Endless War & Not Enough Peace

• Yesterday was the first of the annual Saturday Advent vigils at Bath Iron Works here in Maine.  Sponsored by the Smilin' Trees Disarmament Farm the vigils are held during the noon shift change and will continue through December 19. There were 18 of us yesterday.

• I am spending quite a bit of time reading articles about the Turkey-Russia conflict.  I've not found any of the media in the US mentioning the now well established fact that Turkey has been stealing oil from Syria and hauling it into Turkey in long truck convoys.  France and Russia began to bomb them cutting into profits for President Erdogan and his son who runs a company that exports the oil to Japan and Israel.  His daughter runs a hospital that treats ISIS fighters inside Turkey.  How could the American media miss that story?  Find it here and here.  You can tell the Russians have had it with Washington, London and Brussels.  They are now publicly revealing loads of intelligence information in order to pull the mask off the face of the US-NATO war in Syria.  It's about time.....
• Zero Hedge reports: Last month, US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) went on CNN and laid bare Washington’s Syria strategy. In a remarkably candid interview with Wolf Blitzer, Gabbard calls Washington’s effort to oust Assad “counterproductive” and “illegal” before taking it a step further and accusing the CIA of arming the very same terrorists who The White House insists are "sworn enemies.” In short, Gabbard all but tells the American public that the government is lying to them and may end up inadvertently starting “World War III.” Gabbard has apparently had just about enough of Washington vacillating in the fight against terror just so the US can ensure that ISIS continues to destabilize Assad and now, with bi-partisan support, the brazen Hawaii Democrat has introduced legislation to end the "illegal war" to overthrow Assad.  Gabbard, who fought in Iraq - twice - has partnered with Republican Adam Scott on the bill.Watch her CNN interview here.