Usos de los muertos

Algo pasa. Agarrás hoy la portada del diario español El País, principal vocero de la NATO en lengua castellana (junto con el Miami Herald) y los primeros 14 (catorce) títulos, uno detrás del otro, en la columna de la izquierda, tienen que ver con la “crisis de refugiados” sirios en Europa. 

Entonces te das cuenta que se trata de una opereta. La pregunta entonces es: ¿Para qué?Primero vayamos a las noticias en crudo. Acá abajo van los títulos y el epígrafe de cada una de las trece “noticias” de este diario:

A bordo del tren de la esperanza

GABRIELA CAÑAS (ENVIADA ESPECIAL) En ruta entre Nickelsdorf y Salzburgo

Los refugiados que lograron llegar a Austria desde Hungría viajan hacia Alemania entre el regocijo y la nostalgia

Los refugiados denuncian ataques racistas en la isla de Kos

ANDRÉS MOURENZA Isla de Kos 272

Los atacantes podrían estar ligados al partido neonazi griego Aurora Dorada, según fuentes locales

Bruselas insta a España a acoger casi 15.000 nuevos refugiados

LUCÍA ABELLÁN / CLAUDI PÉREZ Luxemburgo / Bruselas 986

La Comisión pide al Gobierno español una mayor participación en el reparto de asilados que presentará la próxima semana

El Papa pide que cada parroquia acoja a una familia de refugiados

PABLO ORDAZ Roma 74

Bergoglio: “No se les puede decir solo 'ánimo, paciencia'. Hay que darles una esperanza concreta”

“Nos sobran motivos para emigrar”

NATALIA SANCHA Damasco 252

Los sirios que pueden pagar entre 2.500 y 4.500 euros para llegar a Europa huyen de una guerra que ha costado ya 240.000 muertes

La guerra y la descoordinación de Europa alientan la ola

ANA CARBAJOSA / PATRICIA R. BLANCO Madrid 69

El desgaste tras cinco años de conflicto en Siria se une a las flaquezas de la UE al enfrentar una política común

Alemania espera la llegada hoy de hasta 10.000 refugiados

GABRIELA CAÑAS / LUIS DONCEL Nickelsdorf / Berlín 939

Múnich, que se prepara para uno de los días más intensos de la crisis migratoria, recibe a los primeros demandantes de asilo

¡Bienvenidos a Austria!

GABRIELA CAÑAS (ENVIADA ESPECIAL) Nickelsdorf (Austria) 87

Cientos de refugiados llegan exhaustos pero felices a la frontera austriaca tras el éxodo a pie y autobús desde Budapest

El padre de Aylan regresa a Siria para enterrar a su familia

ANDRÉS MOURENZA Bodrum 83

Turquía incrementa la seguridad en la península de Bodrum para evitar más tragedias como la del niño sirio ahogado

EL PADRE DE AYLAN

“Las manos de mis dos niños se escaparon de las mías”

Turmstrasse 21, la dirección más buscada de Europa

ENRIQUE MÜLLER Berlín 2

Cientos de personas esperan días ante la oficina de asilo en Berlín para iniciar un trámite que implica recibir ayudas públicas

La violencia xenófoba reaviva la brecha de las dos Alemanias

LUIS DONCEL Berlín 50

25 años después de la reunificación, los ataques contra refugiados se concentran en la antigua RDA

REPORTAJE

De Siria a Bélgica, 20 años después

BELÉN DOMÍNGUEZ CEBRIÁN Bruselas 2

Un comerciante que emigró y su sobrino que huye de la guerra cuentan sus respectivas odiseas hasta Bruselas

Crisis de refugiados, últimas noticias

EL PAÍS Madrid 5

Bruselas quiere que los Estados acojan a 120.000 personas más

***

Ahora agarrás Russia Today y leés esta noti de ayer:

Título: Cameron to urge military action against ISIS in Syria, UK to accept 15k refugees – report

Texto: British Prime Minister David Cameron is pressing for military strikes against Islamic State in Syria within a month, according to senior sources. The leader is also reportedly prepared to accept 15,000 refugees from the war-torn nation.

Senior officials told the Sunday Times that Cameron has ordered aides to devise a plan to tackle the migrant crisis.

That plan includes persuading Labour MPs to support airstrikes in Syria in a House of Commons vote in October.

Chancellor George Osborne seemed to indicate the government is indeed planning military action in Syria.

“We’ve got to defeat these criminal gangs who trade in human misery and risk people’s lives and kill people,” he said. “You’ve got to deal with the problem at source, which is this evil Assad regime and the [ISIS] terrorists.”

Cameron came under pressure to order airstrikes on Saturday night, with former Defence Secretary Liam Fox saying: “Our response is inadequate. The policy of attacking ISIS in Iraq but not in Syria is patently absurd.”

Tory whips have reportedly told Cameron that enough Labour MPs may now be prepared to vote for military action, offsetting the 30 Conservative members who oppose it.

They believe that if Jeremy Corbyn, who is opposed to military action, wins the Labour leadership next weekend, the party's moderate may be prepared to go against their leader to make a point. Labour voted against airstrikes in Syria two years ago.

According to a new YouGov poll, the majority of the public – 52 percent – would support a greater role for UK forces in ending the civil war in Syria.

Cameron has also ordered the National Crime Agency and GCHQ to launch a new offensive against people traffickers. The spy agency is gathering information on the gangs’ leadership, and crime agency police are being deployed to the Mediterranean.

***

Finalmente, te vas al sitio web Moon of Alabama y lees esto:

Título: Under Fight-Against-ISIS Disguise "West" Prepares To Openly Attack Syria

Texto: The German chancellor Merkel called for a migrant avalanche when she declared Germany an open house and disbanded the Dublin agreement on asylum seeker in Europe. A media campaign followed and thousands of migrants from Syria are now shepherded through Europe by dozens of journalists who record every move for tonight's news - fake photos (in German) included. No one is asking the migrants why they are now leaving Turkey, where most have been the last months or years, or who now provided them with money.

I asked what purpose this media campaign may have. It now seems clear that it is part of preparing the European public for all-out war on Syria, its government and its people.

The Guardian editors use the created migrant crisis to demand that "something" be done. They ridiculously first remind us that the false "no-fly-zone" campaign against Libya ended in a country ripped apart and more refugees only to then demand a similar campaign in Syria. Saner British voices remind us that "western" meddling in the Middle East is the source, not the solution for the current catastrophes.

But the BBC lets us know that the UK government is preparing for war on Syria despite an earlier parliament vote against such a move:

Ministers will start to make a case for British military action in Syria next week - with Downing Street keen to take the "next step" against so-called Islamic State - the BBC understands.

France is, of course, on board:

Europe’s refugee crisis, largely caused by vast numbers of people fleeing the civil war in Syria, the failure to push back Islamic State and a rising presence of Russia in the region may prompt a change in policy, Le Monde reported, saying Hollande discussed the issue with his defence team at a meeting on Friday.

The campaign will be "led" by the U.S. and it will not be against the Islamic State. The U.S. let the Islamic State rise in a willful decision and its current bombing campaign against IS is less than halfhearted at best. It is also holding back the Shia militia in Iraq from attacking the Islamic State in Ramadi and Fallujah. The coming attack will be against the Syrian government and its people with the Islamic State and the "refugee crisis" only being the convenient pretext.

To add to the artificial urgency to bomb now, now, now a rumor campaign was started to claim that Russia is sending lots of fighter planes and troops to Syria. There were "reports" of new Russian fighter jets arriving in Syria even though none were ever seen. A normal move of material transport for the Syrian army by Russian ships which have happened regularly over the last years is now suddenly hyped. Old social media pictures of a few Russian soldiers in Syria ore even fake ones are suddenly "found" and presented as "evidence" of somehow nefarious Russian intent. The Russians denied any move of fighter jets or troop contingents to Syria.

The Russians also held talks with various Syrian opposition figures and with several of Syria's neighbor countries. Putin has voiced a new plan that would include Syria and Russia into an anti-Islamic State campaign and thereby sabotage the U.S. regime change plans:

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has agreed to early parliamentary elections and to share some power with his opponents, a concession that may facilitate a broader international coalition against Islamic State, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

Russia would consider participating in the coalition and the Russian president has already discussed the issue with U.S. President Barack Obama, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Putin told reporters in Vladivostok on Friday. Russia has been pushing for a wider campaign against Islamic State that would include Assad, something the U.S. and Europe have opposed.

The U.S. has not issued any official response to the plan. It would of course make a lot of sense to have the Syrian government and Russia included in any real steps against the Islamic State. By publicly announcing the plan Russia shows that the U.S. is indeed not interested in really fighting the Islamic State but follows its long term plans to destroy Syria.

Putin also denied the rumored troop movements:

“It’s too early” to talk about Russian military action in Syria, though “we are considering various options,” Putin said. Russia is actively helping the Assad government with weapons and military training, he said.

I regard Putin's "considering various options" as a warning clause. But I do not expect that Russia would fully engage in Syria. Russia correctly fears another "Afghanistan trap" laid by the U.S. But there might be other options available for Russia to beef up Syria's air defense or to otherwise sabotage U.S. attack plans. For now sowing fears and doubt into U.S. planning is the best way to proceed.

Update:

The State Department just released this Readout of Secretary Kerry's Call With Foreign Minister Lavrov:

The Secretary called Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov this morning to discuss Syria, including U.S. concerns about reports suggesting an imminent enhanced Russian military build-up there. The Secretary made clear that if such reports were accurate, these actions could further escalate the conflict, lead to greater loss of innocent life, increase refugee flows and risk confrontation with the anti-ISIL Coalition operating in Syria. The two agreed that discussions on the Syrian conflict would continue in New York later this month.

Would "risk confrontation with the anti-ISIL Coalition operating in Syria". Exactly. And that makes some folks in the White House and Pentagon really nervous.

So nervous that Kerry offers more "discussions".

"Hey Sergey, you can't be serious. Oh, you are? Please let's talk."