******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ********************
#1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
#2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived.
#3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern.
*****************************************************************
I mostly agree with David here. Nick says Chomsky is saying pretty much
the same as he always said. I agree, but for opposite reasons to Nick.
Nick is right that Chomsky has often called the regime "monstrous" and
so on. In fact, early on, back around 2012 or so, I'd say Chomsky had a
pretty good position on Syria. But once he began relying on Cockburn's
atrocious and ill-informed stuff, Chomsky showed that, far from a
brilliant thinker on Syria, he was just a regurgitator of someone's
views that fitted a tired old narrative that he was used to from decades
ago that was irrelevant to current reality. Nothing wrong with Chomsky
having no expertise whatsoever on Syria; one cannot be an expert on
everything. The problem is that some feel they have to pretend to me,
due to their stature among the left.
So once I began reading the article, I came across the nonsense of
Russia offering to remove Assad in 2012 but the US, UK and France
resisting. While I agree with David's reasoning as to why they would
resist (they've never wanted Assad gone, I agree), the simple fact of
the matter is that no such even ever occurred. Russia never offered such
a thing for the US to reject. Chomsky still repeats it, despite it being
shown to be fantasy when first raised by Churkin in 2015. Chomsky must
be aware of this, maybe we can cut him a little slack given his age,
maybe he doesn't have time and energy to read everything, but if you
make yourself a spokesperson you have a certain responsibility to check
facts. The reason Chomsky likes to repeat this non-fact is because it
fits the simplistic, non-Marxist narrative he likes: that the US is
always the most responsible for everything that happens anywhere. The
war continues not because Assad's genocide-regime and Russian
imperialism continue it, but because the US wants it to continue and so
rejects any reasonable offer. Now matter how at odds all that is with
the *actual* US intervention of the last 2.5 years.
Here is Brian Slocock taking the assertion apart when it was first
raised in 2015:
https://pulsemedia.org/2015/09/20/did-the-west-ignore-a-russian-offer-for-assad-to-step-down-as-president/
-----Original Message-----
From: David McDonald via Marxism
Sent: Thursday, April 6, 2017 11:36 PM
To: Michael Karadjis
Subject: Re: [Marxism] Fwd: "The Assad Regime is a Moral Disgrace": Noam
Chomsky on Ongoing Syrian War | Democracy Now!
_________________________________________________________
Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm
Set your options at:
http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
