At the same time, Russia is dispatching its own war ships to the region while its Intelligence service is offering counter-evidence that the so-called "rebels," not the government, are to blame. Russia's Putin is increasingly denouncing Obama's stated intent to lob cruise missiles on to Syrian targets and demanding that he submit what evidence he has to the UN.
National
Public Radio's Greg Myre went back to examine earlier attacks of the type being
consided to "punish" U.S. adversaries and enemies, claims they were largely
unsuccessful, and fears they may lead to
counter-attacks.
He writes, "The Obama administration and several before it have seen limited attacks as a way to send a tough message without drawing the U.S. into a larger conflict.
Critics also fear that the Obama Administration will not let "the facts get in the way" of its decision to attack Syria. This war is supposedly modeled on the the earlier US attack on Kosovo. Most news accounts don't remind readers that that went on for 78 days although this one is being sold as quick, surgical and not aimed at regime change.
They also don't note that in 2013, according to the Institue of Public Accuracy, the House of Representatives, by a vote of 213 to 213, failed to give the President the constitutionally required authorization he needed to carry on the air war against Yugoslavia.
Today, Obama's promise of bombing for peace--to uphold his "red line," a phrase with origins in Israeli propaganda--rings hollow to many, while most experts (mostly from center and right think tanks) quoted in "mainstream" news papers say Obama's threatened display of limited military muscle can not alter the conflict, and certainly not resolve it.
This press analysis itself has lacked balance and diversity because critics on the anti-war left are seldom quoted. It
These
issues may be urgent, but in late summer, with newsrooms downsized for vacations,
and the public soaking up the last rays of summer or watching the U.S. Open
tennis champioships, the troubling issues of a new war have only barely
registered, even as a majority of the
public who are following the coverage of the build-up to war are 'agin, it while,
true to form, a a majority of the pundits seem to be cheering it on.
New Dissector Danny Schechter blogs at newsdissector.net and edits Mediachannel.org. Comments to Email address removed
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