Martin Armstrong — Why Did the USA Invade Iraq?

Short backgrounder on the recent film, "Shock and Awe."

How the neocons hijacked US policy with lies.

Armstrong Economics
Why Did the USA Invade Iraq?
Martin Armstrong

John Rappoport — US shipped biowar materials to Iraq

Joh Rappoport reminds us of some history.

John Rappoport's Blog
US shipped biowar materials to Iraq

John Rappoport

Claire Connelly — Long Wars

Canadian analyst, Stephen Gowan’s new book, ‘Washington’s Long War on Syria‘, reveals how the US colluded with The Muslim Brotherhood – the ideological precursor to Al Qaeda and ISIS – to destroy Ba’ath Arab Socialism in Syria, Iraq, Iran and Libya, and install permanent free-trade zones that serve US interests across The Middle East.

From Syria, to Iraq, Iran to Libya, our understandings of the long-wars in the Middle-East as moral, humanitarian interventions designed to democratise and civilise are the result of a carefully crafted propaganda campaign waged by the US and its allies.

Each of these uprisings were launched by US proxies, designed to destabilize the regions, justifying regime change that suit the economic interests of its investors, banks and corporations, captured comprehensively in a new book by Canadian author and analyst, Stephen Gowans, Washington’s Long War on Syria.

You might be surprised to know that both the Libyan, Syrian and Iraqi government, led by Muammar Gaddafi, Hafez Al Assad, (succeeded by Bashaar Al Assaad) and Sadaam Hussein respectively, were socialist governments. Or Ba’ath Arab Socialist governments, to be precise.

Ba’ath Arab Socialism can be summed up in their constitutions supporting the values of: ‘freedom of the Arab world, freedom from foreign powers and freedom of socialism’.…

The hidden agenda revealed, in case you had not been aware of it. This is a crusade to convert the world to capitalism under Western (American) dominance. "If you aren't with us, you are against us."

Propagating Western liberalism ("Western values") — human rights and "spreading freedom and democracy" — is used to justify neo-imperialism and neocolonialism in a way similar to how Christianity was formerly used to justify imperialism and colonialism.

It's a secular crusade, but a crusade nevertheless, and it is anti-liberal.

Renegade, Inc.
Long Wars
Claire Connelly

Mary Dejevsky — The British Government’s response to Sergei Skripal proves we’ve learnt nothing from the Iraq War

On Iraq, the UK’s version of “the facts” was embraced by pretty much all our political establishment and many of our allies – with the honourable exception of the French, the Germans, the late Charles Kennedy and his little band of Lib Dems, and – yes, let it not be forgotten – the leader of today’s Labour opposition, Jeremy Corbyn. It was a version that proved to be disastrously wrong. Yet a combination of Tony Blair’s persuasive powers, naïve acceptance of the need for national unity, and an exaggerated sense of the UK’s importance led us down this fatal path. Those who dared to object – including the million who took to the streets – were dismissed as deluded and unpatriotic.

Tony Blair is still walking free and thumbing his nose at the world with no show of remorse over the havoc that he and G. W. Bush wreaked.

Now they want to do it again?

This is what happens when there is no accountability.

Independent (UK)
The British Government’s response to Sergei Skripal proves we’ve learnt nothing from the Iraq War

Mary Dejevsky 

Barkley Rosser — The End Of The "Islamic State."

Barkley Rosen explained how the US papers of record, the New York Times and the Washington Post, not only got it wrong but also imposed their view on the media echo chamber based on their authoritative position as papers of record.

Econospeak
The End Of The "Islamic State."
J. Barkley Rosser | Professor of Economics and Business Administration James Madison University

Intel Today — Gordon Brown : UK misled over Iraqi WMDs

In an extract from his memoir, the ex-Labour leader says “we were not just misinformed, but misled”.

Intel Today
Gordon Brown : UK misled over Iraqi WMDs
L.

Secret US intelligence report on weapons of mass destruction was not shared with Tony Blair’s cabinet, new book claims

The Guardian
Gordon Brown says Pentagon misled UK over case for Iraq invasion

Michael Savage

Pat Lang — Kurdistan - yet another long term British and US policy triumph

Backgrounder on the British creation of Iraq.

Sic Semper Tyrannis
Kurdistan - yet another long term British and US policy triumph
Col. W. Patrick Lang, US Army (ret.)

At the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lang was the Defense Intelligence Officer (DIO) for the Middle East, South Asia and counter-terrorism, and later, the first Director of the Defense Humint Service. At the DIA, he was a member of the Defense Senior Executive Service. He participated in the drafting of National Intelligence Estimates. From 1992 to 1994, all the U.S. military attachés worldwide reported to him. During that period, he also briefed President George H. W. Bush at the White House, as he had during Operation Desert Storm.

He was also the head of intelligence analysis for the Middle East for seven or eight years at that institution. He was the head of all the Middle East and South Asia analysis in DIA for counter-terrorism for seven years. For his service in the DIA, Lang received the Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Executive. — Wikipedia

Graham E. Fuller — The Future of the Kurds

Backgrounder.

Graham E. Fuller
The Future of the Kurds
Graham E. Fuller | adjunct professor of history at Simon Fraser University, formerly vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council at the CIA, and a former senior political scientist at RAND

Pat Lang — Is this what is driving US Kurdish policy?

Sic Semper Tyrannis
Is this what is driving US Kurdish policy?
Col. W. Patrick Lang, US Army (ret.), former military intelligence officer at the US Defense Intelligence Agency

TeleSUR — Iraq Bans US from Using Territory to Launch War Against Iran

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi has said that if the United States intends to carry out an aggression against the Iranian government, Iraq will not allow the U.S. to use its territory for its aggression.

“Iraq is not a starting point for attacking other countries. If there are clashes between Iran and the United States, then we will not allow the U.S. to take advantage of us,” he said.
“Iraq has its own interests and is an independent country and we call on all countries to respect the independence of Iraq,” Al-Abadi reiterated.

The minister went on to state that it was the continued aggressions between the U.S. and other Middle Eastern nations which created spaces and opportunities for extremist groups like the Islamic State group to grow.

The Iraqi head of state said he supports the process of peaceful dialogue to resolve regional conflicts....

Geopolitics Alert
Iraq Bans US from Using Territory to Launch War Against Iran
TeleSUR English

Michael Brenner — The Linear Mindset In U.S. Foreign Policy

CONTINGENCY is part of the natural order of life. Things happen that we have no control over – or, at least, cannot determine. Things happen that are unexpected – that catch us unawares. It’s one reason why "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley." If your projects are something less than well planned, then you are in even bigger trouble. And if you were flying by the seat of your pants in the first place, then the risks and costs mount. That is what has been occurring to American foreign policy in the Middle East. The phenomenon pre-dates the arrival of the inchoate Trump administration. Barack Obama’s amateurish foreign policy team had its own feckless tendencies. Its Bush predecessor at least knew what they wanted to do but lacked a feasible scheme to reach its dubious goals.

There are features of how the United States makes and executes foreign policy that help to explain why Washington is repeatedly thrown into confusion by unforeseen developments. Most significant is a certain linearity of thinking and action. It takes literally the proposition that since the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, the most efficient approach to getting from where we are now to where we want to go is to set our bearings accordingly. What lies between points A and B will yield to American know-how, ingenuity and force of will. That’s how we fought World War II in Europe. It was close to being a lock-step operation – especially after the Battle of the Bulge when Eisenhower ordered that the allied armies should proceed along an even front lest the Germans exploit geographical discontinuities. We tried to follow a linear battle plan in Vietnam (or as close to one as circumstances permitted) and paid the price for it. Even in Gulf War I, Schwarzkopf’s initial plan called for a “bull rush” to Kuwait City.

Our interventions in the Greater Middle East over the past 15 years exhibit similar patterns....

Moon of Alabama
Michael Brenner - The Linear Mindset In U.S. Foreign Policy
Michael Brenner | Professor of International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh; a Senior Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations, SAIS-Johns Hopkins (Washington, D.C.), contributor to research and consulting projects on Euro-American security and economic issues

Moon of Alabama — Mosul Is Liberated! My Congrats To Iraq

Some good news in the Middle East.

Moon of Alabama
Mosul Is Liberated! My Congrats To Iraq

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Adam Johnson — Syria the Latest Case of US ‘Stumbling’ Into War

Adam Johnson calls bullshit.

FAIR
Syria the Latest Case of US ‘Stumbling’ Into War
Adam Johnson

Intel Today — The Spies Who Fooled the World — Never Forget, Never Forgive

On the eve of the tenth anniversary of the Iraq War, Panorama reveals how key aspects of the secret intelligence used to justify the invasion were based on fabrication and lies.

And we are supposed to continue to believe the US and UK intelligence people? Forget it.

Intel Today
The Spies Who Fooled the World — Never Forget, Never Forgive

Christian Iraqi Militia Leader — If Not For Iran, ISIS Would Be in Baghdad by Now (Video)

The Middle East Media Research Institute (based in Washington D.C.) has released a translation of interview with Ryan Chaldean, Commander of the Christian Iraqi Babylon Brigades.

Chaldean’s interview with Baghdad TV took place on February 27, 2017. Chaldean emphasized Iran’s role in the Iraqi war against ISIS, saying that “if not for the Iranian intervention, ISIS would have been in Baghdad, Najaf, Karbala, and Erbil by now.”

The militia leader added that Iran almost immediately provided military aid and assistance for Iraq when it was needed.

SouthFront
Christian Iraqi Militia Leader: If Not For Iran, ISIS Would Be in Baghdad by Now (Video)

Ikb22

Arthur MacEwan — Is It Oil?

U.S. foreign policy, as I elaborated in the 2003 article, has long been designed not simply to protect U.S.-based firms in their international operations, but to establish the right of the firms to access and security wherever around the world. Oil firms have been especially important in promoting and gaining from this right, but firms from finance to pharmaceuticals and many others have been beneficiaries and promoters of the policy.

Whatever else, as the Iraq and Middle East experience has demonstrated, this right comes at a high cost. The best estimate of the financial cost to the United States of the war in Iraq is $3 trillion. Between the 2003 invasion and early 2017, U.S. military forces suffered 4,505 fatalities in the war, and allied forces another 321. And, of course, most of all Iraqi deaths: estimates of the number of Iraqis killed range between 200,000 and 500,000.

Triple Crisis
Is It Oil?
Arthur MacEwan | Professor Emeritus, Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts Boston and Senior Research Fellow, Center for Social Policy

Tony Cartalucci — Syria’s War Was Only Ever the Beginning

Documented.

NEO
Syria’s War Was Only Ever the Beginning

Tony Cartalucci

Pat Lang — Syria/Iraq Roundup

Col. Lang mentions the involvement of the UK at the end. Some may be wondering what's up with that, as well as why France is so interested in Syria, too. Britain and France were the colonial powers in the region and can't beyond it. Of course, this pertains to much more than in the Middle East and Africa.

Sic Semper Tyrannis 

Syria/Iraq Roundup - 17 December 2016

Col. W. Patrick Lang, US Army (ret.), former military intelligence officer at the US Defense Intelligence Agency

Voltarie Network — Egypt supports the Iraqi, Libyan and Syrian armies

Egypt comes out as being all in. Another poke in the eye of the globalizers.

On November 23, 2016, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi speaking at the RTP Portuguese TV channel said: "There should be international support for the national armies of Libya, Iraq and Syria, to ensure the security of their countries." President el-Sissi thus broke a hitherto well-kept secret: Egypt dispatched weapons to the loyalist forces of these three countries despite the Saudi threats.

Voltarie Network
Egypt supports the Iraqi, Libyan and Syrian armies

Joe Lauria — US Hawks Gamble on Turkey’s Invasions

As Turkey mobilizes fresh troops on the Iraqi border, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has warned that Turkey’s invasion of his country will mean war. “Turkey and its forces will be damaged and we warn them again, if their troops enter Iraq we will fight them and we will look at them and treat them as the enemy,” he said.…

The silence to this dangerous situation from Washington is deafening. As corporate media depends on official U.S. sources, it too is silent on this new crisis.… 

Events on the ground suggest Washington has two policies: one public and the other hidden. (Just as Clinton has advocated, more generally, for in one of her paid speeches.)…

Is the US using the snakes in the snake pit, or it one of the snakes?

Consortium News
US Hawks Gamble on Turkey’s Invasions

Joe Lauria