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Monday is a day off so I have more time to craft a better response. I started by looking for past articles by searching for "Yarmouk" with the search bar on your site. The only mention of Yarmouk it found was the article under discussion. Was this your first on Yarmouk? Because, generally speaking, I divide those writing about Yarmouk today into two camps. There are those that wrote about Yarmouk before because it was a great humanitarian tragedy and/or an important front in one of the most significant revolutions of our era, and those who tail behind the bourgeoisie. This later group only "discovered" Yarmouk after it became an "ISIS story," at which point the Syrian bourgeoisie, as represented by the Assad regime, wanted it publicized as an argument for accepting the Baathist rule of Syria and the western press could promote it as another IS horror story. With rare excepts, this latter group tends to report the Yarmouk story as a struggle between the Assad regime and ISIS, as you are doing. Your title, "trapped between two counter-revolutions" would mislead the reader into thinking that was the main contradiction in Yarmouk now, and the text of your report makes clear that you fall in line with those that are portraying this as a struggle "with the regime on one side and Isis on the other." That is the imperialist view of this struggle, while they certainly have their differences, Obama, Putin and Assad all would agree with you that what is going on in Yarmouk now is a struggle "with the regime on one side and Isis on the other." As I'm sure you are aware, there is another view about what is going on in Yarmouk, a revolutionary view, that also has the most important attribute of being historically accurate. That is the view that what we have in Yarmouk since 2011 is a revolutionary uprising of the people that was part of the Arab Spring in general and the Syrian revolution in particular. Since the beginning the Assad regime has tried to crush this uprising by force. Since 2012 they have had the community under siege and bombardment, the effects of which have result in a reduction of the camps population from a quarter million to 18,000. The main struggle in Yarmouk continues to be between the revolutionary forces and those of counter-revolution. This revolutionary view of the situation in Yarmouk also sees a collaboration between the Assad regime and ISIS in creating the current situation whereas you claim they are on opposing sides, so I ask you again John: What is the basis of your view that the two opposing forces in Yarmouk are both counter-revolutionary, are actually on opposite sides and the revolutionary forces aren't worth a mention. Oh,if only the people could have some agency, rather than always being "trapped between." Which brings me to my next question: Who beat back ISIS from controlling 90% of the camp to only 60% of the camp? It certainly wasn't the Assad regime "on the other" side, they have been too busy bombing the Palestinians & Syrians fighting ISIS, at least according to reports I linked to in my blog <http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2015/04/crisis-in-yarmouk-how-amy-backs-assads.html> : According to Palestinian Network of Civil Society Organizations in Syria, the surrounding area had been hit by 23 barrel bombs and six air strikes since Saturday, as the regime has lashed out at positions held by Palestinian factions and other rebel groups. Mr Assad's air force has focused fewer attacks on Isil targets, a Western diplomat told The Telegraph. The Syrian president has repeatedly been accused of abetting the group's rise while portraying himself as a bulwark against any jihadist takeover. and Remarkably, the advance of the widely feared jihadi movement that has terrorized communities across Syria and Iraq with its brutal and mass executions met no resistance from nearby Syrian military units even though IS positions now are established just a few kilometres from Bashar al-Assad’s presidential palace. Syrian troops have set their sights on other rebel targets, it would seem, such as the al-Qaeda-connected Nusra Front, and are counting on Islamic State’s presence to, in effect, shore up the regime’s southern defences. ... In a peculiar turn, Islamic State has indicated it prefers to refrain from attacking the Assad regime as it concentrates on building its caliphate state-within-a-state. These are reports of facts on the ground that run against a view that puts "the regime on one side and Isis on the other" so I ask you again: What is the basis of your claim that ISIS and the regime are opposing forces in Yarmouk. Last question: Who was Yarmouk trapped between before ISIS stole the lead on this story? Clay Claiborne, Director Vietnam: American Holocaust <http://VietnamAmericanHolocaust.com> Linux Beach Productions Venice, CA 90291 (310) 581-1536 Read my blogs at the Linux Beach <http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/> <http://wlcentral.org/user/2965/track> _________________________________________________________ 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
