Are you wondering why on Earth Obama would think it's a good idea to bomb Syria, when Libya was such a disaster? I'll give you a hint: both countries are non-members of the WTO, with state-owned banking systems. So is Iran.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/making_the_world_safe_for_banksters_syria_in_the_cross-hairs_20130905/

The people who financed Obama's elections -- and who are the only folks for whom he's been a good president -- are the ones who have the most to gain by regime change in Syria.

"They were not enemies but the US was not an Israeli client."

FTFY

Or, you know, maybe because it's the language spoken by the other half of the western hemisphere? Just a thought.

"Drones killing civilians is an accident; people thought there was a military target there. Sometimes mistakes happen, and innocent people die, but the intent is to target military forces and largely that is what happens."

According to whom, the government that won't officially acknowledge the program exists?

It is perfectly fine to strip away the rights of a person if they are nuts in a way that is a danger to the physical safety of other human beings.

FTFY

Bah, ignore me. I misread; only the section on MDMA references a Scientology article. That part was still bullshit, though.

Anybody else notice that a good chunk of that article's references are articles by a Scientology front group?

Cynical describes the arms dealers. You're just being a realist.

For what, impersonating a corporation?

I feel like this should be a new verse.

Global thermonuclear ad hominem, anyone?

Our nuclear weapons program, as a start. Then the entirety of USSOCOM. Our aircraft carriers. Most of our submarines. All currently-planned weapons development programs. I would definitely cancel the JSF program. Any soldiers who would be put out of a job by this could take over jobs currently under contract, such as base security, cleaning services, food prep, etc.

Fully half of military officers graded O6 or higher could be let go. Every single civilian defense agency under the DoD should have its entire contract staff fired immediately and be reorganized to make do with civilian personnel. Any roles that cannot be filled with the civilian workforce should be examined and eliminated, if possible.

I could go on. There is literally too much waste to even account for, which is why DoD hasn't even attempted an internal audit in a long time.

Yeah, I'm not a fan our police state either, but the DoJ, flawed as they are, are the ones who *actually* prevent terrorism, and would be sorely missed. If you're looking for some useless, dangerous bureaucrats to defund start with the DIA, NSA, and CIA. Those folks create more terrorism than they thwart.

Buffer zone? That's good. For any German readers out there: that translates to Lebensraum.

If by "diplomatic consequences" you mean being forced to withdraw from Iraq, and starting riots in Egypt and Tunisia (Arab Spring happen that long ago we've already forgotten?), then yes it had some effect.

If it weren't for Manning's revelations, we'd still have troops in Iraq, and the Arab Spring might have been a lot smaller than it turned out to be. If that isn't significant, I don't know what is.