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PBC News & Comment: Catching Up with Obama’s New War in Iraq and Syria

Returning from 3-week break, your humble host sorts through the spin, disinformation and fiction (Khorosan) of war on Islamic State….

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–Obama rolls out Iraq War 3, based on intelligence failures and obviously flawed policies; IS is product of both, proof that “surge” was a failure

–Congress ducks its responsibilities, ceding more power to the imperial executive

–no predictions on cost, how it’s paid for, desired goal and exit strategy. If IS is routed, and Assad is deposed, what next?

–Obama tells 60 Minutes that US Intel underestimated IS, overestimated Iraq military

–Obama’s pledge of “no boots on the ground” appears to buy time til November, when he has no more political costs; Iran’s PressTV cites Iraqi leaders claiming 13,000 US troops will be deployed

–Greenwald deftly exposes “Fake Terror Threat” of Khorosan, which was added to the script at the last minute

–Daily Show’s Jessica Williams skewers the terror threat propaganda, in this excerpt

–Robert Parry offers great critical analysis, most recently of Obama’s UN speech regarding Ukraine, here; and the incoherent legal claims about US strikes in Syria, here.

–Australia expands police state powers in response to recent single incident, as America’s hawks continue to peddle threats to the “homeland” and pressure for surveillance reform and release of Senate torture report evaporates

–Democrats like Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, who bitterly opposed Bush’s Mideast war, now support Obama’s war

–Occupy Central and student protests challenge Hong Kong’s apologists and Beijing’s strong arm tactics about elections

–Hong Kong toadies led group of “tycoons” to Beijing, followed by protests and police crackdown over the weekend