That attack was launched by President Donald Trump Friday in response to a chemical gas attack in the northwestern Syrian town of Khan Shaykhun (roughly equidistant from Homs and Aleppo). Estimates vary, but at least 30 and perhaps more than 80 were killed in the gas attack. Images of suffering children there were said to have “shaken” Trump.
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, the ruler whom many regard as a tyrannical butcher, gave an interview with the wire service Agence France Presse (his first since the missile strike) in which he said that the chemical attack had been “100-percent fabricated” so that the U.S. would have an excuse to carry out their military operation.
Dennis Kucinich agrees — maybe not that the chemical attack had been “fabricated,” but certainly that there was more to the story. He voiced his opposition to the missile strike on WKYC, and sat for an extended interview with The Intercept’s Jeremy Scahill, on that publication’s Intercepted podcast.
Kucinich said he believed the chemical attack that inspired the missile attack was not perpetrated by Bashar Al-Assad and the Syrian government.
“And here’s why,” he told Scahill. “Syria had been winning on the ground. They had a major battle that was a turnaround moment in Aleppo. It would go against everything that makes sense militarily and politically to engage in a chemical weapons attack.”
Kucinich said he’d wanted an independent inquiry into the gas attack and suggested that the “absolute refusal” by the U.S. government to conduct one “raise[d] serious questions about whether or not there was an agenda.”
Kucinich was careful to point out that he was not sure this was an instance of a “false flag attack,” but said there were elements in Washington aware of the sensitivities of the American people, who have, in the past, relied upon the “big heart” of the United States to create a “wag the dog” scenario, drawing countries into a conflict based on an emotional response to a horrific act.
Kucinich likened the rapid, almost blind consensus-formation to the claims of WMDs in Iraq, and the virtually unanimous support for a war there among the nation’s leaders.
“What we’re looking at are pretexts,” he said, “pretexts for running an agenda of regime change… You have to ask the question, then: What is America all about? Are we simply about imperium? Are we about expanding the reach of what Eisenhower called the military-industrial complex?”
And just because it’s baseball season:
“When I was kid growing up in Cleveland,” Kucinich continued, “I used to go to Cleveland Indians baseball games and there was a guy who would walk up and down the steps in the bleachers and go: ‘Scorecard! Scorecard! You can’t tell the players without a scorecard. Well, in Washington D.C. you need a scorecard which includes: Who are the defense contractors who benefit from this? Who’s promoting this in the Pentagon? Who’s promoting this in the State Department? Who’s promoting it at the CIA? And once you have that, you kind of can figure out where this thing is going.”
Kucinich’s ultimate fear: World War III, something he won’t be able to prevent even if he does saddle up and run for Governor.
You can listen to the full interview between Jeremy Scahill and Dennis Kucinich here.
Contact Senior Writer Sam Allard: sallard at clevescene dot com / @SceneSallard / (216) 802-7282.
This article appears in Apr 12-18, 2017.
Dennis “Olive Pit” Kucinich has had a strange fetish for Bashar al-Assad that dates back at least a decade. A June 2011 online story in POLITICO – under the headline: Kucinich’s Syria visit raises eyebrows – briefly outlines the history to that point, along with chronicling his wanderings around Damascus and flirty devotion to the dictator.
TIL: Dennis Kucinich is still alive.
Thought he had moved to Hawaii and died.
As a citizen of and believer in democracy, I applaud the efforts of the
Syrian people. Their efforts are similar to what is happening in Libya,
Yemen, Algeria and Bahrain as well as the most recent revolutions in
Egypt and Tunisia.
Believe it or not, one thing that trumps capitalism and political
correctness in the United States is the right to have one’s voice heard.
This is the foundation of which our democracy is built on. The Syrian
people should continue to defy Bashar al-Assad’s powerful
security forces so that Syrian democracy can begin to thrive. It is
unfortunate that the United States compromised on one of its most
fundamental values in order to protect its economic interests in the
Middle East; something that happens all too often domestically as well.
It is not the Syrian people that are attempting to seize power but rather
it is those currently in power who have engaged in intimidation to prevent
the will of the people from being heard. Why else would they stoop to such
underhanded tactics to block various means of communication among the
citizens of Syria? Why is the government in power utilizing such
political strong-arm tactics as the use of violence?
Bashar al-Assad, you have had seventeen years to lead Syria and have
failed them by your own choosing. The days of the despotic regime are
finally coming to an end as it appears the desire for freedom will continue
to sweep among the Arab nations. Accordingly, let the call go forth among
all citizens of Syria that your brothers and sisters of democracy from all
over the world are with you during every trial and tribulation you may
encounter during this crisis. To the people of Syria, the trumpet of
freedom beckons you to rise in protest and ensure your voice to preserve
your sacred heritage, promote your children’s future and obtain the
blessings of liberty we all cherish.
Syria, the hour of your redemption is at hand. As you the rightful citizens
move forward to reclaim your own country, rise and strike! In the name of
those who were murdered fighting for everyone’s rights, rise and strike!
To end the rule of this evil regime, rise and strike! Let no one continue
to fear this man. Let every Syrian be strong and fight on for their
freedom. Rise and strike!
Bashar al-Assad, put aside your selfish ego and let the people go!
JOE BIALEK
Cleveland, OH USA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLrrBs8JBQo
As a citizen of and believer in democracy, I applaud the efforts of the
Syrian people. Their efforts are similar to what is happening in Libya,
Yemen, Algeria and Bahrain as well as the most recent revolutions in
Egypt and Tunisia.
Believe it or not, one thing that trumps capitalism and political
correctness in the United States is the right to have one’s voice heard.
This is the foundation of which our democracy is built on. The Syrian
people should continue to defy Bashar al-Assad’s powerful
security forces so that Syrian democracy can begin to thrive. It is
unfortunate that the United States compromised on one of its most
fundamental values in order to protect its economic interests in the
Middle East; something that happens all too often domestically as well.
It is not the Syrian people that are attempting to seize power but rather
it is those currently in power who have engaged in intimidation to prevent
the will of the people from being heard. Why else would they stoop to such
underhanded tactics to block various means of communication among the
citizens of Syria? Why is the government in power utilizing such
political strong-arm tactics as the use of violence?
Bashar al-Assad, you have had seventeen years to lead Syria and have
failed them by your own choosing. The days of the despotic regime are
finally coming to an end as it appears the desire for freedom will continue
to sweep among the Arab nations. Accordingly, let the call go forth among
all citizens of Syria that your brothers and sisters of democracy from all
over the world are with you during every trial and tribulation you may
encounter during this crisis. To the people of Syria, the trumpet of
freedom beckons you to rise in protest and ensure your voice to preserve
your sacred heritage, promote your children’s future and obtain the
blessings of liberty we all cherish.
Syria, the hour of your redemption is at hand. As you the rightful citizens
move forward to reclaim your own country, rise and strike! In the name of
those who were murdered fighting for everyone’s rights, rise and strike!
To end the rule of this evil regime, rise and strike! Let no one continue
to fear this man. Let every Syrian be strong and fight on for their
freedom. Rise and strike!
Bashar al-Assad, put aside your selfish ego and let the people go!
JOE BIALEK
Cleveland, OH USA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLrrBs8JBQo
As a citizen of and believer in democracy, I applaud the efforts of the
Syrian people. Their efforts are similar to what is happening in Libya,
Yemen, Algeria and Bahrain as well as the most recent revolutions in
Egypt and Tunisia.
Believe it or not, one thing that trumps capitalism and political
correctness in the United States is the right to have one’s voice heard.
This is the foundation of which our democracy is built on. The Syrian
people should continue to defy Bashar al-Assad’s powerful
security forces so that Syrian democracy can begin to thrive. It is
unfortunate that the United States compromised on one of its most
fundamental values in order to protect its economic interests in the
Middle East; something that happens all too often domestically as well.
It is not the Syrian people that are attempting to seize power but rather
it is those currently in power who have engaged in intimidation to prevent
the will of the people from being heard. Why else would they stoop to such
underhanded tactics to block various means of communication among the
citizens of Syria? Why is the government in power utilizing such
political strong-arm tactics as the use of violence?
Bashar al-Assad, you have had seventeen years to lead Syria and have
failed them by your own choosing. The days of the despotic regime are
finally coming to an end as it appears the desire for freedom will continue
to sweep among the Arab nations. Accordingly, let the call go forth among
all citizens of Syria that your brothers and sisters of democracy from all
over the world are with you during every trial and tribulation you may
encounter during this crisis. To the people of Syria, the trumpet of
freedom beckons you to rise in protest and ensure your voice to preserve
your sacred heritage, promote your children’s future and obtain the
blessings of liberty we all cherish.
Syria, the hour of your redemption is at hand. As you the rightful citizens
move forward to reclaim your own country, rise and strike! In the name of
those who were murdered fighting for everyone’s rights, rise and strike!
To end the rule of this evil regime, rise and strike! Let no one continue
to fear this man. Let every Syrian be strong and fight on for their
freedom. Rise and strike!
Bashar al-Assad, put aside your selfish ego and let the people go!
JOE BIALEK
Cleveland, OH USA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLrrBs8JBQo
Who can help us stop Usa who has already killed 20 million people before they kill, torture, rape og enslave us all.