<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">
That was then, did we not learn anything? Though your point is well taken.
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">My point is Johnstone has labeled “Trotskyists” in general as supporting war in Syria, using the ISO as an example, a good one since its true their leadership obviously does, given the writings in their daily “Socialist Worker” and the ISR over
the last seven years. That is just one example of a Trotskyist organization, and her analysis or theory maybe accurate, however one example is not enough to tar brush all Trotskyists as supporting imperialism.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">She excludes the <a href="http://wsws.org" class="">WSWS.Org</a> or the Socialist Equality Party, a Trotskyist organization, given their writings over the years opposing imperialism in not just Syria, but everywhere. </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">The question is and should be, is it “policy,” or is it individuals, in the case of the ISO it’s clearly policy as it is coming from the leadership. Johnstone thinks its policy based upon ideology. I am saying based upon only one example, we
don’t know. Without better data, we shouldn’t be so ready to tar brush everyone who is or was a Trotskyist.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">In the case of the Black Rose, their information supporting imperialism is coming from their national website, thus it must be policy.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">The recent public statement by the SJP, slandering those opposing war in Syria, was made by their Student President at the U of I campus. Thus, unless an apology or retraction is made and none has been forthcoming, it must be assumed to be policy.</div>
<div class=""> </div>
<div class="">Not all Americans support war, though it is USG policy,and history will likely judge us accordingly. Until then I refuse to be labeled a war supporter by non Americans, and refuse to accept that all Trotskyists support imperialism because one
group so obviously does. </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Other than this one point, I like what Johnstone has to say. </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">
<div class="">
<div>
<blockquote type="cite" class="">
<div class="">On May 8, 2018, at 09:48, Robert Naiman <<a href="mailto:naiman@justforeignpolicy.org" class="">naiman@justforeignpolicy.org</a>> wrote:</div>
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
<div class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">I think it's a fool's errand to try to define away the problem of "socialists" supporting imperialism by insisting that someone is not a "socialist" by virtue of the fact that they support imperialism. "Socialists" have been supporting
imperialism for more than a century.
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Indeed, it was the fact that so many European socialists supported what we now know as World War I which caused the great schism in the European socialist movement between "socialists" and what became known as "communists" a hundred years ago.
When the parliamentary deputies of the German Socialist Party voted for the war budget, Rosa Luxemburg is said to have quipped, "There are only two men left in the German Socialist Party: me and Clara Zetkin." </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""> </div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all" class="">
<div class="">
<div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">Robert Naiman<br class="">
Policy Director<br class="">
Just Foreign Policy<br class="">
<a href="http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/" target="_blank" class="">www.justforeignpolicy.org</a><br class="">
<a href="mailto:naiman@justforeignpolicy.org" target="_blank" class="">naiman@justforeignpolicy.org</a><br class="">
<div class=""><span style="text-align:left" class="">(202) 448-2898 x1</span></div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="font-size:12.8px" class=""><br class="">
<br class="">
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br class="">
<div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, May 8, 2018 at 8:49 AM, Karen Aram <span dir="ltr" class="">
<<a href="mailto:karenaram@hotmail.com" target="_blank" class="">karenaram@hotmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br class="">
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div style="word-wrap:break-word" class="">Robert
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">You make some good points, such as “Johnstone’s acceptance of strong leaders.” I prefer, "none of our business who the leaders are, strong or otherwise,” what is our business is what leaders the US supports with US taxpayer funds and military
armaments. That is our business.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">However, the “coincidence" of specific groups totally unrelated to Trotskyists, making the exact same arguments, statements, and name calling of anti-war activists in relation to Syria, which includes members of the “Students for Justice in Palestine”
on campus, to be highly questionable. Especially when we have former alternative news sources like Democracy Now, NPR, and The Intercept, though not doing the name calling of anti-war activists, they make the same arguments, in support of the “moderate rebels”
in Syria. </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">It is possible some individuals may misread, the intent of “international socialism,” in which case I suggest they go back and reread their “Communist Manifesto,” whereby Marx and Engels clarify, “Though not in substance, yet in form, the struggle
of the proletariat of each country must, of course, first of all settle matters with its own bourgeoisie.” </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">We have a long way to go in the US, before we are ready to lend anything more than verbal support, to uprisings against oppressive rulers, in other nations, as a nation. As related to “individual Americans” supporting uprisings, such as was done
during the “Spanish Civil War.” or the “troubles in Ireland, etc.” that is up to the individual, as an individual. </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">My final analysis of all, including Proyect, is one is not a socialist, if they support “imperialism.”</div>
<div class="">
<div class="h5">
<div class=""><br class="">
<div class="">
<blockquote type="cite" class="">
<div class="">On May 8, 2018, at 04:30, Robert Naiman <<a href="mailto:naiman@justforeignpolicy.org" target="_blank" class="">naiman@justforeignpolicy.org</a>> wrote:</div>
<br class="m_7417654179646907172Apple-interchange-newline">
<div class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">Proyect may be a "former Trotskyist," but with respect to the matter at hand, he is more "Trotskyist" than "former." He spent decades in the SWP. People with that kind of life experience often maintain many of the same habits of thought,
the same allegiances, the same opportunism, the same slash and burn polemical style. Her critique of Trotksyists' excessive attachment to other people's revolutions, even if imaginary, certainly applies to Proyect; and her critique of how this often approach
often leads to supporting Western imperialism also applies to Proyect. He has often, not always, been careful to insist that he opposes Western military intervention in Syria; but he has supported its predicates. If the Western imperialists are saying, A is
true, and that's why the West must bomb and invade, Proyect will argue vigorously for A, while claiming innocence of the implication. And, he calls everyone that he perceives to be an obstacle to his project an Assadist, including me; he has done this for
years.
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">I know these things because I've been reading his stuff for a long time. He's a great writer, very smart, very compelling, if you're willing to tolerate the slash and burn polemical style. And he's very open and self-reflective about his history
in the SWP, which is a story I find fascinating, and which makes clear that things he critiques about the SWP apply to his own current commitments and endeavors. </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Having said that, he does concede that "the Syrian revolution," such as it was, is now over. </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Also, some of his critique of the "Assadist left" has been true. Some of the "Assad didn't do it" stuff has verged into conspiracy theory. </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Finally: I like this Diana Johnstone piece a lot. I think it's substantially right. But there's something I wish she wouldn't do, which is the argument for accepting the necessity of the "strong leader" in these countries, which I think is callous
when one is speaking about people who have been responsible for huge atrocities, which exposes her unnecessarily to opponents who see her as an apologist for authoritarian politics, and which is inherently speculative. We're never going to know what the alternative
history was in the absence of imperialism, or even if imperialism had taken a slightly different course. What would have happened in Iran if the CIA had left Mossadeq alone? What would have happened in Chile if the CIA had left Allende alone? How would the
Sandinistas have evolved if the CIA had left them alone? We're never going to know. Each of these situations had internal contradictions that the CIA exploited but was not the author of. How would these contradictions have been resolved if the CIA hadn't intervened?
We'll never know. So let's reserve judgment. The more we can mitigate the Empire, the more space there will be for people to work out their problems without the usually terrible influence of external force. </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">
<div class="">
<div class="">
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all" class="">
<div class="">
<div class="m_7417654179646907172gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">
<div dir="ltr" class="">Robert Naiman<br class="">
Policy Director<br class="">
Just Foreign Policy<br class="">
<a href="http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/" target="_blank" class="">www.justforeignpolicy.org</a><br class="">
<a href="mailto:naiman@justforeignpolicy.org" target="_blank" class="">naiman@justforeignpolicy.org</a><br class="">
<div class=""><span style="text-align:left" class="">(202) 448-2898 x1</span></div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="font-size:12.8px" class=""><br class="">
<br class="">
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br class="">
<div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, May 7, 2018 at 8:20 PM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss
<span dir="ltr" class=""><<a href="mailto:peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net" target="_blank" class="">peace-discuss@lists.chambana.<wbr class="">net</a>></span> wrote:<br class="">
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div style="word-wrap:break-word" class=""><header style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;color:rgb(85,85,85);font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-variant-ligatures:normal;background-color:rgb(237,237,218)" class="">
<h1 class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002entry-title" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Cantata One',serif;font-weight:400;line-height:1.2">
<font size="4" class=""><br class="">
</font></h1>
<h1 class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002entry-title" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Cantata One',serif;font-weight:400;line-height:1.2">
<span style="color:rgb(29,33,41);font-family:system-ui,-apple-system,system-ui,'.SFNSText-Regular',sans-serif;font-variant-ligatures:normal;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" class=""><font size="4" class="">No one says it better than Diana
Johnstone. Though I would not blame it on "Trotskyists." She is clear, to eliminate those writing for the
<a href="http://wsws.org/" target="_blank" class="">WSWS.ORG</a>. In this case she refers to the ISO, "International Socialist Organization," and one of their many articles, supporting US imperialism, by labeling anti-war leftists as Assadists, or supporters
of Dictatorship. While they maybe Trotskyists, Louis Proyect the "Unrepentant Markxist is a former Trotskyist, and takes every opportunity to criticize them, he like the anarchist group "Black Rose," all have maintained the same position as that of the ISO,
that of labeling anti-war activists as Assadists and supporters of a Dictator, that Diana's analysis presents. In the meantime, the killing continues, and the destruction of one more nation in the middle east by the US imperialists.</font></span></h1>
<div class=""><span style="color:rgb(29,33,41);font-family:system-ui,-apple-system,system-ui,'.SFNSText-Regular',sans-serif;font-variant-ligatures:normal;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" class=""><font size="4" class="">K. Aram</font></span></div>
<h1 class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002entry-title" style="font-size:14px;box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Cantata One',serif;font-weight:400;line-height:1.2">
<br class="">
</h1>
<h1 class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002entry-title" style="font-size:14px;box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Cantata One',serif;font-weight:400;line-height:1.2">
<br class="">
</h1>
<h1 class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002entry-title" style="font-size:14px;box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Cantata One',serif;font-weight:400;line-height:1.2">
<br class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002Apple-interchange-newline">
Trotskyist Delusions: Obsessed with Stalin, They See Betrayed Revolutions Everywhere</h1>
<div class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002entry-meta" style="font-size:12.6px;box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;line-height:1.3;margin:2px 0px 10px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Lato,sans-serif">
<time class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002published" datetime="2018-05-04" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word">May 4, 2018</time> • <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2018/05/04/trotskyist-delusions-obsessed-with-stalin-they-see-betrayed-revolutions-everywhere/#comments" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;color:rgb(130,36,227);text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px dotted" target="_blank" class="">192
Comments</a></div>
</header>
<div class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002entry-content" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;width:719px;padding:0px;border:0px;overflow:hidden;color:rgb(85,85,85);font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:normal;background-color:rgb(237,237,218)">
<div id="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002s-share-buttons" class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002s-share-w-c m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002horizontal-w-c-circular" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word">
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://consortiumnews.com/2018/05/04/trotskyist-delusions-obsessed-with-stalin-they-see-betrayed-revolutions-everywhere/" class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002hint--top m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002s3-facebook m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002tooltipstered" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;color:rgb(130,36,227);border-radius:50%;border-right:2px;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration:none;background-position:0px 640px;display:inline-block;overflow:visible;width:32px;height:32px;background-image:url("http://../images/main-icon-set.gif");margin-right:4px" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Trotskyist%20Delusions:%20Obsessed%20with%20Stalin,%20They%20See%20Betrayed%20Revolutions%20Everywhere&url=https://consortiumnews.com/2018/05/04/trotskyist-delusions-obsessed-with-stalin-they-see-betrayed-revolutions-everywhere/" class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002tooltipstered m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002s3-twitter m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002hint--top" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;color:rgb(130,36,227);border-radius:50%;border-right:2px;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration:none;background-position:0px 96px;display:inline-block;overflow:visible;width:32px;height:32px;background-image:url("http://../images/main-icon-set.gif");margin-right:4px" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://plus.google.com/share?url=https://consortiumnews.com/2018/05/04/trotskyist-delusions-obsessed-with-stalin-they-see-betrayed-revolutions-everywhere/" class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002tooltipstered m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002s3-google-plus m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002hint--top" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;color:rgb(130,36,227);border-radius:50%;border-right:2px;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration:none;background-position:0px 512px;display:inline-block;overflow:visible;width:32px;height:32px;background-image:url("http://../images/main-icon-set.gif");margin-right:4px" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://www.digg.com/submit?url=https://consortiumnews.com/2018/05/04/trotskyist-delusions-obsessed-with-stalin-they-see-betrayed-revolutions-everywhere/" class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002s3-digg m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002hint--top m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002tooltipstered" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;color:rgb(130,36,227);border-radius:50%;border-right:2px;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration:none;background-position:0px 704px;display:inline-block;overflow:visible;width:32px;height:32px;background-image:url("http://../images/main-icon-set.gif");margin-right:4px" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://reddit.com/submit?url=https://consortiumnews.com/2018/05/04/trotskyist-delusions-obsessed-with-stalin-they-see-betrayed-revolutions-everywhere/&title=Trotskyist%20Delusions:%20Obsessed%20with%20Stalin,%20They%20See%20Betrayed%20Revolutions%20Everywhere" class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002tooltipstered m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002s3-reddit m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002hint--top" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;color:rgb(130,36,227);border-radius:50%;border-right:2px;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration:none;background-position:0px 192px;display:inline-block;overflow:visible;width:32px;height:32px;background-image:url("http://../images/main-icon-set.gif");margin-right:4px" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://consortiumnews.com/2018/05/04/trotskyist-delusions-obsessed-with-stalin-they-see-betrayed-revolutions-everywhere/" class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002s3-linkedin m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002tooltipstered m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002hint--top" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;color:rgb(130,36,227);border-radius:50%;border-right:2px;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration:none;background-position:0px 480px;display:inline-block;overflow:visible;width:32px;height:32px;background-image:url("http://../images/main-icon-set.gif");margin-right:4px" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=https://consortiumnews.com/2018/05/04/trotskyist-delusions-obsessed-with-stalin-they-see-betrayed-revolutions-everywhere/&title=Trotskyist%20Delusions:%20Obsessed%20with%20Stalin,%20They%20See%20Betrayed%20Revolutions%20Everywhere" class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002hint--top m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002s3-stumbleupon m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002tooltipstered" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;color:rgb(130,36,227);border-radius:50%;border-right:2px;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration:none;background-position:0px 160px;display:inline-block;overflow:visible;width:32px;height:32px;background-image:url("http://../images/main-icon-set.gif");margin-right:4px" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://www.tumblr.com/share/link?url=https%3A%2F%2Fconsortiumnews.com%2F2018%2F05%2F04%2Ftrotskyist-delusions-obsessed-with-stalin-they-see-betrayed-revolutions-everywhere%2F&name=Trotskyist+Delusions%3A+Obsessed+with+Stalin%2C+They+See+Betrayed+Revolutions+Everywhere" class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002s3-tumblr m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002hint--top m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002tooltipstered" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;color:rgb(130,36,227);border-radius:50%;border-right:2px;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration:none;background-position:0px 128px;display:inline-block;overflow:visible;width:32px;height:32px;background-image:url("http://../images/main-icon-set.gif");margin-right:4px" target="_blank"></a>
<div class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002pinit-btn-div" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;border-radius:50%;border-right:2px;width:32px;height:32px;display:inline-block;background-image:url("http://../images/main-icon-set.gif");background-position:0px 256px;margin-right:2px;vertical-align:top!important">
<span class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002PIN_1525734288952_save m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002PIN_1525734288952_button_pin" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;display:inline-block;border-top-left-radius:2px;border-top-right-radius:2px;border-bottom-right-radius:2px;border-bottom-left-radius:2px;height:20px;width:auto;background-image:url();background-color:rgb(189,8,28);background-size:14px;font-weight:bold;font-size:11px;line-height:20px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif;text-align:center;text-indent:20px;padding:0px 4px 0px 0px;color:rgb(255,255,255)!important;vertical-align:top!important;background-position:3px 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat">Save</span></div>
<a href="mailto:?Subject=Trotskyist%20Delusions:%20Obsessed%20with%20Stalin,%20They%20See%20Betrayed%20Revolutions%20Everywhere&Body=Here%20is%20the%20link%20to%20the%20article:%20https://consortiumnews.com/2018/05/04/trotskyist-delusions-obsessed-with-stalin-they-see-betrayed-revolutions-everywhere/" class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002s3-email m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002tooltipstered m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002hint--top" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;color:rgb(130,36,227);border-radius:50%;border-right:2px;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration:none;background-position:0px 416px;display:inline-block;overflow:visible;width:32px;height:32px;background-image:url("http://../images/main-icon-set.gif");margin-right:4px" target="_blank"></a></div>
<p align="LEFT" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">The
trouble with some Trotskyists is they’re always “supporting” other peoples’ revolutions, says Diana Johnstone. Their obsession with permanent revolution in the end provides an alibi for permanent war.</span></span></span></span><span id="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002more-27542" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""></span></p>
<p align="LEFT" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><b style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">By
Diana Johnstone </b><em style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">Special to Consortium News</em></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="LEFT" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><a href="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/edited-Diana-Johnstone.jpg" class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002image-anchor" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;color:rgb(130,36,227);border-top:0px!important;border-right:0px!important;border-bottom:1px dotted;border-left:0px!important;text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><img src="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/edited-Diana-Johnstone-150x150.jpg" class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002alignleft m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002wp-image-27549" alt="" width="81" height="81" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;border:1px solid rgb(226,226,226);max-width:100%;height:auto;float:left;margin:5px 20px 20px 0px;display:block"></a>I
first encountered Trotskyists in Minnesota half a century ago during the movement against the Vietnam War. I appreciated their skill in organizing anti-war demonstrations and their courage in daring to call themselves “communists” in the United States of America
– a profession of faith that did not groom them for the successful careers enjoyed by their intellectual counterparts in France. So I started my political activism with sympathy toward the movement. In those days it was in clear opposition to U.S. imperialism,
but that has changed.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">The
first thing one learns about Trotskyism is that it is split into rival tendencies. Some remain consistent critics of imperialist war, notably those who write for the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS).</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">Others,
however, have translated the Trotskyist slogan of “permanent revolution” (turning a bourgeois revolution into a working class one) into the hope that every minority uprising in the world must be a sign of the long awaited world revolution – especially those
that catch the approving eye of mainstream media. More often than deploring U.S. intervention, they join in reproaching Washington for not intervening sooner on behalf of the alleged revolution.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">A
recent article in the International Socialist Review (issue #108, March 1, 2018) entitled “Revolution and counterrevolution in Syria” indicates so thoroughly how Trotskyism can go wrong that it is worthy of a critique. Since the author, Tony McKenna, writes
well and with evident conviction, this is a strong not a weak example of the Trotskyist mindset.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">McKenna
starts out with a passionate denunciation of the regime of Bashar al Assad, which, he says, responded to a group of children who simply wrote some graffiti on a wall by “beating them, burning them, pulling their fingernails out.” The source of this grisly
information is not given. There could be no eye witnesses to such sadism, and the very extremism sounds very much like war propaganda – Germans carving up Belgian babies in the First World War.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">The
Issue of Sources</strong></span></span></span></span></p>
<div id="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002attachment_27395" class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002alignright m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002wp-caption" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;float:right;margin:5px 0px 20px 20px;background:rgb(246,246,246);border:1px solid rgb(226,226,226);padding:10px 10px 5px;text-align:center;max-width:100%;width:248px">
<a href="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Trotsky-1.jpg" class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002image-anchor" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;color:rgb(130,36,227);border:0px;text-decoration:none;display:block" target="_blank"><img src="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Trotsky-1-238x300.jpg" class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002wp-image-27395 m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002size-medium" alt="" width="238" height="300" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;border:0px none;max-width:100%;height:auto;margin:0px;padding:0px;display:inline-block"></a>
<div style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:11.2px;margin:0px;padding:0px 4px 5px" class="">
Trotsky: His permanent revolution turned into permanent war.</div>
</div>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">It
raises the issue of sources. There are many sources of accusations against the Assad regime, on which McKenna </span></span><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">liberally
draws, indicating that he is writing not from personal observation, any more than I am. Clearly, he is strongly disposed to believe the worst, and even to embroider it somewhat. He accepts and develops without the shadow of a doubt the theory that Assad himself
is responsible for spoiling the good revolution by releasing Islamist prisoners who went on to poison it with their extremism. The notion that Assad himself infected the rebellion with Islamist fanaticism is at best a hypothesis concerning not facts but </span></span><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><i style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">intentions</i></span></span><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">,
which are invisible. But it is presented as unchallengeable evidence of Assad’s perverse wickedness.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">This
interpretation of events happens to dovetail neatly with the current Western doctrine on Syria, so that it is impossible to tell them apart. In both versions, the West is no more than a passive onlooker, whereas Assad enjoys the backing of Iran and Russia.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">“<span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">Much
has been made of Western imperial support for the rebels in the early years of the revolution. This has, in fact, been an ideological lynchpin of first the Iranian and then the Russian military interventions as they took the side of the Assad government. Such
interventions were framed in the spirit of anti-colonial rhetoric in which Iran and Russia purported to come to the aid of a beleaguered state very much at the mercy of a rapacious Western imperialism that was seeking to carve the country up according to the
appetites of the US government and the International Monetary Fund”, according to McKenna.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">Whose
“ideological lynchpin?” Not that of Russia, certainly, whose line in the early stages of its intervention was not to denounce Western imperialism but to appeal to the West and especially to the United States to join in the fight against Islamist extremism.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">Neither
Russia nor Iran “framed their interventions in the spirit of anti-colonial rhetoric” but in terms of the fight against Islamist extremism with Wahhabi roots.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">Organic
U.S.-Israel Alliance</strong></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">In
reality, a much more pertinent “framing” of Western intervention, taboo in the mainstream and even in Moscow, is that Western support for armed rebels in Syria was being carried out to help Israel destroy its regional enemies. The Middle East nations attacked
by the West – Iraq, Libya and Syria – all just happen to be, or have been, the last strongholds of secular Arab nationalism and support for Palestinian rights. There are a few alternative hypotheses to Western motives – oil pipelines, imperialist atavism,
desire to arouse Islamist extremism to weaken Russia (the Brzezinski gambit) – but none are as coherent as the organic alliance between Israel and the United States, and its NATO sidekicks.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">It
is remarkable that McKenna’s long article (some 12 thousand words) about the war in Syria mentions Israel only once (aside from a footnote citing Israeli national news as a source). And this mention actually equates Israelis and Palestinians as co-victims
of Assad propaganda: the Syrian government “used the mass media to slander the protestors, to present the revolution as the chaos orchestrated by subversive international interests (the Israelis and the Palestinians were both implicated in the role of foreign
infiltrators).”</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">No
other mention of Israel, which occupies Syrian territory (the Golan Heights) and bombs Syria whenever it wants to.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">Only
one, innocuous mention of Israel. But this article by a Trotskyist mentions Stalin, Stalinists, Stalinism no less than </span><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><i style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">twenty-two
times.</i></span></span></span></span></p>
<div id="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002attachment_27550" class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002alignleft m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002wp-caption" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;float:left;margin:5px 20px 20px 0px;background:rgb(246,246,246);border:1px solid rgb(226,226,226);padding:10px 10px 5px;text-align:center;max-width:100%;width:239px">
<a href="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Stalin_in_July_1941-Atomic-Heritage-Foundation.jpg" class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002image-anchor" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;color:rgb(130,36,227);border:0px;text-decoration:none;display:block" target="_blank"><img src="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Stalin_in_July_1941-Atomic-Heritage-Foundation-229x300.jpg" class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002wp-image-27550 m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002size-medium" alt="" width="229" height="300" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;border:0px none;max-width:100%;height:auto;margin:0px;padding:0px;display:inline-block"></a>
<div style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:11.2px;margin:0px;padding:0px 4px 5px" class="">
Stalin: Bolshevik Revolution ended in him.</div>
</div>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">And
what about Saudi Arabia, Israel’s de facto ally in the effort to destroy Syria in order to weaken Iran? Two mentions, both implicitly denying that notorious fact. The only negative mention is blaming the Saudi family enterprise for investing billions in the
Syrian economy in its neoliberal phase. But far from blaming Saudi Arabia for supporting Islamist groups, McKenna portrays the House of Saud as a victim of ISIS hostility.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">Clearly,
this Trotskyist delusion is to see the Russian Revolution everywhere, forever being repressed by a new Stalin. Assad is likened to Stalin several times.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">More
About Stalin Than Syria</strong></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">This
article is more about the Trotskyist case against Stalin than it is about Syria.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">This
repetitive obsession does not lead to a clear grasp of events, which are </span><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><i style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">not</i></span><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">the
Russian revolution. And even on this pet subject, something is wrong.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">The
Trotskyists keep yearning for a new revolution, just like the Bolshevik revolution. Yes, but the Bolshevik revolution ended in Stalinism. Doesn’t that tell them something? Isn’t it quite possible that their much-desired “revolution” might turn out just as
badly in Syria, if not much worse (jihadists taking over the country)?</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">Throughout
history, revolts, uprisings, rebellions happen all the time, and usually end in repression. Revolution is very rare. It is more a myth than a reality, especially as some Trotskyists tend to imagine it: the people all rising up in one great general strike,
chasing their oppressors from power and instituting people’s democracy. Has this </span><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><i style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">ever </i></span><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">happened?</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">For
these Trotskyists, this seem to be the natural way things should happen and is stopped only by bad guys who spoil it out of meanness.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">In
our era, the most successful revolutions have been in Third World countries, where national liberation from Western powers was a powerful emotional engine. Successful revolutions have a program that unifies people and leaders who personify the aspirations
of broad sectors of the population. Socialism or communism was above all a rallying cry meaning independence and “modernization” – which is indeed what the Bolshevik revolution turned out to be. If the Bolshevik revolution turned Stalinist, maybe it was in
part because a strong repressive leader was the only way to save “the revolution” from its internal and external enemies. There is no evidence that, had he defeated Stalin, Trotsky would have been more tender-hearted.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">Countries
that are deeply divided ideologically and ethnically, such as Syria, are not likely to be “modernized” without a strong ruler.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">McKenna
acknowledges that the beginning of the Assad regime somewhat redeemed its repressive nature by modernization and social reforms. This modernization benefited from Russian aid and trade, which was lost when the Soviet Union collapsed. Yes, there was a Soviet
bloc, which despite its failure to carry out world revolution as Trotsky advocated, did support the progressive development of newly independent countries.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">No
Excuse for Bashar</strong></span></span></span></span></p>
<div id="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002attachment_27551" class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002alignright m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002wp-caption" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;float:right;margin:5px 0px 20px 20px;background:rgb(246,246,246);border:1px solid rgb(226,226,226);padding:10px 10px 5px;text-align:center;max-width:100%;width:411px">
<a href="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Edited-Assads.jpeg" class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002image-anchor" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;color:rgb(130,36,227);border:0px;text-decoration:none;display:block" target="_blank"><img src="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Edited-Assads-300x188.jpeg" class="m_7417654179646907172m_-1803515635726555002wp-image-27551" alt="" width="401" height="251" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;border:0px none;max-width:100%;height:auto;margin:0px;padding:0px;display:inline-block"></a>
<div style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:11.2px;margin:0px;padding:0px 4px 5px" class="">
The Assads: Son succumbed to neo-liberalism.</div>
</div>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">If
Bashar’s father Hafez al Assad had some revolutionary legitimacy in McKenna’s eyes, there is no excuse for Bashar. </span></span></span></span><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">“</span><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">In
the context of a global neoliberalism, where governments across the board were enacting the most pronounced forms of deregulation and overseeing the carving up of state industries by private capital, the Assad government responded to the heightening contradictions
in the Syrian economy by following suit—by showing the ability to march to the tempo of foreign investment while evincing a willingness to cut subsidies for workers and farmers.”</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">The
neoliberal turn impoverished people in the countryside, therefore creating a situation that justified “revolution”.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">This
is rather amazing, if one thinks about it. Without the alternative Soviet bloc, virtually the whole world has been obliged to conform to anti-social neoliberal policies. Syria included. Does this make Bashar al Assad so much more a villain than every other
leader conforming to U.S.-led globalization?</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">McKenna
concludes by quoting Louis Proyect: “If we line up on the wrong side of the barricades in a struggle between the rural poor and oligarchs in Syria, how can we possibly begin to provide a class-struggle leadership in the USA, Britain, or any other advanced
capitalist country?”</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">One
could turn that around. Shouldn’t such a Marxist revolutionary be saying: “If we can’t defeat the oligarchs in the West, who are responsible for the neoliberal policies imposed on the rest of the world, how can we possibly begin to provide class-struggle leadership
in Syria?”</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">The
trouble with these Trotskyists is that they are always “supporting” other people’s more or less imaginary revolutions. They are always telling others what to do. They know it all. The practical result of this verbal agitation is simply to align this brand
of Trotskyism with U.S imperialism. The obsession with permanent revolution ends up providing an ideological alibi for permanent war.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-family:Arial" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">For
the sake of world peace and progress, both the United States and its inadvertent Trotskyist apologists should go home and mind their ow</span><span lang="en-US" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">n business.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><b style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">Diana
Johnstone is a political writer, focusing primarily on European politics and Western foreign policy. She received a Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota and was active in the movement against the Vietnam War. Johnstone was European editor of the U.S. weekly </b></span></span></span><a href="http://www.inthesetimes.com/" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;color:rgb(130,36,227);border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration:none" target="_blank" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;color:rgb(255,102,0)" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><i style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><u style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><b style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">In
These Times</b></u></i></span></span></span></a><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><b style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""> from
1979 to 1990, and continues to be a correspondent for the publication. She was press officer of the Green group in the European Parliament from 1990 to 1996. Her books include </b></span></span></span><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;color:rgb(255,102,0)" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><i style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><u style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><b style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><a href="http://www.lausti.com/articles/books/johnstone.html" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;color:rgb(130,36,227);border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration:none" target="_blank" class="">Queen
of Chaos: The Misadventures of Hillary Clinton</a>, </b></u></i></span></span></span><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><b style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">CounterPunch
Books (2016) and </b></span></span></span><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;color:rgb(255,102,0)" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><i style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><u style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><b style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><a href="http://www.lausti.com/articles/balkan/johnstone.html" style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;color:rgb(130,36,227);border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration:none" target="_blank" class="">Fools’
Crusade: Yugoslavia, NATO and Western Delusions</a>, </b></u></i></span></span></span><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class=""><span style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word;font-size:18px" class=""><b style="box-sizing:border-box;word-wrap:break-word" class="">Pluto
Press (2002).</b></span></span></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<br class="">
______________________________<wbr class="">_________________<br class="">
Peace-discuss mailing list<br class="">
<a href="mailto:Peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net" target="_blank" class="">Peace-discuss@lists.chambana.n<wbr class="">et</a><br class="">
<a href="https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank" class="">https://lists.chambana.net/mai<wbr class="">lman/listinfo/peace-discuss</a><br class="">
<br class="">
</blockquote>
</div>
<br class="">
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br class="">
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br class="">
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br class="">
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>