<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><br class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class=""><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" bgcolor="#DDDDDD" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; width: 1099px; background-color: rgb(221, 221, 221);" class=""><tbody class=""><tr class=""><td class=""><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" class="subscribe-body" style="width: 1079px; padding: 10px;"><tbody class=""><tr class=""><td class=""><div style="direction: ltr; max-width: 600px; margin: 0px auto; overflow: hidden;" class=""><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" bgcolor="#ffffff" class="subscribe-wrapper" style="width: 600px; 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padding: 0px; font-size: 16px !important; margin: 5px 20px !important;">New post on<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><strong class="">Caitlin Johnstone</strong></h2></td><td style="text-align: right;" class=""><img border="0" class="head-avatar" src="https://i1.wp.com/caitlinjohnstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/cropped-caitlinpic1.jpg?resize=32%2C32&ssl=1" alt="" width="32" height="32" style="margin: 5px 20px 5px 0px; vertical-align: middle;"></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="20" bgcolor="#ffffff" style="width: 600px;" class=""><tbody class=""><tr class=""><td class=""><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width: 560px;" class=""><tbody class=""><tr class=""><td valign="top" class="the-post"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width: 560px;" class=""><tbody class=""><tr class=""><td style="white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: top; width: 60px !important;" class=""><a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/?author=2" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178); display: block; margin-right: 10px;" class=""><img border="0" alt="" src="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/12152988a68a6d4dae7506812444c18f?s=50&d=monsterid&r=G" class="avatar avatar-50" height="50" width="50"></a></td><td class=""><h2 class="post-title" style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin: 0px; font-size: 20px;"><a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/08/03/wapo-publishes-gabbard-smear-piece-filled-with-blatant-lies/" style="text-decoration: none !important; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">WaPo Publishes Gabbard Smear Piece Filled With Blatant Lies</a></h2><span style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);" class="">by<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/?author=2" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(136, 136, 136) !important;" class="">Caitlin Johnstone</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="post-content" style="direction: ltr; margin-top: 1em; max-width: 560px;"><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class=""><em class="">The Washington Post</em>, which is<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2013/12/owner-washington-post-doing-business-cia-while-keeping-his-readers-dark/" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">wholly owned by a CIA contractor</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>who is reportedly working to<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/7xpgvx/amazons-is-trying-to-control-the-underlying-infrastructure-of-our-economy" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">control the underlying infrastructure of the global economy</a>, has published a shockingly deceitful smear piece about Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard in the wake of her<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/propagandists-are-freaking-out-over-gabbards-destruction-of-harris-5d54e98f0431" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">criticisms of her opponent Kamala Harris' prosecutorial record</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>during the last Democratic debate.</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">The article's author, Josh Rogin, has been a cheerleader for US regime change interventionism in Syria<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/08/16/why-has-obama-not-called-for-assad-to-go-yet/" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">since the very beginning</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>of the conflict in that nation. It is unsurprising, then, that he<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/joshrogin/status/1156773520522788864?s=20" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">reacted with orgasmic exuberance</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>when Harris retaliated against Gabbard's devastating attack by smearing the Hawaii congresswoman as an "Assad apologist", since Gabbard has been arguably the most consistent and high-profile critic of Rogin's pet war agenda. His article, titled "Tulsi Gabbard’s Syria record shows why she can’t be president", is one of the most dishonest articles that I have ever read in a mainstream publication, and the fact that it made it through<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em class="">The Washington Post</em>'s editors is enough to fully discredit that outlet.</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">You can read Rogin's smear piece without giving Jeff Bezos more money by<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://archive.is/xOk3C" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">clicking here for an archive</a>. There's so much dishonesty packed into this one that all I can do is go through it lie-by-lie until I either finish or get tired, so let's begin:</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class=""><strong class="">"Gabbard asserts that the United States (not Assad) is responsible for the death and destruction in Syria, that the Russian airstrikes on civilians are to <a href="https://archive.is/o/xOk3C/https://twitter.com/tulsigabbard/status/649458891168714752?lang=en" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">be praised</a>"</strong></p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">This is just a complete, brazen, whole-cloth lie from Rogin. If you click the hyperlink he alleges supports his claim that Gabbard asserts "Russian airstrikes on civilians are to be praised," you come to<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/tulsigabbard/status/649458891168714752" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">a 2015 tweet</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>by the congresswoman which reads, "Bad enough US has not been bombing al-Qaeda/al-Nusra in Syria. But it’s mind-boggling that we protest Russia’s bombing of these terrorists."</p><div class="embed-twitter" style="direction: ltr;"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 1.1em; font-style: italic; color: rgb(135, 135, 135); border-left-width: 3px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1em; margin: 1em 1em 1em 2em;"><p lang="en" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">Bad enough US has not been bombing al-Qaeda/al-Nusra in Syria. But it’s mind-boggling that we protest Russia’s bombing of these terrorists.</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/649458891168714752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">October 1, 2015</a></p></blockquote></div><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">Now, you can agree or disagree with Gabbard's position that the US should be participating in airstrikes against al-Qaeda affiliates in Syria, but there's no way you can possibly interpret her acceptance of Russia doing so to be anywhere remotely like "praise" for "airstrikes on civilians". There is simply no way to represent the content her tweet that way without knowingly lying about what you think it says. The only way Rogin's claim could be anything resembling truthful would be if "al-Qaeda" and "civilians" meant the same thing. Obviously this is not the case, so Rogin can only be knowingly lying.</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class=""><strong class="">"That bias, combined with her long record of defending the Assad regime and parroting its propaganda, form the basis for the assertion Gabbard has '<a title="www.newsweek.com" href="https://archive.is/o/xOk3C/https://www.newsweek.com/tulsi-gabbard-kamala-harris-assad-apologist-cnn-debate-1452049" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">embraced and been an apologist</a> for' Assad, as Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) said Wednesday post-debate on CNN."</strong></p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">Gabbard has no record whatsoever of "defending the Assad regime". This is a lie. There exist copious amounts of quotes by Gabbard opposing US regime change interventionism in Syria and voicing skepticism of the narratives used to promote said interventionism, but there are no quotes anywhere in which she claims Assad is a nice person or that he hasn't done bad things. If such quotes existed, Rogin would have included them in his smear piece. He did not. All he can do is lie about their existence.</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">"To repeat: There is no quote in which Tulsi praises, supports, or otherwise 'apologies for' Assad," journalist Michael Tracey<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/mtracey/status/1156926519438188545" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">recently tweeted</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>with a link to<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-the-baseless-vilification-of-tulsi-gabbard-20190117-story.html" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">his January article</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>on the subject. "I checked the record a long time ago, and it doesn't exist. This is just a smear intended to delegitimize diplomatic engagement"</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">"Claiming that politicians are 'defending' objectionable rulers they meet with, in pursuit of achieving some alternative to war, is a tired trope that has been frequently used throughout history to discredit diplomatic engagement," Tracey wrote. "As Gabbard told me in an interview shortly after returning from Syria: 'The reason why I decided to take this meeting on this trip was because if we profess to care about the Syrian people — if we really truly care about ending their suffering and ending this war — then we should be ready to meet with anyone if there is a chance that that meeting and that conversation could help to bring about an end to this war.'"</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">Gabbard has been remarkably consistent in explaining her position that she opposes US regime change interventionism in Syria because US regime change interventionism is reliably disastrous. This isn't "defending" anyone, nor is it "parroting propaganda". It's an indisputable, thoroughly established fact.</p><div class="embed-twitter" style="direction: ltr;"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 1.1em; font-style: italic; color: rgb(135, 135, 135); border-left-width: 3px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1em; margin: 1em 1em 1em 2em;"><p lang="en" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">To repeat: There is no quote in which Tulsi praises, supports, or otherwise "apologies for" Assad. I checked the record a long time ago, and it doesn't exist. This is just a smear intended to delegitimize diplomatic engagement<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://t.co/Iyww1C5Ew0" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">https://t.co/Iyww1C5Ew0</a></p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">— Michael Tracey (@mtracey)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/mtracey/status/1156926519438188545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">August 1, 2019</a></p></blockquote></div><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class=""><strong class="">"Other Democratic candidates have promised to end U.S. military adventurism without making excuses for a mass murderer. It’s neither progressive nor liberal to defend Assad, a fascist, totalitarian psychopath who can never peacefully preside over Syria after what he has done."</strong></p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">Again, claiming that Gabbard has done anything at all to "defend Assad" is a lie. If anything Gabbard has been too uncritical of establishment war propaganda narratives,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://archive.is/DsIhX#selection-1393.85-1396.0" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">calling Assad</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>"a brutal dictator" who has "used chemical weapons and other weapons against his people." Gabbard's sole arguments on the matter have been in opposition to US military interventionism and skepticism of narratives used to support such interventionism, which only an idiot would object to in a post-Iraq invasion world.</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">Rogin argues that it's possible to end US military adventurism without defending and making excuses for Assad, yet this is exactly the thing that Tulsi Gabbard has been doing since day one. Which means Rogin doesn't actually believe it's ever okay for any presidential candidate to want to end US military adventurism under any circumstances. Which is of course the real driving motivation behind his deceitful smear piece against Gabbard.</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class=""><strong class="">"Gabbard never talks about her other trip — to the Turkish-Syrian border with a group of lawmakers in June 2015, when she met with authentic opposition leaders, victims of Assad’s barrel bombs and members of the volunteer rescue brigade known as<a title="time.com" href="https://archive.is/o/xOk3C/https://time.com/syria-white-helmets/" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class=""> the White Helmets</a>. Their stories, which don’t support Assad’s narrative, never make it into Gabbard’s speeches on the campaign trail."</strong></p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">This one is bizarre. Rogin says this as though Gabbard's meeting with Assad is something that she brings up "on the campaign trail" rather than something war propagandists like himself bring up and force her to respond to. The fact that those propagandists never bring up Gabbard's meetings with the Syrian opposition is an indictment of<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em class="">their</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>bias, not hers. The mental gymnastics required to make Gabbard's meetings with all sides of the Syrian conflict feel<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em class="">more</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>pro-Assad rather than<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em class="">less</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>deserve an Olympic gold medal.</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">Obviously Gabbard having met with all sides is indicative of an absence of favoritism, not the presence of it. The fact that she didn't come away from her meetings with empire-allied opposition forces with the opinion that the US should help storm Damascus doesn't mean she supports any particular side.</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class=""><strong class="">"Gabbard’s candidacy should be taken very seriously — not because she has a significant chance of being president, but because her narrative on Syria is deeply incorrect, immoral and un-American. If it were adopted by her party and the country, it would lead the United States down a perilous moral and strategic path."</strong></p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">Saying a "narrative" can be "un-American" is a fairly straightforward admission that you are authoring propaganda. Unless you believe your nation has one authorized set of narratives, a narrative can't be "un-American". This is as close as you'll ever get to an admission from Rogin that US power structures work to control the dominant narratives about world events, and that he helps them do it. To such a person, opposition to your narrative control agendas would be seen as the antithesis of the group you identify with.</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">The US empire has an<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://www.corbettreport.com/warlies/" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">extensive and well-documented history</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>of using lies, propaganda and false flags to initiate military conflicts which advantage it. To continue to deny this after Iraq is either willful ignorance or propaganda.</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">The fact that Rogin adds "strategic path" to his argument nullifies his claim that his position has anything to do with morality. If your foreign policy concern is with strategic leverage, you will naturally try to interpret anything which advances that strategic path as the moral choice.</p><div class="embed-twitter" style="direction: ltr;"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 1.1em; font-style: italic; color: rgb(135, 135, 135); border-left-width: 3px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1em; margin: 1em 1em 1em 2em;"><p lang="en" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">Friendly reminder that we know for 100% certain the US and its allies plotted to create a violent uprising in Syria exactly as it unfolded in 2011.<a href="https://t.co/OOknOXMvDk" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">https://t.co/OOknOXMvDk</a></p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">— Caitlin Johnstone<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><img src="https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/wpcom-smileys/twemoji/2/72x72/23f3.png" alt="⏳" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>(@caitoz)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/caitoz/status/1036983247253557248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">September 4, 2018</a></p></blockquote></div><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class=""><strong class="">"Listening to Gabbard, one might think the United States initiated the Syrian conflict by arming terrorists for a regime-change war that has resulted in untold suffering."</strong></p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">This is exactly what happened. The US<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/how-america-armed-terrorists-in-syria/" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">armed extremist militants</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>with the goal of effecting regime change, and<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/assad-on-verge-of-collapse-before-russian-help-us-general/546004" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">before Russia intervened they almost succeeded</a>. According to<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-28/shocking-viral-interview-qatar-confesses-secrets-behind-syrian-war" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">the former Prime Minister of Qatar</a>, the US and its allies were involved in this behavior from the very beginning of the conflict in 2011.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/the-us-empire-has-been-trying-to-regime-change-syria-since-long-before-2011-40d4e6648d54" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">Here is a link to an article</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>full of primary source documents showing that the US and its allies had been scheming since well before 2011 to provoke a civil war in Syria with the goal of regime change. They did exactly what they planned to do, which is exactly the thing Rogin claims they did not do.</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">But Gabbard never even takes her analysis this far. She simply says the US should not get involved in another US regime change war, because it shouldn't.</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class=""><strong class="">"Responding to Harris, Gabbard called Assad’s atrocities 'detractions,'<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong>[<em class="">sic</em>]<strong class=""><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>before eventually saying she <a title="www.mediaite.com" href="https://archive.is/o/xOk3C/https://www.mediaite.com/tv/tulsi-gabbard-deflects-cheap-smears-after-kamala-harris-calls-her-an-assad-apologist/" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">doesn’t dispute</a> that he’s guilty of torture and murder. That’s a slight improvement from her previous protestations that there was <a href="https://archive.is/o/xOk3C/https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/01/politics/tulsi-gabbard-syria/index.html" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">not enough evidence</a>."</strong></p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">Rogin falsely implies here that Gabbard only just began accusing Assad of war crimes, and that she only did so in response to new pressure resulting from Harris' criticism. As noted earlier, this is false; Gabbard has been harshly critical of Assad.</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class=""><strong class="">"Gabbard then quickly accused President Trump of aiding al-Qaeda in Idlib. 'That does sound like a talking point of the Assad regime,' CNN’s Anderson Cooper said. He could have just said she is wrong."</strong></p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">Even<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1039454094585356288" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">the US State Department has acknowledged</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>that Idlib is an al-Qaeda stronghold, and the Trump administration has<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/03/politics/trump-syria-tweet-assad-rebel-idlib/index.html" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">taken aggressive moves</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>to prevent the Assad coalition from launching a full-scale campaign to reclaim the territory. Claiming that this did not happen is a lie per even the accepted narratives of the US political/media class.</p><div class="embed-twitter" style="direction: ltr;"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 1.1em; font-style: italic; color: rgb(135, 135, 135); border-left-width: 3px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1em; margin: 1em 1em 1em 2em;"><p lang="en" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">What<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">@TulsiGabbard</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>says here is true. Trump insists on keeping al-Qaeda (what CNN calls “rebels”) in power in Idlib province in northern Syria. If you believe Trump says so for humanitarian reasons, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://t.co/HrhZIoDjpx" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">https://t.co/HrhZIoDjpx</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://t.co/0sm4V3PCo6" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">pic.twitter.com/0sm4V3PCo6</a></p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">— Dan Cohen (@dancohen3000)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/dancohen3000/status/1156783604623691777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">August 1, 2019</a></p></blockquote></div><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class=""><strong class="">"Gabbard’s 2017 trip was financed and run by members of a Lebanese <a href="https://archive.is/o/xOk3C/https://www.thedailybeast.com/tulsi-gabbards-fascist-escorts-to-syria" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">socialist-nationalist party</a> that <a href="https://archive.is/o/xOk3C/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/how-tulsi-gabbard-became-assads-mouthpiece-in-washington/2017/01/29/215e9c70-e4bf-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html?utm_term=.0f97886ace4a" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">works closely</a> with the Assad regime."</strong></p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">Former US Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who accompanied Gabbard on this trip,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://stateofthenation2012.com/?p=65308" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">dismissed this accusation</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>as "so much horseshit I can't believe it." All parties involved have denied this narrative, which Rogin has<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/denniskucinich/posts/10154557515518218?pnref=story" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">played a pivotal role in promoting</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>from the very beginning and to which he has been forced to make<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://archive.ph/Xi2Ye#selection-1399.0-1401.456" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">multiple embarrassing corrections</a>.</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class=""><strong class="">"Gabbard’s plan to overtly side with Assad and Russia while they commit crimes against humanity would be a strategic disaster, a gift to the extremists and a betrayal of decades of U.S. commitments to stand up to mass atrocities. Democratic voters who believe in liberalism and truth must reject not only her candidacy but also her attempt to disguise moral bankruptcy as a progressive value."</strong></p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">Another lie; Gabbard has no such plan. Opposing US regime change interventionism isn't "siding" with anybody, it's just not supporting a thing that is literally always disastrous and literally never helpful.</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">Rogin's closing admonishment to reject not just Gabbard but her skepticism of US war narratives is yet another admission that he's concerned with narrative control here, not with truth and not even really with a US presidential candidate.</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">Whoever controls the narrative controls the world, and shameless war propagandists like Josh Rogin are the attack dogs of establishment narrative control.</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class="">____________________</p><p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class=""><em class="">The best way to get around the internet censors and make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for my <a title="This link will take you away from steemit.com" href="http://caitlinjohnstone.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">website</a>, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. 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font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em;" class=""><em class="">Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2</em></p><div style="direction: ltr; clear: both;" class=""></div></div><div class="meta" style="direction: ltr; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 4px; line-height: 23.040000915527344px; padding: 15px 0px; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); overflow: hidden;"><strong class=""><a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/?author=2" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">Caitlin Johnstone</a></strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>| August 3, 2019 at 1:02 am | Tags:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/?taxonomy=post_tag&term=assad" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">assad</a>,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/?taxonomy=post_tag&term=josh-rogin" style="text-decoration: underline; 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