I think the Open Letter on Syria was quite good. It's extremely important to deal with the phenomena of the false "anti-imperialists", and it makes the letter quite relevant for a number of other ongoing struggles. The Letter was better than what I would have expected from such a disparate group. Kudos to those who must have worked hard to prepare this letter.
The Open Letter doesn't give examples of who the fake anti-imperialists are, nor does it characterize some of the interventionist powers it refers to, but I don't think it could do these things given its nature. It's up to the supporters of the Letter to give examples of who the false anti-imperialists are, to explain the nature of the major interventionist powers, and to put forward as much information as possible about the history of the Syrian struggle against the Assad dictatorship, and what's happening to it now, including the complex situation with the Kurdish forces. The more the backers of the Open Letter talk about these issues, the more attention they will draw to the Letter. The more attention the Letter gets, the more it will encourage solidarity with democratic struggles around the world today. I was happy to sign this letter, and to help popularize it, but it doesn't mean I agree with absolutely everything in it. The last half of the next to last sentence, which refers to the "dysfunctional international gridlock exhibited in the UN Security Council", is a problem; one wouldn't -- and the Open Letter doesn't -- leave it at that the various powers trampling over the Syrian people are dysfunctional, and yet this is said of their joint institution. This is a very minor issue with respect to the Open Letter, and maybe a number of its writers didn't even pay much attention to those particular words. But those words reflect a pretty widespread attitude in certain circles which see the nature of the multilateral bodies of the oppressors, whether the UN, the IMF, etc., as different from the nature of the component major oppressors. Indeed, various of the fake anti-imperialists do too. So this is not a minor issue with respect to those who want to build a truly anti-imperialist movement; moreover, it will come up with respect to whatever solution the multilateral institutions endorse for Syria. So it's legitimate and valuable for those of us with a more consistent stand to point out this issue, while nevertheless appreciating the high value, at this time, of the Open Letter. -- Joseph Green -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#7713): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/7713 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/81733708/21656 -=-=- 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. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
