Torpedoing a Syrian-led Peace

Dissident Voice

by Ben Schreiner

Earlier this week, the Syrian government accepted the peace plan proposed by United Nations special envoy Kofi Annan.  Mr. Annan called the development “an important initial step that could bring an end to the violence and the bloodshed.”

Advanced Preparations of U.S.-Israel War Against Iran

Global Research

by Ben Schreiner

Following the highly scrutinized meeting between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month in Washington, consensus held that Obama had managed to secure assurances from the war-hungry Netanyahu that Israel would delay a military strike against Iran till 2013.  That is, till after the November U.S. presidential election.

'The Times' and the Human-Rights Abuses of the Syrian Oppposition

NYTimes eXaminer
by Ben Schreiner

In a public letter sent on Tuesday to the Syrian National Council and other Syrian opposition groups, Human Rights Watch expressed its concern over “serious human-rights abuses” committed by armed opposition groups operating within Syria.  These abuses, the letter went on to note, “include kidnapping, detention, and torture of security force members, government supporters [i.e. civilians], and people identified as members of pro-government militias, called shabeeha.”

Subjects of Empire: U.S. Public Opinion on Syria

Global Research

by Ben Schreiner

 

The American public remains firmly opposed to U.S. military intervention into Syria, according to a Pew Research Center poll released on Thursday.

The AFL-CIO Endorses Obama: Age-Old Racket Continues

Dissident Voice

by Ben Schreiner

On Tuesday, the AFL-CIO General Board voted "proudly and enthusiastically" to endorse President Obama for a second term.  Of course, the board also still vowed to run an "independent program rooted not in parties or candidates but in helping working people build power."  But such claims aside, the bottom line remains that the nation’s largest labor federation has once again pledged to throw its weight behind a Democratic "friend" proven to be incapable and unwilling to deliver on the labor agenda. 

The Horror of Afghanistan

Read my response to the latest New York Times editorial regarding Afghanistan at NYTimes eXaminer.

Marching Toward Syria with Eyes Cast Towards Iran

Dissident Voice/Global Research

by Ben Schreiner

While all the incessant warmongering directed toward Iran at the annual AIPAC policy conference in Washington was grabbing the headlines, the momentum for Western intervention into Syria continued to steadily build.  All those neo-con "real men," it appears, just might prefer to go to Tehran via Damascus.

'The Times' and The Flawed Iran Debate

Read my response to the latest New York Times editorial regarding Iran at NYTimes eXaminer.