I used to love the movie, Team America: World Police, because it seemed so spot on. Unfortunately, that movie now seems too tame - it seems to let America off the hook. A new rendition might be titled: America, World Asshole.
One cannot read the news these days without seeing multiple reports about the plight of refugees fleeing the Middle East. The stories range from the deeply touching, like the story of the dead baby that washed up on a Mediterranean beach, to the gratingly inhumane, like smugglers seeking to make a profit from the refugee crisis.
Greece has offered to take in another 500,000 refugees and even Trump says we should help out. Trump! The same Trump that wants to kick out every Latin American in the US says we should take in Syrian refugees!
The problem with the discussions on the refugees, however, is that they tend to focus on the immediate question of how to help the person who just landed on your shores. But, as Robert J. Burrowes points out, where is the discussion on why there is a refuge crisis to begin with? The political elite do not want to take any responsibility for their role in creating the refugee crisis, but they do want to look like heroes by saying, “let’s help these poor people!”
Yet, the underlying problem remains. People would not be fleeing their homes in droves, risking life and limb, were in not for the severe upheaval in the Middle East. There is civil war in Syria, but those battles are made exponentially larger by the involvement of half the planet. Thalif Deen, quoted by Burrowes:
“The military conflicts and political instability driving hundreds of thousands of refugees into Europe were triggered largely by U.S. and Western military interventions for regime change – specifically in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria (a regime change in-the-making).”
The US has had a very key role in creating the current refugee crisis, yet it is not stepping up to be part of the solution. We would rather remain as war-mongers, protecting monetary and political interest. But the problem is that not everyone is on the same bandwagon as the US - not everyone is Team America. Russia is supporting Syria (and itself) by supplying arms and training that run in opposition to American efforts.
Quoting Webster Griffin Tarpley:
“In a moment of excruciating embarrassment for the United States, Reuters reports that Washington is now even attempting to strong arm the Greek government into banning overflights of its territory by Russian aircraft bringing humanitarian aid to the very real tide of refugees fleeing the ISIS butchers.” If US and Russia were both merely supporting refugees, then such fly-overs would not be an issue. However, each nation has an agenda in the region that has nothing to do with the plight of the refugees and peace-making in Syria.
Yes, Assad is evil. Yet, the US’s overseas tactics are as inhumane and heartless, and our corporate media can always be counted on to downplay our own nation’s cruelty, as well as America’s true motive for being involved. After all, Assad and Russia are as anti-ISIS as the US and NATO. The truth is that it’s a struggle for economic and political positioning. And the truth is that there is about to be a Battle Royale in Syria, with Russia and the US both trying to strong-arm into a position of political superiority.
Tarpley’s advice:
“In the view of the Tax Wall Street Party, Democrats who saw the political life of this country so thoroughly blighted in the previous decade by the Afghanistan war and the Iraq war should be loudly demanding that Sanders speak out at once against any new US military adventures in Syria, Iraq, or for that matter in Ukraine.”
I’m not waiting for Bernie Sanders or any other presidential hopeful to speak out. I’m joining the conversation right now and it is my sincerest hope that others start channeling their inner hippy and say Yay Peace, Fuck War. No more dead babies washed up on beaches. And I don't want to hear anyone else's bullshit about "oh, but the troops are fighting for your freedom and your security" *whiney voice*. The troops are great people. It's the politicians orchestrating all the bullshit that I'm against. It's our own homegrown politicians who are against my freedom, and against my security. It's our politicians who are world terrorists.
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/donald-trump-syrian-refugees-213430
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/24/libyas-people-smugglers-how-will-they-catch-us-theyll-soon-move-on
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/09/02/a-dead-baby-becomes-the-most-tragic-symbol-yet-of-the-mediterranean-refugee-crisis/
http://tarpley.net/congress-cannot-block-iran-nuclear-accord-by-legal-methods/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss
http://www.blacklistednews.com/Elites_Want_More_Refugees%3A_Why%3F/46097/0/38/38/Y/M.html
Edit: In just a few days, Trump ALREADY recanted his humanitarian opinion about helping Syrian refugees. Additionally, I heard an enlightening interview on NPR wherein a business analyst said Trump is not a very astute businessman. Trump inherited $40 million from his father, which he subsequently played fast and loose with, resulting in having to declare bankruptcy on several occasions. If he had just put the $40m in the stock market and left it alone, it could be as much as $7 billion by now, per S & P performance history. Do you really want this jack-face arse-wit as president? http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/10/politics/donald-trump-syrian-refugees/index.html?via=newsletter&source=CSPMedition