The wsws is better at movie reviews than political analysis, they have missed the boat completely. The UN has pulled back from Ms.Del Ponte statements because one needs prove and the fix is in by the US and Russia to save the regime which the opposition as of yet does not support.
The stepchildren of the Healy-ites are as wrong as the Stalinists and most of the US left who are more into *conspiracy theories* than logic or Marxism. SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013 Al Azm on "Anti-Imperialists"<http://www.maysaloon.org/2013/04/al-azm-on-anti-imperialists.html> Dr Sadiq Jalal al Azm is somebody I've been wanting to read more of and never had the chance to. I just stumbled upon a recent translation of his interview and I'm impressed by his razor sharp analysis. Of particular interest to me was his classification of the so-called anti-imperialist camp that has made it their mission to obfuscate and confuse the discourse surrounding Syria since the start of the revolution. *Whereas the smaller bloc of the left has hardened its old positions, as if nothing happened after the end of the Cold War, and with time its attitudes and methods became of the same nature as that of the Taliban-Jihadis or dogmatic closed-minded sectarians, or even that of terrorist Bin Ladenites, in its blind defiance of the West, global capitalism (a global capitalism that Russia and China are now a part of) and imperialism. This bloc from the left, in the Arab world and internationally, is today the most hostile to the Syrian revolution and the closest to defending the tyrannical military-security-familial regime using several arguments, not least of which is that the entire world plotted, apparently, against this regime that is peace-loving and stable. This type of leftist emphasizes the game of nations and geopolitical analysis, with stories of collision of interests and plans of the great powers and their dominance in our region, and does not want to view the revolution in Syria through anything other than through this lens, and neglects all that happens inside Syria and to Syrias revolutionaries today, as well as ignoring all the reasons that led its people to a peaceful revolution, and later to taking up arms in the face of a nationalist tyranny that is allied with this kind of leftist. In other words, this leftist has no problem with sacrificing Syria if it leads to a victory being handed to their international camp and geopolitics that wants a global victory in the game of nations. Their first priority is not Syria or its people in revolt to restore the republic, their freedom, and their dignity, but the game of nations at the global level of analysis and the side that they want to win.* The English translation of the interview is well worth a read here<http://therepublicgs.net/2013/04/27/interview-with-dr-sadiq/> . http://therepublicgs.net/2013/04/27/interview-with-dr-sadiq/ On Tue, May 7, 2013 at 8:46 PM, Romi Elnagar <bluesapphir...@yahoo.com>wrote: > ** > > > > > > > > UN Says US-Backed Opposition, Not Syrian Regime, Used Poison Gas > >by Alex Lantier > >07 May, 2013 > >WSWS.org > >In a series of interviews, UN > investigator Carla del Ponte said that sarin gas used in Syria was fired > by the > US-backed opposition, not the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. > >Her account explodes the lies on which Washington and its > European allies have based their campaign for war with Syria, according to > which > the US and its allies are preparing to attack Syria to protect its people > from > Assads chemical weapons. In fact, available evidence of sarin use > implicates > the Islamist-dominated rebels who are armed by US-allied Middle Eastern > countries, under CIA supervision. > >Del Pontes statements coincide with the flagrantly illegal > Israeli air strikes on Syria, which have been endorsed by President Obama. > These > acts of war mark a major escalation of the US-instigated and supported > sectarian > war for regime-change in Syria, itself a preparation for attacks on the > Syrian > regimes main ally in the region, Iran. > >Del Ponte is a former Swiss attorney general who served on > Western-backed international courts on Yugoslavia and Rwanda. She > currently sits > on a UN commission of inquiry on Syria. In an interview with Italian-Swiss > broadcaster RSI on Sunday, she said, According to the testimonies we have > gathered, the rebels have used chemical weapons, making use of sarin gas. > >She explained, Our investigators have been in neighboring > countries interviewing victims, doctors, and field hospitals, and, > according to > their report of last week which I have seen, there are strong, concrete > suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas, > from the > way the victims were treated. This was on the part of the opposition, the > rebels, not by the government authorities. > >She added, This is not surprising, since the opponents [i.e., > the anti-Assad opposition] have been infiltrated by foreign fighters. > >In a video interview on the BBC yesterday, del Ponte said, We > collected some witness testimony that made it appear that some chemical > weapons > were used, in particular, nerve gas. What appeared to our investigation > was that > was used by the opponents, by the rebels. We have no, no indication at all > that > the government, the authorities of the Syrian government, had used > chemical > weapons. > >These statements expose the US campaign over chemical weapons in > Syria as a series of lies, concocted to justify another war of aggression > in the > Middle East. The campaign began in late March, as the US military was > announcing > plans for stepped-up intervention in Syria, when the Assad regime charged > that > the opposition had fired a rocket with a chemical warhead at Khan al-Asal, > near > Aleppo. It killed 26 people, including 16 Syrian soldiers, according to > opposition sources. > >The opposition responded by alleging that it was the Assad > regime that had fired the chemical rockets. This was highly implausible, > as the > rocket was aimed at pro-Assad forces. > >Nonetheless, the US political and media establishment took > opposition allegations as good coin, demanding stepped-up intervention in > Syria > based on Obamas remarks in August of 2012 that use of chemical weapons by > the > Syrian government would be a red line prompting a US attack. > >On April 26, the White House endorsed this campaign in a letter > to Congress, declaring: The US intelligence community assesses with some > degree > of varying confidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on > a > small scale in Syria. > >This statement had no basis in fact and was evidently fabricated > by ignoring witness testimony gathered by the UN. Even after Del Pontes > interviews, US officials continued to make inflammatory statements > implying that > Assad is using chemical weapons. An Obama administration advisor told the > New > York Times yesterday, Its become pretty clear to everyone that Assad is > calculating whether those weapons might save him. > >The use of sarin by the US-backed Sunni Islamist opposition, > which is tied to Al Qaeda and routinely carries out terror attacks inside > Syria, > also raises the question of how it obtained the poison gas. The US Council > on > Foreign Relations describes sarin as very complex and dangerous to make, > though it can be made by a trained chemist with publicly available > chemicals. > >Whether the Islamists received sarin from their foreign backers, > synthesized it themselves possibly under outside supervision, or stole it > from > Syrian stockpiles, its use makes clear the reckless and criminal character > of US > backing for the Islamist opposition. > >Throughout the Syrian war, the American state and media have > operated on the assumption that the public could be manipulated and fed > the most > outrageous lies. Whether these lies were even vaguely plausible did not > matter, > because the media could be relied upon to spin them to justify deepening > the > attack on Syria. > >Time and againin the Houla massacre of May 2012 and the murder > of journalist Gilles Jacquier in January 2012the media blamed atrocities > perpetrated by the opposition on the Assad regime, then dropped the issue > when > it emerged that the opposition was responsible. Even the US governments > announcement last December that Al Qaeda-linked opposition forces had > carried > out hundreds of terror bombings in Syria did not dim media support for the > war. > >Now the US media are burying news of del Pontes interview, as > Washington moves towards direct intervention in Syria. Her interview was > not > mentioned in any of the three major network evening news programs > yesterday. > >Instead, after the Israeli air strikes against Syrian targets on > Thursday and Sunday, US officials and media pundits boasted that US forces > could > attack Syrian air defenses with few casualties. (See: The Israeli strikes > on > Syria). > >Reprising the lies about weapons of mass destruction (WMD) used > to justify the war against Iraq, the US ruling elite is placing chemical > weapons > at the center of its war propaganda on Syria. Yesterday, the Washington > Post > wrote: Israeli strikesfollowing reports in recent weeks that Assads > forces > probably deployed chemical weapons in unknown quantitiesappeared to > bolster the > case of those who have long favored direct US support for the rebels. > >The New York Times noted that Obama might use chemical weapons > as pretext for war if he attacked without UN Security Council > authorization. It > wrote: Russia would almost certainly veto any effort to obtain UN > Security > Council authorization to take military action. So far, Mr. Obama has > avoided > seeking such authorization, and that is one reason that past or future use > of > chemical weapons could serve as a legal argument for conducting strikes. > >The newspaper did not remark that, in such a case, Obamas war > against Syria would be just as illegal from the standpoint of > international law > as Bushs invasion of Iraq ten years ago. That war, which cost over a > million > Iraqi lives and tens of thousands of US casualties, as well as trillions > of > dollars, is deeply hated in the American and international working class. > >The American ruling elites need to downplay the war in Iraq as > it prepares to launch a similar bloodbath in Syria underlay the New York > Times > column penned yesterday by the Times former executive editor, Bill > Keller, > entitled Syria Is Not Iraq. Lamenting that the experience of the Iraq > warwhich he and the Times had promoted with false reports of Iraqi > WMDhad left > him gun-shy, Keller bluntly asserted, getting Syria right starts with > getting > over Iraq. > >By getting over Iraq, Keller meant overcoming concerns about > using military action and mass killing to crush opposition to US policy. > He > wrote that in Syria, I fear prudence has become fatalism our reluctance > to arm > the rebels or defend the civilians being slaughtered in their homes has > convinced the Assad regime (and the world) that we are not serious. > >Claiming that Washington is preparing military plans in the > event that Assads use of chemical weapons forces our hand, he pushed for > rapid > intervention, writing, Why wait for the next atrocity? > >Kellers warmongering column is a particularly clear example of > how the medias promotion of US imperialist policy is divorced from > reality. The > fact that there is no evidence that Assad has used chemical weapons, or > that the > next atrocity in Syria will likely be carried out by US-backed forces, is > irrelevant to the Times. Its concern is to package the next US war, the > facts be > damned. > >The collective intellectual and moral bankruptcy of the media > and the ruling elite accounts for the fact that del Pontes explosive > revelations can be buried without comment. Drunk on its own lying > propaganda, > desperate to erase the conclusions the population has drawn from > Washingtons > last bloody debacle, the American ruling class is tobogganing towards a > new > catastrophe. > >________________________________ > >Close > >Forgot password? > >Please put in your email: Send me my > password! > >Close > message > > > >Subscribe to this blog's comments through... > > * > > * > > * > > * > >RSS Feed > >Subscribe via email Subscribe > >Admin Options > > Disable > comments for this page > >Save Settings You are about to flag this comment as > being inappropriate. Please explain why you are flagging this comment in > the > text box below and submit your report. 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