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

Friday, February 12, 2016

The US “Plan B” for Syria and the threat of world war

Click here to access article by Bill Van Auken from World Socialist Web Site
Late Friday night, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that they had reached a tentative deal that would see a ceasefire “within a week” along with expedited humanitarian aid. Kerry allowed that while the agreement looked good “on paper,” it was yet to be tested. All of the underlying conflicts remain unresolved, and both US and Russian military operations are to continue in the name of the struggle against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

On the eve of the Munich talks, Kerry, in an interview with Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, delivered an unmistakable threat in connection with the US negotiating strategy in Munich: “What we’re doing is testing [Russian and Iranian] seriousness.” he said. “And if they’re not serious, then there has to be consideration of a Plan B… You can’t just sit there.”
The author outlines the various "Plan B" proposals discussed by those trying to topple the Assad government, and it's clear that they pose a threat of a world war among nations armed with nuclear weapons! This may be an idle threat, but such threats can escalate into real actions when so many sociopathic war criminals are involved, and when the latter have long committed themselves to the hegemony of the capitalist rule of the Empire.

Also on topic is this article entitled "On Shaky Ground: Will Washington Give Blessing to Saudi Invasion of Syria?" posted on Sputnik

Also in an article entitled "A Comedy of Terrors" Bernie Sanders, the great liberal hope for those that constitute much of the left in the US, reportedly said in statements broadcast over CNN that he thinks Saudi Arabia should invade Syria.