At the Precipice of War? U.S. Military Build-Up Accelerates in the Persian Gulf

CounterPunch/Dissident Voice/Global Research
by Ben Schreiner

The familiar menace of U.S. war drums have resumed at a fevered pitch, as Iran finds itself once again firmly within the Pentagon’s cross hairs.

Al-Qaeda in Syria: Pretext for Intervention

Global Research

by Ben Schreiner 

Twin blasts targeting government security buildings rocked the northern Syrian city of Idlib on Monday, killing at least nine and wounding a hundred more, according to Syrian state TV.  The attack followed a suicide bombing on Friday in the capital city of Damascus, which saw an additional nine killed. 

The Assorted Lies and Limits of Syria's Imperial 'Friends'

Global Research

by Ben Schreiner

Despite proclaiming support for the six-point Syrian peace initiative proposed by joint United Nations-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan, the N.A.T.O.-G.C.C. alliance continues its effort to unravel the plan at every turn.  And in doing so, the lies and ultimate limits of this imperial alliance become further unmasked.

Punishing Cuba 50 Years On: Caught in a Cold War Time Warp

Common Dreams/CounterPunch/Dissident Voice

by Ben Schreiner

With the media happily fixated on the sex scandal swirling around the U.S. Secret Service, the Sixth Summit of the Americas held in Cartagena, Colombia over the weekend was left to collapse with little notice.  The inability of the some 30 heads of American states to even issue a final declaration on Sunday derived primarily from the growing regional frustration with U.S. Cuban policy.

Foiling Peace: The Imperial 'Friends' of Syria

Dissident Voice/Global Research

by Ben Schreiner

As the proposed April 10 Syrian ceasefire goes up in smoke, so, too, does the hope for a Syrian-led political process to resolve the crisis.

Union Busting Bread? Anti-Union Firings Sweep Dave's Killer Bread

CounterPunch

by Ben Schreiner

If you live here in the Pacific Northwest, chances are that you’ve tried Dave’s Killer Bread, a popular brand of organic wholegrain breads.  The unique story behind the bread is also well known in these parts.  For printed on each bread bag is the personal saga of founder Dave Dahl.  And Dave, we learn from each loaf, is no less than a former con who after spending 15 years in the clink, transformed his life, returned to the family bread business, and was born again as the baker behind Dave’s Killer Bread.

Iran Stirring Violence on the Pages of the NYT

NYTimes eXaminer

by Ben Schreiner

As the speculation continues to mount over whether or not Israel will come to strike Iran, the purveyors of U.S. propaganda hurriedly work to churn out story upon story assessing the potential fallout.  Just imagine the sheer terror, the stenographers of the powerful repeat ad nauseum, that those crazed mullahs of Iran will unleash. 

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.