The War Party

I learned of the following from the recent interview of Stephen F. Cohen by John Batchelor:

WASHINGTON — The agreement that Secretary of State John Kerry announced with Russia to reduce the killing in Syria has widened an increasingly public divide between Mr. Kerry and Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, who has deep reservations about the plan for American and Russian forces to jointly target terrorist groups.

On Tuesday at the Pentagon, officials would not even agree that if a cessation of violence in Syria held for seven days — the initial part of the deal — the Defense Department would put in place its part of the agreement on the eighth day: an extraordinary collaboration between the United States and Russia that calls for the American military to share information with Moscow on Islamic State targets in Syria. (Emphasis added.)

Consider the brazenness of the italicized statement – the “Commander-in-Chief,” as represented by his secretary of state, cannot even command those over who he is supposed to be in chief. 

Consider that the New York Times did not challenge the statement.

As if to demonstrate that the Pentagon’s “reservations” had teeth, a few days later, the US military mistakenly bombed the Syrian army, killing dozens and wounding scores more – an event to which the US has admitted fault. 

Shortly thereafter, the US accused Russia of bombing a UN aid convoy – an event for which Russia has not admitted fault and for which the US has offered no evidence (to my knowledge), but providing evidence would seem simple enough to do given the 24 / 7 surveillance of the entire region.

Reuters news agency quoted two US officials as saying two Russian Sukhoi SU-24 warplanes were in the sky above the aid convoy at the precise time it was struck.

“There are only three parties that fly in Syria: the coalition, the Russians and the Syrian regime. It was not the coalition. We don’t fly over Aleppo. We have no reason to. We strike only Isis, and Isis is not there. We would leave it to the Russians and the Syrian regime to explain their actions,” said Capt Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. (Emphasis added.)

Well, the US strikes only ISIS except when it doesn’t….

As if to emphasize the split within the war party:

The White House and state department said they could not confirm the allegations….

We do know who was responsible for bombing a Médecins Sans Frontières hospital recently.

It is becoming more blatantly obvious who is and isn’t in charge in the US government.  If this wasn’t obvious in November, 1963, it cannot be ignored today.

Well, except by the New York Times.