Even Fatter Chance

[A] remarkable reality about U.S. policy circles is that six years after the end of George W. Bush’s disastrous neocon-dominated presidency, the neocons continue to dominate America’s foreign policy thinking, albeit sometimes rebranded as “liberal interventionism.”

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Arriving late at each new crisis, Obama usually signs off on what the neocons want, although he intermittently pushes for his “realist” approach, such as collaborating with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in avoiding a U.S. war on Syria in 2013 and negotiating a peaceful settlement to Iran’s nuclear program, which could be completed in 2014 if Obama doesn’t lose his nerve.

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Will Obama finally realize that he has to revert back to his inspiring messages of 2008 on issues such as his promise of government transparency?

  Robert Parry: Consortium News

I don’t know what good that would do. It was inspiring lies. Who needs more of that?

What I’m hearing from many young progressives is that they are so resentful of government intrusions into their lives that they are veering more toward libertarianism, even though it offers no solutions to most environmental, economic and social problems. If Obama hopes to stanch this flow of progressive youth to the right, he needs to finally recognize that the people need transparency on the government and the government must learn to trust the people.

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I’m also told that Obama has information that contradicts his administration’s early claims blaming the Aug. 21, 2013 sarin gas attack on the Syrian government and faulting Russia for the July 17, 2014 shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine.

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Similarly, Obama should commit his administration to expediting release of historical secrets. [...] It’s way past time for the U.S. government to give the American people their history back.

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If Obama has U.S. intelligence information that points the finger of blame in different directions, he should correct the impressions left by Secretary of State John Kerry and other U.S. officials.

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By releasing as much information as possible about important topics, Obama could finally begin to win back the people’s trust, not just in him but in the government.

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[However, an] obvious first step would be to override CIA objections and release the report on torture during the Bush years.

And on that day, Bob, Satan will skate to work.