It is heartening to read a tightly argued factual debunking of the "human rights" whitewashing of the Empire's regime change efforts that only ever target the Empire's designated enemies.
Knowing how much the Empire invests in controlling its opposition, both abroad and at home, it is no surprise to see the pro-regime change voices and forces on the "Left" being boosted and given space and resources.
Anti-imperialism (opposition to the only dominant Empire, not the childish "anti-imperialism" that calls imperialist all countries that do not fit some airy fantasy of a perfect communist society) remains the primary contradiction and the litmus test for resistance to the death spiral of the genocidal forces.
Thank you Justin and Joe for your tireless work exposing the false pretences and machinations of the Empire-mongers.
Thank you to Joe and Justin for this rational analysis in increasingly irrational times.
In a demonization campaign, the hard part is to engage with people to again look rationally at these historic events, rather than take part in the sanctioned "5 minute hate". Why does the demonization work so well in dividing us, especially when it comes to Syria? The best I've come up with is that they are exploiting the cynicism /nihilism inherent in the baseline neoliberal soup now endemic in our societies.
"All politicians are corrupt" -> So if you don't go along with e.g. the smearing of Lula da Silva of Brazil you can safely be dismissed as a dupe.
This combines with old-fashioned orientalist racism to
"All Arab leaders are murderous thugs" -> so if you defend one of them you can safely be dismissed as an "Assadist".
I fear the very exercise of comparing the human rights record of Syria and Saudi Arabia may cause some discomfort but will ultimately retrench the cynicism "Well, the Saudis are bastards, too".
Including "Western" countries in the comparison rubs directly against the racism gap: "But you can't compare... [our mistakes to their evil nature]". Weirdly, within this framing we may be misunderstood to argue for becoming yet more cynical and view our own politicians are inherently murderous thugs - and our own societies as inherently backwards and hopeless.
This is especially acute in the Israeli case. The media love to point to Netanyahu's obvious corruption ["we have come to expect all politicians to be corrupt"]. The rare criticism of Israeli genocidal war crimes can be dismissed with a "But you can't compare the democratically elected leader of Israel to Hamas!".
This is a literal quote by foreign minister of Austria whose very identity is based on "Never Again [alas only for white people]": Comparing Israelis to people seen through the racist lens cuts too close to seeing Israelis through the racist lens, too. Such a misclassification of European Jews as non-white is seen as the ultimate evil behind the Nazi holocaust and cannot stand. As the past year has shown, genociding non-white people if they become uppity can apparently still be excused, who knew?
How to change the underlying framing?
The really hard part is psychological. In the cynical frame we are dupes making the other person feel mature (you still believe in a non-corrupt politician, a non-murderous oriental despot?, and Santa Claus?).
In an alternative frame they have to confront that they have allowed themselves to be duped : -> "there are entrenched interests trying to control the message by *selectively* foregrounding Lula's (manufactured) corruption and "Assad's" crimes, singling them out precisely because of their non-conformism (even though they both actually tried very hard to conform). They are playing on your cynicism [and the orientalist racism inherent in our culture]". In particular
"They are only foregrounding the crimes of the Syrian regime to make you unsee* they are making nice with the people who flew planes into our buildings and were enslaving women, beheading people, and blowing up statues all over the place!!!". (Sorry for shouting)
This is always a hard sell, especially if we want to do more than merely redirect people's anger.
* I'm just reading a news piece blaming all deaths in Syria in the past 20 years on "Assad", even down to mass graves filled with "foreigners" -> with literally no mention of who those foreigners are and how so many of them have come to rest under Syrian soil in the first place... (Austrian State Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) piece, copied as usual from Reuters, AP, NYT, etc.).
I always get questions answered when I read your scholarly offerings. I love the synchronisms of consciousness; and when I put the questions into the field of consciousness, It always delivers. Many times you have been used in an enlightening way; at least this is how it happens from this side of the telescope. Consciousness is the best friend that this “dummy” ever discovered. Thanks 🙏 for the smarts.
I also enjoyed the commentary. So, thanks for sparking the conceptions that still are rattling around the rafters and disturbing the stillness.
Dean Martin left his heart in SanFrancisco; but I can honestly say that there isn’t a town in all of The United Half Acres of Hell where this heart that beats for peace and love; will ever feel comfortably at home.
Economically speaking, I believe that perhaps we should forever identify the style of “ism” that the leaders, from the Founding Fathers forward, practice can now be identified, beyond any shadow of doubt....as Coupatilesm! You know
Overthrowism!
One book, that I think might help, would be a rigorous economical analysis of all the national economies that the Coupers have been fiddling about in...since the foundational starting gun was fired in 1776. Graphs and charts help my understanding and there’s so many works that define the meddling. But I’m not sure if the economic collapse comparisons exist alongside each other. The national consciousness needs the paddles of raw evidence to electrify their understanding and cure the blindness that the flag has so cripplingly infected. It’s past time they stood naked in front of the looking glass; and see the promise of the real ugly american It’s not easy to steer the national chariotwhen the spokes on the wheels have been sawed out. ✌🏼🇵🇸🇱🇧🇮🇷🇸🇾🇮🇶🇾🇪❤️🙏🕉
PS... I get a good laugh every time I try to use the word american ... the “electrical brain” never lets me write it with a small cased ‘a’... I go back to correct it and the ‘machine’ throws the flag at me; underlining my intentions with the penalty of a major misspelling.... sorry but this joint doesn’t deserve the upper case...much love & gratitude to all the resistors in these most dystopian times.
Thank you Justin & Joe for collecting & showing us the data. I find people's forgetfulness very scary... how can you forget "Guantanamo bay torture prison camp by US", Israel's torture camps, or Turkey's genocide of Kurds? It's clear that they are not "human rights defenders". Those media who are serving imperialists are basically very lazy. And they take advantage of our laziness that we don't pause and check the facts... instead, we are just gulp them down as if they're all true. Let's stay vigilant.
I always am a bit confused when people throw this term around, “corporate capitalism.”
It implies that you think there’s such a thing as ‘non-corporate’ capitalism (i.e., capitalism that doesn’t develop into capitalist-imperialism in the way described by Lenin, drawing his conclusion with a pro-capitalist bibliography, already in 1916), or that if capitalism were not “corporate,” you wouldn’t have a problem with it.
It’s a sign for demos/protests. Guessing they may bring something else to study group. In the streets, among the masses are bound to be those who are yet to develop the same clarity about capitalism but know something’s not right, so they came out to the thing. So, as far as signs go, reinforcing the association of “corporate” with “capitalism” / “problem” seems sensible, no? I mean, it’s probably not gonna spark the revolution or anything… but everyone knows you need a pamphlet for that :p
In fact, according to the motto "take out governments - take out countries", a country that had a relatively moderate government in the Assad regime compared to other countries in the Middle East and the Arab dictatorships was left to perish.
Until 2009, Bashar al-Assad, like his father Hafez al-Assad before him, was a welcome guest in Western European countries.
1996 Jacques Chirac on an official state visit to Syria Damascus: French President visits Syria
1998 Official state visit to FranceFrance - Assad meets Jospin and Chirac for talks
2002 Bashar-al-Assad on a state visit to LondonAssad and his wife arriving in London
Nicolas Sarkozy reçoit M. Bachar AL ASSAD 02.07012
Bachar al-Assad "Nos relations diplomatiques avec la France" | Archive INA 06.08.2012AP
Archive France - Syria's Vice President meets Chirac 22.07.2015
You can find comprehensive information about Syria on my website Detlefsworldpress.com
Great work. I wonder if it’s worth distinguishing his father’s era, pre-2000, from the era of Bashar? Was Hafez significantly worse in terms of autocratic brutality? I just heard Professor Rashid Khalidi, who I greatly respect, saying that Syria was “the worst” of all the Arab state governments, and he recounts a story of his friend who was unjustly imprisoned for over a decade- but it was in the 1980s-90s. Khalidi either is not aware of the extent of propaganda and misinformation during the post 2011 era, or he is conflating the rule of Hafez and Assad. Does it matter?
You mean the CIA. From my gathering of geopolitical analysis Syrian Gov opened its prisons and dungeons to torture for the USA. For captives taken to Syria by and for the USA.
The USA used Syria for a torture chamber then paid off all of their media and journalism spaces and propagated the human rights violations against Assad.
MI6 legit created the white helmets which was then made into a doc series to be played for all the west to see on our streaming platforms like HBO and Netflix.
It’s all a god damn scam.
FUCK AMERICA FUCK ISRAEL FUCK THE DIRY CIA FUCK US HEGEMONY
I say this to strengthen your point (by making it consistent), not to antagonise you: the U.S. didn’t invade Ukraine, Russia did. The U.S. didn’t have to try to expand NATO into the country, and neither did Russia have to invade it.
But the U.S. did, so Russia did. This is how imperialism works, and it’s the result you get when two imperialist powers interact with each other.
Don’t be fooled. Be opposed to the imperialism of NATO as well as of BRICS, and work for the defeat of imperialism everywhere as advised by the Bolsheviks following the Russian Revolution.
You both writing together are a force to be reckoned with. Well done and thank you for the analysis.
It is heartening to read a tightly argued factual debunking of the "human rights" whitewashing of the Empire's regime change efforts that only ever target the Empire's designated enemies.
Knowing how much the Empire invests in controlling its opposition, both abroad and at home, it is no surprise to see the pro-regime change voices and forces on the "Left" being boosted and given space and resources.
Anti-imperialism (opposition to the only dominant Empire, not the childish "anti-imperialism" that calls imperialist all countries that do not fit some airy fantasy of a perfect communist society) remains the primary contradiction and the litmus test for resistance to the death spiral of the genocidal forces.
Thank you Justin and Joe for your tireless work exposing the false pretences and machinations of the Empire-mongers.
Thank you to Joe and Justin for this rational analysis in increasingly irrational times.
In a demonization campaign, the hard part is to engage with people to again look rationally at these historic events, rather than take part in the sanctioned "5 minute hate". Why does the demonization work so well in dividing us, especially when it comes to Syria? The best I've come up with is that they are exploiting the cynicism /nihilism inherent in the baseline neoliberal soup now endemic in our societies.
"All politicians are corrupt" -> So if you don't go along with e.g. the smearing of Lula da Silva of Brazil you can safely be dismissed as a dupe.
This combines with old-fashioned orientalist racism to
"All Arab leaders are murderous thugs" -> so if you defend one of them you can safely be dismissed as an "Assadist".
I fear the very exercise of comparing the human rights record of Syria and Saudi Arabia may cause some discomfort but will ultimately retrench the cynicism "Well, the Saudis are bastards, too".
Including "Western" countries in the comparison rubs directly against the racism gap: "But you can't compare... [our mistakes to their evil nature]". Weirdly, within this framing we may be misunderstood to argue for becoming yet more cynical and view our own politicians are inherently murderous thugs - and our own societies as inherently backwards and hopeless.
This is especially acute in the Israeli case. The media love to point to Netanyahu's obvious corruption ["we have come to expect all politicians to be corrupt"]. The rare criticism of Israeli genocidal war crimes can be dismissed with a "But you can't compare the democratically elected leader of Israel to Hamas!".
This is a literal quote by foreign minister of Austria whose very identity is based on "Never Again [alas only for white people]": Comparing Israelis to people seen through the racist lens cuts too close to seeing Israelis through the racist lens, too. Such a misclassification of European Jews as non-white is seen as the ultimate evil behind the Nazi holocaust and cannot stand. As the past year has shown, genociding non-white people if they become uppity can apparently still be excused, who knew?
How to change the underlying framing?
The really hard part is psychological. In the cynical frame we are dupes making the other person feel mature (you still believe in a non-corrupt politician, a non-murderous oriental despot?, and Santa Claus?).
In an alternative frame they have to confront that they have allowed themselves to be duped : -> "there are entrenched interests trying to control the message by *selectively* foregrounding Lula's (manufactured) corruption and "Assad's" crimes, singling them out precisely because of their non-conformism (even though they both actually tried very hard to conform). They are playing on your cynicism [and the orientalist racism inherent in our culture]". In particular
"They are only foregrounding the crimes of the Syrian regime to make you unsee* they are making nice with the people who flew planes into our buildings and were enslaving women, beheading people, and blowing up statues all over the place!!!". (Sorry for shouting)
This is always a hard sell, especially if we want to do more than merely redirect people's anger.
* I'm just reading a news piece blaming all deaths in Syria in the past 20 years on "Assad", even down to mass graves filled with "foreigners" -> with literally no mention of who those foreigners are and how so many of them have come to rest under Syrian soil in the first place... (Austrian State Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) piece, copied as usual from Reuters, AP, NYT, etc.).
Thanks Justin and Joe for the important wisdom.
I always get questions answered when I read your scholarly offerings. I love the synchronisms of consciousness; and when I put the questions into the field of consciousness, It always delivers. Many times you have been used in an enlightening way; at least this is how it happens from this side of the telescope. Consciousness is the best friend that this “dummy” ever discovered. Thanks 🙏 for the smarts.
I also enjoyed the commentary. So, thanks for sparking the conceptions that still are rattling around the rafters and disturbing the stillness.
Dean Martin left his heart in SanFrancisco; but I can honestly say that there isn’t a town in all of The United Half Acres of Hell where this heart that beats for peace and love; will ever feel comfortably at home.
Economically speaking, I believe that perhaps we should forever identify the style of “ism” that the leaders, from the Founding Fathers forward, practice can now be identified, beyond any shadow of doubt....as Coupatilesm! You know
Overthrowism!
One book, that I think might help, would be a rigorous economical analysis of all the national economies that the Coupers have been fiddling about in...since the foundational starting gun was fired in 1776. Graphs and charts help my understanding and there’s so many works that define the meddling. But I’m not sure if the economic collapse comparisons exist alongside each other. The national consciousness needs the paddles of raw evidence to electrify their understanding and cure the blindness that the flag has so cripplingly infected. It’s past time they stood naked in front of the looking glass; and see the promise of the real ugly american It’s not easy to steer the national chariotwhen the spokes on the wheels have been sawed out. ✌🏼🇵🇸🇱🇧🇮🇷🇸🇾🇮🇶🇾🇪❤️🙏🕉
PS... I get a good laugh every time I try to use the word american ... the “electrical brain” never lets me write it with a small cased ‘a’... I go back to correct it and the ‘machine’ throws the flag at me; underlining my intentions with the penalty of a major misspelling.... sorry but this joint doesn’t deserve the upper case...much love & gratitude to all the resistors in these most dystopian times.
Thank you Justin & Joe for collecting & showing us the data. I find people's forgetfulness very scary... how can you forget "Guantanamo bay torture prison camp by US", Israel's torture camps, or Turkey's genocide of Kurds? It's clear that they are not "human rights defenders". Those media who are serving imperialists are basically very lazy. And they take advantage of our laziness that we don't pause and check the facts... instead, we are just gulp them down as if they're all true. Let's stay vigilant.
EXCELLENT AND ACCURATE ASSESSMENT of the current U.S. GLOBAL EMPIRE.
My newest double-sided, ad-hoc, focus-group tested, and highly favorable protest/demonstration signs simply say:
CORPORATE
CAPITALISM IS
SLOW MOTION
KRYSTAL NACHT
(and on the other side)
INEQUALITY
CAUSED BY
BILLIONAIRE
BASTARDS
I always am a bit confused when people throw this term around, “corporate capitalism.”
It implies that you think there’s such a thing as ‘non-corporate’ capitalism (i.e., capitalism that doesn’t develop into capitalist-imperialism in the way described by Lenin, drawing his conclusion with a pro-capitalist bibliography, already in 1916), or that if capitalism were not “corporate,” you wouldn’t have a problem with it.
It’s a sign for demos/protests. Guessing they may bring something else to study group. In the streets, among the masses are bound to be those who are yet to develop the same clarity about capitalism but know something’s not right, so they came out to the thing. So, as far as signs go, reinforcing the association of “corporate” with “capitalism” / “problem” seems sensible, no? I mean, it’s probably not gonna spark the revolution or anything… but everyone knows you need a pamphlet for that :p
My goodness, excellent writing both of you. I have to read again, in fact several times to get it all!
You guys are the best. Always writing what needs to be written!
I only read the opening so far but I just had to say it. I like the comparison to Lincoln that you started with!
Good job Justin 👍
Thank you for this great analysis.
In fact, according to the motto "take out governments - take out countries", a country that had a relatively moderate government in the Assad regime compared to other countries in the Middle East and the Arab dictatorships was left to perish.
Until 2009, Bashar al-Assad, like his father Hafez al-Assad before him, was a welcome guest in Western European countries.
1996 Jacques Chirac on an official state visit to Syria Damascus: French President visits Syria
1998 Official state visit to FranceFrance - Assad meets Jospin and Chirac for talks
2002 Bashar-al-Assad on a state visit to LondonAssad and his wife arriving in London
Nicolas Sarkozy reçoit M. Bachar AL ASSAD 02.07012
Bachar al-Assad "Nos relations diplomatiques avec la France" | Archive INA 06.08.2012AP
Archive France - Syria's Vice President meets Chirac 22.07.2015
You can find comprehensive information about Syria on my website Detlefsworldpress.com
Great work. I wonder if it’s worth distinguishing his father’s era, pre-2000, from the era of Bashar? Was Hafez significantly worse in terms of autocratic brutality? I just heard Professor Rashid Khalidi, who I greatly respect, saying that Syria was “the worst” of all the Arab state governments, and he recounts a story of his friend who was unjustly imprisoned for over a decade- but it was in the 1980s-90s. Khalidi either is not aware of the extent of propaganda and misinformation during the post 2011 era, or he is conflating the rule of Hafez and Assad. Does it matter?
You mean the CIA. From my gathering of geopolitical analysis Syrian Gov opened its prisons and dungeons to torture for the USA. For captives taken to Syria by and for the USA.
The USA used Syria for a torture chamber then paid off all of their media and journalism spaces and propagated the human rights violations against Assad.
MI6 legit created the white helmets which was then made into a doc series to be played for all the west to see on our streaming platforms like HBO and Netflix.
It’s all a god damn scam.
FUCK AMERICA FUCK ISRAEL FUCK THE DIRY CIA FUCK US HEGEMONY
SICK FUCK NAZIS
The CIA is part of the U.S. imperialist apparatus; you can speak of the U.S. when you speak of actions by the CIA.
😂
"It’s not Russia. It’s not China. The United States is the world’s terrorist."
https://euroyankee.substack.com/p/its-not-russia-its-not-china-the?r=17gos
I say this to strengthen your point (by making it consistent), not to antagonise you: the U.S. didn’t invade Ukraine, Russia did. The U.S. didn’t have to try to expand NATO into the country, and neither did Russia have to invade it.
But the U.S. did, so Russia did. This is how imperialism works, and it’s the result you get when two imperialist powers interact with each other.
Don’t be fooled. Be opposed to the imperialism of NATO as well as of BRICS, and work for the defeat of imperialism everywhere as advised by the Bolsheviks following the Russian Revolution.
Thanks Justin. ❤️
Hell no It turn you into a saint