[HCCN] Fwd: BDN Poll question US military strike against Syria?

[Dick Atlee]

Judy_Robbins wrote on 4/9/18 10:14 AM:
> Link to BDN article below, and for anyone who wants to read deeper :
> 
> https://gowans.wordpress.com/2018/04/08/eight-reasons-why-the-latest-syria-chemical-weapons-attack-allegations-are-almost-certainly-complete-nonsense/
> and:
> https://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2018/04/trumps-syria-withdrawal-was-textbook-us.html
>>
>> *From: *Karen Saum <karen.saum at stanfordalumni.org>
>> I thought readers might want to weigh in on going to war against Syria. 
>> Today's BDN Poll Question is at
>> http://bangordailynews.com/2018/04/08/politics/collins-says-us-may-need-to-consider-military-strike-after-syrian-gas-attack/
>>
>> Right now the response is about 50-50

To which I'll add the following, which came out three weeks ago:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
US Planning a Terrorist False Flag Chemical Attack in Syria: Russia Says It 
Will Respond
By Federico Pieraccini
March 20, 2018
Information Clearing House
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/49037.htm

Events in Syria increasingly resemble a direct confrontation between major 
powers rather than a proxy war. Lavrov’s words, delivered a few days ago, 
reveal the critical phase of international relations the world is going 
through, with a potentially devastating conflict ready to ignite in the 
Middle East region.

An alarming warning by Sergei Lavrov and Chief of the Russian General 
Staff, Valery Gerasimov, was announced via the RT broadcaster and several 
Russian media. The content is explosive and deserving of the widest 
possible dissemination. Gerasimov claimed that Moscow had "reliable 
information that fighters are preparing to stage the use by government 
troops of chemical weapons against the civilian population." He alleged 
that the US intends to accuse Assad's troops of using chemical weapons 
against civilians, and then "carry out a bombing attack" on Damascus. 
Gerasimov warned that Russia would "take retaliatory measures" if the US 
targeted areas where its military are located in the Syrian capital. 
"Russian military advisers, representatives of the Center for 
Reconciliation and members of military police" are currently in the Syrian 
capital, Gerasimov said, adding that in the event that the lives of Russian 
military personnel are placed in danger, the Russian Armed Forces will 
respond with certain measure to both “missiles” and their “launchers”. A 
few hours earlier, Lavrov responded, "criticizing the remarks by the US 
envoy to the UN, Nikki Haley, about Washington’s readiness to “bomb 
Damascus and even the presidential palace of Bashar Assad, regardless [of 
the] presence of the Russian representatives there.” “It is an absolutely 
irresponsible statement,” the Russian top diplomat added.

The words of Gerasimov are even more dire, since he explains how the United 
States and its allies are preparing the ground to justify an attack on 
Syria. According to reports, terrorists stationed in Al-Tanf (an illegal US 
military base in Syria) received 20 tons of chlorine gas and detonators, 
disguised as cigarette packs, in order to attack in an area under the 
control of the terrorists that is densely inhabited by civilians. What 
would then happen is already obvious, with the White Helmets (AKA Al-Qaeda) 
and mainstream media ready to broadcast the images of the victims of the 
attack, tugging at the heartstrings of Western viewers otherwise unaware of 
the conspiracy being played out. Efforts to frame Russia have already 
reached the highest alert levels, with the false-flag poisoning of the 
Russian spy in the United Kingdom. It seems that there is a significant 
effort by the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany to 
provoke a military confrontation with Moscow. How else are we able to 
interpret threats from Macron to strike Damascus, together with his ominous 
advice to foreign journalists not to go to Damascus in the coming days and, 
for those already there, to leave the capital immediately? There has even 
been chatter within diplomatic circles that suggest that UN personnel are 
leaving Damascus. This could be psychological warfare, or it could be a 
prelude to war. With the stakes so high, we cannot afford to ignore any 
detail, even if it may be disinformation. The American attack seems 
imminent, with mounting signs of movements of American and Russian warships 
in the Mediterranean in attack formation.

Russian military representatives have reiterated that in the event of an 
attack, they will respond by hitting both the missiles launched as well as 
the ships from which the missiles were launched. Things are getting pretty 
dicey, and the risk of a direct confrontation between the United States and 
the Russian Federation are rising with every passing hour. The transfer of 
numerous US aircraft from Incirlik, Turkey, to Al-Azrak, Jordan, is another 
indication of preparations for an attack, since the forces moved to Jordan 
are close to the Al-Tanf base. The proposed strategy could involve an 
assault on the city of Daraa, for the purposes of securing the borders 
between Syria and Jordan and Syria and Israel.

<snip>