Russian and Iranian news sources are reporting that some rebel factions have confessed to the use of chemical weapons. In the times of the Cold War, such allegations, if heard, would have been buried and dismissed by the general public as wild propaganda. However, times have changed.
This change of times is none more evident on Reddit, where some users have stated that the Russian allegations that the rebels used chemical weapons are more reliable than the allegations made by the Obama administration. Senator Rand Paul, and also his father, have stated that they suspect involvement by the rebels in the chemical attack in Ghouta. With public suspicion at an unprecedented high, and with few allies in our corner, it seems that a decision to attack Syria would be made solely by the United States. If the United States does not attack, it will officially mark the death of the American empire, and of Israel.
Many in the Arab world saw the last war between Hezbollah and Israel as a military victory for Hezbollah. The survival of Israel is dependent upon weak neighbors, and should Assad win the civil war, which he appears on track to do, then Israel will find itself surrounded by battle-hardened, relentless enemies. Though Assad's 11-year-old son presumably believes in the myth of American technological supremacy, he's only partially correct. Our new technology is bloated by corruption; the F-35 looked shiny in Man of Steel but it is a money pit and a failure; China's new stealth fighter will leave it blind. Further, most of our technology is useless against an asymmetrical enemy.
The last time a prime minister lost a vote in the British parliament was in 1782, when the British effectively granted independence to the rebelling 13 Colonies. Cameron's loss was unprecedented, and it's likely that few in the Obama administration foresaw it. John Kerry's speech last Monday, where he decried a "moral obscenity," may one day be regarded as Bush's "Mission Accomplished," where the arrogance of empire was highlighted for the world to see.
There is still perhaps a diplomatic solution to this crisis, and maybe some new statesman will prove himself as a great peacemaker, but should that peacemaker not appear, then the world stands at the precipice of an abyss. Kerry's unpredictable "moral compass" will be seen by the Iranians as license to continue expanding their nuclear centrifuge capabilities, and it will agitate Israel.
This past Monday, John Kerry possibly doomed Israel. If there is no action on the part of the US, then it guarantees that Israel will find itself surrounded by mortal enemies who believe that it has limited support from a collapsing superpower. Or we fight now and fall while we're on top, or we fight in a few years when it's already embarrassingly apparent that post-industrial Detroit is the new American model.
