Stomping on To Syria

Saturday, 22 October 2005

Richard K. , Empire Burlesque's Webmaster, is guest blogging on current events for Chris Floyd while he is off on holiday.

With Rice pounding on Syria all last week and now Bolton and Bush leaping on the Syrialiban bandwagon - the thumping drumbeat to expand the bloody war is continuing to echo throughout DC this week. As soon as the UN report on the death of Hariri came out the heat on Syria became even more palpable and has escalated.

Of course none of this matters perhaps - since Rice recently told the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee that expansion of the war was not off the table and would not rule out Bush hitting Syria and Iran next without Congress in his pocket. Could it somehow be covered under Bush's enhanced dictatorial rights bovinely passed for Iraq after 9-11?

US troops have allegedly already been over the Syrian border in a few skirmishes - much like they did in Cambodia from Vietnam 30 years ago, which is possibly a routing of the of the War Powers Act of 1973 - put in place to muzzle Nixon but possibly being undone by Bush.

Passed by Congress over President Nixon's veto, the War Powers Act of 1973 requires the president to "consult" with Congress before "introducing United States Armed Forces into hostilities or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances".

The real question is - will Bush and friends just utilise the Sept. 14, 2001 congressional resolution to justify invasion of Syria and Iran. Not without a terrorist attack on the US most likely - but Bush can, under the structure of the resolution, announce that he has determined that Syria or Iran is harbouring al Queda - and invade without even informing Congress until 48 hours after US troops are over the border

.With Bush's current poll ratings in the basement, possible upcoming indictments unwound by Patrick Fitzgerald in the Plame outing investigation fingering Libby and Rove, another lethal hurricane wobbling en route to Florida, and the American Convervative magazine about to unload a tirade on the administration in their upcoming cover story - the Oval Office is in a bit of a tempest at the moment. Capitol Hill Blue founder and well known DC insider Doug Thompson writes that gallows humor has descended on the White House, where the West Wing is now referred to as “death row” and Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, along with Vice Presidential Chief of Staff Scooter Libby, are known as “dead men walking..."

The beat goes on...

Of course - the mainstream media is bundling Syria and Lebanon, in that order, in the blame game on the death of Lebanese Politician Rafik Hariri - despite the fact that, the bit implicating the brother of Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria, and other insiders, was dropped from the report that was sent to the UN Security Council. And that seems to have been for good reason

.Perception around the world that leading politicians in Syria did indeed have a direct hand in the Lebanon bombing may now have some problems.

Der Spiegel, in Germany, revealed in an investigative piece today, that a central witness in UN-Hariri report is a convicted fraudster - who not only has been convicted several times for embezzlement and fraud (a la Chalabi), Zuheir Mohammed al-Siddiq received a large sum of money for his testimony from an unknown third party. Reportedly he called his brothers from Paris saying, "Now I'm a millionaire".

Link Here