Opinion from the desk of the Editor:

I have been studying war for many years and yes that makes me an old fart…..I got interested in the study of conflict after my return from Vietnam and enter into my studies of international relations…….I studied the histories, the tactics and the results of many wars over the years at university and in that time one tactic stood out, especially in more modern wars…..that one tactic was propaganda…..a narrative to justify the aggression.

By narrative one could say the “lies” to justify a war.  Let’s look at recent conflicts gulf war one….George 1 used it by a narrative of Israel in danger, nuke possibilities and atrocities committed by the Saddam army….it worked….we went to war and the public was behind it….well a majority…there well always be those anti-war protesters

Fast forward to George 2…..he used a similar tactic…Saddam was harboring AQ and after 9/11 that was a no no, he was seeking nukes for aggression and of course those non-existent CWs……any way it worked….the public was solidly behind the war against Saddam.  Of course, all built on lies.

I bring all this up because it appears that the US and Obama is quickly working on its narrative for a further aggression in Iraq.

First, it was the humanitarian crisis of those people trapped on a mountain…..the problem was that there were not as many trapped as reported and then that became a non-story and we scrambled to find another narrative……..

Next there was the report that there were a least a 100 Americans fighting with ISIS and the possibility of them returning home and continuing their ‘jihad”…they must be stopped….the problem is the report comes out that there are about a dozen Americans there…..but the narrative is still the hundred figure…….

That did not seem to generate the concern or the popularity of another prolonged war….so the scramble is on for a deeper more disturbing narrative…….

And then yesterday an opening appeared….BAM!

Our ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, came up with a new more disturbing narrative……

The United States is concerned that the Islamic State group and other terrorists could get hold of chemical weapons if Syria is hiding any stockpiles, US Ambassador Samantha Power said Thursday.

Power said the US is concerned not only that President Bashar Assad’s regime still has chemical weapons but that any stockpiles left behind could end up in the hands of the Islamic State group, which has seized large swaths of Syria and Iraq.

“Certainly if there are chemical weapons left in Syria, there will be a risk that those weapons fall into ISIL’s hands. And we can only imagine what a group like that would do if in possession of such a weapon,” Power said, referring to the militant group by one of its known acronyms.

There you have it…..the newest narrative is a well used one from the past……WMDs!  The only thing missing this time is the “mushroom cloud” comment from before.

As usual the war hawks hit the screen on the Sunday talk shows…….everybody has a 2 cents they want to throw out there……..

(Newser) – With President Obama’s speech outlining his ISIS “game plan” coming Wednesday, there was no shortage of opinion today on the talk shows about what he should do. “What we ought to have is a directed, concerted, overwhelming campaign to take them out,” Ted Cruz told ABC. “The focus should be Iraq, but the real focus should be taking out ISIS. Within Syria, it should not be our objective to try and resolve the civil war.” Cruz dinged Obama for not “taking ISIS seriously,” and added that “the American people in 2014 and also November 2016 are going to be looking for leaders who want to work to restore America’s leadership in the world.” Which, coincidentally, “increases my interest in doing everything I can to change the direction we’re on,” vis a vis a 2016 run, notes Politico. More from your Sunday dial, as per Politico:

• Henry Kissinger: “When an American is murdered on television for the purpose of terrorizing Americans, there should be a response that you cannot, you would not, analyze in terms of a normal response to provocation. Something has to crystallize out of this violence and it won’t happen without our leadership.”
• Mitt Romney: Obama “is so out of touch with reality that he hasn’t taken the kind of action necessary to prevent very bad things from happening,” like the rise of ISIS. “I don’t know if you can’t see reality from the fairway.”
• Dianne Feinstein: “I want to congratulate the president. He is now on offense. It is overdue, but the president is now there. I think it is the right thing for America. Time’s a-wasting. We’ve now said that we’re going to go on the offensive. It’s time for America to project power and strength.”
• Mike Rogers: Obama should “lay out a very certain case” for action against ISIS, and “engage Congress, the American people on what exactly we’re going to do here.”

Now they wait to see if this will increase the support for further Iraqi aggression……..if not then the hunt for the perfect narrative to war will continue until the best one is found.

I will wait to see just how gullible the American public is going to be….this time.