THE PENTAGON-MEDIA COMPLEX

Washington’s cynical attacks on the Syrian army are calculated to expand the Syrian conflict and deepen American encroachment in the region. The level of crimes America is willing to commit is boundless, hence the hesitation of many players to do the obvious, as when dealing with a rabid monster.

CAITLIN JOHNSTONE—As noted by Max Abrams, “Assad has strong incentives not to use chemical weapons again whereas regime change supporters have every incentive to say he did.” The leverage he’d be giving people like Nikki Haley to draw the wrath of the world down upon his head by committing internationally reviled war crimes would make it nonsensical for him to use an inefficient weapon like chlorine gas. It would be strategically disastrous, it wouldn’t profit him any, bombs work much better, and his consistent denial of using those weapons (both inside Syria and outside) would invalidate any small advantage he might get from sending a scary message to his enemies.

WILLIAM J PASTORE—With the very word “peace” rarely in Washington’s political vocabulary, America’s never-ending version of war seems as inevitable as anything is likely to be in history. Significant contingents of U.S. troops and contractors remain an enduring presence in Iraq and there are now 2,000 U.S. Special Operations forces and other personnel in Syria for the long haul. They are ostensibly engaged in training and stability operations. In Washington, however, the urge for regime change in both Syria and Iran remains strong — in the case of Iran implacably so.

ERIC ZUESSE/ GILBERT DOCTOROW—”The cinematic qualities of the film are evident. Nekrasov is highly experienced as a maker of documentaries enjoying a Europe-wide reputation. What sets this work apart from the ‘trade’ is the honesty, the integrity of the film-maker as he discovers midway into his project that key assumptions of his script are faulty and begins an independent investigation to get at the truth.”

New Husky class has the torpedo tubes in the bow pointing directly forward with the sonar below it. The ship will also have long flank arrays. Featuring lowered noise, automated control systems, reactor safety, and long-range weapons, the new fifth-generation submarine would be designed to serve the Navy for 52 years. Taking into account the technological sophistication of Russia submarines in production, there is every reason to believe that the knowhow and production capacity exist to make Russia the first country in the world to have a fifth generation submarine in service.