But none of these downsides -- not even the existential downside of nuclear annihilation -- is allowed to be discussed among Official Washington's foreign policy elites. It's all about giving Bashar al-Assad the "Gaddafi treatment" in Syria, punishing Iran even if that might cause its leaders to renounce the nuclear-arms agreement, and muscling NATO forces up to Russia's borders and making the Russian economy scream.
And, behind these policies are some of the most skilled propagandists in the world. They are playing much of the U.S. population -- and surely the U.S. media -- like a fiddle.
Lock-Step Consensus
The propaganda campaign is driven by a consensus among the major think tanks of Official Washington, where there is near universal support for Hillary Clinton, not because they all particularly like her, but because she has signaled a return to neocon/liberal-hawk strategies.
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright speaking at an Atlantic Council event.
(Image by (Photo credit: Atlantic Council)) Details DMCA
As Greg Jaffe wrote for the neocon-dominated Washington Post on Friday, "In the rarefied world of the Washington foreign policy establishment, President Obama's departure from the White House -- and the possible return of a more conventional and hawkish Hillary Clinton -- is being met with quiet relief.
"The Republicans and Democrats who make up the foreign policy elite are laying the groundwork for a more assertive American foreign policy, via a flurry of reports shaped by officials who are likely to play senior roles in a potential Clinton White House.
"It is not unusual for Washington's establishment to launch major studies in the final months of an administration to correct the perceived mistakes of a president or influence his successor. But the bipartisan nature of the recent recommendations, coming at a time when the country has never been more polarized, reflects a remarkable consensus among the foreign policy elite.
"This consensus is driven by a broad-based backlash against a president who has repeatedly stressed the dangers of overreach and the need for restraint, especially in the Middle East. ... Taken together, the studies and reports call for more-aggressive American action to constrain Iran, rein in the chaos in the Middle East and check Russia in Europe."
One of the lead organizations revving up these military adventures and also counting on a big boost in military spending under President Clinton-45 is the Atlantic Council, a think tank associated with NATO that has been pushing for a major confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia.
Jaffe quotes former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who is leading the Atlantic Council's bipartisan Mideast team as saying about Syria: "The immediate thing is to do something to alleviate the horrors that are being visited on the population. ... We do think there needs to be more American action -- not ground forces but some additional help in terms of the military aspect." (This is the same "humanitarian" Albright who -- in responding to a United Nations report that U.S. economic sanctions on Iraq in the 1990s had killed a half million Iraqi children -- coldly said, "we think the price is worth it.")
One of Albright's partners on the Atlantic Council's report, Bush's last National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, added that if Assad continues to bomb civilians, the United States should strongly consider "using standoff weapons, like cruise missiles, to neutralize his air force so that he cannot fly."
The plans call for "safe zones" where Syrian rebels can base themselves behind U.S. military protection, allowing them to strike Syrian government forces but preventing the Syrian government from striking back. Little attention is paid to the fact that the so-called "moderate" rebels have refused to separate themselves from Al Qaeda's forces who are in command of the rebel movement in east Aleppo and other urban areas.
As journalist/historian Gareth Porter has written: "Information from a wide range of sources, including some of those the United States has been explicitly supporting, makes it clear that every armed anti-Assad organization unit in those provinces [of Idlib and Aleppo] is engaged in a military structure controlled by [Al Qaeda's] Nusra militants. All of these rebel groups fight alongside the Nusra Front and coordinate their military activities with it. "
"At least since 2014 the Obama administration has armed a number of Syrian rebel groups even though it knew the groups were coordinating closely with the Nusra Front, which was simultaneously getting arms from Turkey and Qatar."
Ignoring the Masses
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
8
6
4
