Last year, lots of powerful groups tried to get a war going in Syria. It seemed to me that the necessary ground work hadn’t been done and that they might not be able to pull it off. Thankfully, that’s how it happened.
And by “necessary ground work,” I’m not referring to the military operators the US government had in Syria for a year or two prior; I’m talking about making the American populace eager for a new war. That’s a crucial and often ignored factor.
What has been catching my eye the past week or so is a new series of efforts to stir up war fever in the US, and I’d like to give them some coverage. Since the mainstream ‘news’ in the US has become almost completely trivialized and neutered, I think it’s important for the rest of us to fill the gap as best we can.
First Points
Before I get to what I see as the new war propaganda, I want to point out what all the ‘respectable’ voices are ignoring:
This leaked recording (embedded in video) is from February 6 – before the deposing of the Ukrainian boss that started the current mess. In it, you’ll hear US State Department officials deciding who should be the new boss of the country, once they’ve had their way. This is clear, uncontested proof that it was the State Department who got things going in the Ukraine. Whatever we think of Putin, it must be acknowledged that these guys stirred it up.
This leaked recording (embedded in video) features an Estonian foreign minister talking to an EU official. In it, he says that the snipers who were said to be killing on Putin’s orders were actually working for the people the US was putting into power.
This video contains conversations of high Turkish officials planning a fake attack to start a war with Syria.
Leaked documents have shown that the Saudis are pushing very hard for a war in Syria (intended, presumably, to weaken Iran). They go so far as to tell Putin that they control terrorist groups, including those who could attack in both Russia and in Syria. (Think about that!) Here’s a direct quote from what they said to Putin:
The Chechen groups that threaten the security of the [Olympic] games are controlled by us, and they will not move in the Syrian territory’s direction without coordinating with us.
Any coverage of Ukraine or Syria that ignores these facts disgraces itself.
The New Message
The new message I’ve been seeing lately is this:
Obama is screwing up and making us look like wimps! We need to be powerful, not wimps!
What that actually means is, “We should confront Putin and show him who’s tough! We’re still the biggest badass!” That kind of emotion, of course, leads toward war.
Along with this emotionalism travels a peculiar fear found in empires: If we don’t rule the world, everything will break down into death and darkness. The Brits believed this not too long ago, as did many others, going back to the Romans and beyond.
Here are a few passages from mainstream media that have caught my eye:
“The collapse of the Pax Americana under Obama has freed up Russia and China to begin their campaigns of territorial expansionism.”
“Instead of a post-American world ushering in a stable multilateral order, it will revert back to a chaotic Lord of the Flies situation.”
“Russia has taken over Crimea and threatens further aggression. Now is the time to act…”
“Putin has given speeches almost identical to Hitler’s 1938 Berlin address.”
“Fear That Obama Will Let Russia Seize Control Of Internet.”
To this I’ll add one more thing: Millions of people currently believe that Russian troops have invaded the Crimea, which is completely false.
Honestly, I’m not sure that this will work. However hungry the military-industrial complex may be, Joe and Jane Average are just not eager for another war. And I think Putin’s smart enough to withhold any Pearl Harbor-like attacks.
Even a big terrorist attack might only prove that the intel state has failed again. I’m not sure that people can maintain an endless blind faith in Jack Bauer; at some point, they will say, “That was only a TV show.”
