Schizophrenia as Explanation for U.S. Policy Toward Syria

7,500 miles separate the cities of Damascus and Los Angeles.  Despite the vast geographical divide the people of each region are tied together via their central state.

To summarize Washington, D.C.'s policy toward Syria:

1. A decade long regime of sanctions prohibiting the people of Syria trading for American made goods.  
2. Two years of supplying automatic weapons to Syria's "moderate Islamic militants" in order to topple the Assad-led state of Syria. 
3. Two week long bombing campaigns in Iraq in order to kill "extremist Islamic militants" (members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria).
4. Newly announced drone surveillance flights over Syria in order to spy on ISIS.   

Social Outcast Harbored by TIME Magazine

Before I saw this clip I thought I had heard everything.  Now I know otherwise.

Towards the end of this three minute debate with Joe Scarborough on the topic of killer computers in the sky (i.e. drones) Joe Klein from TIME says "The bottom line is...whose four-year old gets killed".

 

Does the U.S. Plan to Bomb Yemen for 16 Years?

Apparently a six year long bombing campaign in Yemen is just not enough for the U.S.  

The tiny African country of Djibouti is now a legal landlord to the U.S. military for the next ten years.  Separated from Yemen by only 20 miles via the Red Sea the small Muslim country will collect $630,000,000 in rent from the U.S. Treasury over the next decade.

Of course the 800,000 residents of Djibouti and the 317,000,000 residents of the U.S. have no input in this decision.  The contractual parties include only the small number of people calling themselves "the state" in both America and Africa.  

Did You Vote on the U.S. Invasion of Yemen?

U.S. Bombing of Southern Yemen (2013/Reuters)

U.S. military members described as "elite and clandestine" were involved in the killing of 65 people in Yemen last month.  This is in addition to the roughly 1,000 people the U.S. has bombed to death in the country since 2009*.

With the U.S. invasion of Yemen lasting six years you would think that the people paying for the war would at least be asked to vote on it.

Did you see a ballot initiative about funding the war in Yemen?

Has your Senator called you and asked your opinion about the matter?

Maybe there was a box on the IRS tax form that asked how much of your tax dollars should go toward funding the war against the people of Yemen.

Or maybe the politicians simply don't allow their subjects to vote on important matters like war and peace.  

*data from The New America Foundation  

Drone Crash in Texas

A drone for your local SWAT team
(AP Photo/Lance Bertolino, Vanguard Defense Industries)

Police are searching for a drone which crashed in Lake Conroe, Texas last week.  The robot, which could be fitted with a grenade launcher, malfunctioned while the sheriff's were practicing flying over the lake.

In addition to the $250,000 cost of the drone, more resources are being wasted as divers are spending time on a search and rescue mission of the flying machine.  

From the Houston Chronicle.  

Putting a Face to Murder Victims in Pakistan

How will U.S. military drone pilots react when they see this through their video feed?

Can Art Save Lives? -AFP Photo

DAWN.com has details of Pakistani artists who have plastered fields with giant posters of drone murder victims*.  Their hope is to "create empathy and introspective" among the drone pilots.  If art can save lives then these artists deserve a peace prize.      

*In the past decade 2,300 Pakistani's have been killed by U.S. drones.