Pentagon Declassifies 'Vengeance' Videos; Iraq War 2.0 Now Streaming
Mainstream outlets report the Pentagon’s declassified footage of strikes against alleged Islamic State targets in Syria as justified 'vengeance.' What they conveniently omit is the decades-long pattern of 'vengeance' fueling endless conflict in the region. This isn't a new strategy; it's a rerun of the 'swift and decisive actions' that led us into Iraq (remember the WMDs that weren't there?) and
Afghanistan. The US has maintained a military presence in Syria, without the Syrian government's consent, for years, ostensibly fighting ISIS but also serving broader geopolitical aims. How many cycles of 'strike back' before we admit the 'war on terror' is actually a war on sanity, or perhaps a lucrative business model? One might wonder if the same moral outrage and media scrutiny applied to US
strikes matches the fervor for exposing alleged 'enemy' attacks. The cycle continues: US personnel are attacked where they arguably shouldn't be, the US retaliates, and the region destabilizes further, while defense contractor stock prices mysteriously rise. It’s a perpetual motion machine of conflict, with 'declassified footage' serving as the PR lubricant.