Obama's Way: Peace a Convenient Illusion

Obama's World: Peace a Convenient Illusion

by Stephen Lendman

Peace and stability defeat Obama's agenda. Violence, instability and permanent wars further it. They persist nonstop.

New wars follow earlier ones. Some never end. Afghanistan is America's longest war. It's continued longer than WW I and II combined.

It shows no signs of ending. It could last another decade or longer. Wherever America shows up, mass killing and destruction follow. Occupations are permanent.

America's empire of bases supports them. They're in 150 or more countries. Secret ones add to known numbers. They reflect neocolonialism writ large.

During WW II, Brits complained. They said US forces were "overpaid, overfed, oversexed, and over here." They called them America's "occupation."

It footprint remains. It's belligerent. US bases are global platforms for war. Americans believe common myths. They think foreign bases further peace.

They believe host country populations benefit. They think they welcome America's presence. They believe the US military's the world's most civilized.

America's tortured past reflects otherwise. Native Americans endured mass slaughter, starvation, neglect, and death by exposure to smallpox, influenza, typhus, cholera, plague and other diseases.

In his book, "War Without Mercy," John Dower documented US atrocities. They matched Japan's worst. He said:

American forces "mutilat(ed) Japanese war dead for souvenirs." They attack(ed) and (sank) hospital ships."

"They 'sho(t) sailers who had abandoned ship and pilots who had bailed out."

"They kill(ed) wounded soldiers on the battlefield."

They "tortur(ed) and execut(ed) prisoners." They buried combatants alive. They considered Asians subhuman.

Doing so justified some of the worst forms of barbarism. They repeat in all US wars.

Muslims are today's target of choice. They're dehumanized. They're demonized. They're vilified.

They're considered dangerous gun-toting terrorists. US forces are taught to hate. Training creates groupthink. Chants shout "kill."

Raghead and sand nigger racial epithets accentuate it. Young minds are manipulated. Doing so violates lawful rules of engagement (ROE).

Vilifying enemies isn't new. It's done at the highest levels of government. Media scoundrels regurgitate official policies.

Doing so tries to overcome moral obstacles. Mass slaughter's called "collateral damage."

Pain, suffering and death images are suppressed. Rhetoric softens horrific acts. "Sincere regrets" conceal targeted killings.

Lawless aggression's called responsibility to protect (R2P). Imperial wars are called liberating ones. Free fire zones become "humanitarian bombing."

Scorched earth ruthlessness is called "low-intensity conflict." Orwellian language facilitates warmaking.

War is called peace. Mass slaughter and destruction become normal. Ugly truths are hidden.

Entire communities are destroyed to save them. Indoctrination trains soldiers to be killing machines. They taught to do it by rote.

Martin Luther King, Jr. pulled no punches calling America the "greatest purveyor of violence in the world."

Perhaps he had Obama in mind. He prioritizes lawless aggression. He spurns peaceful conflict resolution. He's waging multiple direct and proxy wars.

He's spending record amounts doing so. At the same time, vital homeland needs go begging. Former White House chief of staff/current Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel calls it being "being cold-blooded about the self-interests of your nation."

It doesn't matter how much death, destruction and human misery follow. They're small prices to pay. Imperial priorities alone matter.

Obama glorifies war. He deplores peace. Terror bombings are called humanitarian intervention. So-called limited attacks cause enormous amounts of death and destruction.

The navy calls the Tomahawk a "long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile." They're armed with destructive warheads.

They range from 1,000 pound ones to deep-penetrating bunker-busting power. They can be conventionally or nuclear armed. They slaughter and destroy with cruise missile ease.

They're tipped with depleted uranium. They're dirty bombs. They  irradiate targets struck. Wind and water spread radiation over vast areas.

Epidemic levels of cancer, other diseases, birth defects and permanent disability follow. Future generations suffer. Obama bears full responsibility. He's proliferating horrific levels of death, destruction, pain, suffering and human misery.

He's insatiable. He plans more. He invents pretexts to do so. He claims a divine right to intervene. He does so "when our interests and values are at stake," he says.

He's committing some of the world's greatest crimes. He doesn't give a damn about anything humanitarian. His marching orders are kill, kill, kill. Ravage and destroy. Do it unapologetically.

Do it because he says so. Do it to support America's imperium. Do it based on lies.

On August 29, AP headlined "Intelligence on weapons no 'slam dunk,' " saying:

Questions remain. It's uncertain "who actually controls some of Syria's chemical weapons stores and doubts about whether Assad himself ordered the" August 21 Ghouta attack, "US intelligence officials say."

Obama "unequivocally" claims otherwise. He lied saying so. No evidence links Syrian forces to multiple chemical attacks throughout months of conflict. Plenty puts blame where it belongs. It's suppressed to point fingers the wrong way.

According to AP:

"A report by the Office of the Director for National Intelligence outlining that evidence against Syria includes a few key caveats - including acknowledging that the US intelligence community no longer has the certainty it did six months ago of where the regime's chemical weapons are stored, nor does it have proof Assad ordered chemical weapons use."

One unnamed senior US official blames him anyway. At the same time, "(he or she) concede(s) there is no proof listed in the report tying (him) personally to ordering" the Ghouta attack.

"(T)here was no mention in the report of the possibility that a rogue element could have been responsible."

"All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the intelligence report publicly."

On Thursday, relevant congressional committees were briefed. They heard evidence the report revealed. It muddies the waters.

It complicates things for Obama. It shows he lied. It put a lie to what John Kerry and Joe Biden said. At issue now is whether Congress will hold their feet to the fire. They haven't so far.

There's no reason to think this time's different. Congress alone can declare war. It hasn't done so since December 8, 1941. They abdicated to presidential authority. They did so lawlessly.

"The CIA, the Pentagon and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment, and the White House did not respond to requests for comment," said AP.

Obama calls America the "indispensable nation." Others did before him. Madeleine Albright was one.

She once told then Joint Chiefs Chairman Colin Powell:

"What's the point of having this superb military that you're always talking about if we can't use it?

She told 60 Minutes that killing half a million Iraqi children was a small price to pay.

Waging war on humanity shows Obama feels the same way. American interests alone matter. Ravaging one country after another furthers them.

Mass killing and destruction are small prices to pay. It's longstanding US policy. It's Obama's way. Don't expect him to explain.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen [at] sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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