Michel Onfray: French Joined the Americans in War on Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Mali…Reap As Ye Sow…

Michel Onfray : « La France doit cesser sa politique islamophobe » Point: After the announcement of the attacks of November 13, you wrote on twitter: “It was the [Western] Right and Left  who sowed the war against political Islam and we are now reaping blowback from that war against political Islam. “Do not you feel like you …

Chuck Spinney: Syria as Root for WWIII UPDATE Mike Whitney on Putin Winning

A General Summing Up of the West’s March to Folly in Syria EXTRACT These early failures by the German and American leaderships led to ever more costly missteps and a loss of purpose as the respective leaders ‘dug in’ to defend their mistakes.  To make matters worse, some domestic interests — e.g., the Krupp in …

Chuck Spinney: ISIS Gains — Time for US to Support Assad?

Below is a very important report by Patrick Cockburn on the deteriorating situation in Syria with regard to (1) the terrible refugee crisis that may be on the verge of getting much worse, because ISIS forces are positioning themselves to cut the only major road connecting Damascus to government-held territory in north and northwest; and …

Chuck Spinney: Gary Leupp on Washington’s Ignorance About the Sunni-Shia Divide — PLUS Sunni-Shia Graphic and ISIS RECAP

ISIS and Washington’s Ignorance About the Sunni-Shia Divide “Most Americans Don’t Have a Clue” by GARY LEUPP Counterpunch, SEPTEMBER 15, 2014 EXTRACTS Patrick Cockburn reports that Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador to Washington (1983-2005), once told  M16 head Sir Richard Dearlove: “The time is not far off in the Middle East, Richard, when …

Berto Jongman: Iraq, Syria, Libya, UK – Intelligence failures all

Iraq, Syria, Libya, UK – Intelligence failures all • Lack of intelligence as well as Intelligence • Intelligence begins at home, but should be deployed away Given the resources available to US – and British – intelligence agencies, it seems strange that the attraction, influence, finance, and military strength, of the extremist group which calls …

Berto Jongman: General Allen Calls for War — Was Foley Executed with White House Approval Precisely to Justify War?

Being read in Europe. Gen. Allen: Destroy the Islamic State Now The brutal murder of the brave American journalist James Foley is meant to directly terrorize the world’s media, the international community, and the United States. If all the actions of the Islamic State, or IS, to date weren’t sufficiently reprehensible, this act and the potential …