Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Mr President, Sir, Are You About to Blow Up the Middle East?

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Mr President, Sir, Are You About to Blow Up the Middle East?

Click here to access article by F. William Engdahl from New Eastern Outlook.

I have a very uneasy feeling that the US President is about to set off a chain of events that will literally blow up the Middle East. Earlier I’ve detailed the very careful steps, seductions and actions of key players of the Obama Administration, from the President himself to Secretary of State John Kerry to CIA director, John Owen Brennan, to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, General Joseph “Fightin’ Joe” Francis Dunford, Jr., Washington dirty tricks specialist and now UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey D. Feltman, and numerous others not in the spotlight. Their reactions to the provocative actions of ... [Turkey and Saudi Arabia] Washington has set a huge, deadly trap for the delusional Saudi monarchy’s Prince Salman and his bosom buddy, Erdoğan. Now it looks like they are about to spring their trap.

Although no one is infallible, I have great respect for Engdahl's many efforts to shed light on the geopolitical plans of the Empire. His efforts have always reflected an honest attempt to get at the truth. In this piece he focuses much attention on a report (his link is no longer valid) that has surfaced in many major or respectable websites such as Stratfor, Haaretz, Arena (Australia), apparently on Wikileaks (but I couldn't find it within a few minutes), and many others. His summary of the report looks extremely authentic--it has the trust inspiring "ring of truth" embedded in it.

The "trap" he refers to in the last few sentences in the above quote is one in which he implies that these two countries (Turkey and Saudi Arabia) are being used by the Empire to do their dirty work, and will not reap the benefits of the plan. In a recent article he also sees a trap set for Russia as a result of the UN brokered ceasefire in Syria which, according to Bernhard (Moon of Alabama), is not being honored by the US, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.