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.

The Economic Crisis and Iran: Regenerating Global Capitalism

CounterPunch

by Ben Schreiner

On February 21, to great media fanfare, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surpassed the 13,000 mark for the first time since the 2008 collapse.  Appearing on NBC’s Today Show the following morning, Jim “Bear Sterns is not in trouble” Cramer jubilantly prophesied “the future is better than the past.”  A more ominous indication of lurking economic peril is perhaps difficult to imagine.

Manufactured Disgust and Imperial Cynicism

Dissident Voice/Global Research

by Ben Schreiner

Since failing to win United Nations Security Council backing for “regime change” in Syria, Washington and its lackeys in the corporate media have been unrelenting in voicing their great moral outrage at both the violence of the Assad regime and the seeming indifference to it all by the likes of Russia and China.  Washington is no doubt long in forgetting those that thwart the will of the “international community.”  After all, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated, the “travesty” of the Russian and Chinese veto left the entire Security Council “neutered.” 

Do The Iran Shuffle

Read my article, "Do The Iran Shuffle," in Asia Times Online.

Furnishing War With Iran at Any Cost

Dissident Voice
by Ben Schreiner

It took all of one hour after simultaneous attacks targeted Israeli diplomats on Monday in New Delhi and Tbilisi, Georgia for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to conclude his investigation.  As Netanyahu thundered with typical bravado: “Iran is behind these attacks.  It is the biggest exporter of terror in the world.”

War Propaganda's Triumph: U.S. Public Opinion on Iran

Global Research

by Ben Schreiner

 

A recent series of polls gauging U.S. public opinion on Iran and its nuclear program shed light on the enduring strength of the American propaganda machine.

Targeting Iran on a Syrian Battlefield

Read my article, "Targeting Iran on a Syrian Battlefield," in MR Zine.

US Thwarted at the UN: Imperial Ambitions Persevere

Dissident Voice
by Ben Schreiner

To Washington’s great chagrin, the attempt to impose “regime change” in Syria under the auspices of a United Nations Security Council resolution fell apart Saturday, thwarted by the double veto of Russia and China.