Politics

Kerry’s Moscow Meeting: A Hopeful Sign?

Paul Craig Roberts

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Today this website alone has hundreds of thousands of readers, and millions more from the many websites in the US and abroad that republish my columns. But only a relatively few readers financially support the website. The reluctance of Americans to support those who give them truth is one reason Americans have so little of it.

Back on September 20 (so, a full ten days before a three star Russian general strolled into the US Embassy in Baghdad to let the US know that airstrikes in Syria “start in 1 hour”), we said that the US strategy in Syria had officially unraveled. 

Saudis have formed a bloc against Islamic State. US claims it has a 65-nation alliance against the dreaded terrorist group. Russia itself leads a 4+1 bloc. It seems the world is falling over each other in trying to smash IS to pulp. But the real narrative is in finer print.

A little logrolling is better than brinksmanship and legislative gridlock we suppose and thanks to GOP concessions on tax credits for wind and solar as well as a three year reauthorization of a conservation fund, Republicans were able to include a measure that lifts the 40-year old ban on crude exports in a package of spending and tax legislation that funds the government until September of 2016. 

Suddenly there is only one issue in the presidential campaign: Americans must be terrified of their own shadows and only the government can keep them safe. Have fear, don’t question government. But liberty sacrificed is the real danger we face.