alanjjohnstone
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The pro-war case "I have no illusions that the rebel forces in Syria have greater moral scruples than do Assad and his forces. But it is also implausible that this was a rebel-launched false flag attack, because of its scale and scope. It is simply not conceivable that the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia or other major players would allow any of the Sunni jihadi groups operating in Syria to build up a significant stockpile of chemical weapons and use them on numerous targets simultaneously. The risk that these weapons could be used against Israel, the US or other targets would be too great to allow.This was, in all likelihood, the work of a regime that has already killed more than 100,000 of its own people and forced millions to become refugees. That the world community would sit by while the Syrian government so brutalises its own people is an even greater moral obscenity than this particular use of illegal weapons."http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/08/201382710851628525.htmlNote the author ascribes every Syrian deaths to the government 100,000, as if the rebel SFA never ever kills!!But again it is based on a matter of conjecture and opinion that the the Western Powers can control and contain Al-Qaeda in Syria.
When is a chemical weapon not a chemical weapon – when the Americans use it. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-intelligence-classified-white-phosphorus-as-chemical-weapon-516523.html
This article is of interest since it refutes the Cameron "too little too late " case.The UN did not actually formally put forward a request to inspect Ghouta until Saturday 24th and Syria agreed the next day on the Sunday. Whereupon the US immediately pressed for the UN to abandon the inspection and withdraw. (repeat of Kosovo and Iraq)In previous alleged attacks US/UK insisted that despite the long time lag, they would be able to detect evidence of sarin use but now they change their position and argue that a few days delay would destroy evidence. The mainstream press have failed to highlight the inconsistency. http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/08/in-rush-to-strike-syria-u-s-tried-to-derail-u-n-probe/ The only hard evidence apart from their "common sense" case as Kerry called it is the Israeli comms interception i referred to above. I think the slow-down in the rush to war is just a temporary respite
The UK military sceptics. General Lord Dannatt, former head of the British army, and Lord West, former first sea lord, both warned of unintended consequences. "It's wrong," said Dannatt of the strike plan being drawn up in Washington, Paris and London. "Because although undoubtedly by any moral standards at all using chemical weapons against your own people – which is what on the balance of probabilities it now seems Assad has done – [is wrong] this does not constitute an open invitation for the international community to impose themselves on the internal affairs of another country."He told the BBC that the international community was "fractured" on the issue and one of the many unknowns about Syria was "what the effect of these strikes would be on the developments and consequences of the civil conflict". Dannatt said David Cameron needed to use Thursday's recall of Parliament to convince the British people that military action is the right step. "A clear case will only be made if a strategic context of how such an intervention can be made is laid out clearly. For the objectives, the beginning, the middle, and the end – how it's all going to finish."Lord West, a former minister, urged diplomacy before military action and was among those worried the west could find itself sucked into a vortex of violence in the region. He told the Daily Mail he was "very wary" of an attack and said if Assad was responsible for the attack, there should be a UN resolution condemning him."The region is a powder keg," he said. "We simply can't predict which way military action will go." Lord King, the former defence secretary, said it was imperative to find a solution, "and it mustn't be military". The former British ambassador to Washington, Sir Christopher Meyer, said: "It cannot be in the British national interest to see Assad disintegrate under the pressure of cruise missile attacks, and whatever else may be done, such that his stocks of chemical weapons fall out of his control into the hands of the extremist Jihadists among the rebels "This is why this decision on what to do next is truly the decision from hell." General Sir David Richards, who only stood down as chief of the defence staff earlier this summer, is understood to have previously cautioned against attacking Syria, while on Tuesday a former senior naval officer, Rear Admiral Chris Parry, said he believed London and Washington were repeating a mistake by turning to the military before properly establishing their objectives."More responsibility needs to be thrown at Russia and China," said Parry, who used to command the UK's amphibious task group. "Instead of sending cruise missiles into Syria we should be sending diplomatic cruise missiles into Russia and China…" Actually, the proposed peace talks have been thwarted not by Syria or Russia but by the US and UK who wished to impose pre-conditions upon them such as excluding Iran.http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-27/russia-warns-u-s-over-syria-criticizes-delay-to-peace-talks.html
Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey to a Democratic congressman advocating such an intervention, which warned that it would be counterproductive as the so-called rebels would not further US interests if they were to succeed in overthrowing Assad.“It is my belief that the side we choose must be ready to promote their interests and ours when the balance shifts in their favor. Today, they are not,” Dempsey wrote to Congressman Eliot Engel of New York.“We can destroy the Syrian air force,” the general said. “The loss of Assad’s air force would negate his ability to attack opposition forces from the air, but it would also escalate and potentially further commit the United States to the conflict. Stated another way, it would not be militarily decisive, but it would commit us decisively to the conflict.”The US commander concluded: “The use of US military force can change the military balance, but it cannot resolve the underlying and historic ethnic, religious and tribal issues that are fueling this conflict.”
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-intelligence-seen-as-central-to-us-case-against-syria/ Will we get the copies and transcripts of these radio messages? Is this the evidence Cameron says is forthcoming?
Technically i think the video is very good. And it communicates its message very well. i look forward to our promtional adverts
Short history of the SPGB here http://mailstrom.blogspot.com/2007/07/anglo-marxism-spgb.html
DJP is correct, marriage is a property relationship. SSM is all about partners entitlements to ownership of house and goods, work pensions and compassionate leave at work , state benefits, inheritance, child care, etc etc … all previously denied but gradually now being incorporated. Rather than piece-meal tinkering, SSM presented an all in one solution with a marriage contract.
You have to always keep a historical perspective on capitalism. All those sections of the work-force i mentioned have been introduced to maintain low wages. The % of women who worked in the 50s and 60s has risen considerably, for instance and it was only after long battles have many received equal pay as men. Certain retailers seek out older retired workers as do some fast food companies younger workers since these people have less dependents and therefore will accept less remuneration. They are also more compliant and flexible Outsourcing may have been implemented years ago but it will still go on and vary in intensity. Already there is a drift to in-sourcing because wage levels in the US has dropped and some jobs are returning… Another tactic within the US is to move work from strongly unionised, high pay states to the so-called Right to Work states, most in the poor South. Use the threat of unemployment to scare workers into accepting low pay. Again nothing to do with immigration. De-skilling is when a job has a certain amount of qualification and training needed which makes pay rates high. Technology or simple division of labour turns these jobs into semi- or unskilled which means less pay. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deskilling You mentioned zero hour contract and i will add part time and temporary casual work as other means of controlling wages, none of which was instigated by migrant workers. Do you accuse two part-timers of stealing your job? The solution is to defend full time jobs, not demand dismissals of part-timers. Many capitalists will support the long term import of labour for demographical reasons. With an aging population and less workers supporting retired workers, a fresh supply of younger workers benefit the future economy. The agricultural/food processing industry both in the UK and US depend on th influx of low pay workers. You seem to wish to blame the victim. Countries that are suffering from the effects of global capitalism provide what Marx calls the reserve army of the unemployed. They suffer the worse working conditions in the worse of jobs with the worse protection and despite the propaganda are denied many of the welfare benefits of native workers. There is no solution within capitalism for the tendency of it to cut pay, but one counter measure to lessen the effect is industrial organisation of the working class. Recruit the new arrivals, defend them and demand equal rights and benefits. It takes time but again to look back at history, it was the only successful way of countering capitalism divide and rule tactics. It's an old story, constantly used, only difference is those it happens to be aimed at…the Chinese and Japanese "coolies"of the 19th C , the Irish and the Eastern European Jew, the South Asians of India and Pakistan, the Mexicans…the Poles…same old story, same old lies re-told. Keep us at one another's throats and the rich are laughing all the way to their bailed-out bank.
SOYMB has had numerous posts on the blog about the Syrian conflict, the latest http://www.socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-war-drums-beat-louder.html Socialist Courier anti-war post here http://socialist-courier.blogspot.com/2013/08/syria-war-and-class-war.html
Not too much of an exaggeration if you compare column inches and minutes of air time. Anyways, Protest the war Downing Street, 5—7pm, Wednesday 28th August
There won't be a million but the STWC has organised a protest at Downing St Downing Street, 5—7pm, Wednesday 28th August
See these blog posts. http://www.socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com/search/label/Immigration So do you suggest that women , young single people, senior citizens, rural to urban migration, city to city migration, be ended for all these have also been means of cutting wages. If unable to lower wages , the capitalist will out-source work, or if wages still remain high, introduce labour-saving technology. He will also de-skill whereever he can. The times that workers have the advantage and upper-hand are seldom and always temporary. That's why the system has to go!
