By Noam Chomsky: Chomsky: For Almost 70 Years the U.S. Has been the World Leader in Spreading

Destruction and Misery Across the Planet. The recent Obama -Putin tiff over American exceptionalism reignited an ongoing debate over the Obama Doctrine: Is the president veering toward isolationism? Or will he proudly carry the banner of exceptionalism? The debate is narrower than it may seem. There is considerable common ground between the two positions, as was expressed clearly by Hans Morgenthau, the founder of the now dominant no-sentimentality "realist" school of international relations. Throughout his work, Morgenthau describes America as unique among all powers past and present in that it has a "transcendent purpose" that it "must defend and promote" throughout the world: "the establishment of equality in freedom." The competing concepts exceptionalism" and "isolationism" both accept this doctrine and its various elaborations but differ with regard to its application. One extreme was vigorously defended by President Obama in his Sept. 10 address to the nation: "What makes America different," he declared, "what makes us exceptional," is that we are dedicated to act, "with humility, but with resolve," when we detect violations somewhere. "For nearly seven decades the United States has been the anchor of global security," a role that "has meant more than forging international agreements, it has meant enforcing them." The competing doctrine, isolationism, holds that we can no longer afford to carry out the noble mission of racing to put out the fires lit by others. It takes seriously a cautionary note sounded 20years ago by the New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman that "granting idealism a near exclusive hold on our foreign policy" may lead us to neglect our own interests in our devotion to the needs of others. Between these extremes, the debate over foreign policy rages. At the fringes, some observers reject the shared assumptions, bringing up the historical record: for example, the fact that "for nearly seven decades" the United States has led the world in aggression and subversion, overthrowing elected governments and imposing vicious dictatorships, supporting horrendous crimes, undermining international agreements and leaving trails of blood, destruction and misery. To these misguided creatures, Morgenthau provided an answer. A serious scholar, he recognized that America has consistently violated its "transcendent purpose." But to bring up this objection, he explains, is to commit "the error of atheism, which denies the validity of religion on similar grounds." It is the transcendent purpose of America that is "reality", the actual historical record is merely "the abuse of reality." In short, "American exceptionalism" and "isolationanism" are generally understood to be tactical variants of a secular religion, with a grip that is quite extraordinary, going beyond normal religious orthodoxy in that it can barely even be perceived. Since no alternative is thinkable, this faith is adopted reflexively. Others express the doctrine more crudely. One of President Reagan's U.N. ambassadors, Jeane Kirkpatrick, devised a new method to deflect criticism of state crimes. Those unwilling to dismiss them as mere "blunders" or "innocent naivete" can be charged with "moral equivalence" of claiming that the U.S. is no different from Nazi Germany, or whoever the current demon may be.

By Robert Parry: Israeli-Saudi Alliance Slips into View!

On Aug. 29, when I published entitled "The Saudi Israeli Superpower" describing an emerging odd couple alliance between those two traditional enemies, the story was met with skepicism in some quarters. But, increasingly, this secret alliance is going public. On Oct.2, Israel's Channel 2 TV news reported that senior Israeli security officials met with a high level Gulf State counterpart in Jerusalem, believed to be Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the former Saudi Ambassador to the United States and head now head of Saudi intelligence. And,, a day before that report, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at the new relationship in his United Nations General Assembly speech, which was largely devoted to excoriating Iran over its nuclear program and threatening a unilateral Israeli military strike. Amid the bellicosity, Netanyahu dropped in a largely missed clue about the evolving power relationships in the Middle East, saying: "the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran and the emergence of other threats in our region have led many of our Arab neighbors to recognize, finally recognize, that Israel is not their enemy. And this affords us the opportunity to overcome the historic animosities and build new relationships, new friendships, new hopes." Besides the shared Saudi- Israeli animosity toward Iran, the growing behind-the-scenes collaboration also revolves around mutual interests in supporting the military coup in Egypt that removed the elected Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi and in seeking to overthrow the Assad regime in Syria. In mid-September, Israel's Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren even embraced the Saudi strategy in Syria when he announced that Israel would prefer to see the Saudi-backed jihadists prevail
in Syria when he announced that Israel would prefer to see the Saudi-backed jihadists prevail in Syria over the continuation of the Iran-backed government of President Bashar al-Assad. "The greatest danger to Israel is by the strategic arc that extends from Teheran, to Damascus to Beirut. And we saw the Assad regime as the keystone in that arc," Oren told the Jerusalem Post in an interview. "We always wanted Bashar Assad to go, we always preferred the bad guys who weren't backed by Iran to the bad guys who were backed by Iran." Saudi Arabia, which follows the ultraconservative Wahhabi form of Sunni Islam, shares Israeli's strategic view that the Shiite crescent, stretching from Iran through Iraq and Syria to Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon, must be broken. Further advancing the Saudi-Israeli detente is the presence of the worldly Bandar bin Sultan as Saudi Arabia's new intelligence chief. As the former Saudi ambassador to the United States who worked closely with the neoncon administration of George W. Bush, Bandar doesn't share the crude anti-Semitism and visceral antipathy toward Israel that some earlier Saudi leaders did. He is a savvy player who understands the chess board of global geopolitics. The emerging Saudi-Israeli alliance also reflects a recognition that the two countries have complementary "soft power" strengths that , when combined could could create a new superpower in the Middle East and arguably the world. While the Israelis are masters of propaganda and political lobbying, especially in the United States, Saudi Arabia can pull strings through its extraordinary access to oil and money.

By Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya: Obscuring the Details: A Panoramic Look at America's Case Against Syria.

The US federal government and the various agencies, media organizations, individuals, foreign governments, non-governmental organizations, lobbies, forces, and other entities that are tied to it have done everything in their power to obscure the details involving the chemical attacks that took place in Syria on August 21, 2013. The aim has been to justify the US-led foreign campaign that was launched against Syria in 2011 by making the Syrian government appear culpable of grievous crimes. The chemical attack on Ghouta has now come to represent the crux of the matter. From the very start there was double-speaking coming from Washington and its cohorts about what happened in Ghouta. The Obama Administration and America's allies deliberately ignored the chemical weapons were used in Syria prior to August 21, 2013. They have pretended that the United Nations investigation team that had arrived in Syria when chemical weapons were used in Ghouta had just stumbled there coincidentally or with the purpose of inspecting the Syrian government's chemical weapon depots. Ignoring the Original Mandate of the UN Investigators. In reality, the UN Team that arrived in Syria in August was not a team of weapons inspectors. Even more important, the Syrian government had invited the UN investigation team to Syria in March 2013. This was because the insurgents had launched chemical attacks on March 19, 2013. The US and its allies tried to blame Syria, but they were embarrassingly contradicted by Carla Del Ponte, one of the UN investigators responsible for Syria, that said all the evidence pointed to the insurgents and not the Syrian government. Although she backed her conclusion with facts, Del Ponte was dismissed by the US, and NATO even abnormally took the time to make a statement against here. Moreover, the insurgents were even caught trying to sneak sarin gas into Syria from Turkey by Turkish security forces in May 2013. Because the insurgents were behind the chemical attacks in March 2013, Syria's government originally wanted the UN investigators to have the authority and mandate to officially assign blame on which party used the chemical weapons. The US, however, put all types of obstacles in place to prevent the UN from issuing a report that the US -supported insurgents were using chemical weapons. The US, however, put all types of obstacles in place to prevent the UN from issuing a report that the US supported insurgents were using chemical weapons. It was the US, however, put all types of obstacles in place to prevent the UN from issuing a report that the US-supported insurgents were using chemical weapons. It was the US, Britain, and France that prevented a UN investigation that could assign responsibility for any chemical weapon attacks from taking place. Instead they wanted a politicized inspection team that would try to demonize Syria and write reports against Damascus. This led to a deadlock in the United Nations over the type of team that the UN would send to work in Syria. A settlement was eventually reached. The US and its allies eventually reduced the mandate of the UN inspectors to one of only determining if chemical weapons were used.

By Anthony Gucciardy: Top Nuke Commanders Terminated Following Missing Nuclear Warheads Report.

1. Top nuke commanders Navy Vice Adm. Tim Giardina and Maj. Gen. Michael Carey terminated following exclusive high level military intelligence over secret nuclear warheads transfer. Two of the top nuclear commanders within the United States have now been terminated following the exclusive high level military leak report by Alex Jones and myself regarding the secret and unsigned nuclear weapons transfer from Dyess Air Force base to South Carolina. Disturbingly, the high level suspensions from top generals within the military establishment are not the only red flags to follow the leaked report. Even before it was announced that the second highest nuke commander in the United States was suspended on the same day of the secret nuke transfer just weeks later, it was Senator Lindsey Graham who went on record hours after our report in saying that a 'nuclear attack' could come to South Carolina in the event that we did not move military against Syria and Iran, pushing even harder to action against both Iran and Syria. This alone generated hundreds of thousands to view our video reports and millions to examine our reports, which had immediately gone from concerning high level military intelligence to an international topic. But now, even after we had Lindsey Graham warn against a nuclear strike in the exact region we told you the nuclear warheads were being transferred without a paper trail, we have the absolute highest level military nuke commanders being removed. But what's more, the terminations were not meant to be leaked, especially not the fact that the suspension of the #2 in command was issued on the exact day of the nuke transfer. From a report in the Daily Mail over the suspension of the second highest nuke commander in the country, we read how the commander was suspended on the same day as the transfer: "Kunze said Strategic Command did not announce the Sept. 3 suspension because Giardina remains under investigation and action on Kehler's recommendation that Giardina be reassigned is pending. The suspension was first reported by the Omaha World-Herald." It also revealed in the mainstream media reports that the government did not want these suspensions and firings to go on record, and that it was an anonymous government insider who provided leaked emails to the Associated Press: "An internal email obtained by the AP on Friday said the allegations against Carey stem from an inspector general probe of his behavior while on an unspecified 'temporary duty assignment.' The email said the allegations are not related to the operational readiness of the ICBM force or recent failed inspections of ICBM units." What this means is that the nuke commanders were terminated behind the scenes in a move that was not meant to hit the public eye, especially not the fact that the second in command was fired on the same day of the leaked nuclear transfer. More importantly, shedding light on the secret transfer of nuclear weapons and the numerous red flags that prove its validity is key in stopping the psychopathic control freaks in government from going through with Graham's 'warnings' of a nuclear explosion that would lead to a war with Syria.

By Steve Horn: Fracked Oil Spill Disaster in North Dakota. 865,200 Gallons.

Among Biggest Onshore Spills in Recent U.S. History. Over 20,600 barrels of oil fracked from the Bakken Shale has spilled from a Tesoro Logistics pipeline in Tiogo, North Dakota in one of the biggest onshore spills in recent U.S. history. Though the spill occurred on September 29, the U.S. National Response Center tasked with responding to chemical and oil spills, did not make the report available until October 8 due to the ongoing government shutdown. "The center generally makes such reports available on its website within 24 hours of their filing, but services were interrupted last week because of the U.S. government shutdown," explained Reuters. The "Incident Summaries" portion of the National Response Center's website is currently down, and the homepage notes, "Due to the government shutdown, some services may not be available." At more than 20,600 barrels, equivalent to 865, 200 gallons, the spill was bigger than the April 2013 ExxonMobil Pegasus pipeline spill, which spewed 5,000-7,000 barrels of tar sands into a residential neighborhood in Mayflower, Arkansas. So far, only 1,285 barrels have been cleaned, and the oil is spread out over a 7.3 acre land mass. Kris Roberts, environmental geologist for the North Dakota Department of Health Division of Water Quality told the Williston Herald, "the leak was caused by a hole that detiriorated in the side of the pipe." "No water, surface water or groundwater was impacted," he said. "They installed monitoring wells to ensure there is no impact now or that there is going to be one." Roberts also told the Herald he was impressed with Tesoro's handling of the cleanup. "They've responded aggressively and quickly," Roberts commented, also noting that the cleanup will cost upward to $4 million. "Sometimes we've had to ask companies to do what they did right off the mark. They're going at this aggressively and they know they have a problem and they know what they need to do about it." Tesoro Logistics Chairman and CEO Greg Goff also weighed in on the spill. "Protection and care of the environment are fundamental to our core values, and we deeply regret any impact to the landowner," said Goff in a press release. "We will continue to work tirelessly to fully remediate the release arena." Pipeline to Albany Refinery, Barging on the Hudson. Tesoro's six-inch pipeline was carrying oil obtained via the controversial hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") process to the Stampede, Canadian Pacific's freight trains take the oil piped from Tesoro's pipeline and ship it to an Albany, NY holding it to an Albany, NY holding facility by Global Partners located along the Hudson River. "Over five years, the equivalent of roughly 91 million barrels of oil will be transported via CP's rail network from a loading facility in Stampede, N.D., to a Global terminal in Albany," explained a September story appearing in the Financial Post. Albany's holding facility received its first Canadian Pacific shipment from the Bakken Shale in December 2011, according to Bloomberg. with 1.4 million
barrels of storage capacity. The facility receives 149,000-157,000 barrels of Bakken crude per day from Canadian Pacific. Once shipped to Global's Albany holding facility, much of the oil is barged to market on tankers along the Hudson from the Port of Albany. 

By Mike Whitney: Operation Enduring Misery Shambles Into its 13th Year:

Happy Anniversary Afghanistan! October 7 marked the 12th anniversary of the Afghanistan War, but you wouldn't know it by reading the papers. In fact, "America's longest war" has become so unpopular that both the media and the Obama administration have done everything in their power to sweep the whole matter under the rug hoping that people just forget about it. But it's hard to forget about it when US troops keep getting blown up like they did on Sunday. Just look at this from CBS News: "A bomb killed four U.S. soldiers in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, American and Afghan officials said. They were the latest casualties in a 12 year conflict that shows no signs of slowing down despite a draw-down in foreign forces." (Four U.S. troops killed in south Afghanistan", CBS News. And it's hard to forget about it when Obama keeps killing Afghan kids that are out playing tag or walking the dog. Take a look at this from Saturday's Al Jazzera: "At least five civilians, including three children, were killed overnight in a NATO airstrike in eastern Afghanistan after they were hunting for birds with air guns, local officials said Saturday. They were targeted and killed by a foreign forces airstrike," said Hazrat Hussein Mashreqiwal, a provincial police spokesman." "Afghan civilians reportedly killed in NATO airstrike", Al Jazeera. And it's hard to forget about it when Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, keeps blasting NATO in the media, like he did on Monday. Here's what he said: "On the security front the entire NATO exercise was one that caused Afghanistan a lot of suffering, a lot of loss of live, and no gains," Karzai noted, elaborating on comments from his spokesman yesterday. Karzai went on to say that NATO and the US had repeatedly launched operations in express opposition to his government's wishes, notably night raids, and was clearly willing to violate Afghan sovereignty whenever it suits them." "Karzai Rejects US Security Pact, Says NATO Causing Great Suffering", antiwar.com. Karzai might be a puppet, but he did the right thing by criticizing the drone attacks and defending the nation's sovereignty. Even so, the issues here go way beyond Karzai or US casualties or even the deaths of innocent children. The problem is the war itself and the ongoing US occupation. It was a bad idea from the very beginning, and it is a bad idea today. War is too blunt an instrument to fight terrorism, that should be obvious by now. The American people were duped into believing that invading Afghanistan was an appropriate response for the attacks on 9/11, but it never was. It was always a stupid, wasteful, bloody idea without merit. The war in Afghanistan has never made any sense. From the bombing of Mazar-i-Sharif in November, 2001 to the droning of children chasing birds in 2013, its been one homicidal debacle after the other. On top of that, none of the strategic objectives has been achieved. The warlords and Taliban still control much of the countryside, the reconstruction effort has been a complete farce, women are no safer today than they were when the invasion was first launched, and the central government is a comical Potemkin regime riddled with corruption and incompetence. Oh yeah, and the dirt-poor country now produces 90 percent of the world's opium.   

By Ana Marie Cox: Unless You're a Very Healthy Rich Person Who Lives in a Cave,

the Government Shutdown Affects You. Human puff-adder Bill Kristol drolly noted on Morning Joe this week that the shutdown is not "the end of the world". The Huffington Post's Sam Stein snapped back, "For these people affected by these cuts, it is sort of comparable to the end of the world." I have one quibble with Stein's otherwise satisfying smackdown: "For the people affected by these cuts" implies that there are people who are not affected by these cuts. Stein was talking specifically about the families and children across the country most likely to suffer when the government stops paying for Head Start programs and nutritional aid, but they are only the most sympathetic victims of the shutdown. And there are a lot of them: Almost 9m mothers and children rely on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. Most states will be able to operate
for about a week on the money they have, but in the words of one administrator in Cook County,"We have no cushion. If our funding stops we will temporarily suspend service." The US Department of Agriculture is attempting to prop up the program in the states hardest hit, they announced this week a $2.5 grant to Utah. But the $125m they have on reserve is laughably small for a program that costs $7b a year, its less than 2% of the total budget. If $125 was all the money the program had, it would operate for six days. But that's just women and children. The poorest of the poor, right? We're a civilized country, we won't let them starve. As Kristol told Stein, "Localities can help out. Churches can help out." Because obviously, up until now, localities and churches were just standing around twiddling their thumbs as lounged on divans and wondered if it was time to pick out new wallpaper or maybe treat themselves to a day at the spa. If you actually attend a church or do service work, I hope you've picked up the laptop from when you hurled it across the room just now. Already a huge patch in the patchwork of federal social services across the country, churches, and private food banks have stretched themselves thin to cover the drop in federal aid that accompanied the sequester cuts last spring (Remember that? The last time we had a budget showdown?) The ripple effects of a Wic crash spread outward quickly. Food stamp and Wic programs pump about $23m a year into retail grocery stores, indeed, a quarter of all meals for recipients of nutritional aid come from a supermarket. The Wic buys 60% of all the baby formula produced in the country. For every dollar spent on Wic, states save about $3.5 in Medical spending, but that's just a quantitative way of saying that Wic produces healthier babies. But maybe you're still thinking of this as a sad story, not that anything to do with you or anyone you know. You don't go to national parks, or live near one. Communities that depend on national park tourism stand to lose $30m a day. You'r not a veteran. At the VA, money allocated for disability payments and students studying under the GI bill will run out in a few weeks. You don't take commercial airplane flights. About 34% of the Federal Aviation Administration work force is now on leave, including almost 3,000 safety inspectors.