We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Pentagon plans US-backed war against Syria

Click here to access article by Chris Marsden from World Socialist Web Site. 

This source provides a more realistic evaluation of the recently disclosed Pentagon plan for Syria than what we find in other mainstream sources such as The Guardian which downplays its significance by referring to the plan as only one among "a range of US actions". 

I was sure that the Empire would not let the lack of UN support to deter them, just as they managed to make war on Iraq without UN approval.

I see the planned aggression against Syria as a desperate and dangerous gamble being played by the Empire's ruling class. By "winning" they expect to deflect attention away from serious domestic problems and a major step in destabilizing Iran in order to consolidate its control of the Mid-East and its resources. But the downside is that they would mobilize all people on the anti-Empire side who are very concerned about the Empire's growing domination of the world, their neo-liberal policies, and their police state style methods. I think we are approaching a major pivotal event that will to a great extent determine future events for humanity.