It's been a long time since I used this blog — nine years. That's an insanely long time on the internet. What can I say? I've over-invested myself in Twitter accounts. Microblogging suited me well for the last decade, in tandem with the writing and support work I've done at emptywheel. Now it's time to return to my roots. I may be here more frequently, especially if the Twitter sale goes through and is closed on. Just in case I leave Twitter altogether I'm floating this message in a bottle for you. Leave me a comment here if you want to chat, let me know how to contact you back. Catch me in comments over at emptywheel. Contact me on Mastodon at @raynetoday@mstdn.social . Those of you who've known me longer can still reach me by email which hasn't changed since I started this blog. You will NOT find me at Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. Never. You may soon find me at Discord as I'm thinking about opening an account there. Whatever the case, I hop
As so many have already pointed out, the march to war on Syria feels like deja vu, as if we are in the midst of a replay circa November 2002 when the drums began to beat, demanding war on Iraq. All we are missing is a passionate demand by a high-ranking White House or Pentagon official in front of the United Nations asking for international blessing to proceed. This is probably only days away from happening; I'll be Colin Powell can give us a solid estimate on exactly when this will happen, given his previous experience with pawning similar hyperbole on the UN in November 2002. The hypocritical nature of the demand for war cannot be ignored. We supported the Iraq regime under Saddam Hussein when he used chemical weapons. Decades later Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons is used as the justification for U.S. military intervention. There are deaths. We cannot deny this. The situation is tragic. But we cannot justify our military intervention at this time.