Thursday, August 16, 2012

Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Featured on Press TV World News: 'U.S. Violates Domestic and International Law Over Syria'

United States violates domestic and international laws over Syria: Analyst

An interview with Abayomi Azikiwe, director of Pan-African News Wire, from Detroit

Tue Aug 14, 2012 3:24PM GMT

To watch the Press TV World News interview with Abayomi Azikiwe, director of Pan-African News Wire, just click on the website below:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/08/14/256224/united-states-violates-constitutional-law-over-syria/

The mission of the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her recent visit to Turkey was to supply the Syrian insurgents with anti-aircraft equipment and missiles, a report says.

According to a report published on August 12 by the newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s achievements on the ground against the insurgents in Aleppo have frustrated both Ankara and Washington.

The report added that, the US is trying to establish a no-fly zone in Syria in order to weaken the Syrian army’s air force. However, they will not succeed.

Considering the situation, the US tries to supply the Syrian insurgents with anti-aircraft equipment and Stinger missiles, the report said.

Press TV has conducted an interview with Abayomi Azikiwe, director of Pan-African News Wire, from Detroit, to further discuss the issue. The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Let’s look at what the Syrian envoy is saying; actually now, he’s called the new, I guess, “axis of evil”, the centers are Tel Aviv and Washington. How accurate is what he is saying? Thanks so much for being with us.

Azikiwe: We have to first of all understand that there’s no secret involved in the whole process as it relates to what the United States is doing now in Syria. They have made it clear that their objective is to overthrow the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

They just announced two days ago that they were going to supply, in fact, additional aid to the armed opposition in Syria. They’re claiming that this aid is non-lethal but in fact it is communication technology that’s been utilized to coordinate these attacks against Syrian civilians as well as Syrian military, political and civilian personnel.

This is clearly a violation of international law. It’s a violation of domestic law even within the framework of the United States government itself.

There’s not supposed to be aggressive military activity carried out by the United States government without a debate and without an action of Congress. This is going on in total disregard to the even norms, politics and values that are supposed to be enshrined within the United States Constitution.

It’s not surprising that this envoy has targeted both the United States and the state of Israel for the destabilization of Syria. Syria is still occupied by the Israeli forces in the Golan Heights and they (Israel), of course, are still involved in watching very closely all the developments that are going on right now in Syria.

Press TV: What you just said is that in actuality what the United States is doing is not even keeping the norms of your country and that there’s not been a debate. Let’s look at that. Where’s the outrage from the average American when the Secretary of State or the president of the United States is saying that they want nothing less than what they call regime change. Why aren’t the American people protesting this type of aggressive speech by their leaders?

Azikiwe: Largely because of the role of the corporate media. They have not publicized adequately the various issues involved in the Syrian conflict. They are making it appear as if it is a conflict between the Syrian government and opposition forces inside the country that is totally independent of the role of the United States, NATO and the state of Israel.

It’s a lack of information. A lack of understanding of the political dynamics that are involved in the whole country in Syria.

The situation in Syria right now is very dangerous for the entire region of the Middle East because it ties in with political developments in Lebanon as well as the Islamic Republic of Iran.

I think if the people inside the United States understood the regional implications of this ongoing destabilization of the Syrian government, there would be a larger and a greater outcry within the country. But the anti-war organizations inside this country, many of them have taken positions in opposition to what the US is doing in Syria. The problem is this information has not been publicized through the corporate media.

Consequently, it appears as if there’s no opposition to what the Obama administration is doing vis-à-vis its foreign policy towards Syria.

People in the United States do not want another war in the Middle East and this is what the people in the Middle East need to keep in mind.

Press TV: What is the answer, Mr. Azikiwe? You’re saying that because of the corporate media and if the majority of Americans are getting their information from the corporate media, should there be optimism in the world that the American people will be able to become aware enough soon enough to put enough pressure on their government?

Azikiwe: It’s a serious problem. We’ve seen these wars take place repeatedly. We could look right now and see what is going on in Libya where the government was overthrown last year at the aegis of the United States and NATO.

What we have going on right now in Libya is total chaos but it’s not being presented through the corporate media to the people inside the United States.

It’s the same situation that is going on in Afghanistan where US soldiers, NATO forces are being killed every single day. Even the military forces of the Afghan people who’ve been trained by the United States are now turning their guns against US soldiers.

But the way in which these events are reported and the way in which they are interpreted are not done in a way in which it evokes any deeper understanding of the political and social dynamics involved in the situations in Libya, in Afghanistan and now of course in Syria.

This, of course, is going to extend to the Islamic Republic of Iran because there’s much propaganda on a daily basis inside the United States in regard to Iran’s use of nuclear technology in an effort to build public opinion for more sanctions and more aggressive military hostilities towards Iran.

It has to be an effort to bring the correct information to the American people about what is actually going on in the Middle East.

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