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

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Saudis Push Washington Revolt Against Obama on Syria

Click here to access article by Finian Cunningham from Strategic Culture Foundation.

I recently mentioned that I don't like to indulge in speculations about recent events, but there are major exceptions. I really do think it is important, even critically important, to speculate with reason and evidence about future major geopolitical actions of the "deep state". Because the deep state functions in secret in the various ruling class "think tanks" (the Council on Foreign Relations, Brookings Institution, etc.) and secret agencies (CIA, NSA, etc.), we have no choice but to intelligently speculate on what this governing class directorate is going to do so that we can effectively respond. 

We can only do this by examining the overt clues that corporate media supplies us with. I recently made an attempt to do this by considering two events that have received considerable coverage in corporate media: vigorous opposition to Donald Trump and the recent deliberate leak of State Department staff who advocate more aggressive actions against Syria. Cunningham focuses on the latter and the key role that Saudi Arabia has nefariously played in supporting the policies and actions of the US-led Empire's directorate. He makes a compelling case that the US ruling class directorate are likely to use a military effort to solve the Syrian crisis in the near future, probably under the next administration.  This, of course, will put the US on a dangerous collision course with Russia.
Washington’s dissent on Syria is thus a signal for ramped-up war. It may be put on hold for a few months, but it seems almost certain that a wider war is being prepared. And that’s largely because US regime change objectives in Syria have been thwarted up to now. Failure begets petulance.