Congress and Veterans

Dona: This is a Congress and Veterans discussion and we had e-mails asking if we planned on doing another since we went several weeks without doing one.  We had a fiction edition which wouldn't allow it and we had other things.  We'd hoped to do one last week it didn't happen.  We hope they'll be others before the end of the year but that will depend on whether there are  hearings of the Veterans Committees after they come back form break and after the November election.  Our e-mail address is thirdestatesundayreview@yahoo.com.  I'm moderating this dicussion with The Third Estate Sunday Review's Ava, C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,  Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills), Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz,  and Wally of The Daily Jot.  I want to start with Kat and "Camp Lejeune (justice finally)" which she wrote last week.  What's going on there?

Kat: From 1957 to 1987, hundreds of service members and their families were exposed to toxic and harmful water at Camp Lejeune. It is believed that one million people were exposed, at least one million people.  Some live with problems as a result.  Others, like Jerry Ensminger, died as a result.  She developed leukemia because of her exposure and she died at nine years old.  Her father, retired Master Sgt Jerry Ensminger was among those working all these years to get justice.   Monday, the  Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012 was signed into law.  Within the Senate, Senator Richard Burr, Ranking Member on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, has championed the need for justice for these victims for some time.  In his statement, Burr thanked Jerry Ensminger and Mike Partain specifically in the statement he issued along with "all of the advocates who fought tirelessly to expose this issue and right the wrongs that were done this group of Americans."

Dona: Thank you, Kat.  Who is Mike Partain?  I wondered that as I read over Kat's entry.   This is C.I. from the October 8, 2009 snapshot when Partain appeared before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee:
 

Michael Partain's parents were stationed at Camp Lejeune.  His mother became pregnant there, he was born on base.  Camp Lejeune residents "were exposed to high levels of tetrachloroethylene (PCE), trichloroethylene (TC), dichloroethylene (DCE), benzene and vinyl chloride in the tap water provided to my family by the Marine Corps."  In his testimony, Partain discussed the song-and-dance and outright lies between 1981 through November December 198 and, "The misrepresentation did not end with the public and the media, it extended to the EPA. On November 1, 1985, there was a meeting at Camp Lejeune between base officials and EPA representatives.  During this meeting, base officials including Robert Alexander, told the EPA that the contamination had not reached the distribution plants.  Three years later, another base official, Assistant Chief of Staff Facilities, Col Thomas J. Dalzell was quoted in the media that prior to 1983: 'At that time, we were not aware of any of these particular compounds that might have been in the ground water and we have no information that anyone's health was in any danger at that time'."  Again, among the many health problems that Michael Partain faced as a result of his exposure to these chemicals was breast cancer.

Dona (Con't): So recognition has been long overdue and we join Kat in applauding Senator Richard Burr's long leadership on this issue.  Now I'm moving on to the joint hearing of the House Armed Services and Veterans Committee which C.I. reported on with  "Iraq snapshot"  and "Iraq snapshot" and Ava reported on with  "The joint Armed Service and House Veterans hearing (Ava)."  I think House Veterans Affairs Committee Chair Jeff Miller summed up the hearing best by noting, "in 1961 John F. Kennedy said we'd put a man on the moon, eight years later, we were there.  We're talking about an integrated electronic health records by 2017.  Why could we put a man on the moon in eight years and we're not starting from ground zero on the electronic health record -- why is it taking so long?" Why is it taking so long, Ava and C.I.?  You were at the hearings, you've been at hearings for, what, six years, on this topic?

Ava:  Because every VA employee lies on this issue.  That's my opinion.  The people who testify only testify for X number of years.  They retire and the problem remains.  This is ridiculous.  It's all so damn sick.  I cannot imagine, for example, that you were UCLA and your admissions computer system didn't work properly and you would, each year, pour out money for a solution and, each year, see no slution.  If you were UCLA, you'd be screaming your head off.  But the VA officials don't give a damn.  If they did this would have been taken care of.

Dona: C.I.?

C.I.: I think a lot of Committee members would agree with Ava's opinion.   And certainly, in that hearing, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki was ridiculously bragging about the fact that he and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had 17 months of discussions about what the new systems needs to do.  Not only has Congress already outlined that but the commission headed by Robert Dole and Donna Shalala, the Dole -Shalala Commission, was created to come up with the list of needs and they did come up with it.  Shinseki's bragging about wasting time.  Leon Panetta takes over as DoD Secretary in the summer of 2011, there was no need for 17 months of discussion. You do what you've been assigned.  Instead, they dicked around and veterans suffered.

Dona: I wanted to ask about that.  The way I'm seeing it, if anyone sees it differently say so, you attend the hearings, I don't, when Bush was in the Oval Office, he was supposed to ensure that his Secretary of the VA and his Secretary of Defense were working on this.  And then it became Barack's job when he became President Barack Obama.  So I carry it beyond the two departments.  Anyone feel differently?

Wally: No.  No, I think you're right.  I think Robert Gates was a failure as Secretary of Defense and part of that failure is this right here.  If he was unable to work with Shinseki and with James Peake before Shinseki, if he was unable to work with them he should have gone to Bush and then to Barack.  His failure to do so doesn't impress me.  But, yeah, Dona, the two departments are supposed to be working together on this issue and the person who oversees that officially would be the president.


Dona: Okay.  C.I., you reported on US House Rep. Loretta Sanchez in that hearing.  I found that interesting, could you summarize what her office was doing?

C.I.: Yeah.  Veterans she represents in her California district have contacted her office about a number of issues including that they're ready for surgery and they're scheduled but then they VA informs them that the surgeon didn't show up and the surgeries cancelled.  And this wasn't one time or five times.  This is repeatedly and she wants to know why that is, why the VA keeps scheduling surgeries and doctors aren't showing up.  In addition, once those surgeries are cancelled, it takes Loretta Sanchez's office calling the VA to get the surgeries rescheduled.  The veterans calling on their own are stonewalled and not helped.  Only when the person on the other end knows they're talking to Congresswoman Sanchez's office is the VA able to reschedule.  As she said it shouldn't take her office calling to get surgeries rescheduled.

Dona: Okay and we're still on the VA's failure to deliver on their promises.   July 18th, the House Oversight Committee on National Security, Homeland Defense and Foreign Operations held a hearing.  C.I. reported on it in  "Iraq snapshot" and "Iraq snapshot" and Elaine covered it in "San Francisco to DC to NYC ay-yi-yi."  Elaine, the Chair of the House Oversight Committee itself made an appearance.  Tell us about that. And bring in Allison Hickey.

Elaine: Sure. He declared, "It's unacceptable the federal government is doing nothing but continuing to promise what they promised before."  He was talking about the VA and, goodness knows, that could describe any number of problems with the VA.  He was focused on the claims processing,  So he made a statement about how there was no progress.  Allison Hickey is with the VA and she learned, among other things, that US House Rep. Bob Filner isn't the only member of Congress that will demand answers when she appears.  She thought she could stall and that's especially a problem in the House as Wally, Kat, Ava and C.I. have noted already in these Congress and Veterans roundtables, that's especially a problem in the House where each member is given less time for questioning.  Mainly, she wanted to use May figures in July when figures for June and figures for July thus far were available.  House member Jason Chaffetz and she got into a disagreement where she played dumb about the number he was using but, as C.I. established, Chaffetz was using a current number while she was using an out-of-date one. 

Dona: In the Senate, each members gets a longer amount of time for questioning.  C.I., Elaine talked about Hickey trying to run out the clock and that is a problem that gets noted every time here.  I really think this should be addressed by Congress, these witnesses who try to run out the clock.  I also think the big news from the hearing what was you wrote about several times that week, not just in the snapshots.  What came out of that hearing?


C.I.:  At a time when the entire federal government is allegedly short of funds so the people in this country supposedly have to make do for cuts, the VA has handed out $2.8 million to 245 senior executives.  Jason Chaffetz is actually the Chair of the Subcommittee and he brought up that issue.  Hickey refused to respond.  Oh, she offered words.  They made no sense.  And she attempted to eat up time and finally just took it for the record.

Dona: Meaning that she'd get back to him on that, outside of the session and away from the cameras and reporters.  Elaine, like I do, you read the snapshots so you were familiar with Allison Hickey but this was your first time seeing her testify.  What was your impression?

Elaine: She would benefit from learning to control her emotions in a hearing unless she means to fly off the handle so much in public.  She was loud, she was defensive, it was high drama when Hickey testified.  That may be who she is.  To be honest, I was less bothered by her -- maybe because I expect officials to stonewall Congress -- and more upset with certain Democrats who felt the need to tell you how wonderful Hickey was and how lucky they were to have her before them.  I believe she's a government official.  I believe we pay her salary.  I believe if she is asked to testify before Congress, she gets her ass down to the hearing.  I don't see any need to stroke her ego or sing her praises and I lost a lot of respect for the Democratic Party that some members used their time to praise her.  It was ridiculous.

Dona: Now, I remember C.I. reporting on this, Bob Filner called out a member of his party for doing just that at a hearing.  That was a June hearing.  Who was he calling out?

C.I.: Timothy Walz.

Dona: Right.  And Ava, you were at that hearing too.  What happened?

Ava: Hickey wasn't answering questions.  We were now going into the second round and some idiots -- including Walz -- were defending her and allowing her to defocus.  Walz went into this little sermon that can be summed up as, "You poor dear having to appear before this mean committee."  And Filner told him he didn't need that, that the Committee didn't need that.  That they needed answers and Hickey needed to start answering.  Elaine's point is so true.  There are people I have no respect for.

Dona: We are short on time because we are scrambling for time.  I'm going to wind down with Ava just expanding on that thought.  Ava, go.

Ava: If you're on the veterans committee in the House or Senate, the veterans better be your first priority.  Not who is in the White House.  Steve Buyer, for example, is a GOP-er to the core.  But when he was in Congress and Bush was in the Oval Office, Buyer didn't give a damn.  He didn't sit there and fawn over Bush's officials.  He wanted to know why the hell they weren't able to provide dignity to veterans who were buried in national cemeteries.  A good question.  By contrast, I'm in no mood for Timmy Boy Walz or that stammering idiot Corrinne Brown and her vast wig collection -- all of them bad and ill fitting -- using their time to make excuses for the VA because Barack's in the White House.  And then there's Hank Johnson who truly acts as if he showed up for work stoned.  During this time period, we attended a hearing where Hank Johnson rambled around, losing his thoughts, stopping suddenly, commenting on a noise that no one else heard, saying there it was again, again no one else heard it and just rambling on like he was stoned.  And that was how he chose to 'question' -- he didn't ask one damn question -- Secretary of the VA Eric Shinseki.  He had the VA Secretary before him and couldn't think of a single question.  So he spent his entire time listing Shinseki's resume.  And hearing noises.  It was embarrassing.

Dona: Alright on that note we'll conclude and this has been a rush transcript, but you knew that didn't you?

Video of the week

The campaigns for the Oval Office

 One campaign, freaked out, one got arrested and also makes history tonight, another announced a running mate and a fourth made it onto the ballot in four more states.

Last week ended with the big announcement.  Who would be Mitt Romney's running mate?



That's  Isaiah's latest The World Today Just Nuts "The New VP Candidate" and Romney chose US House Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate.


The Romney-Ryan campaign notes:

U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan is in his seventh term in Congress representing Wisconsin’s First Congressional District. He is Chairman of the House Budget Committee, where he has worked tirelessly leading the effort to rein in federal spending and increase accountability to taxpayers. He also serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, where he has focused on simplifying the tax code and making health care more affordable and accessible.
In January 2010, Ryan gained attention nationwide after unveiling his “Roadmap for America’s Future,” a proposal to eliminate the federal deficit, reform the tax code, and preserve entitlements for future generations.
Representative Ryan was born in Janesville, Wisconsin on January 29, 1970. A fifth-generation Wisconsin native, Ryan was the youngest of four children born to Paul Ryan Sr., who worked as an attorney, and Betty, a stay-at-home mom.
In April 2000, Ryan proposed to Janna Little, a native Oklahoman, at one of his favorite fishing spots, Big St. Germain Lake in Wisconsin. Later that year, the two were married in Oklahoma City.
The Ryans reside in Janesville with their three children, Liza, Charlie and Sam. The family are parishioners at St. John Vianney Catholic Church.
Upon entering Congress in January of 1999, Ryan was the youngest member of the freshmen class at the age of 28. Prior to running for congress, Ryan served as an aide to Republican Senators Robert Kasten Jr. and Sam Brownback, former U.S. Rep. and Vice Presidential Candidate Jack Kemp, and as a speechwriter for Education Secretary William Bennett.
Ryan is a graduate of Joseph A. Craig High School in Janesville and earned degrees in economics and political science from Miami University in Ohio. He is an avid outdoorsman and is a member of his local archery association, the Janesville Bowmen.


Roseanne Barr has the nomination of the Peace and Freedom Party and her running mate is Cindy Sheehan.  Cindy was arrested last week protesting nukes.  Today she calls for an end to Barack Obama's kill list on her radio program.  In something of a first, a presidential candidate gets roasted on TV tonight.  This evening, Comedy Central roasts Roseanne.



 Jill Stein has the Green Party's presidential nomination and her running mate is Cheri Honkala. Last week, they made it onto the ballots in Washington, Wisconsin, Kansas and Maryland.




And there is the Obama-Biden ticket.  Those two set a new record for FULL ON FREAK OUT.  Paul Ryan was announced as the pick yesterday.  This morning Barack's campaign featured Laruen Peterson, Tripp Wellde, David Axelrod, 2 pieces by Mary Hough and one by Jim Messina.  Six attacks on Paul Ryan.

Well, why not?  Isn't that what they did in 2008?  Made it all about the v.p. pick and played bitchy?  Bitchy Barack can do.  They're in panic mode.  How very telling.

Bitchery of the week

Less than 4 hours after GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced Paul Ryan as his running mate, the Barack Obama re-election campaign had a little slogan and photo up.





You can't have good sports when you've got a bitch in the race.  Since Barack entered politics, he's repeatedly set new records for bitchery.  Smear an opponent as a wife beater to win a primary?  He's done it.  He's done it all.

He's been such a little bitch for so many years.

But there's something truly trashy -- not 'rapid response' like -- about the latest attack.

If we were as effete as Barack and had such a problem connecting with so many men in America, we probably would try to lower the volume on our bitchery.  But Barack's got be Barack, right?

Campaign photo of the week

Mitt Romney announced Paul Ryan was his running mate on Saturday.  The two are running on the GOP's presidential ticket.

Military and Community Partnerships (Senator Murray)

US Senator Patty Murray is the Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.  Her office notes:

FOR PLANNING PURPOSES CONTACT: Murray Press Office

Friday, August 10^th, 2012 (202) 224-2834

TUESDAY: JBLM: Murray in Lakewood to Highlight Importance of Military and Community Partnerships

Senator Murray will attend a meeting of the South Sound Military & Communities Partnership

(Washington, D.C.) – On Tuesday, August 14^th, 2012, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and a senior member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, will attend a meeting of the South Sound Military & Communities Partnership (SSMCP) in Lakewood to discuss the importance of military communities working together with the common purpose of improving the availability of critical resources to local servicemembers and veterans. SSMCP has gained Joint Base Lewis-McChord leadership’s respect in finding constructive paths forward to solving community problems that involve their soldiers, airmen, employees and families. Senator Murray will discuss her work to support the military community, including her work on veterans employment, ending veteran homelessness, and servicemember and veterans’ behavioral health care.

WHO: U.S. Senator Patty Murray

Andrew Neiditz, City Manager, City of Lakewood

Anthony Chen, Director, Pierce County Health Department

BG Bret Daugherty, The Adjunct General, Camp Murray (State)

COL Edward Peterson, Deputy Chief of Staff, JBLM Garrison

Dawn Masko, City Administrator, City of DuPont

Debbie LeBeau, Superintendent, Clover Park School District

Don Krupp, Manager, Thurston County

Gary Brackett, Manager, Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce

Kevin Dayton, Regional Administrator, WSDOT

Kevin Phelps, Deputy County Executive, Pierce County

Lon Wyrick, Director, Thurston Regional Planning Council

Rick Allen, Executive Director, United Way of Pierce County

Scott Spence, City Manager, City of Lacey

T.C. Broadnax, City Manager, City of Tacoma

Tom Knight, Chief of Staff, JBLM Garrison

Cathy Wolfe, Commissioner, Thurston County

Doug Richardson, Mayor - City of Lakewood

Pat McCarthy, Executive, Pierce County

Robert Thoms, SSMCP Coordinator

WHAT: Senator Murray will attend a meeting of the South Sound Military & Communities Partnership

WHEN: Tuesday, August 14^th, 2012

10:15 AM PT

WHERE: Lakewood City Hall

3^rd Floor Conference Room

6000 Main Street SW

Lakewood, WA 98499

Map

###

Kathryn Robertson
Specialty Media Coordinator

Office of U.S. Senator Patty Murray

448 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington D.C. 20510

202-224-2834

Who's arming the 'rebels'? (Workers World)

Repost from Workers World:

Syria defends itself against imperialist onslaught

By John Catalinotto on August 8, 2012 » Add the second comment.

10

The fighting in Syria is shaping up as a military showdown between the Syrian army on one side and “rebel” fighters openly backed by the U.S.-NATO imperialist powers, along with Israel, on the other. These “rebels” are being armed directly through NATO-member Turkey and the Qatari and Saudi Arabian monarchies.
The Western imperialist powers have targeted the Syrian state for regime change because it is one of the few states in the region with some independence from the imperialists, because it is allied with Iran and with the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, and because it has supported Palestinian self-determination.
According to Gen. Wesley Clark, in his book, “Winning Modern Warfare,” every country in the Northwest Africa/Southwest Asia region with some measure of independence from imperialism has been on Washington’s hit list since September 2001: “beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan.”
This strategy has nothing to do with democracy or human rights or with the wishes of the Syrian people. It is aimed at imperialist conquest of the oil-rich region.
The corporate media in the imperialist countries have waged an intense propaganda war against the Assad government since protests started in March 2011. They blamed the regime for massacres of civilians even where they knew there was conflicting evidence, as in the town of Houla. The media published opposition press releases as if these were facts.
Despite the media’s overall anti-Assad bias, some reports are finally beginning to reveal the extent of U.S.-led Western intervention and the armed opposition’s crimes.
U.S. role revealed
Until now, the U.S. administration had played down its meddling in the Syrian fighting except in the diplomatic arena and especially in the United Nations. Republican militarists like Sen. John McCain have even criticized the U.S. policy as being too cautious and called for military intervention.
This changed as August began. The following story was reported throughout the media: “President Barack Obama has signed a covert directive authorizing U.S. support for Syrian rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, U.S. officials told CNN on [Aug. 1]. The secret order, referred to as an intelligence ‘finding,’ allows for clandestine support by the CIA and other agencies.” (CNN, Aug. 1)
“White House Press Secretary Jay Carney did not deny that the United States is helping the Syrian rebels,” said a Voice of America report on Aug. 2.
Anyone closely following the events in Syria would have known of the U.S. role. Veteran Washington Post editorialist and executive, David Ignatius, who has a direct line to the CIA, had already revealed in his July 18 column, that “the CIA has been working with the Syrian opposition for several weeks under a non-lethal directive that allows the United States to evaluate groups and assist them with command and control. Scores of Israeli intelligence officers are also operating along Syria’s border, though they are keeping a low profile.”
Ignatius undoubtedly was briefed by the CIA before writing these words. A veteran of 42 years with the CIA, Melvin Goodman, now with the Center for International Policy, has called Ignatius “the mainstream media’s apologist for the Central Intelligence Agency.” (The Public Record, July 16, 2009)
The New York Times on Aug. 5 also spelled out the State Department and Pentagon’s plans for material and propaganda aid for the Syrian opposition: “The planning is being closely coordinated with regional allies like Turkey, Jordan and Israel, and it coincides with an expansion of overt and covert American and foreign assistance to Syria’s increasingly potent rebel fighters.”
The Times notes that the “administration has authorized $25 million in direct assistance for medical supplies and communication equipment to help the fighters and civilian opponents of Mr. Assad coordinate their activities and, crucially, disseminate reports about the fighting to the rest of the world.”
The administration denies supplying weapons, but in any case, the Times continues, “Other countries, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, are providing weapons, assisted by a small number of officers from the Central Intelligence Agency who are vetting the fighters receiving them and working with State Department officials trying to unify the fighters with political leaders inside and outside the country.”
The Times also reported in the same article that “the American ambassador to Syria, Robert S. Ford, who closed the embassy in Damascus in February — and is now based in Washington — met in Cairo last week with more than 250 Syrians to shape plans for the inchoate opposition groups to form a transitional government.”
Ford was appointed ambassador in January 2011. He is a protégé of John Negroponte, who organized death squads in El Salvador during that country’s civil war. Ford was Ambassador Negroponte’s number two in Iraq in 2004-05, where he again organized terror squads, that time to tear apart Iraqi society and sow sectarian hatred in order to divide the Iraqi resistance.
British imperialism is also involved. A British newspaper on July 22 reported: “The Daily Mail can reveal some rebels inside Damascus have been trained by former SAS [Special Air Service, a corps of the British army] soldiers working for teams of private security contractors from two companies based in the Middle East.”
These reports clarify that the U.S. is coordinating its NATO and regional allies in an all-out attack on Syria much as it did on Libya in 2011. One difference is that Russia and China have so far resisted U.S.-NATO efforts to get a United Nations Security Council mandate for military intervention. In Libya, such a vote opened the door to a months-long NATO bombing campaign that eventually ground down the forces supporting Moammar Gadhafi’s legitimate Libyan government.
After the George W. Bush administration’s negative experience sending in tens of thousands of U.S. troops to occupy Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon and the Obama administration appear to have shifted gears. They are minimizing ground forces even as they continue efforts to reconquer the former colonial countries. The ultimate version of this strategy is the drone war — using pilotless planes to hunt and kill.
The Pentagon used this model based on air power in 1999 to destroy Yugoslavia and in 2011 in Libya. War and subversion in Libya put its oil and gas in the hands of the Western monopolies, with no casualties among imperialist troops.
The downside is that instead of a stable puppet ruling Libya, NATO has left much of post-Gadhafi North Africa destabilized. In Syria, too, it is unlikely the imperialists will have complete control of the anti-Assad forces. However, they are going through with this strategy whatever the costs to the Syrian people.
Al-Qaida-type forces in Aleppo
In the fighting around the two major Syrian cities, Damascus and Aleppo, an ever-greater role is being played by al-Qaida-like groups of fighters. These include mercenaries from Afghanistan, Chechnya and Libya that even some anti-Assad fighters admit make up as much as 10 percent of the forces. One of these groups of mercenaries uploaded a video on Aug. 3 showing them executing people who supported the Assad government.
The imperialists call these groups their “enemies” in the so-called war on terror, as they spread prejudice against all Muslims, persecuting them in the U.S. and Europe. However, by conspiring for “regime change” in Syria, the Western powers have created a situation where these al-Qaida-like forces can flourish.
These groups get special treatment from the Saudi Arabian and Qatari funders and they are well armed. They grow in importance as the battle becomes more military than political. By spreading religious intolerance and even executing people who belong to a different sect, they spread fear throughout Syria.
Washington has promoted these groups before. In Afghanistan starting in 1979, even before the Soviet Union intervened, the U.S. armed the al-Qaida-like groups through the Pakistani secret service. The U.S. called them “freedom fighters” and funded them through Saudi Arabia to fight first the progressive Afghan government and later the Soviet troops. Even after 9/11, the imperialist Cold-War strategist, Zbigniew Brzezinski, said it was well worth it to promote al-Qaida and the Taliban since that helped bring down the Soviet Union.
The New York Times, however, worried aloud about the role of al-Qaida-type groups with the so-called Free Syrian Army in a July 30 article: “Syrians involved in the armed struggle say it is becoming more radicalized: homegrown Muslim jihadists, as well as small groups of fighters from Al Qaeda, are taking a more prominent role and demanding a say in running the resistance.”
Syrians say there are 26 different religious groupings in the country. There are also Kurds and Iraqi and Palestinian refugees. All feel threatened by the foreign fighters, whether or not they support the government.
The Palestinian neighborhood of Yarmuk in suburban Damascus already came under attack from opposition fighters, killing 15 Palestinians. (Prensa Latina, Aug. 3) The New York Times report on this assault implied that the government forces were responsible for the killing.
Imperialists train leaders of SNC and FSA
To get a handle on the fighters, the U.S. has focused on nurturing the external umbrella organization known as the Syrian National Council. They believe that this would allow them to marginalize the al-Qaida-type groups and to push aside whatever remains of popular organizations inside Syria. Many in these latter groups were oriented toward compromising with the Assad government to resolve the differences peacefully.
Charlie Skelton’s article in the Guardian on July 12 showed how many of the leaders of the main opposition located outside Syria have been groomed, trained and built up by U.S. government agencies or imperialist think tanks. Here are three examples that are just the tip of the iceberg in Skelton’s article:
Bassma Kodmani is head of foreign affairs and a member of the executive bureau of the Syrian National Council. She says, “No dialogue with the ruling regime is possible.” In 2005, Kodmani worked for the Ford Foundation in Cairo, where she was director of their governance and international co-operation program. In September, she became “the executive director of the Arab Reform Initiative — a research program initiated by the powerful U.S. lobby group, the Council on Foreign Relations.”
Radwan Ziadeh, the SNC’s director of foreign relations, also gets lots of coverage in the corporate press. “Ziadeh has an impressive CV,” writes Skelton, “he’s a senior fellow at the federally funded Washington think tank, the U.S. Institute of Peace.”
Ausuma Monajed, adviser to the SNC president, writing for Huffington Post UK, called for “direct military assistance” and “foreign military aid” to the SNC. Monajed is “the Founder and Director of Barada Television,” a pro-opposition satellite channel based in Vauxhall, South London. “In 2008, a few months after attending Syria In-Transition conference, Monajed was back in Washington, invited to lunch with George W Bush,” says Skelton.
U.S. imperialism and the other NATO powers — that is, the former colonialist powers that still dominate the world — are on one side of the battle for Syria. At this point, the only contending force is the Syrian national army directed by the Assad government. For anti-imperialist and working-class forces, the only choice is to defend the Syrian government against imperialism.


Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.

Highlights

This piece is written by Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix, Kat of Kat's Korner, Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man, Mike of Mikey Likes It!, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Ruth of Ruth's Report, Marcia of SICKOFITRADLZ, Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends, Ann of Ann's Mega Dub, Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts and Wally of The Daily Jot. Unless otherwise noted, we picked all highlights.

 "Blackwater walks, Bradley remains imprisoned""Iraq's sex tape rumors"

 Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "The Taxer"  and  Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Dirty Debbie" -- Isaiah did not one but two comics last week. 


"Caribbean Casserole in the Kitchen" -- Trina offers a healthy recipe from a surprising source.



"Curiosity lands on the cover of Time!," "Mars and Curiosity," "4 men, 3 women,"  "curiosity makes cover of time!,"  "curiosity," "cartoon, video, mars," "Mars and more,," "curiosity and mars,"  "Mars and more" and "mars" -- Betty and Rebecca (and one post by Ann) are the Curiosity bloggers. 


  "Drought = inflation" and "The drought" -- Ruth wasn't trying to become the drought blogger.  She thought she was blogging about it once this summer but once became twice became three times turned into four and . . .  That's how she became the drought blogger.


"Brand new Laura Nyro information"  and "Liza and Michael" -- Kat blogs about Michael Feinstein's radio show.



"Dream journal" -- Stan shares a dream.


"Women who run for office" -- Elaine weighs in with a few thoughts about coverage and the lack of it.

"The corporations get away with everything under Barack" -- Mike notes the corporations best friend.




"Like bratty, little children" -- Elaine on how embarrassing some can be.


"If you can wait 18 years, he might have an answer" and "THIS JUST IN! HE NEEDS A LITTLE TIME TO DECIDE!" -- Cedric and Wally on how long it takes for Barack to form an opinion.


"Soccer" and "Women grab the gold for 3rd Olympics in a row" -- Trina and Marcia blog about the Olympics.

"So I get a sandwich at Subway and . . ."  -- Stan explains how he got sick.



"Shutting Down the Domestic Arts Czar" -- Isaiah dips into the archives.



"Idiot of the Week" -- Mike picks the idiot of the week.








"Where are the crowds? Maybe next year." and "THIS JUST IN! WHERE ARE THE CROWDS?" -- Cedric and Wally on Barack's inability to turn out the large crowds he did in 2008.