Nobel’s Most Tarnished Peace Prize – Obama Pushes War in Powder-Keg Middle East

Nobel Peace Laureate Obama Pushes War in Powder-Keg Middle East
Finian CUNNINGHAM – 4 September, 2013

Any notion that US President Barack Obama was «giving peace a chance» in his surprise announcement last weekend of not going ahead with military strikes on Syria was firmly scotched this week. The White House has gone into overdrive lobbying Congress members to back war action.

Last Saturday, Obama took the world aback when he suddenly declared that he was putting his war plans on Syria to a Congressional vote. Days before, the American president said that he could assume executive power to order prompt military strikes on the Arab country without relying on sanction from the House of Representatives or Senate.

That military intervention was given urgency following a deadly chemical gas attack near the Syrian capital, Damascus, on 21 August, which the US government and its Western allies have accused the Syrian armed forces of perpetrating. Amateur video appeared to show hundreds of dead civilians from the attack, although the exact circumstances are still not known. As usual the Western mainstream media have amplified Western government claims and have shown a derisory lack of rigor in interrogating official assertions.

However, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denies any responsibility and has countered that it was the Western-backed anti-government militant groups who carried out the atrocity. The Assad government’s view is supported by allies, Russia and Iran, and many other independent observers, who suspect that the incident was staged as a provocative act. Such an act, it is contended, is aimed at enabling Washington and its allies to respond militarily on the back of earlier ultimatums that any use of chemical weapons in Syria would constitute a «red line» triggering intervention. That view, as we shall see, is consonant with the reckless US drumbeat for war in face of the available evidence pointing to the so-called rebels as having committed the crime.

In his initial vow of military action, President Obama also said that he could give the go-ahead for American forces to strike Syria without a mandate from the United Nations Security Council – a bellicose move that caused much consternation in Moscow, Beijing and other world capitals, including the Vatican.

Then in a seeming about-turn last weekend Obama said that while he still retained the executive authority as Commander-in-Chief, he had decided to seek a vote in Congress on the weighty matter.

Obama said: «Having made my decision as Commander-in-Chief based on what I am convinced is our national security interests, I’m also mindful that I’m the president of the world’s oldest constitutional democracy. I’ve long believed that our power is rooted not just in our military might, but in our example as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. And that’s why I’ve made a second decision: I will seek authorization for the use of force from the American people’s representatives in Congress».

Speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House, bathed in sun and with flowers in bloom, it may have appeared that Nobel Peace Laureate Obama had «seen the light». Perhaps the US president was abruptly coming to this senses, stepping back from the warpath and taking a more reasoned political route over the Syria crisis – one that would «give peace a chance» through debate and dialogue among US lawmakers. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time that the Democrat president has hesitated and flip-flopped in a predicament.

However, the international sigh of relief at Obama’s apparent balking at war was proven short-lived. Far from showing signs of flip-flopping and retreating from the warpath, Obama has over the past days led a cavalry charge on Congress to marshal a Yes vote for his plans to strike Syria. The ominous signs are that the American president is prepared to risk a military adventure in an explosive region of the world where nuclear war is a very real danger. The joint test firing of a US-Israeli ballistic missile in the Eastern Mediterranean on Tuesday underscores that a serious contingency is being contemplated.

The White House, State Department and Pentagon have triple-locked with a «lobbying blitz» on Representatives and Senators to ensure they cast their votes for war when Congress reconvenes next week on 9 September after summer recess. Many lawmakers are wary of the US entering another military quagmire and are apprehensive about the powder-keg danger of the Middle East. The risk of all-out regional war from an American attack on Syria was highlighted again this week by President Assad, who said that «the spark is getting nearer to the powder-keg».

Undeterred, Obama, together with his Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, have been personally briefing congressional leaders and various committees to back the military assault on Syria. Members of Congress have been ensconced in closed-door meetings where they have reportedly received «declassified» military intelligence to bolster «the case for punitive action» against the Assad government. Media reports suggest that the US lawmakers were merely allowed to view more amateur video footage of alleged chemical victims, as some members emerged from closed teleconference meetings and simply spoke of «shocking images», but no other form of information. Will they vote for war based on dodgy YouTube videos? …more