Syria:

Things seem to be quiet around Syria right now but they're not really. The American government and military (is there a difference any more?) keep firing off warnings and veiled threats... Syria has to co-operate, in the light of recent events Syria has to revise it's thinking... Syria has to stop supporting terrorists, has to stop developing and testing weapons of mass destruction.. has to stop this, that and everything and watch carefully now because tomorrow the demands will all have been changed.



Syria put forward a proposal at the UN that all weapons of mass destruction be banned in the region, the Americans immediately rejected this proposal.

That would mean Israel would also have to comply and no way are they allowing that to happen. Syria's overtures to Israel, to resume peace talks without preconditions were also summarily dismissed. Perhaps Israel knows what we as yet do not... that it is already written, Syria will be invaded and all they have to do is wait it out, no talks or concessions needed any more.



There are two reasons that I believe the Americans are delaying their attack: 1. The president wants to wait until the timing is exactly right with regard to the coming elections. If he can heroically sweep the country into a (to be expected victorious) war right before the elections, he knows from experience his ratings will go through the roof. If you start the war too early, you risk that people will wake up from their patriotistically induced stupor and realise at exactly what cost they have allowed someone to play cowboys and injuns... nother reason is 2. They need at least an excuse to go to war. A pretext. Just like the so-called non compliance with the weapons inspectors in Iraq (see, we gave them a last chance, we waited twelve years and still they would not co-operate, we had no choice but to go to war). In a couple of months they can say "we gave them warning after warning, we sent Powell over there time and again and still they would not listen, we have no choice, we have to march to Damascus for the safety of us all…"



All that's happening now, is PR work, the creating of a compliant American population. After a couple of months of saturation advertising, they will feel it's inevitable that America go to war in Syria.



The Amercan advertising machine is horribly effective, make no mistake. Even here. I spoke to a lady this weekend who was in tears as she told me the story of how she and most of her family barely survived the hunger winter at the end of WW2 - only to state that the Iraqui deaths caused by the sanctions were quite acceptable and that that the USA had no choice but to go to war there because Saddam was going to attack them and also send terrorists to target Europe. Phew!