Everything You Need To Know About Syria’s Chemical Weapons

The Article: Everything you need to know about Syria’s chemical weapons by Brad Plumer in The Washington Post.

The Text: The Obama administration’s case for striking Syria hinges on the question of chemical weapons. The Syrian government allegedly used nerve gas on civilians, and that violates long-standing norms. So, the White House argues, the regime needs to be punished.

Mohammad Hannon/AP – Syrian protesters carry a placards showing dead children, during a protest in front of the Syrian embassy to condemn the alleged poison gas attack on the suburbs of Damascus, during a protest in front of the Syrian embassy, in Amman, Jordan, on Friday.

That’s the short version. But let’s step back and unpack this for a moment. Why, exactly, are chemical weapons so horrible? Where did Syria get its weapons? And what is Bashar al-Assad’s regime suspected of doing? Here’s a primer:

What are chemical weapons?

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Chomsky On Education Being The Prime Source Of Youth Indoctrination

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUwBc-GvFFM

In Chomsky’s eyes, education does not train you to think critically; rather, it teaches you how to obey.

If Minimum Wage Kept Up With The One Percent’s Gains

And yet, we can’t even debate a less-than $2 increase. Congress’s priorities are clear.

11 Reasons Why We Shouldn’t Attack Syria

The Article: 11 Reasons Why We Should Not Attack Syria by Sarah van Gelder in Yes! Magazine.

The Text: As U.S. political and media leaders prepare for military strikes against Syria, the parallels to the lead-up to the war with Iraq should give us pause. Weapons of mass destruction, we are told, are being used by a cruel Middle Eastern despot against his own people. A military strike is inevitable, media voices say; we must respond with missiles and bombs. The arguments sound all too familiar.

Meanwhile, weapons inspectors from the United Nations are on the ground investigating evidence of chemical weapons. But U.S. and European leaders are looking at an immediate strike anyway—although Britain’s Labor Party, still smarting from popular opposition to its leading role in the invasion of Iraq, has successfully pressed for a hold on military action until the results of the U.N. investigation are in.

There are a great many differences between circumstances in Syria and Iraq, of course. Nonetheless, critics warn that, much as it did in Iraq, a military incursion here could have disastrous consequences. Here are 11 reasons the United States should stay clear of military action:

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So, Who Exactly Is Going To Pay For Our Time In Syria?

Well, we already know that the GOP–some of whom are gunning for regime change in Syria–refuses to raise taxes on the wealthy to recoup for increased spending should we go to war. Who will have to suffer, then? Likely those who have already suffered the most the past decade: the working poor.