Gulf of Tonkin Redux?

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Stephen Lendman
Prisonplanet.com
Monday, June 25, 2012

Lyndon Johnson wanted war on Vietnam and got it.

The August 1964 false flag Gulf of Tonkin incident initiated full-scale conflict after Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

War was authorized without declaring it.

It’s an American tradition. Big lies launch wars. Manufactured pretexts initiate them. Mass killing and destruction follow.

One nation after another is ravaged. Syria’s next, then Iran, followed by other states on Washington’s hit list.

On June 22, Turkey provocatively flew two warplanes at low altitude over Syrian airspace. It wanted a response and got it.

On June 23, Syria’s SANA state media headlined “Military Spokesman: Anti-Air Defenses Intercepted a Target That Violated Syrian Airspace Over Territorial Waters, Shot It Down West of Lattakia,” saying:

At 11:40 AM on 22/6/2012, an unidentified aerial target violated Syrian airspace, coming from the west at a very low altitude and at high speed over territorial waters, so the Syrian anti-air defenses counteracted with anti-aircraft artillery, hitting it directly as it was 1 kilometer away from land, causing it to crash into Syrian territorial waters west of Om al-Tuyour village in Lattakia province, 10 kilometers from the beach.

Syria’s military spokesman also said naval forces from both countries were “searching for the two missing pilots.”

Some media sources said both crew members were rescued. Others said they’re still missing.

On June 23, Turkey’s Today’s Zaman headlined “Turkey says Syria down(ed) its air force jet,” saying:

The incident will “likely….worsen already strained relations between” both countries.

After a two-hour security meeting, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed Syrian forces for downing its aircraft. An official statement said:

Following the evaluation of data provided by our related institutions and thefindings of the joint search and rescue efforts with Syria, it is understood that our plane was downed by Syria.

Turkey “will determinedly take necessary steps” in response. No further details were given.

At the time of its report, Today’s Zaman said both crew members were missing. It added that Ankara wouldn’t “tolerate any action that it deemed violating its security.”

Turkish TV reports said two military aircraft were on a reconnaissance mission.

Gulf of Tonkin Redux? foodcrsisi160In fact, Ankara acted provocatively. Perhaps it was at the behest of Washington. Turkey is a NATO member. A previous article explained it can invoke NATO Charter Articles 4 or 5.

Article 4 calls for members to “consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence, or security of any” is threatened.

Article 5 considers an armed attack (real or otherwise) against one or more members, an attack against all, and calls for collective self-defense.

On June 23, Reuters headlined “Turkey warns it would respond decisively to Syria downing it aircraft,” saying:

Erdogan’s “initial comments and subsequent statement (were) measured in tone. He said Turkish and Syrian forces were working together to search for the two missing crew of the aircraft.”

Turkish media also said Syria apologized for the incident.

Turkish state television interviewed witnesses on the country’s Mediterranean coast, near the Syrian border, who said they saw two low-flying fighter jets pass overhead in the morning in the direction of Syrian waters but only one return.

Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said:

“There was no aggression.” Damascus confirmed “an unidentified target flying at very low range when it violated Syrian airspace.” He added that both sides were searching for missing crew members.

The New York Times said an official Turkish statement hadn’t “yet concluded that the Syrian action was provocative, and it acknowledged that Syrian rescue teams were cooperating in trying to locate the aircraft and crew.”

But the statement also left open the possibility that Turkey, a NATO member, would respond militarily, an outcome that could further complicate and widen the Syrian conflict.

Washington has longstanding regime change plans. In early 2011, it orchestrated Western-generated violence.

It wants Assad replaced by a subservient puppet leader. If events on the ground don’t succeed, expect war to follow.

The Obama and Erdogan administrations may have staged Friday’s incident. Whether it’s a pretext for full-scale intervention remains to be seen.

Events on the ground keep escalating dangerously. Anything may erupt anytime. Provocations are easy to stage.

Friday’s incident may indeed become a casus belli. If not, perhaps something greater is planned to give Obama another war he wants. What better way to silence his Republican critics who call him soft on Assad.

On June 22, Foreign Policy‘s associate editor Uri Friedman headlined “How would NATO respond to Syria shooting down a Turkish plane?” saying:

Could this incident — or an incident like it — trigger more aggressive actionagainst Syria by the international community? After all, Turkey is a member of NATO….

Its Charter affirms its all-for-one-and-one-for-all policy. Attacking one member is considered acting against all 28. Collective self-defense is called for.

On September 12, 2001, NATO invoked Article V for the first time. Will Syria be number two? If Turkey claims Damascus acted aggressively, will war follow?

“It is not an entirely unreasonable” possibility, said Friedman.

In April, Erdogan suggested he might invoke Article V. Whether he plans it now remains to be seen.

According to former UN Permanent Representative to NATO Kurt Volker, Article V gives NATO countries a chance to consult with one another on possible responses. It doesn’t automatically suggest a military one.

A response could be anything from a statement reiterating the inviolability of security guarantees to members coordinating activities so that they can respond to further attacks on Turkish interests.

Gulf of Tonkin Redux? celltrack3Volker doesn’t think Friday’s incident justifies war. At the same time, the ball advanced closer to initiating it without Security Council authorization.

One way would be by creating Syrian “safe zones,” providing greater opposition support, and conducting air strikes against strategic military sites.

“I do get the feeling,” he added, “that the patience of the international community is growing thinner.”

“I think we may be approaching a point at which this kind of coalition intervention is more thinkable than it was a couple of months ago.”

Atlantic Council managing editor James Joyner also doesn’t believe Friday’s incident justifies war.

“It would be one thing if Syria sent ground troops into Turkey and started shooting,” he said.  In contrast:

Shooting down a plane that might have been surveilling Syrian air space is just a different animal than that.

This is more of a harsh words and sanctions kind of thing, and frankly there’s not much more of that that we can do in terms of Syria.

On June 23, UK government controlled BBC headlined “Turkish warplane downed by Syria ‘may have crossed border,’ ” saying:

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said its aircraft may have violated Syrian airspace. Doing so isn’t unusual for short distances at high speed, he added.

  • A d v e r t i s e m e n t

“It is routine for jet fighters to sometimes fly in and out over (other) borders….when you consider their speed over the sea,” he claimed.

“These are not ill-intentioned things but happen beyond control due to the jets’ speed.”

Unexplained was that it’s one thing for peaceful neighbors occasionally to violate each other’s airspace without authorization.

No harm, no foul.

It’s quite another given months of intense violence in Syria and Turkey’s direct role.

Moreover, violating another country’s airspace by trying to avoid its defensive capabilities at low altitude shows clear hostile intent.

Damascus has every right to consider these type actions aggressive and threatening. Turkey would react the same way. So would Washington, key NATO partners and Israel.

A virtual state of war exists in Syria short of officially declaring it. These type incidents can easily be used as pretexts for full-blown conflict. It remains to be seen if Washington has that in mind.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book is titled How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War

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10 Responses to “Gulf of Tonkin Redux?”

  1. ****–R=O=C=K=E=F=E=L=L=E=R=/=E=L=I=T=E==O=I=L==W=A=R=S==I=N=C–*****

    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y-O-U

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    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D+I+E

    REMEMBER MY CHILDREN, THAT ALL THE EARTH MUST BELONG TO US JEWS, AND THAT THE GENTILES, BEING MERE EXCREMENTS OF ANIMALS, MUST POSSESS NOTHING.
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mayer Amschel Rothschild on his deathbed, 1812.

  2. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the, “shooting down of a Turkish fighter jet was brazen and unacceptable “, and completely different to when we politely and delicately kill like 21 innocent women and children in Pakistan with a drone attack because, well ….we …uhh …you know different….whats the word ? Superior ? She also said, “It is yet another reflection of the Syrian authorities’ callous disregard for international norms, human life, and peace and security,”…because as you know we our selves in the US are experts at respecting international law, peace and security when we send drones across international borders, like in Iran, Yemen, Sudan etc…because as you know in those cases we are only ……just like checking the best tourist spots, the traffic, …..but just for fun meantime we will let fly one or two missiles to let the Al Qaida boys know will are still there, and if we kill like 20 civilians in the process its ….well OK, cos like….nobody at the UN gives a shit, and our buddies at the UN……which we have conveniently blackmailed….well they dont even blink….see…….we do it with permission.
    She also went on to say..“We will maintain close contact with Turkish officials as they continue to investigate the incident and determine Turkey’s response, including in the Security Council,” but in fact if you really listen to here she said…” We will pressure Turkey to make this an International Act of War so we can convince our allies to bomb the crap out of Syria and bring about the fall of another regime which is an enemy to our best buddy in that region…Israel ”
    And finally…“This work is urgent, and we will be consulting in New York with the Security Council, in Brussels with NATO and the EU, and in Geneva with special envoy Kofi Annan on next steps.”…… Hillary corrected here self then….Did I say that ? Sorry…..blushing….”What I really meant to say was, we will be bribing and pressuring the Security Council, in Brussels with NATO and the EU, and in Geneva and manipulating Kofi Annan, as we have always done and telling him what to say, do, and make the next prepatory steps towards our next filthy war and the march towards the NWO.”
    There now. Isn’t that nice ?

    The time is NOW Reply:
    June 25th, 2012 at 8:07 am

    Couldn’t be summed up much better than that.

    If we ever get the upper hand of justice on the right side again, this scummy, thieving, lying, murdering bitch,,, will be lucky if she isn’t drawn and quartered (along with a few thousand others that think they are untouchable).

  3. Kennedy was murdered and Johnson got his war. Was down in Texas recently. Did you know they name freeways after trtaitors down there? LBJ freeway 635 and The George Bush turnpike 190. It gave me the creeps having to drive on em. It also made me think the people down there are being tweaked in the nose by the criminals running this place..

  4. Wow. Why did PP delete the comments that were here earlier?

    The time is NOW Reply:
    June 25th, 2012 at 9:44 am

    I am not against you removing racist comments, as you would have noticed by my criticism of what U toe pian wrote.

    I am just curious why you deleted those particular comments considering how many go unchecked here at PP.

  5. He we go again with the orwellian double-speak.

    You control through the media that bathes itself in double speak 24/7.

    H clinton, is a war criminal. How many ladies can say that, she’s a trend setter.

  6. Put that bitch on the front lines of the wars that she and Obombya and the 534 RATS in WASH Land have started. Let her feel the sting of the bullet as it passes thru her evil heart and finally ends the killing spree she has been on since her fat, red nosed husband the rapist has been in office. Let all of our wonderful reps go and defend what they think is happening to the world! Stop killing our sons and husbands and fathers and women who join the military. We know you don’t care how many of us you kill, nor does this administration. It’s very evident what your plans are.

  7. KILL LIST
    Undeclared Wars – No Congressional declaration Libya, Syria, Pakistan and Iran.
    No Federal Enforcement of current US Immigration Law
    Effectively change the US Immigration Law – Congress is the only branch of Government allowed to make and change law.
    UN position – Violation of the US Constitution
    Cover-up of Fast Furious
    AG lying to Congress with direction from POTUS

    Seven ! I am not a lawyer, but have seen all of Perry Masons episodes.
    Seven, count them all are HIGH Crimes and Misdemeanors per the IMPEACHMENT
    of the POTUS.
    The House needs to bring these and all other acts by the POTUS Articles of IMPEACHMENT

  8. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-…..eparedness

    OBAMA has declared MARTIAL LAW

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