The Justice of the Sunni Extremists in Syria, the Justice as meted out by the paid terrorists funded by Israel and the USA? Those who behead people, assassinate leaders of the Syrians that are revolting if they do not follow the agenda they are told to follow?
The justice as meted out by terrorists who consistently destroy everything you proclaim you hold dear? That's simply support of Imperialist over throw of anyone not supportive of the International Bankers that own us, and it is done by by omission. I do not support the Saudi Extremists who have worked with and been part of Al CIAduh, the Chechnya terrorists, the Israeli Mossad, and the American CIA. I certainly do NOT support your support of them by omission or making them seem NICE! In fact, these people have a longer more brutal track record of human rights abuses then Assad. So, I do not support them, but you do. They do not work for you, your working for them. I do not support terrorist supporters in any guise I can recognize them in, which is why I have to speak out on this so often. This is nothing more then a guide to support a different terrorist or human rights violator faction. Screw em all, I support none of them, and any decent human concerned for all the rest of humanity wouldn't want to turn the Syrians over to a Religious extremist state of Saudi Arabia, much less control by Israel and the USA and those we go to war for. The enemy of mine enemy IS NOT MY FRIEND, and to empower then in a common goal of support of the Syrian people to have a say so in their own lives, is to destroy them to save them. Scott > http://louisproyect.org/2013/09/16/a-guide-for-the-perplexed-on-syria/ > A guide for the perplexed on Syria > Filed under: Syria <http://louisproyect.org/category/syria/> > louisproyect > @ 6:42 pm > > Leftists trying to figure Syria out > >>From the very beginning my interest in Syria has been focused on what was > taking place inside the country rather than on the Great Game that > absorbed > Robert Fisk, Patrick Cockburn and Pepe Escobar. If your point of departure > is that there is some kind of global chess game in which a pawn might have > to be sacrificed for the sake of a checkmate, then naturally you will be > willing to see Bashar al-Assads enemies vanquished no matter the justice > of their cause. One supposes that in order to avoid the cognitive > dissonance associated with an approach more Metternich than Marx, the > global chess game left tended to avoid reading or mentioning any > literature > that put the rebels in a favorable light. Instead, every single misstep > was > seized upon to make it seem that they were a Taliban-like threat to a > secular and progressive regime even though with somewhat naughty > authoritarian tendencies. > > I am sure that those who continue in this vein will have little use for > the > material outlined below, all of which is available online, but for those > sitting on the fence or simply curious this might prove useful: > *Reports from the mainstream media:* > > 1. Anand Gopal > > Gopal wrote an extremely important article for the August 2012 Harpers > Magazine titled Welcome to Free > Syria<http://harpers.org/archive/2012/08/welcome-to-free-syria/> > based on his visit to the northern town of Taftanaz. I heard Gopal speak > at > the last Left Forum and can assure you that he is a man of the left. Here > is a passage from the article: > > All around Taftanaz, amid the destruction, rebel councils like this were > meetingtwenty-seven in all, and each of them had elected a delegate to > sit > on the citywide council. They were a sign of a deeper transformation that > the revolution had wrought in Syria: Bashar al-Assad once subdued small > towns like these with an impressive apparatus of secret police, party > hacks, and yes-men; now such control was impossible without an occupation. > The Syrian army, however, lacked the numbers to control the hinterlandsit > entered, fought, and moved on to the next target. There could be no return > to the status quo, it seemed, even if the way forward was unclear. > > In the neighboring town of Binnish, I visited the farmers council, a body > of about a thousand members that set grain prices and adjudicated land > disputes. Its leader, an old man Ill call Abdul Hakim, explained to me > that before the revolution, farmers were forced to sell grain to the > government at a price that barely covered the cost of production. > Following > the uprising, the farmers tried to sell directly to the town at almost > double the former rates. But locals balked and complained to the citywide > council, which then mandated a return to the old priceswhich has the > farmers disgruntled, but Hakim acknowledged that in this revolution, we > have to give to each as he needs. > > 2. Anthony Shadid > > Shadid, who died from an asthma attack in Syria in 2012, was the NY Times > chief correspondent on the Arab Spring. I can recommend nearly everything > he wrote but most of all the May 10, 2011 article titled Syrian Elite to > Fight Protests to the > End<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/world/middleeast/11makhlouf.html>. > Focused on Bashar al-Assads cousin Rami Makhlouf, one of Syrias richest > men, Shadid points out that Mr. Makhlouf represents broader changes afoot > in the country. His very wealth points to the shifting constellation of > power in Syria, as the old alliance of Sunni Muslim merchants and officers > from Mr. Makhloufs Alawite clan gives way to descendants of those > officers > benefiting from lucrative deals made possible by reforms that have > dismantled the public sector. He also quotes Makhloufs fairly direct > statement that Israel has a keen interest in seeing Bashar al-Assad > succeed: If there is no stability here, theres no way there will be > stability in Israel. > > 3. Rania Abouzeid > > On April 23, 2013, she reported on Raqqa for the New Yorker Magazine in an > article titled A Black Flag in > Raqqa<http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/04/the-black-flag-of-raqqa.html>, > a reference to the Islamic flag that the jihadists had raised in the city > they just seized control of over the objections of many of its residents. > The article is useful as a guide to the tensions between the grass roots > movement and the well-armed guerrillas who rely more on strength of arms > than political persuasion to achieve victories. She writes: > > For the next few hours, the men engaged in a combative and highly charged > discussion. It was about the black banner, but more than that about the > direction the Syrian uprising has taken. The men of the house feared that > it had been hijacked by Islamists, led by Jabhat al-Nusra, who saw the > fall > of the regime as the first step in transforming Syrias once-cosmopolitan > society into a conservative Islamic state. All four men said they wanted > an > Islamic state, but a moderate one. > > A few days earlier, a massive black flag bearing the shahada had been > hoisted atop a flagpole in Raqqa citys main square, in front of the > elegant, multi-arched governorate building. We will become a target for > American drone attacks because of the flagits huge, said Abu Noor, a > wiry young man who worked in a pharmacy by day and at night volunteered to > guard the post office near his home against looters. Theyll think were > extremist Muslims! (There havent been such strikes in Syria yet, though > the possibility is much discussed here.) > *Scholarly articles:* > > 1. Bassam Haddad > > Haddad is the editor of Jadilayya.com, an important source of scholarly > analysis of MENA (Middle East and North Africa). In the Spring 2012 MERIP > journal, he wrote a piece titled The Syrian Regimes Business > Backbone<http://www.merip.org/mer/mer262/syrian-regimes-business-backbone> > that was much stronger on the class composition of the ruling class than > the masses but still quite necessary reading. Haddad has spoken at the > Brecht Forum in N.Y. and seems fairly left in his orientation, although I > suspect that he has been bitterly disappointed by the failure of the > Baathists to carry out reforms. He argues along the same lines as Anthony > Shahid: > > By the late 1990s, the business community that the Asads had created in > their own image had transformed Syria from a semi-socialist state into a > crony capitalist state par excellence. The economic liberalization that > started in 1991 had redounded heavily to the benefit of tycoons who had > ties to the state or those who partnered with state officials. The private > sector outgrew the public sector, but the most affluent members of the > private sector were state officials, politicians and their relatives. The > economic growth registered in the mid-1990s was mostly a short-lived bump > in consumption, as evidenced by the slump at the end of the century. > Growth > rates that had been 5-7 percent fell to 1-2 percent from 1997 to 2000 and > beyond. > > 2. Housam Darwisheh > > He is a Syrian academic now based in Japan. His paper From > authoritarianism to upheaval : the political economy of the Syrian > uprising > and regime persistence can be read > here<http://ir.ide.go.jp/dspace/handle/2344/1225>. > Among the points made in his article is the environmental backdrop of the > crisis that led to the uprising: > > Climate change also unexpectedly eroded the legitimacy of the regime. > Waves > of drought caused severe rural poverty and sparked massive rural-urban > migration, generating unprecedented polarization between urban and rural > areas and between the haves and have-nots, a situation that did not exist > in Syria before. A demographic transition shaped by rapid urbanization and > internal migration, exacerbated by streams of refugees from Iraq, put > further pressure on the states ability to provide services such as > housing, clean water and health. Whereas large cities such as Damascus and > Aleppo with relatively developed infrastructure could absorb waves of > migrants, underdeveloped cities, such as Dara, Hama and Homs, suffered > deterioration of already poor conditions. > > 3. Raymond Hinnebusch > > He is the author of Syria: Revolution from Above and many other books on > the Middle East. His article titled Syria: from authoritarian upgrading > to revolution? can be read > here<http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/public/International%20Affairs/2012/88_1/88_1hinnebusch.pdf>. > He is mainly interested in examining class relations in Syria: > > The reformists, in practice, focused on making Syria a centre of banking, > tourism and cross-regional trade, turning it into a version of Lebanon. > Invest- ment was predominantly in tertiary sectors, as Gulf capital has > little interest in manufacturing: up to $20 billion was invested in luxury > housing and hotels. The absence of rule of law deterred long-term > productive investment in industry and agriculture and the return of much > of > Syrias enormous expatriate capital. Only 13 per cent of investment after > 2000 was in manufacturing, while a flood of cheap imports allowed by trade > liberalization drove small manufacturers and micro- enterprises out of > business; indeed, reduced tariff protections for industry served as an > incentive for investment and entrepreneurship to move from industry into > trade. The economy grew at a rate of 5 per cent in 2006 and 4 per cent in > 2007 and 2008, and while this enriched the crony capitalists around the > regime and the treasury managed to extract a share as well, it did not > provide nearly enough jobs to compensate for cuts in public employment and > little of it trickled down to ordinary people. > *Syrian voices:* > > 1. Nader Atassi > > He is a young Syrian from Homs now living in the USA who blogs at > http://darthnader.net/. He is a self-described anarchist whose commitment > to the revolutionary cause in Syria speaks more to his understanding of > class than a hundred apologists for al-Assad speaking in the name of > Marxist orthodoxy. In fact the more I hear from such people, the more I > think that their Marxism owes more to Stalin than any Marxist I value. He > was interviewed recentlyat > Truthout<http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/18617-syrian-anarchist-challenges-the-rebel-regime-binary-view-of-resistance>, > where he stated: > > In the city of Darayya in the suburbs of Damascus, where the regime has > waged a vicious battle ever since it fell to rebels in November 2012, some > residents have decided to come together and create a newspaper in the > midst > of all the fighting, called Enab Baladi (meaning Local Grapes, as Darayya > is famous for its grapes). Their paper focuses both on what is happening > locally in Darayya and what is happening in the rest of Syria. Its > printed > and distributed for free throughout the city. [The] principles [of] > self-governance, autonomy, mutual aid and cooperation are present in a lot > of the organizations within the uprising. The organizations that operate > according to some of those principles obviously dont comprise the > totality > of the uprising. There are reactionary elements, sectarian elements, > imperialist elements. But weve heard about that a lot, havent we? There > are people doing great work based on sound principles who deserve our > support. > > 2. Joseph Daiher > > He is a member of the Syrian revolutionary Left and a PhD student at the > University of Lausanne in Switzerland who blogs at > http://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/. He was on the same panel as > Anand Gopal at the last Left Forum, calling in through Skype. I find him > among the more reliable and inspiring voices from Syria. On September 8th > he > spoke about > <http://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/2013/09/08/self-organization-of-the-popular-struggles-in-syria-against-the-regime-and-islamist-groups-yes-it-exists/>the > determination of ordinary Syrians to create democratic institutions both > in > opposition to the regime and to the jihadists: > > In the neighborhood of Bustan Qasr, in Aleppo, the local population has > protested numerous times to denounce the actions of the Sharia Council of > Aleppo, which gathers many islamist groups. On 23 August for instance, the > protesters of Bustan Qasr, while condemning the massacre through chemical > weapons committed by the regime against people in Eastern Ghouta, were > also > calling for the liberation of the famous activist Abu Maryam, once more > jailed by the Sharia Council of Aleppo. They continue until today to > demand > his release. At the end of June 2013, in the same neighborhood, the > activists hailed go f*c* yourself Islamic council, protesting the > repressive and authoritarian politics of the latter. Popular outrage was > also expressed following the assassination by foreign jihadists belonging > to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria group (ISIS) of a 14-year old boy, > who allegedly made a blasphemous comment in a joke referring to Prophet > Mohammad. A protest was organized by the popular committee of Bustan Qasr > against the Islamic council and the islamist groups. Activists hailed > what > a shame, what a shame, the revolutionaries became shabiha, and compared > the Islamic council to the Syrian regimes secret police, a clear allusion > to their authoritarian practices. > > 3. Robin Yassin-Kassab > > Robin is a novelist who lives in London and who blogs at > http://qunfuz.com. > Azizs Story is his latest post > <http://qunfuz.com/2013/09/14/azizs-story> > : > > Why did Selemiyyeh rise? For the same basic reason as the rest of Syria > in reaction against the terrible decades-long oppression of the Assad > regime. Here, as illustration, is Azizs personal story. > > When he was 19 he was a student of Information Systems Engineering, as > eager as any of his townsmen to earn academic qualifications. He was also > a > young man with a passion for aeroplanes. When he met an Iraqi ex-pilot he > was spurred to research and write a long article on the role of air power > in the Iran-Iraq war. He managed to publish the article in Avions, a > specialist magazine in France. > > That was his mistake. He thinks something in the article must have upset > the Iranians, Assads closest allies. He was arrested and tried for the > crimes of seeking to undermine national unity, and the disclosure of > military information. He was sentenced to two and a half years > imprisonment. After the first year, and after paying a thousand-dollar > bribe, his parents were able to pay him a two-minute visit. During this > agonisingly brief encounter they were insulted by the guards, but at least > they knew their son was alive. > > Get it? Two and a half years for writing an article on air power in the > Iran-Iraq war. How the anti-imperialist left can rally around a > government capable of such depraved action is a mystery beyond > comprehension. > *What Marxists say:* > > 1. Hassan Khaled Chatila > > Interestingly enough, an interview with him appeared originally on the > Kasama website, no doubt a function of Chatilas affiliation with what was > likely a Maoist group called the Communist Action Party. I am not sure the > article disappeared inadvertently after they moved to a new format or else > they decided that it clashed too much with their line on Syria that > resembles the PSLs or Counterfires. Fortunately, you can still read the > interview at Links <http://links.org.au/node/2322>. Chatilas article > appeared at the very start of the uprising. He writes: > > The revolt is not generalised across the country and society. It is more > like a series of neighbourhood uprisings than a centralised revolution. > The > main actors so far have been educated youth and unemployed youth seeking > access to modernity. > > Industrial workers take part as individuals, but many of the people in the > streets are what I would call lumpen proletariat, people who are > unemployed > or without regular jobs, who have to live as best they can. They work a > few > days here and there, mainly in services for the bourgeoisie, as maids, > porters, doormen, etc. They have no social security or other benefits. The > other component of this movement comes from the lower middle class, > especially young unemployed university graduates. About 20 per cent of > young graduates are unemployed. They cant get married because they have > to > live with their parents, due to both unemployment and the severe housing > shortage. > > I would not use the word lumpen myself but agree with the underlying > thrust > of the analysis, namely that the prime actors are in the informal economy, > which was the case in Nicaragua in the 1980s. These are the people that > Mike Davis wrote about in Planet of Slums. One imagines that much of the > left is ready to throw such Syrians under the bus because they are not > coal > miners or steel workers carrying lunch pails to their job, with copies of > a > sectarian newspaper under the arm. Once you are ready to dispense with > such > fantasies, the authors and articles cited here would be a good place to > begin getting grounded in reality. > > 2. Yassir Mounif > > There is an interview with this young academic who received his PhD from a > Lebanese university in a recent issue of International Viewpoint, the > magazine of the Mandelista Fourth International. He just returned from > Syria and offers these > observations<http://internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article3112> > : > > *I* think that the left has a real task ahead of it. It has to really > formulate a new position, a more coherent position. A position where one > can be at the same time against the war and also against dictatorship. And > as long as they dont do that, I think that they wont have any kind of > credibility. People in Syria will see that as almost a license to kill > because the Syrian regime has been actually broadcasting those > demonstrations on Syrian State TV, showing how much it is popular in the > West and that people are demonstrating in the streets of New York and > other > cities showing those pictures of Asad. Actually the Syrian regime is not > even able to organize such demonstrations or rallies in Syria, so it was > very happy to see that emerging in many parts. And many of the people who > are demonstrating actually dont know anything about the reality that > Syrians are living, and their struggles, and their fights, and their > everyday resistance, and what theyre trying to build, and the creativity > in what theyre doing. > > 3, Michael Karadjis > > Although I used to have violent debates with him about Yugoslavia, I find > myself in awe of his ability to grasp the complexities of the Syrian > revolution. He is a long-time member of the Australian group called the > Socialist Alliance that started out over forty years ago as a clone of the > American SWP. They have gotten sharper as they have gotten older, while > the > SWP has gone into orbit around the lost planet of Zyglish in the Merxandor > galaxy. Here is a passage from Karadjiss Is there a US war on Syria? > The Syrian uprising, the Assad regime, the US and > Israel<http://links.org.au/node/3344>. > It is a direct challenge to the prevailing wisdom that the FSA must only > get its weapons from sources vetted by the anti-imperialist left that > has > no problems with MIGs firing S25 missiles, each carrying 400 pounds of > TNT, into apartment buildings in Homs or Aleppo. > > In the meantime, it is important to stress that it is the regime that is > imposing a military solution on a massive scale; in such circumstances > the FSA has the right to get arms for self-defence from whoever it wants. > Blaming whatever tiny trickle of arms the FSA gets for continuing military > conflict is simply stating that the FSA should commit suicide in order to > achieve the peace of the graveyard. To begin to ever-so-slightly > equalising > the fire power of the two sides with the regime still absolutely > dominant[1] does not mean advocating a military solution. It just means > people have the right to protect themselves against getting blasted to > bits. It may even strengthen the possibilities for a negotiated solution, > which at present Assad has no reason to consider. > > 4. Corey Oakley > > Oakley is a member of Socialist Alternative in Australia, a group that > comes out of the state capitalist tradition and that is having talks > about possible merger with Karadjiss group. Needless to say, Syria will > not be one of the sticking points. In The left, imperialism and the > Syrian > revolution, > Oakleywrites<http://sa.org.au/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=7450%3Athe-left-imperialism-and-the-syrian-revolution> > : > > Prominent British leftists Tariq Ali and George Galloway have come out > stridently in opposition to the insurrectionary aims of the uprising, > claiming that the revolution has been taken over by reactionaries and > arguing that a negotiated settlement with the regime is the only answer. > Ali, in an interview with Russia Today, said the choice was between a > Western imposed regime, composed of sundry Syrians who work for the > Western intelligence agencies or the Assad regime. Galloway, the left > populist MP best known as a campaigner against the Iraq war, goes even > further, denouncing the Syrian resistance for not accepting the peace plan > advanced by the UN. > > Much of this left-agonising about the Syrian revolt reflects the legacy of > Stalinism, which led many to identify leftism with various despotic but > anti-imperialist regimes that opposed the West and oppressed their own > people in equal measure. But others on the left not weighed down by the > legacy of Stalinism echo Galloways attitude over Syria. John Rees, until > a > few years ago a leading member of the Socialist Workers Party, wrote last > month that he was in broad agreement with Galloway and Ali. > > Sad but true. > > ----------------------------------------------------------- > The New Truthers: Americans Who Deny Syria Used Chemical Weapons by > Muhammad > Idrees Ahmad <http://www.newrepublic.com/authors/muhammad-idrees-ahmad> | > September 11, 2013 > photo credit: Jewel Samad/Getty Images > > Eager to forestall a U.S. intervention, Bashar al-Assad has agreed to > relinquish<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323595004579066524164827140.html?mod=djemTEW_h> > his > stockpile of chemical weaponsa stockpile that, until this week, he denied > even possessing. But Syria's president continues to denyas he did in a > recent interview with Charlie > Rose<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/09/business/media/assad-denies-attack-in-interview-with-charlie-rose.html>that > he used such weapons on civilians in an Aug. 21 attack in the Damascus > suburb of Ghouta. That's less surprising than the people who believe him, > despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary: countless Americans, > including public figures from across the political spectrum whoout of > opposition to war in general, or to President Barack Obama > specificallyeagerly believe and spread misinformation. Call them > chemical-weapons truthers. > > One such group, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), > which > is comprised by former spooks and diplomats, last week wrote an open > letter<http://consortiumnews.com/2013/09/06/obama-warned-on-syrian-intel/> > to > Obama warning that he might be led by dubious intelligence into > intervening > in Syria. They claimed to have learned from former co-workers that the > most reliable intelligence shows that Bashar al-Assad was NOT responsible > for the chemical incident that killed and injured Syrian civilians on > August 21." > > If true, this would be devastating to the Obama's credibility. But > skepticism of intelligence agencies notwithstanding, not everyone is > likely > to be swayed by the claims of anonymous informants. After all, the VIPS > are > also contradicting the considered judgment of the British, French and > German intelligencenot to mention respected independent analysts like > Eliot > Higgins <http://brown-moses.blogspot.co.at/>. Even the > cautious-to-a-fault Human > Rights Watch has confirmed <http://www.hrw.org/node/118725> the regimes > culpability in August's sarin gas attack. > > VIPS insists its detailed account of the attack came from a growing body > of evidence from numerous sources in the Middle East. These have > confirmed, they say, that the chemical incident was a pre-planned > provocation by the Syrian opposition and its Saudi and Turkish > supporters." Based on some reports, they allege, canisters containing > chemical agent were brought into a suburb of Damascus, where they were > then > opened." They forcefully reject the notion that a Syrian military rocket > capable of carrying a chemical agent was fired into the area." > > I asked three of the signatories about their sources. They proved > curiously > evasive. But one VIPS member, Philip Giraldi, has since published an > article > in *The American > Conservative*<http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/whats-the-evidence-behind-the-case-for-war/>and > the reason for their hesitation has become obvious. The sources for VIPS' > most sensational claims, it turns out, are Canadian eccentric Michel > Chossudovskys conspiracy site Global > Research<http://www.globalresearch.ca> and > far-right shock-jock Alex Joness Infowars <http://www.infowars.com>. The > specific article that Giraldi references carries the intriguing headline > Did > the White House Help Plan the Syrian Chemical > Attack?<http://www.globalresearch.ca/did-the-white-house-help-plan-the-syrian-chemical-attack/5347542> > (His answer, in case you wondered, is yes.) The author is one Yossef > Bodanskyan Israeli-American supporter of Assads uncle > Rifaat<http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/09/10/how_assad_wooed_the_american_right_and_won_the_syria_propaganda_war#.Ui9Q4Hgcvug.twitter>, > who led the 1982 massacre in > Hama<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hama_massacre>. > Bodanskys theory was widely circulated after an > endorsement<http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2013/09/03/bodansky_what_if_bashar_didn_t_do_it> > from > Rush Limbaugh. A whole paragraph from Bodanskys article makes it into the > VIPS letter intact, with only a flourish added at the end. > > Giraldi references two more articles to substantiate his claim: one from > Infowars<http://www.infowars.com/rebels-admit-responsibility-for-chemical-weapons-attack/> > and > another from > DailyKos<http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/08/31/1235222/-We-Now-Have-a-Credible-Report-that-the-Rebels-Gassed-Ghouta-not-Assad-s-Forces>. > But both reference the same source, an obscure website called Mint Press > which published an > article<http://www.mintpressnews.com/witnesses-of-gas-attack-say-saudis-supplied-rebels-with-chemical-weapons/168135/> > claiming > that Syrian rebels had accidentally set off a canister of Sarin supplied > to > them by the Saudis. The idea that an accident in one place would cause > over > a thousand deaths in 12 separate > locations<http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/syria_cw0913_web_1.pdf>with > none affected in areas in betweensomehow did not strike this intelligence > veteran as implausible. But to its credit, Mint Press has since added a > disclaimer: Some information in this article could not be independently > verified." > > What of VIPSs numerous sources in the Middle East, then? It turns out > they're the same as Bodanskys numerous sources in the Middle Eastthe > sentence is plagiarized. > > None of this has prevented the letter from finding a larger audience among > opponents of U.S. involvement in Syria. Michael Moore has posted it on his > website<http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/obama-warned-syrian-intel>. > The far-right *World Net > Daily*<http://www.wnd.com/2013/09/truth-leaking-out-nerve-gas-points-to-rebels/> > has > given it favorable coverage. And Pamela > Geller<http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2013/09/syria-nerve-gas-points-to-obama-backed-jihadists-as-wh-chief-of-staff-admits-they-dont-have-evidence.html> > is > promoting its claims. What the letter lacks in verifiable sources, it > makes > up for in its ideological serviceability. > > The VIPS letter may be exceptional in its shoddiness, but it's part of a > broader gullibility. In an article for The Huffington > Post<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dennis-j-kucinich/syria-war-questions_b_3870763.html> > last > week, former Congressman Dennis Kucinich also cast doubt on the regimes > use of chemical weapons and suggested that the administration had > dismissed > reports of rebel use of chemical weapons. Among the sources he cites is > Eliot Higginss Brown Moses blog <http://brown-moses.blogspot.com/>, > but Higgins > is > unequivocal<http://brown-moses.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/a-detailed-summary-of-evidence-on.html> > that > no entity other the regime could have carried out the attack. The only > thing Higgins withholds judgment on is whether the munitions used were > military-grade chemical weaponsa moot point, since even the Assad regime > no longer denies such weapons were used, but only *who* used them. > Kucinich > also cites Global Research in reprising a claim, long since discredited, > that the United Nations accused Syrian rebels of using chemical weapons. > That rumor originated with a controversial Swiss > member<http://www.theguardian.com/law/2010/aug/18/carla-del-ponte-prosecution> > of > the U.N. independent commission of inquiry, Carla del Ponte, who suggested > in May that Assads opponents had used chemical weapons. The U.N. swiftly > distanced itself from her statements and made > clear<http://www.scribd.com/doc/139720604/Press-Release-Un-Coi-Syria-on-Use-of-Chemical-Weapons-in-Syria> > that > its inquiry had "not reached conclusive findings as to the use of chemical > weapons in Syria by any parties to the conflict. > > This is not the first time critics of U.S. foreign policy have denied the > Syrian regimes atrocities. One of the major promoters of the Mint Press > article was the liberal media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in > Reporting > (FAIR)<http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/09/01/which-syrian-chemical-attack-account-is-more-credible/>, > which, more than a year before Ghouta, had used another dubious source > to exculpate > the Assad > regime<http://www.fair.org/blog/2012/06/14/was-houla-massacre-a-manufactured-atrocity/> > for > the massacre in Houla. The facts of the incident were clear: The town was > besieged by the regime; it was under artillery assault before and after > the > massacre; the barrage relented only long enough to let the perpetrators > enter the town and carry out the killing. The U.N. visited Houla a day > after the atrocity and an accompanying Channel 4 team interviewed > survivors > on camera. Three days later, Human Rights Watch pointed its finger at the > regime<http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/05/27/syria-un-inquiry-should-investigate-houla-killings>. > There was little doubt about the attack's authorship. > > Yet, after a single story appeared in the conservative German daily > *Frankfurter > Allgemeine > Zeitung*<http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/neue-erkenntnisse-zu-getoeteten-von-hula-abermals-massaker-in-syrien-11776496.html> > alleging > that those killed were Alawite regime supporters and that the perpetrators > were besieged Sunni rebels, the far right and left ran with the story. > After first making an appearance on the *National Review* > website<http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/302261/report-rebels-responsible-houla-massacre-john-rosenthal>, > it was picked up by the UKs eccentric Media > Lens<http://www.medialens.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=682:the-houla-massacre&catid=25:alerts-2012&Itemid=69>; > from there, it made it onto a FAIR media > alert<http://www.fair.org/blog/2012/06/14/was-houla-massacre-a-manufactured-atrocity/> > and > eventually toPamela Gellers > blog<http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2012/06/syria-houla-massacre-blamed-on-assad-regime-actually-work-of-jihadi-rebels.html>. > The implausibility of the story, its complete reliance on anonymous > sources, and the German journalist Rainer Hermans subsequent admission > that he had never been to Houla did not prevent it from becoming a news > meme. In Britain, it was referenced both by Emmy- and BAFTA-winning > documentary filmmaker John > Pilger<http://johnpilger.com/articles/history-is-the-enemy-as-brilliant-psy-ops-become-the-news> > and *Guardian* senior editor Seumas > <http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jun/05/syria-un-intervention-bashar-al-assad> > Milne <https://twitter.com/SeumasMilne/status/211841414961696768> to > exonerate the regime or to cast doubt on its responsibility. > > The conspiracy theory was finally laid to rest last month after the UN > completed its extensive > investigation<http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/aug/15/houla-killings-un-blames-syria-troops> > confirming > the regimes guilt. None of its purveyors apologized. > > This tendency to shift blame away from Assad has even infected otherwise > sophisticated thinkers like David Bromwich, a literature professor at > Yale. > In an article last week for The Huffington > Post<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-bromwich/red-line-resolutions-for-_b_3875348.html>, > after questioning the reported number of dead in the Ghouta attack, and > whether the munitions used were indeed chemical weapons, Bromwich advises > Congress to ask Obama: > > The implied question: If 300 FSA fighters were passing through Ghouta, > then > was the regime not justified in gassing the neighborhoods? > > *There are perfectly good arguments for opposing military interventionand > some have been made persuasively, on > moral<http://souciant.com/2013/09/syria-for-americans/> > or national > interest<http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/09/06/an_open_letter_to_my_congressman> > grounds. > There are also good reasons to be skeptical of humanitarian conceits that > might be used to justify intervention. But there is more than a fine line > between skepticism and cynicismand not even the otherwise noble concern > with preventing war, or the less-noble determination to oppose a president > regardless of policy, justifies excusing the Assad regimes > well-documented > crimes. While war must always be an option of last resort, and it is right > to be concerned about its unforeseen consequences (as long as one is > mindful that inaction too has > consequences<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10293520/Rory-Stewart-MP-In-Syria-the-best-solution-is-a-negotiated-peace.html>), > the national debate over whether to wage it in Syria is not helped by > spreading ideologically driven lies.* > > Source URL: > http://www.newrepublic.com//article/114676/syrias-chemical-weapons-assad-not-blame-say-truthers > ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:la...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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