******************** 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 don't think we should read too much into the term "partner". It just means that the Syrian Democratic Forces and the United States have a common enemy (ISIS) and are cooperating to fight against it. Michael Karadjis says that the SDF is fighting what he calls "the US 'war on terror' against ISIS and HTS". Michael Probsting calls the YPG "foot soldiers of US imperialism." The SDF fights against ISIS, HTS and other reactionary forces for its own reasons, not because it is subservient to the US. These reasons include the facts that: 1. These reactionary groups oppress the people in the areas they control, especially women and religious minorities; 2. They have attacked areas controlled by the SDF (and its precursors such as the YPG/YPJ); 3. They are proxies (or perhaps we could call them "partners" or "foot soldiers") of Turkish intervention in Syria. This intervention is both an extension of Turkey's domestic anti-Kurdish policy and an expression of Turkey's imperialist aspirations. Turkey and its proxies are currently the main threat to the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria. The SDF has tried to avoid armed conflict with Assad regime forces, though quite a few clashes have occurred over the years, including recently at Deir Ezzor. In general, the SDF's approach is one of self defence rather than trying to win a military victory over the regime. The downfall of the regime can only occur if there is a revival of democratic struggles in Assad-controlled areas. The SDF can't substitute for that. Chris Slee ________________________________ From: Marxism <marxism-boun...@lists.csbs.utah.edu> on behalf of mkaradjis . via Marxism <marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> Sent: Saturday, 28 October 2017 12:39 AM To: Chris Slee Subject: Re: [Marxism] The Revelations of a U.S. General on Washington’s Allies in Syria ******************** 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. ***************************************************************** Terrific find Michael. Michael Probsting quotes US General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr., Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: “At one point [he refers to the year 2015, Ed.] I think we had identified about 175 partners in Syria that we had trained and some hundreds that were available to fight - now we now have 50,000 partners on the ground.” Michael rightly notes that this confirms what those of us who have actually been following the Syrian revolution closely have said all along, that "the Syrian liberation fighters who started to fight against the terrorist Assad dictatorship in March 2011 have never been “agents of US imperialism”, since 175 "partners" in 2015 is a "miniscule minority among the mass of 150-200.000 liberation fighters which existed at that time." Dunford is also correct that the US now has some 50,000 allies on the ground, meaning overwhelmingly the PKK-allied PYD/YPG and its slightly expanded version, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), along with a small handful of ex-FSA groups who have agreed to accept US conditions that they end the fight against Assad in order to fight the US "war on terror" against ISIS and HTS only. This is perhaps one of clearest statements by a leading representative of US imperialism to date. What is also interesting is the extent to which this time frame corresponds almost exactly to revelations of big Pentagon arms movements to Syria from eastern European stocks: The Pentagon’s $2.2 Billion Soviet Arms Pipeline Flooding Syria http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/the-pentagon-s-2-2-billion-soviet-arms-pipeline-flooding-syria-09-12-2017 "The Pentagon is on a spending spree as it scrabbles to amass vast quantities of Soviet-style weapons and ammunition. But it’s running into problems sourcing them, and is using misleading legal documents to disguise their final destination: Syria. The defeat of Islamic State in Syria is reliant on a questionable supply-line, funnelling unprecedented quantities of weapons and ammunition from Eastern Europe to some 30,000 anti-ISIS rebel fighters. Armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades fresh from state-owned production lines and stockpiles of the Balkans, Central Europe and increasingly the former Soviet Union, these US-backed troops are spearheading the battle to reclaim Raqqa, the capital of the so-called caliphate, and liberate other areas of Syria held by ISIS. A trainee with the Pentagon-backed Syrian Democratic Forces learns how to use his AK-47-style rifle at a secret training camp. Photo: U.S. Army Sgt. Mitchell Ryan But the flow of weapons to these Pentagon-backed militia depends on misleading official paperwork, an investigation by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, OCCRP, has uncovered. Reporters have pinpointed more than $700 million of spending on weapons and ammunition likely destined for Syrian rebels since September 2015, when the Pentagon’s anti-ISIS train and equip programme shifted strategy. ...................... On Fri, Oct 27, 2017 at 9:05 AM, RKOB via Marxism <marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote: > ******************** 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. > ***************************************************************** > > https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/revelations-of-u-s-general-on-washington-s-allies-in-syria/ > > > > -- > Revolutionär-Kommunistische Organisation BEFREIUNG > (Österreichische Sektion der RCIT, > www.thecommunists.net<http://www.thecommunists.net>) > www.rkob.net<http://www.rkob.net> Welt verändern<http://www.rkob.net/> www.rkob.net Gegen das System der Unterdrückung und Ausbeutung kämpfen, gegen Kapitalismus! Verändere die Welt zum Guten mit der RKO BEFREIUNG für eine Revolution! > ak...@rkob.net > Tel./SMS/WhatsApp/Telegram: +43-650-4068314 > > > --- > Diese E-Mail wurde von Avast Antivirus-Software auf Viren geprüft. > https://www.avast.com/antivirus > > _________________________________________________________ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm [http://www.marxmail.org/rosa.jpg]<http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm> Marxism list Subscription Information - marxmail.org<http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm> www.marxmail.org Subscribing to the Marxism Mailing list. What am I reading? For the most part, natural science: geography of plants and animals. > Set your options at: > http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/mkaradjis%40gmail.com Marxism list: member options for user mkarad...@gmail.com<http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/mkaradjis%40gmail.com> lists.csbs.utah.edu In order to change your membership option, you must first log in by giving your membership password in the section below. If you don't remember your membership ... _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm [http://www.marxmail.org/rosa.jpg]<http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm> Marxism list Subscription Information - marxmail.org<http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm> www.marxmail.org Subscribing to the Marxism Mailing list. What am I reading? For the most part, natural science: geography of plants and animals. Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/chris_w_slee%40hotmail.com _________________________________________________________ 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
