It was only a matter of time before the US put its weight behind the opposition in Syria (most likely the Free Syrian Army). Yahoo News reported that;

“The United States will increase aid to Syrians and the Syrian opposition in an effort to speed a political transition in Syria, a White House spokesman said on Wednesday.

The Washington Post has reported that the White House was considering a shift in policy toward the nearly two-year-long conflict in Syria and may send the rebels body armor and armed vehicles, and possibly provide military training. According to the report, U.S. officials still oppose providing arms.”

For anyone who still believes there is a difference between Democrats and Republicans on these foreign policy issues, just look at what Yahoo News attributes to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry;

"That may require us to change President al-Assad's current calculation," he (Kerry;) said. "He needs to know he cannot shoot his way out of this, so we need to convince him of that and I think the opposition needs more help in order to be able to do that. And we are working together to have a united position."

PSL Publications announces release of new book:

Socialists and war: two opposing trends
(http://www.pslweb.org/publication/socialists-and-war/)

Following the U.S. invasion of Iraq, why did the United States target the governments in Libya and Syria for destruction? Why did some “socialists” support these so-called revolutions that were backed by the Pentagon and NATO? Can the Pentagon ever play a progressive role? Brian Becker and Mazda Majidi make a unique contribution to the debate. This timely piece answers important questions from a truly socialist perspective. 

Its 3 am and I want to take my life. Another lonely day. Another lonely night. I am a ghost in this society. Seen and feared but never understood. You cant understand me until you understand yourself and the violent contradictions you represent and I once lived.
During the war, life lost its meaning and humans became just another livestock to be used at our disposal. Life is one violent cycle after another all in the creation of 'economy.'
I have destroyed life and in so doing destroyed myself. I am a dead man walking.

I have dreamed about slitting my wrists, putting a rifle in my mouth, and hanging myself. I have stacked bodies on my Humvee and watched as the strapped down lumps of flesh bounce across the hood at 35mph on a desolate desert highway between Ar Ramadi and Fallujah (known to the US and accompanied coalition as Route Gremlin)

I have smoked cigarettes over the dead and silently acknowledged the greatest fear I have, that with a single command, humans become caged animals fit for destruction.I remember the arrogance of a uniform. I remember searching vehicles, homes, businesses, neighborhoods, and offices, ordering people to be searched by dozens of young males armed to the teeth. I remember the crackling of the radio, waiting for permission to 'engage.' I remember the long hours spent watching people, I remember thinking that I was better then them. That I was somehow more human. I remember having a rifle attached to my body 24/7 for 2yrs between 2006-2008. I used my rifle more as a show of force then a tool of death but the message was consistent, Ive got the gun and youve got my orders

This first appeared at The Verge.

US military announces new medal for cyberwarfare and drone operation

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has announced a new medal for troops who fight from behind a screen. According to unnamed officials, the "Distinguished Warfare Medal" will honor members of the military who have performed an accomplishment "so exceptional and outstanding as to clearly set the individual apart from comrades or from other persons in similar situations." Unlike other medals of its level, though, it doesn't require an "act of valor" that would put one's life in danger during combat. That means it can be given to drone pilots or members of military cyberwarfare operations.

http://exval.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/drones-or-a-death-squad-every-liberal-can-enjoy/

Drones, or: A Death Squad Every Liberal Can Enjoy

The following article is from A World to Win News Service

Syria: Some serious problems to be solved

 21 January 2013. A World to Win News Service. The following is a condensed version of a discussion in which the Syrian revolutionary Hassan Khaled Chatila gave his views on the current situation there. It is especially important because of the light it sheds on the relationship between classes and class contradictions on the one hand, and ideological factors on the other.

This isn’t mainly about getting the rebels more weapons; those are already flowing in. It’s not about them; it’s about us — and the amount of influence we’ll have in Syria once the insurgents win.

That was Doyle McManus writing in the LA Times (12/9/12), just before the Obama administration announced its formal recognition of the Syrian opposition (12/12/12):

“We’ve made a decision that the Syrian Opposition Coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the Syrian population that we consider them the legitimate representative of the Syrian people in opposition to the Assad regime,” Obama told ABC’s Barbara Walters.

...