped make them more aware.

I will hereby go on record as saying:  I do not support the actions being taken by the Trump Administration in regards to Syria.   These actions can literally escalate to Worldl War Three, or a nuclear holocaust (or both).   Those that will pay the heaviest price for enforcement of these policies will be those young people, serving now or to serve later, in our Armed Forces - almost none of them coming from any kind of privilege or wealth.  In other words, the poor and working classes are fighting and dying in wars that rich people send them to - once again.   The only winners will be the same cabal as in Vietnam, or Desert Storm, or any of our other military adventures:  the military-industrial complex Eisenhower warned us about.    Lots of profits will be made and dividend checks sent to the owners of these involved companies (who play both sides of this conflict, a game that goes back centuries).

I’m sure there will be much more to this story as it unfolds in the coming weeks and months.   But we have to speak up - NOW.   And we have to recreate the anti-war movement.   NOW.  

Targets

In the two months since the Florida school shooting, and the remarkable show of leadership being shown by the surviving students of that shooting, the way that many in the media have treated these students has been, to say the least, mesmerizing.  “Who are these kids? Why do they have the audacity to take on the National Rifle Association, who has so many politicians in its back pocket that they may as well be a fifth branch of government?  Who do THEY think they are? Aren’t they out of their lane?  How dare they?” - these are among the questions raised. 

The NRA and their pawns have run into an unusual level of resistance to their usual methods of pushing back against criticism, which involve personal attacks against their critics, threats (including death) against the same, and other sordid methods.   These are not your “usual” band of grieving parents - they are the kids themselves, and these tactics against kids is frowned upon (to say the least) in this society.   Not that they don’t try - there are memes going around about David Hogg being “fake”, that he wasn’t really there during the shooting and lied about it, that Emma Gonzalez is a professional actress, that they are all “crisis actors”, etc. etc. etc.   I would expect this kind of tar-and-feather job to come from the NRA’s minions, but I’m finding it surprising that it’s also coming from the further elements of the left.  I’ll get to the left’s over-the-shark moment shortly.

While I have seen a few pictures of people holding signs saying “Yes, We Are Here To Take Your Guns”, and other memes of the sort, I don’t think that taking all guns is the goal here - as much as the NRA would want us to believe otherwise.  What is being demanded here is much of the same thing that has been demanded for decades: outlawing military-style assault weapons, universal background checks, age limits - in other words, REGULATION.   AR-15s, Tech 9s, AK-47s, and other assault weapons have no business on the streets, and neither do they have any business in the hands of civilians or most cops (save for SWAT teams).   In some countries where you do see them (e.g. Switzerland - an example the NRA likes to trot out), it is only because those weapons are highly regulated and because the citizens of such countries also serve as the “well-regulated militia”, to quote the first part of the Second Amendment.   

What about the left buying into the media’s pillorying of the student leaders?  In segments of the far left, there is a common belief (which holds some merit) that the government no longer represents the citizens, that the government is currently in the final stages of metamorphosis into a corporate fascist regime, that the only check we’ll have against the government is to be armed, with few limits to access to whatever weapon you choose.   And voting? Votes don’t count when the machines and the means of voting are owned by private interests with vested interests in certain outcomes.  So, these factions within the left largely bought the NRA’s primary calling card insofar as weapons access.  

Let’s cut right to the chase: everything we’re hearing about the individual students and whether or not they are genuine (I believe they are), everything that we’re hearing about them being “pawns” of their parents or elements such as the Democratic Party, the monetary support behind the March For Our Lives, etc. etc. etc., are mere DISTRACTIONS from the main point: that military-style assault weapons HAVE NO PLACE ON OUR STREETS, OR IN THE HANDS OF THOSE NOT TRAINED TO USE THEM.  I include civilians and beat cops (non-SWAT) in this prohibition.  I have no problem with hunters using firearms designed for that purpose, and if you need a firearm for personal protection in your home and can demonstrate that you know how to and when to use it (and when NOT to use it), then I’m OK with that.   Licensing should also not be a problem for those who say they are truly sincere about gun safety - we license people to drive after they demonstrate proficiency behind the wheel, and as we all know, a car or truck can be as deadly as a firearm in terms of the lives they take on our roads.   Military-style assault weapons only belong in the hands of two entities: the MILITARY, and the specially-trained members of our SWAT and other police tactical teams.  

As for those who talk about how civilian firearms serve as a check against government tyranny: any kind of arsenal you think you can build up will be CRUSHED LIKE A BUG when put up against the equipment and training of our armed forces.   A lot of the right-wing militia groups we’ve heard about in the Pacific Northwest and Upper Midwest subscribe to the idea of civilian armaments being a check on government power - a notion that in a dark way, makes me laugh.  I would never condone violence against anybody or anything unless I, my family, or the country was directly attacked. However, if one these groups decided to try it, it wouldn’t take a phalanx of soldiers to take them out.   A small special forces unit could handle it - stealthily, quickly, and probably without much (if any) resistance.

So I’m not asking for any kind of outright firearms ban, and I don’t think the majority of the country is, either.  We’re asking for SANE, COMMON-SENSE FIREARM REGULATION - regulation which is, by the way, NOT PROHIBITED BY THE SECOND AMENDMENT, which can be proven by the Brady Bill surviving most of it’s constitutional challenges brought by the NRA.  

We should have solved this issue decades ago - before the Columbine Massacre, before Sandy Hook, before the Pulse nightclub, and certainly, before Stoneman Douglas.   I absolutely APPLAUD the students leading this push, and it’s only right they do since it is they who are targeted - they have more skin in this game than anybody else.   Let them speak out.  Let them get out front.  

And let us have their backs.