Voices of Reason to be Carefully Heeded!

 “Given the case that has been presented to me, I believe that a military strike against Syria at this time is the wrong course of action. In good conscience, I cannot support the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s resolution and will be working with my colleagues and the administration to develop other options. I believe that we must exhaust all diplomatic options and have a comprehensive plan for international involvement before we act” said Senator Joe Manchin in a Statement on Syria.

Meantime, the Rep. Senator Alan Grayson, D-Fla. says the Obama administration has manipulated intelligence to push its case for U.S. involvement in Syria.

Grayson stated that  members of Congress are being given intelligence briefings without any evidence to support administration claims, asserting that the details in the administration’s public, non-classified report are being contested.

Senator Grayson points to an article published by The Daily Caller that alleges the communications actually showed Syrian officers were surprised by the alleged chemical weapon attack. The communications, according to unnamed sources paraphrased in article, were intercepted by Israeli intelligence and “doctored so that it leads a reader to just the opposite conclusion.”

“What they say in The Daily Caller is that [intercepted communications] would lead one to the opposite conclusion,” Grayson said. “I don’t know if it’s right or wrong, [but] there’s a very simple way to find out, that’s for the administration to show me and other members of Congress” translated transcripts of the intercepts, he said.

Members of Congress are “not being given any of the underlying elements of the intelligence reports,” according to Grayson, pointing out that other examples of intelligence he believes has been manipulated to favor war.

“Well yes,” Grayson said, “but I’m very constrained about talking about it. … This has become a fundamental problem with our system: The information we do get is limited, but beyond that we are very constrained in discussing it.”

The four-page White House report on the alleged attack is no more than “a briefing paper with arguments in favor of attacking Syria” that “doesn’t present both sides of the issue,” Grayson said.

“We can’t go to war to spare anyone embarrassment,” Grayson told U.S. News. “That would be utterly immoral, we’re talking about shedding American blood. … The president has already made that argument and it’s falling on deaf ears.”

On his part, the Democratic California Rep. congressman, John Garamendi, who opposes U.S. military intervention in Syria expressed “deep concern” following Secretary of State John Kerry’s conference call with House Democrats on the subject:  ‘Well, it’s the credibility of the United States.’ Really? How is our credibility enhanced or harmed?”

Democratic Minnesota Rep. Rick Nolan angered Kerry on the conference call by comparing possible intervention in Syria to the United States’ failed participation in the Vietnam War.

“After a three-hour classified briefing and taking time to read all the classified documents, what I have heard and read has only served to convince me more than ever of the folly and danger of getting America involved in the Syrian war. I will vote and work against President Obama’s request for open-ended authority to launch military strikes against the Syrian army,” Nolan said following the call, expressing fear over the would be  “collateral damage.”

 “I am deeply concerned that the proposed White House resolution for Syria is over-broad and would allow troops on the ground. Can’t support,” California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell tweeted.

Meanwhile, the New York Congressman Chris Gibson, who served 24 years in the Army, and that includes four combat tours in Iraq, said that If we bomb that country, are we going to make it better, or are we going to make it worse? It’s my judgment that we really run the risk of escalating the conflict, Americanizing that civil war, all of this not in our interest and certainly not in the interest of an ultimate peaceful resolution to that civil war. I support remaining on the diplomatic track.

Actually, all of the above-mentioned asserts the balanced wise stances of Russia, under the wise historic and strong leadership of H.E. President Vladimir Putin who underscores that the alleged chemical weapons use in Syria is a provocation carried out by the “rebels” to attract a foreign-led strike. 

Dr. Mohammad Abdo Al-Ibrahim