John McCain and John Boehner believe him.
John Kerry believes him.
Nancy Pelosi, too.
But I don’t.
I don’t believe the US has irrefutable, indisputable proof that the Syrian government intentionally killed 1,500 people with sarin gas.
I don’t believe it.
Not yet.
And neither does Yossef Bodansky.
You’re probably thinking “this Bodansky guy’s some conspiracy kook, too.”
Here’s Bodansky’s Wikipedia header:
Yossef Bodansky (born in Israel) is an Israeli-Americanpolitical scientist who served as Director of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare of the US House of Representatives from 1988 to 2004. He is also Director of Research of the International Strategic Studies Association and has been a visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). In the 1980s, he served as a senior consultant for the Department of Defense and the Department of State.
He is also a senior editor for the Defense and Foreign Affairs group of publications and a contributor to the International Military and Defense Encyclopedia and is on the Advisory Council of The Intelligence Summit. Bodansky’s numerous articles have been published in Global Affairs, Jane’s Defense Weekly, Defense and Foreign Affairs: Strategic Policy and other periodicals.
Bodansky’s more credentialed than Barack Obama and John Kerry combined.
Bodansky doubts the US official story–the story Obama, Kerry, McCain, and Boehner are advancing as justification for another war. His sources are affiliated with the Syrian opposition.
Those sources have evidence that the opposition launched the sarin gas attacks that allegedly killed over 400 children and 1,000 others.
But that’s not all.
Bodansky suspects the White House aided the deadly attack.
The extent of U.S. foreknowledge of this provocation needs further investigation because available data puts the “horror” of the Barack Obama White House in a different and disturbing light.
Bodansky’s article in World Tribune explains:
The mere fact that weapon storage sites under the tight supervision of U.S. intelligence were opened up and about a thousand tons of high-quality weapons were distributed to the opposition indicates that U.S. intelligence anticipated such a provocation and the opportunity for the Syrian opposition to exploit the impact of the ensuing U.S. and allied bombing. Hence, even if the Obama White House did not know in advance of the chemical provocation, they should have concluded, or at the very least suspected, that the chemical attack was most likely the “war-changing development” anticipated by the opposition leaders as provocation of U.S.-led bombing. Under such circumstances, the Obama White House should have refrained from rushing head-on to accuse Assad’s Damascus and threaten retaliation, thus making the Obama White House at the very least complicit after the act.
If true, Obama could spend time at the defense table at The Hague.
Call me crazy. Call me war-weary. Call me a kook.
I’m not ready to launch another war. I’m not ready send Americans into another civil war in the Middle East. I’m not ready to help Damascus to become the next Benghazi.
We’ve seen the chaos that ensued from our interventions in Libya and Egypt. We know that Obama is incapable of finishing a job. We know we’ve lost or damaged some of the best young people of the Millennial Generation with very little to show for it.
I know McCain’s a war hero who plays pocket poker during hearings on the war, but I know he’s wrong a lot.
I fear that if we jump into this war in Syria, the consequences could be huge. Russia will likely step up support of Assad. Al Qaeda will end up with more American weapons and intelligence. When cruise missiles prove inadequate, US Marines will die in someone else’s civil war.
I’m tired of watching flag-draped caskets with motorcycle escorts parade down I-44 past my office window.
I won’t vote for anyone who votes for this war unless they first convince me that war in Syria is the only thing that will preserve the republic. If Ann Wagner or Roy Blunt votes for war and survives their primary, I’ll vote for a third party or abstain from those votes. If the next GOP presidential candidate emerges from Congress, same there.
I’m ready for peace.
Are you?