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<h1 class="entry-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;">
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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" 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>
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Aram</font></span></div>
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Trotskyist Delusions: Obsessed with Stalin, They See Betrayed Revolutions Everywhere</h1>
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<time class="published" 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;" class="">192
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<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="tooltipstered s3-email hint--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; position: relative; overflow: visible; width: 32px; height: 32px; background-image: url("../images/main-icon-set.gif"); margin-right: 4px;"></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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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="more-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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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="image-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; border-image: initial !important; text-decoration: none;"><img src="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/edited-Diana-Johnstone-150x150.jpg" class="wp-image-27549 alignleft" alt="" width="81" height="81" srcset="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/edited-Diana-Johnstone-150x150.jpg 150w, https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/edited-Diana-Johnstone-160x160.jpg 160w, https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/edited-Diana-Johnstone.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 81px) 100vw, 81px" data-lazy-loaded="true" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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>
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<a href="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Trotsky-1.jpg" class="image-anchor" style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; color: rgb(130, 36, 227); border: 0px; text-decoration: none; display: block;"><img src="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Trotsky-1-238x300.jpg" class="size-medium wp-image-27395" alt="" width="238" height="300" srcset="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Trotsky-1-238x300.jpg 238w, https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Trotsky-1-768x968.jpg 768w, https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Trotsky-1-816x1028.jpg 816w, https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Trotsky-1-160x202.jpg 160w" sizes="(max-width: 238px) 100vw, 238px" data-lazy-loaded="true" 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>
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; font-size: 11.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 5px;">
Trotsky: His permanent revolution turned into permanent war.</p>
</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: medium;" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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="attachment_27550" class="alignleft wp-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="image-anchor" style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; color: rgb(130, 36, 227); border: 0px; text-decoration: none; display: block;"><img src="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Stalin_in_July_1941-Atomic-Heritage-Foundation-229x300.jpg" class="size-medium wp-image-27550" alt="" width="229" height="300" srcset="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Stalin_in_July_1941-Atomic-Heritage-Foundation-229x300.jpg 229w, https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Stalin_in_July_1941-Atomic-Heritage-Foundation-768x1007.jpg 768w, https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Stalin_in_July_1941-Atomic-Heritage-Foundation-784x1028.jpg 784w, https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Stalin_in_July_1941-Atomic-Heritage-Foundation-160x210.jpg 160w" sizes="(max-width: 229px) 100vw, 229px" data-lazy-loaded="true" 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>
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; font-size: 11.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 5px;">
Stalin: Bolshevik Revolution ended in him.</p>
</div>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word;" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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>
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<a href="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Edited-Assads.jpeg" class="image-anchor" style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; color: rgb(130, 36, 227); border: 0px; text-decoration: none; display: block;"><img src="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Edited-Assads-300x188.jpeg" class=" wp-image-27551" alt="" width="401" height="251" srcset="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Edited-Assads-300x188.jpeg 300w, https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Edited-Assads-768x480.jpeg 768w, https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Edited-Assads-160x100.jpeg 160w, https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Edited-Assads.jpeg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" data-lazy-loaded="true" 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>
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; font-size: 11.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 5px;">
The Assads: Son succumbed to neo-liberalism.</p>
</div>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word;" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 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: medium;" 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/" target="_top" style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; color: rgb(130, 36, 227); border-bottom: 1px dotted; text-decoration: none;" 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: medium;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 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: medium;" 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: medium;" 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;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 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: medium;" 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: medium;" 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;" 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; color: rgb(0, 0, 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: medium;" class=""><b style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word;" class="">Pluto
Press (2002).</b></span></span></span></p>
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