[Peace-discuss] [ufpj-activist] Stephen Shalom » Russia and the Left

[Karen Aram]

  *   TICLES<http://www.counterpunch.org/articles/>
  *   MAGAZINE<https://store.counterpunch.org/back-issues/>
  *   SUBSCRIBE<http://store.counterpunch.org/subscribe>
  *   DONATE<http://store.counterpunch.org/>
  *   ARCHIVES<http://www.counterpunch.org/archives/>
  *   ABOUT<http://www.counterpunch.org/about/>
  *   BOOKS<http://store.counterpunch.org/product-category/books/>
  *   PODCASTS<http://store.counterpunch.org/category/counterpunch-radio-podcasts/>
  *   FAQS<http://www.counterpunch.org/faqs/>

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016
Socialists Supporting NATO and US Empire: a Response to Ashley Smith<http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/09/06/socialists-supporting-nato-and-us-empire-a-response-to-ashley-smith/>

by RICK STERLING<http://www.counterpunch.org/author/rick-sterling/>

  *
  *
  *
  *   Email<http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/09/06/socialists-supporting-nato-and-us-empire-a-response-to-ashley-smith/?share=email&nb=1>
  *

  *   [http://uziiw38pmyg1ai60732c4011.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/dropzone/2015/07/print-sp.png] <http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/09/06/socialists-supporting-nato-and-us-empire-a-response-to-ashley-smith/print/>

At the recent annual convention of Veterans for Peace, VFP Vice President Jerry Condon said “The US peace movement has been demobilized by disinformation on Syria.”

Disinformation and propaganda on Syria takes three distinct forms. The first is the demonization of the Syrian leadership. The second is the romanticization of the opposition. The third form involves attacking anyone questioning the preceding characterizations.

There is a recent article which exemplifies all three of these forms. It is titled “Anti-Imperialism and the Syrian Revolution”<http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/08/26/anti-imperialism-and-the-syrian-revolution/> by Ashley Smith of the International Socialist Organization (ISO). It’s a remarkable piece of misinformation and faulty analysis. Because it is clear and well written, it is likely to mislead people who are not well informed on the facts regarding Syria. Hence the importance of critically reviewing it.

Technique 1: Demonize the enemy … “the Syrian regime and its brutal dictator”

Smith starts off posing the question: Are you with the Syrian revolution or the brutal Assad dictatorship? The way he frames it, it’s not a difficult choice: yay for the revolution!

Like these false options, Ashley Smith’s article is a fairy tale devoid of reality. His bias is shown as he criticizes the Left for ignoring “Assad’s massacre of some 400,000 Syrians”. Included in this death count are100 – 150 thousand Syrian soldiers and allies<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Syrian_Civil_War>. Ashley blames Assad instead of the armed opposition for killing Syrian soldiers!

Another example of false propaganda is the discussion of the chemical weapons attack that took place on August 21, 2013 in outer Damascus. Neoconservatives speak of this event as “proving” Assad’s brutality – “killing his own people” – as well as the “failure” of President Obama to enforce his “red line”. Ashley aligns with the neocons as he says “Barack Obama came under pressure to intervene militarily in Syria after the regime carried out a chemical weapons attack in a suburb of Damascus in 2013, but he backed a Russian-brokered resolution that protected Assad.”

In reality, the Damascus sarin gas attack was carried out by an opposition group with the goal of forcing the U.S. to directly attack the Syrian government. Soon after the event, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity issued a statement<https://consortiumnews.com/2013/09/06/obama-warned-on-syrian-intel/> reporting “the most reliable intelligence shows that Bashar al-Assad was NOT responsible for the chemical incident”. Later on, Seymour Hersh wrote two lengthy investigations pointing to Jabhat al Nusra with Turkish support<http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n08/seymour-m-hersh/the-red-line-and-the-rat-line> being culpable. Investigative journalist Robert Parryexposed<https://consortiumnews.com/2014/04/07/the-collapsing-syria-sarin-case/> the Human Rights Watch analysis blaming the Syrian government as a “junk heap of bad evidence”. In the Turkish parliament, Turkish deputies presented documents showing that Turkey provided sarin to Syrian “rebels”. A detailed examination and analysis of all fact based stories in online at whoghouta.blogspot.com<http://whoghouta.blogspot.com/>. Their conclusion is that “The only plausible scenario that fits the evidence is an attack by opposition forces.”

Ashley Smith accuses the Syrian government of widespread torture. His main example is the case of Syrian Canadian Maher Arar<https://www.therenditionproject.org.uk/prisoners/arar.html> who was arrested by US authorities in collusion with Canadian authorities, then rendered to Syria for interrogation in 2002. Arar was beaten during the initial weeks of his interrogation in Syria. After ten months imprisonment, Syrian authorities determined he was not a terrorist and sent him back to Canada. Arar received an official apology and $10 Million from the Canadian government.

The most highly publicized accusation of rampant torture and murder by Syrian authorities is the case of “Caesar”. The individual known as “Caesar” was presented as a defecting Syrian photographer who had 55,000 photos documenting 11,000 Syrians tortured by the brutal Assad dictatorship. At the time, among mainstream media only the Christian Science Monitor was skeptical, describing it as “a well timed propaganda exercise”. In the past year it has been discovered that nearly half the photos show the opposite of what is claimed. TheCaesar story<http://dissidentvoice.org/2016/03/the-caesar-photo-fraud-that-undermined-syrian-negotiations/> is essentially a fraud funded by Qatar with ‘for hire’ lawyers giving it a professional veneer and massive mainstream media promotion.

While western media routinely refers to Assad as a dictator, in fact he is elected and popular with the majority of Syrians. <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jan/17/syrians-support-assad-western-propaganda> Although not wealthy, Syria was largely self-sufficient with a semi-socialist state apparatus including free health-care, free education and large industries 51% owned by the state. You do not see pervasive western fast food, banks, and other corporate entities in Syrian cities. In the wake of protests, the government pushed through reforms which ended the one party system. There are now political parties across the political spectrum. These are a genuine ‘moderate opposition’. The June 2014 election confirmed<http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/06/04/syrian-election-shows-depth-popular-support-for-assad-even-among-sunni-majority/> Assad’s popularity despite the denials of those who have never been there.

Technique 2: Romanticize the opposition … “the Syrian Revolution”

Ashley Smith echoes mainstream media which portrays the conflict as a “civil war” which began with peaceful democratic loving Syrian revolutionaries beaten by a brutal regime.

In reality there was a violent faction from the start. In the first protests in Deraa seven police were killed<http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/143026#.Uzvi_PmSyXp>. Two weeks later there was amassacre<https://www.rt.com/op-edge/157412-syria-hidden-massacre-2011/> of 60 security forces in Deraa. In Homs, an eye-witness<http://thebricspost.com/an-eyewitness-to-the-syrian-rebellion-father-frans-in-his-own-words/#.V8mck6L0_1q>recounted the situation: “From the start, the protest movements were not purely peaceful. From the start I saw armed demonstrators marching along in the protests, who began to shoot at the police first. Very often the violence of the security forces has been a reaction to the brutal violence of the armed rebels.” In the first two months, hundreds of police and security forces were killed.

Ashley and company listen to Americans and British citizens and mistakenly believe they are listening to real Syrians. Some of these people left Syria at age 3. Some of them have never lived in Syria. Thus you have fantasy portrayals such as “Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and War”. A more realistic picture is given by a Syrian who still lives in Aleppo. He writes under the name “Edward Dark” and describes how he and his friends quickly regretted the take-over of Aleppo by armed groups in summer 2012. He describes<http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/05/syria-revolution-aleppo-assad.html> one friend’s reaction as the reality was hitting home: “How could we have been so stupid? We were betrayed!”. And another says: “Tell your children someday that we once had a beautiful country, but we destroyed it because of our ignorance and hatred.” Edward Dark is a harsh critic of President Assad and Baath Party. He is also naive regarding the role of US Ambassador Robert Ford. But his description of early protesters and the arrival of armed opposition rings true and more authentic than the portrayal of Yassin-Kassab and Al Shami.

In fact many of the idealized “Syrian revolutionaries” promoted by the authors of “Burning Country” are trained and paid agents of the US and UK. The Aleppo Media Center<http://www.syrian-expatriates.org/our-work/development-support/aleppo-media-centre/> which produces many of the videos is a US creation. The White Helmets <http://21stcenturywire.com/2016/06/21/who-are-the-syria-white-helmets/> which purport to be Syrian, independent and unarmed first responders are a creation of the US and UK. The banner boys from Kafranbel<https://yallalabarra.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/kafranbel-media-center-a-propaganda-banner-assembly-line-that-targets-the-naive-2/> are another western funded operation. In her book about her time as Secretary of State, Clinton boasts of providing “training for more than a thousand activists, students, and independent journalists” (p. 464).

Why do the enemies of Syria create such organizations? Partly as a way to channel money and support to the armed opposition. Also to serve as propaganda tools to confuse the situation and generate support for the real goal: regime change. For example, White Helmets mostly work in areas dominated by the Syrian Al Qaeda. Unlike legitimate organizations such as the Red Crescent, they never work in areas controlled by the government. And they are also active on the propaganda front, continually pushing for US / NATO intervention via a “no fly zone”. The misinformation of Ashley Smith and ISO confuses unwitting people and helps the enemies of Syria in their drive for regime change.

In contrast with the romanticized delusions of Ashley Smith and the authors of “Burning Country”, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency gave an accurate assessment<https://levantreport.com/2015/05/19/2012-defense-intelligence-agency-document-west-will-facilitate-rise-of-islamic-state-in-order-to-isolate-the-syrian-regime/> in August 2012:

“ EVENTS ARE TAKING A CLEAR SECTARIAN DIRECTION. THE SALAFIST, THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AND AQI ARE THE MAJOR FORCES DRIVING THE INSURGENCY IN SYRIA.”

Technique 3: Attack Those who Question the Dogma … “You’re an Assad supporter!”

Ashley Smith does not criticize the NATO and Gulf states that are violating international law and the UN charter by funding and supplying a proxy army to attack Syria. Instead, he criticizes left groups who oppose the aggression. That is a sign of how far off track ISO is. They did the same thing<https://socialistworker.org/2011/02/28/taking-sides-about-libya> regarding Libya and have evidently learned nothing from that disaster. Ashley Smith should go and tour Libya now to savor the “revolution” he promoted.

Ashley Smith’s theme with respect to Syria (peaceful popular uprising against brutal dictator) is the same theme promoted by neoconservatives and the mainstream media. When they encounter a different perspective, they cry out, “You are an Assad supporter!”. Never mind that many genuine progressives do not say that. What we say is that it’s for the Syrian people to determine their government, not foreigners.

Smith criticizes the British Stop the War coalition for having “adapted to Assad supporters” and for “giving a platform to allies of the dictatorship”, specifically “regime apologist Mother Superior Agnes Mariam”. Smith is misinformed on this issue also, but it is doubly revealing. In fact, Mother Agnes was hosted on the tour by Syria Solidarity Movement. When she was in London, she was invited to speak at a Stop the War rally. To his great discredit, the keynote speaker Jeremy Scahill, who is closely aligned with ISO, threatened to withdraw from the conference if Mother Agnes spoke. Scahill has done great journalistic work exposing Blackwater and Drone Warfare. However that does not excuse the complicity<http://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2013-11-18/bowing-before-the-inquisitors-on-syria/> leading to blackmail<https://www.rt.com/op-edge/mother-agnes-liberal-interventionists-026/>regarding a Palestinian Lebanese nun who has shown immense courage in promoting reconciliation <http://www.syriasolidaritymovement.org/2013/11/07/1881/> and peace in Syria. However, that action is typical of some misguided “socialist” groups, the Muslim Brotherhood and their allies. Mother Agnes was verbally attacked and abused by these groups throughout her tour, which otherwise met with great success. Mother Agnes has lived in Syria for over twenty years. She consistently says that Syria needs reform, but you don’t do that by destroying it.

Ashley Smith goes on to criticize the US Peace Council for recently sending a delegation to Syria and having the audacity to talk with “Assad and his henchmen”. He sounds like the right wing hawks who denounced Jane Fonda for going to North Vietnam in the 1970’s. Smith displays a dogmatic and closed-minded view; what kind of “international socialism” does he represent?

Smith criticizes Green Party candidates Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka for “remaining silent about Putin’s and Assad’s atrocities”. This is another measure of how far off track the ISO is. They evidently are not aware of international law or they don’t care about it. The Assad government has a right to defend itself against terrorist attacks which are sponsored, funded and supplied by foreign governments.

Syria also has a right to request help from Russia and Iran. But with tunnel-vision dogma, Ashley Smith and ISO do not care. They seem to be supporting instead of opposing imperialist aggression, violations of international law, and the death and destruction these have led to.

Ashley disparages the Syrian government and people who have continued to fight against the forces of sectarianism promoted by NATO, Israel and the Gulf monarchies. Ashley and ISO would do well to send some people to see the reality of Syria. They would find it very different than their fevered imagination or what they have been led to believe by fake Syrians and Muslim Brotherhood dogmatists.

Genuine progressives are not “Assad supporters”. Rather, we are opponents of imperialist aggression and supporters of international law–which says it’s the right of Syrians to determine who leads them. That would mean real Syrians, not those raised in or paid by the West.

Ashley Smith’s Inaccurate Overall Analysis

Ashley Smith gives a very inaccurate analysis of the overall geopolitical situation in Syria and beyond.

He says “The US has been seeking a resolution that might push Assad aside, but that above all maintains his regime in power”. He goes on to say ‘U.S. policy from the beginning has been to preserve the core of Assad’s state.” Ashley believes “the U.S. has retreated in general from outright regime change as its strategy in the Middle East”.

This is absurd. In reality the US and allies Israel and Saudi Arabia have been pushing for ‘regime change’ in Syria for over a decade. In 2005 CNN host Christiane Amanpour expressed the situation bluntly:

“Mr. President, you know the rhetoric of regime change is headed towards you from the United States. They are actively looking for a new Syrian leader. They’re granting visas and visits to Syrian opposition politicians. They’re talking about isolating you diplomatically and, perhaps, a coup d’etat or your regime crumbling. What are you thinking about that?”

In 2007, Seymour Hersh wrote about the destabilization efforts in his article “The Redirection”<http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/03/05/the-redirection>.

In 2010, Secretary of State Clinton spoke of “changing Syria’s behavior” and threatened<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/apr/30/hillary-clinton-israel-commitment> “President Assad is making decisions that could mean war or peace for the region …. We know he’s hearing from Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas. It is crucial that he also hear directly from us, so that the potential consequences of his actions are clear.”

Secretary Clinton appointed Robert Ford to become US Ambassador to Syria. Ford was previously the chief political officer in Baghdad for Ambassador John Negroponte. Who is John Negroponte? He was Ambassador to Honduras overseeing the Nicaraguan Contras and El Salvador death squads in the 1980’s. Negroponte’s arrival in Iraq in 2004 led to ‘the El Salvador option<http://www.newsweek.com/pentagon-may-put-special-forces-led-assassination-or-kidnapping-teams-iraq-117209>’ (sectarian death squads) in Iraq.

Since the conflict in Syria began in 2011 the US has spent many billions of dollars trying to overthrow the Syrian government or force it to change policy. The supply of sophisticated and deadly weaponry continues. In April 2016 it was reported<http://www.janes.com/article/59374/us-arms-shipment-to-syrian-rebels-detailed> that the US recently supplied 994 TONS of sophisticated rocket launchers, anti tank and other heavy weapons to “moderate rebels” who ally with the Syrian Al Qaeda ( Jabhat al Nusra recently renamed Jabhat Fatah al Sham).

Ashley’s theory that the US is intent on “preserving” the Syrian state and the US has “given up” on regime change is not supported by the facts.

Ashley continues the faulty analysis by saying “the U.S. is solely and obsessively focused on defeating this counterrevolutionary force (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria” and “the Obama administration has struck a de facto alliance with Russia”.

This is more theory without evidence. The US coalition was doing little to stop ISIS and looked the other way as ISIS went across the open desert to attack and occupy Palmyra. They were similarly looking the other way as ISIS sent hundreds of trucks filled with oil from eastern Syria into Turkey each day. It was not until Russia entered the scene in support of Syria one year ago, that the US coalition got embarrassed into actually attacking ISIS. As to a “de facto alliance”, this is what Russia has implored the US to do, largely without response. In the past two weeks the U.S. has threatened Russian and Syrian planes not to attack US ground forces inside Syria and refused to come to agreement with Russia that “moderate rebels” working with acknowledged terrorists are not “moderate” and can be targeted.

The Obama administration is trying to prevent the collapse of the regime change project by stalling and delay. Perhaps they wish to keep the project alive for a more aggressive US policy. Hillary Clinton continues to talk about a “no fly zone”. Her allies in Congress have recently initiated HR5732 which will escalate economic and financial sanctions against Syria and assess the implementation of a “no fly zone”.

Ashley Smith suggests that large portions of the US left have been avidly supporting “oppressive regimes” such as Syria and Iran. He mocks those on the left who suggested the Iranian ‘green movement’ was US-influenced. His mockery is exposed as ignorance by none other than Hillary Clinton herself. In her book “Hard Choices” she recounts how they arranged for Twitter to postpone a system upgrade which would have taken the social media giant offline at a critical time, right after the 2009 Iranian election. Hillary and her group at the State Dept were actively promoting the protests in Iran.

Dangerous Times Ahead

Some middle east analysts have made the faulty analysis that Israel is not involved in the aggression against Syria. In reality, Israeli interests are at the core of the US policy against Syria. The Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. was explicit: “Israel wanted Assad gone since start of civil war”<http://www.jpost.com/Syria-Crisis/Oren-Jerusalem-has-wanted-Assad-ousted-since-the-outbreak-of-the-Syrian-civil-war-326328>. He also said “bad guys supported by Iran” are worse than “bad guys not supported by Iran”. In other words, Israel prefers chaos and Al Qaeda to a stable independent Syria.

Saudi Arabia is the other key U.S. ally seeking overthrow in Syria. With its close connections to the oil industry, military industrial complex and Wall Street, Saudi Arabia has enormous influence in Washington. It has been mercilessly bombing Yemen for the last 18 months and continues funding and promoting the proxy war against Syria.

Both Saudi Arabia and Israel seek the same thing: breaking the resistance alliance which runs from Iran through Syria to Lebanon. They are in alliance with US neoconservatives who still dream of “a new American Century” where the US fights multiple wars to enforce its exceptional and sole supremacy. Along with some other countries, these are the forces of reaction violating international law and promoting the war against Syria.

The tide is turning against the forces pushing for ‘regime change’ in Syria. But they have not yet given up and may even escalate. Now is when progressives in the West need to raise our voices in opposition to this aggression. Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka can hopefully bring much more attention to this critical issue. Bernie Sanders and his supporters need to speak out against Hillary Clinton’s statements and plans.

There are good people in ISO which does good work in many areas. We hope they will re-examine their assumptions, beliefs and actions regarding Syria. In the dangerous times ahead, we need them to be resisting the drive to war in Syria, not condoning or supporting it.

Join the debate on Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/CounterPunch-official-172470146144666/>

Rick Sterling is a retired aerospace engineer who now does research/writing on international issues. He can be contacted at rsterling1 at gmail.com<mailto:rsterling1 at gmail.com>.

On Jan 10, 2017, at 15:12, Brussel, Morton K <brussel at illinois.edu<mailto:brussel at illinois.edu>> wrote:

Don’t get this character confused with Stephen Cohen, a true expert on Russia, professor emeritus at Princeton. (I did.)

—mkb

On Jan 10, 2017, at 4:58 PM, Per Fagereng <phantom at hevanet.com<mailto:phantom at hevanet.com>> wrote:

I don’t know any leftists who enthusiastically praise today’s Russia. Speaking for myself, it’s an improvement over the past. It should be allowed to develop without being surrounded by NATO bases and tanks nudging its borders. It doesn’t deserve Washington’s obsessive bellicosity.

Under Boris Yeltsin, Russia was looted and dozens of oligarchs entered the stage. Putin mostly ended the rip-off and put Russia back on its feet, for which Washington never forgave him. Our neo-cons and liberal interventionists still harbor dreams of ruling the world, and Putin stands in their way. Capitalist expansion and missionary politics still require that he be defeated.

Looks to me like Putin is smarter than anyone in Washington; certainly less obsessed. He proposes a world where many countries have their place; Washington will not be satisfied until all acknowledge its exceptional rulership.

Per Fagereng

From: Ashley Smith via ufpj-activist
Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2017 6:22 AM
To: ufpj-activist
Subject: [ufpj-activist] Stephen Shalom » Russia and the Left



https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/russia-and-the-left/<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__zcomm.org_znetarticle_russia-2Dand-2Dthe-2Dleft_&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=DeaqDWpqmWN8ifRTr-ESw8Cc33c6k4g0Wuf5MMDa7Ik&e=>

Russia and the Left

What explains the enthusiasm in certain quarters of the left for Vladimir Putin and Russia? Why do some cheer on Russian bombing in Syria, dismissing out of hand the evidence from Physicians for Human Rights, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch1 that they are criminally targeting hospitals? Why do some try to justify Russia’s takeover of Crimea or its blatant intervention in Ukraine?

Apologetics for Moscow, of course, has a long and ignoble history on the left. There is no excuse for this betrayal of left values, but we can at least understand some of the reasons that people held these wrongheaded views.

In the past, many Americans who were committed to progressive causes — especially civil rights and labor rights — joined the Communist Party because it was an organization actively and powerfully engaged in these struggles. They were aware that CP membership required following the Soviet line on foreign policy questions, but many joined despite this, not because of it. Now in fact even their contribution to the civil rights and labor movements was compromised to some degree by their allegiance to a hierarchical party that was subservient to Moscow’s foreign policy. (How many honest radicals became alienated from the left because of the CP defense of the Moscow Trials or the Hitler-Stalin Pact? How much harm was done to the left by the CP supporting the trial and conviction of Trotskyists under the Smith Act in World War II?) Still, we can understand why many CPers believed that their participation was furthering the cause of social justice at home, and, hence, why they gave the Soviet Union a pass.

Another reason for leftists to be soft on the Soviet Union was that internationally it was generally on the side of the great anti-colonial struggles of the day. Its economic and military aid and its diplomatic support helped many Third World nations break from Western colonial or neocolonial rule. Now this was never as consistent or as selfless as Moscow’s acolytes suggested. Soviet opposition to the Eritrean liberation struggle, for example, was horrendous, and as early as 1921 the new Soviet state sold out communist militants in Turkey in order to maintain its relationship with Mustafa Kemal. Moreover, national liberation that was supported with Stasi agents setting up a security apparatus was hardly very liberating. Likewise, Soviet support to the Republic during the Spanish Civil War was such that even if Franco had been defeated, Spanish democracy was unlikely to survive. In addition, it should be noted that great powers often tried to weaken their rivals’ colonial empire without at all being progressive — think of the German Kaiser’s aid to Irish rebels. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the Soviet Union played an important role in hastening the end of colonialism, and so we can understand why many leftists were enamored of it. Soviet prestige was also enhanced by its role in the defeat of Nazi Germany (though this followed its pact with Nazi Germany).

A third reason that some leftists wrongly but understandably championed the Soviet Union is that the country was committed, rhetorically at least, to socialism. Principled socialists differ in their assessment of when the Soviet Union became a repressive state — I would date it from the crushing of the Workers’ Opposition and Kronstadt — but there is no doubt that by the mid-1920s there was no democracy in the Soviet Union and, because there can be no socialism without democracy, nor was there socialism. Beyond their rhetorical socialism, members of the Soviet bloc proclaimed their allegiance to social justice, and to some extent this was not all just words. Because social justice, like socialism, has to include democratic rights, the Soviet Union and other members of its camp were crucially deficient in social justice. But they did tend to have greater social and economic egalitarianism and more developed social welfare policies than many Western states. These accomplishments had the unfortunate effect of erroneously suggesting that we face a trade-off: we can have either economic justice or democracy, but not both. It is true that a resident of Brazil’s favelas might choose Cuba’s heath care over her own country’s formal democracy. But Costa Rica, no paragon of socialist enlightenment, offers both democracy and a life expectancy equal to that of Cuba’s. Still, to many leftists the fact that the “communist” countries, led by the Soviet Union, declared themselves to be pursuing socialism made it easier to overlook their misdeeds.

The question is, why do many leftists today close their eyes to Russian crimes given that each one of these lame but understandable reasons for Soviet apologetics no longer applies?.

Where the Soviet Union generally backed parties around the world and in the United States that were on the left, at the moment Moscow seems to be much more supportive of far right parties than of left ones.2 In the United States, Putin’s backing of Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton was clear, whether or not it is confirmed that Russia hacked emails with the intention of helping the Republican candidate. So left apologists for Putin are not turning a blind eye to the crimes of a regime that at least is promoting the U.S. civil rights movement. No, their blind eye is to the crimes of a regime that favors the candidate who will preside over one of the most rightwing governments in U.S. history.

Where the Soviet Union generally stood against colonialism, in this post-colonial age Putin’s Russia is now one of the leading powers seeking to acquire or hold on to territory by force: Chechnya, South Ossetia, Eastern Ukraine, Crimea (the latter annexation condemned by a vote of 100-11 in the General Assembly, with 58 abstentions).

Some leftists like to claim that Russia, Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah constitute an “axis of resistance” that has heroically been challenging U.S. and Israeli imperialism. This account ignores the fact that in the 1970s Hafez al-Assad intervened in Lebanon against Palestinians and the Lebanese left, and more recently Bashar al-Assad partnered with Washington in torturing prisoners.3 Today, hundreds of Palestinians languish in Bashar’s torture chambers.4 If this is an axis of resistance, we might consider adding the European far right parties that have been supporting Assad.5 Indeed, given that Moscow has been a substantial purchaser of Israeli military drones6 and a leading supplier of its oil and has coordinated its bombing in Syria with Israel,7 perhaps Israel too should be considered a member of the axis of resistance? After all, Israel did absent itself from the UN resolution condemning the annexation of Crimea.8

And where the Soviet Union could boast some progressive social policies, these are things of the past. Putin has explicitly adopted a rightwing ideology, drawing on émigré and even fascist philosophers.9 Putin’s party, United Russia, with three-quarters of the seats in the Duma, has officially adopted “Russian Conservatism” as its position. As RT, the Russian-government sponsored news outlet, reported:

Having called themselves “conservatives,” the members of United Russia “have simply determined their place” as a right-wing party, political scientist Dmitry Travin said. That means that they are “politicians who defend values of the market economy based on national traditions,” Rosbalt news agency quoted him as saying.

At the same time, they “are not staunch defenders of freedom as liberals,” and they are not “followers of egalitarianism as social democrats,” he said.10

In terms of Islamophobia and anti-LGBT repression, Russia makes the United States look like Paradise. Male life expectancy in Russia is six years less than in Brazil and a decade less than in Mexico; its spending on education as a share of GDP is 80 percent that of Mexico and less than three quarters that of Brazil.11 In terms of the size of the public sector, Russian government spending as a percent of GDP is smaller than that of Japan, Greece, the UK, and Spain (and its military spending is a far greater share of its overall government spending than any of these countries).12 Neither in practice nor in inspiration nor even in rhetoric does current-day Russia reflect left values.

So why then the left enthusiasm for Russia?

For some, no doubt, it’s simply nostalgia. The U.S. Peace Council, a slavish Moscow tool during the Cold War, fondly recalls the Soviet alliance with the Baathist regime in Syria under Hafez al-Assad, and so perhaps it’s a simple move to glorify Russian support today for the successor to the Assad dynasty. (And thus the Peace Council’s awful propaganda trip to Damascus and subsequent participation in Syrian-government sponsored propaganda events.13)

But wistful longing for the glory days of the Soviet Union doesn’t explain most left attachment to Russia. Instead it’s the pernicious doctrine of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” that unfortunately has permeated large sectors of the left.

A civilian airliner is shot down over the Russian-backed break-away zone of Ukraine, the United States (among others) accuses the Russians of being responsible, and the automatic, reflexive response from some is that this was either a Western false flag operation (an intelligence concoction) or at a minimum a tragedy for which the United States and its allies bear primary responsibility. That Russian propaganda on the matter was so easily refuted merely confirmed for some how devilish the false flag operation really was.14

An aid convoy is bombed in Syria. Washington accuses Russia or Syria of being responsible. Given that Assad had a clear policy of forcing Aleppo to “surrender or starve,”15 Washington’s accusation was certainly plausible, but further evidence left little doubt as to Russian/Syrian responsibility.16 But to some on the left, the fact that the U.S. government said it made it false.

Now it is true that any time two imperial states contest for power each is going to try to push a one-sided, jingoistic narrative of the differences between them. Skepticism about the claims of one’s own government is certainly warranted. During the Soviet period, in the United States the official line tried to portray Moscow as wholly responsible for the onset of the Cold War, and as being in the wrong, the aggressor, in every single international dispute. It was and remains important to contest this dominant view. That doesn’t mean, though, that we should have dismissed the tendentious U.S. narrative only to adopt the equally tendentious Soviet counter-narrative — dismissing as Western propaganda such things as the gulag or the secret clauses in the Hitler-Stalin pact or the Katyn massacre or Soviet aggression in Hungary in 1956 or in Afghanistan in 1979-88. It was entirely possible — and right — to reject both the U.S. and the Soviet propaganda lines. The forerunner of the current Campaign for Peace and Democracy (www.cpdweb.org<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.cpdweb.org&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=HjZ4NXb4R0-xQp84AtZzO5zl13F7Jz5I-nNVkXchxxQ&e=>)– the Campaign for Peace and Democracy East and West — famously got Western Central America activists to sign on to a statement condemning Soviet policy in Eastern Europe and got East European dissidents to sign on to a statement condemning U.S. policy in Nicaragua and El Salvador. It’s this sort of rejection of both sides and their lies that ought to be key to any left politics.

If Russian hacking interfered in the U.S. election, it is not enough to point out Washington’s sordid record of interfering in foreign elections. The left condemns U.S. interference in foreign elections and we ought to condemn Russian interference as well (and not just in the United States). While some of the attacks on Russian hacking by the Hillary Clinton camp (“Ronald Reagan would be rolling over in his grave”17) do indeed smack of McCarthyism, there’s nothing wrong with the left denouncing Russian crimes. And all the U.S. crimes in the world don’t justify Russian crimes. Nor should U.S. crimes lead us to withhold our criticisms of the crimes of Moscow, any more than Russian crimes would lead us to withhold our criticisms of the crimes of Washington in Iraq, Honduras, and elsewhere.

Stephen R. Shalom is a member of the New Politics editorial board. Thanks to Joanne Landy for helpful discussions.



1. Physicians for Human Rights, “Russian Warplanes<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_osf2k5b&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=_3xamWStcvtZQ-rKSf2bp4X-MZKJwsBnOHUhmk1XTT8&e=> Strike Medical Facilities in Syria,” Oct. 7, 2015; Amnesty International, “Syrian and Russian forces<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_hl7r8dg&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=Vq88acV2LsuOroFgBsXjvBB83h3lRdDnlT5b7-4bDYg&e=> targeting hospitals as a strategy of war,” March 3, 2016; Human Rights Watch, “Russia/Syria: War Crimes<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_jf7duul&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=01SoXg9RJNlMJF9PnDvXQisFfKoFXPhqbM0B4AjKbrk&e=> in Month of Bombing Aleppo,” Dec. 1, 2016. See also Medecins Sans Frontieres, “Review of Attack on Al Quds hospital<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_hjcnnzn&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=fzdJ4JN5jD7VCkEVK4g83DwQhBEaU3oxxsu_fi_GJno&e=> in Aleppo City,” Sept. 2016.

2. Alina Polyakova<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.worldaffairsjournal.org_users_alina-2Dpolyakova&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=gQkkwxFMUXX_JZrT9CY4V_xHLlfj6EVPgrMhkFB6Rs8&e=>, “Strange Bedfellows: Putin and Europe’s Far Right<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_ofs4kdm&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=IQCZfKDhBLF9l8P2gm0JwY2r2mZnU9sslQtcEBpRsQQ&e=>,” World Affairs, Sept.-Oct. 2014; Alina Polyakova<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.worldaffairsjournal.org_users_alina-2Dpolyakova&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=gQkkwxFMUXX_JZrT9CY4V_xHLlfj6EVPgrMhkFB6Rs8&e=>, “Why Europe Is Right to Fear Putin’s Useful Idiots<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_hjjbz5e&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=BVZ6E9cIKvuopukn15_d6S8kSUAdfKpbRDHwt3rirGs&e=>,” Foreign Policy, Feb. 23, 2016;  Anna Nemtsova, “How Vladimir Putin Feeds Europe’s Rabid Right<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_ztotqch&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=SqhDGDcEsTDxJYWUCatgj3p0BfzwycO1Y3w90qfKehw&e=>,” The Daily Beast, Oct. 4, 2016; Mike Lofgren, “Trump, Putin, and the Alt-Right International<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_zsnjxpa&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=TBZTQdKyWOXEmRJBrg6Vok4MqwOrVQrEysPYZqaG44A&e=>,” The Atlantic, Oct. 31, 2016; Fredrik Wesslau, <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.ecfr.eu_profile_C392&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=yZeicJ7fEetWRqrRXX9jR54g3Vq4mrZJkjwHVcG1_xw&e=> “Putin’s friends in Europe<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_jbbrwob&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=0yqDo0lEQ9Kj5M4jvO85QDp9Gfb-ptEV6RBshpJHeq8&e=>,” European Council on Foreign Relations, Oct. 19, 2016. This is not to say that there are no left parties close to Moscow. See Péter Krekó<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.opendemocracy.net_author_p-25C3-25A9ter-2Dkrek-25C3-25B3&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=hi2HJvvX7mwBTZTNisUmsdehSb-RgJCu0Wcl74cFfRY&e=> and Lóránt Győri<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.opendemocracy.net_author_l-2Dr-2Dnt-2Dgy-2Dri&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=brgmXL_0CuT6hI5Hq5K7fv1oowhYyBOukoB6WWuz6RI&e=>, “Don’t ignore the left! Connections between Europe’s radical left and Russia<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_go3f5y7&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=M_zEo5mAiPMlT3zfCARbfCFgEg76a4-hhG2jNMFMZZM&e=>,” Open Democracy, June 13, 2016.

3. David Cole, “Getting Away with Torture<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_hpewzr2&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=6u9rYePqknGpgI_A0Sv8FkC-L4-335z-Y-hAQkWGQx4&e=>,” New York Review of Books, Jan. 14, 2010.

4. Budour Youssef Hassan, “Syria’s disappeared Palestinians<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_o394foq&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=VpSOeYVHycDOzGRsNmcxh2AazkFuQNvZNzqgnXSElVw&e=>,” The Electronic Intifada, Feb. 18, 2015.

5. Wikipedia, Bashar al-Assad<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_hbckzeb&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=hVPEnVgQ7HAQKVSpWiw2Xo32TYWcp6Ajy-Be7z4y_eQ&e=>.

6. Patrick Hilsman, “Drone deals heighten military ties between Israel and Russia<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_gnahskl&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=x6NLrGtExJPO_V1l9QJEyFJhi8cc9fViK9W0BmtFgPA&e=>,” Middle East Eye, Oct. 3, 2015. There are reports<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_z92q376&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=0UH90uWIjvmf8A0yhPMoosPQCvO8DvxKP3Lez9GhiF0&e=> that Washington has blocked further Israeli drone sales to Moscow.

7. Robert Zapesochny, “An Emerging Alliance: Russia and Israel<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_jalcvy9&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=NCpM5YeiSKb0pvA52GJolBXAw3tGFPXGaleXT2s6q_E&e=>,” American Spectator, Dec. 15, 2016.

8. Barak Ravid and Jonathan Lis, “Defense Official on Ukraine Policy: Israeli Interests Needn’t Be Identical to U.S.’<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_hd5dtus&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=zMNwHcb-NHjNaHw_elQkle-SAf3SokXGzPyIaAC0wUE&e=>,” Haaretz, Apr. 13, 2014.

9. Dan La Botz, “In Putin’s Head<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_zmc45rf&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=o8v_W2PNAMzEMwKCbxAoBmjPJtn4K0ch8iryVyedXVI&e=>,” New Politics online, Sept. 25, 2016.

10. Sergey Borisov,“ROAR: United Russia ‘determined itself as a right-wing party<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_j227kqr&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=6n0Hq5_0IK4zs_G_rSddzC5_Ejk03fhxBMmqk-jsWFY&e=>,’” RT, Nov. 23, 2009.

12. See UN data here<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_7khtk7a&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=fWpJfkZGZ0W-NZ78FbEPj2wTYts-reoywIpr0q8XCD8&e=> and here<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_25n2gmq&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=bbG8lyWRbn6n5iWuiWJ4w_r1YcOzJPvAj3FCVx0BLrg&e=>.

13. See “Bashar Ja’afari (Syria) and US Peace Council Representatives on Syria<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_hwuqg8a&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=i2Zt3t0fxoepnhzR8lPybFkJnlweBRI-vSDWPaAE8BE&e=> – Press Conference,” Aug. 9, 2016.

14. Eliot Higgins, “How the Dutch Safety Board Proved Russia Faked MH17 Evidence<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_jjuht4h&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=1Rz12C8LKve0b2XBO3PW5N5G5CVv9TsJQCpX8t33jc0&e=>,” Bellingcat, Oct. 15, 2015; Eliot Higgins, “The Russian Defence Ministry Presents Evidence They Faked Their Previous MH17 Evidence<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_z4x4l7l&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=ItuWC2a5MIXtbMD2eYa0UQBhneYclI-MII6BIdPcp94&e=>,” Bellingcat, Sept. 26, 2016; Aric Tole, “The Weird World of MH17 Conspiracy Theories<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_gn5f327&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=C7r0UreCnSCM0QatbTDUEELHdAqejyM53gpeMHGz68A&e=> – Part 1,” Bellingcat, Aug. 7, 2015.

15. Middle East Monitor, “UN warns of Syrian regime’s ‘surrender or starve’ policy to regain Aleppo<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_h7um7aa&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=9nMh4BLGKCbElNDukg1rlHCOAOLTHjlEQKe4TrT2aEg&e=>,” Aug. 17, 2016.

16. Eliot Higgins, “Confirmed: Russian Bomb Remains Recovered from Syrian Red Crescent Aid Convoy Attack<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_j3vor8r&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=d7iYqG2UAz_qKgfLXrhYyLHXogNnbXvgxvfJ_g8H648&e=>,” Bellingcat, Sept. 22, 2016; Anne Barnard and Somini Sengupta, “‘From Paradise to Hell’: How an Aid Convoy in Syria Was Blown Apart<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__tinyurl.com_hr32dcy&d=DQMFaQ&c=8hUWFZcy2Z-Za5rBPlktOQ&r=RbDT1tYJGukRYhPt5oNtCeRe3p2Bp2sx7Qk4TWFvItM&m=Xb3qMWgidvQN4C0tokKjpv2OF-Y7MDwNvHle8mb_y4g&s=303hEvYPF2Lfq6yTrWBEMcuzZMDiWTF-AjMieLf2pSo&e=>,” New York Times, Sept. 24, 2016.

________________________________
_______________________________________________
ufpj-activist mailing list

Post: ufpj-activist at lists.mayfirst.org<mailto:ufpj-activist at lists.mayfirst.org>
List info: https://lists.mayfirst.org/mailman/listinfo/ufpj-activist

To Unsubscribe
        Send email to:  ufpj-activist-unsubscribe at lists.mayfirst.org<mailto:ufpj-activist-unsubscribe at lists.mayfirst.org>
        Or visit: https://lists.mayfirst.org/mailman/options/ufpj-activist/phantom%40hevanet.com

You are subscribed as: phantom at hevanet.com<mailto:phantom at hevanet.com>
_______________________________________________
ufpj-activist mailing list

Post: ufpj-activist at lists.mayfirst.org<mailto:ufpj-activist at lists.mayfirst.org>
List info: https://lists.mayfirst.org/mailman/listinfo/ufpj-activist

To Unsubscribe
       Send email to:  ufpj-activist-unsubscribe at lists.mayfirst.org<mailto:ufpj-activist-unsubscribe at lists.mayfirst.org>
       Or visit: https://lists.mayfirst.org/mailman/options/ufpj-activist/mkb0029%40gmail.com

You are subscribed as: mkb0029 at gmail.com<mailto:mkb0029 at gmail.com>

_______________________________________________
ufpj-activist mailing list

Post: ufpj-activist at lists.mayfirst.org<mailto:ufpj-activist at lists.mayfirst.org>
List info: https://lists.mayfirst.org/mailman/listinfo/ufpj-activist

To Unsubscribe
       Send email to:  ufpj-activist-unsubscribe at lists.mayfirst.org<mailto:ufpj-activist-unsubscribe at lists.mayfirst.org>
       Or visit: https://lists.mayfirst.org/mailman/options/ufpj-activist/karenaram%40hotmail.com

You are subscribed as: karenaram at hotmail.com<mailto:karenaram at hotmail.com>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/attachments/20170111/42e3b1f9/attachment-0001.html>