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

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

More Mideast Madness as Trump Prepares to March

Click here to access article by Eric Margolis from his blog. 

This is one of the most accurate general reports of the confusing wars engaged in by Empire forces that I have seen for several weeks.
We are now moving rapidly into stage II of Levantine Madness as the US boosts its intervention in the war-torn Mideast.

Five thousand US troops are back in Iraq to bolster the shattered nation’s puppet regime that is propped up by American bayonets. New Iraqi military formations have been formed, totally equipped with modern US M1 Abrams tanks, Humvees, and fleets of trucks. More US forces are on the way.

These US-financed Iraqi units are euphemistically called ‘anti-terrorism forces’ and are supervised by US officers.
For a more detailed report of the chess-like game being played by the Syrian Army, Turkish forces, Russian forces, US forces, and the Syrian Kurds, I recommend this piece entitled "Turkey Risks Isolation as it Approaches Manjib" by Salman Rafi Sheikh. You will learn that all of these players have separate interests. How all these "players" manage this complicated game is a mystery to me.

And if you can stand any more confusing analysis of this chess game, I recommend Martin Berger's take on the situation. He differs a bit from Sheikh in that he sees that the US is essentially trying to cut Russia out of the game. My head hurts!