Re: [Marxism] Trump and the reluctance to reckon with something fundamentally new

[Dayne Goodwin via Marxism]

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some thoughts -
doesn't 'Bonapartism' develop in a situation of relative stalemate in the
class struggle?  Is that the situation in the U.S. today?

Does past historical experience indicate that the bulk of the capitalist
class is typically thrilled to adjust to relying more and more on a fascist
dictator?

Is the Putin-Trump relationship one-sided or do they both find some
advantages in it?  Maybe Trump's 'friendly' relationship with Putin is an
ancillary asset as Trump jockeys for power in the U.S. capitalist state?
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[Marxism] South Africa: the dashing of a dream

[Philip Ferguson via Marxism]

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Very good article by Michael Roberts:
https://weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1250/dashing-of-a-dream/

And a useful article from NZ from 1999:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2012/07/06/south-africas-non-revolution/
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Re: [Marxism] Regime preservation: How US policy facilitated Assad’s victory

[mkaradjis . via Marxism]

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Hi Steffan, I am aware of two links not working, but since being informed I
have found both on the wayback archive. Could you please send me a list of
links that are not working for you, both for my sake but also because I
could then send you either the wayback link or the original article if I
have it in my files (most likely do). I don't think I have the article with
the original links, I think I amde them hyperlinks straight off. In any
case, for the 2 I'm aware of, that would make no difference.
The two I am aware of are:
"Meanwhile, in the initial months of the uprising Saudi Arabia, the UAE,
and Qatar all gave strong support to Assad" (the Saudi link doesn't work,
the others do). Saudi link:
https://web.archive.org/web/20180419184933/http://eaworldview.com/2013/06/syria-special-the-us-saudi-conflict-over-arms-to-insurgents/

"At times, the US blocked any and all weapons getting to the FSA from its
regional allies." https://web.archive.org/web/20
180419184933/http://eaworldview.com/2013/06/syria-special-
the-us-saudi-conflict-over-arms-to-insurgents/

On Fri, May 10, 2019 at 4:13 AM Steffan Wyn-Jones via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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> *
>
> Great work as always. Some of the hyperlinks in the piece don't seem to
> work, or at least I'm having trouble accessing the websites they direct
> to. If you made a word document or pdf with the original web addresses
> of the articles you link to, could I get a copy please? Or perhaps
> you'll be posting it on your academia.edu page?
>
> Once again, thanks for this, and all your work on these topics.
>
> SWJ.
>
>
> On 08/05/2019 15:13, mkaradjis . via Marxism wrote:
> >   POSTING RULES & NOTES  
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> > *
> >
> >   Here in my debut on the wonderful al-Jumhuriya site, I have attempted
> to
> > comprehensively take apart years of nonsense spouted by pro-Assad writers
> > (like the epigone version of Ben Norton) about what they claim was some
> US
> > role in pushing "regime change" against Assad in Syria, which both denies
> > the agency of the millions of Syrian people who rose up to overthrow a
> > tyrannical regime, while also being false to the very core factually. "As
> > the military conflict in Syria has been largely decided in favor of the
> > Bashar al-Assad regime, there have been a number of attempts to review
> the
> > role of US intervention, or lack thereof, in the Syrian outcome. Late
> last
> > year, Washington’s special envoy to Syria, Jim Jeffrey, clarified that
> > while the US wants to see a regime in Damascus that is “fundamentally
> > different,” it is nevertheless “not regime change” the US is seeking.
> > “We're not trying to get rid of Assad.” Much commentary jumped on this as
> > some kind of major shift in US policy, or a signal the US had “given up”
> on
> > regime change. Yet, as will be shown below, the US never had a “regime
> > change” policy. On the contrary, Washington has always sought a modified
> > form of regime preservation. Jeffrey’s statement was followed by
> President
> > Trump’s announcement of an immediate US withdrawal from Syria. While the
> > “immediate” was later dropped for reasons of expediency, a more gradual
> US
> > withdrawal is still on the cards; a process coinciding with a creeping
> > rapprochement with Assad by Trump’s Gulf allies, spearheaded by the
> United
> > Arab Emirates and Bahrain restoring diplomatic relations with Syria in
> late
> > December 2018."
> >
> https://aljumhuriya.net/en/content/regime-preservation-how-us-policy-facilitated-assad%E2%80%99s-victory?fbclid=IwAR0ZDa2HWqC4HA0ZP-He2DdgsalCPWcX7xXcgXYamUQnnTfnEedVhdYd-bA
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>
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> Full 

Re: [Marxism] Trump and the reluctance to reckon with something fundamentally new

[Chris Slee via Marxism]

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John Reimann asks:  "Is Russian imperialism operating on a different wavelength 
from US imperialism?"

My answer is "no".  Russia and the US are two rival imperialist powers, which 
sometimes cooperate and sometimes come into conflict.

Venezuela is a case where they have come into conflict.  Hence Putin has sent a 
small military contingent to help deter a possible US invasion.  It is far too 
small to prevent a full scale US invasion of Venezuela.  It is a symbolic 
gesture, indicating that Russia will assist the Venezuelan armed forces in 
resisting a possible invasion.

Similarly the US is planning (unless Trump changes his mind again) to keep a 
small presence in northeastern Syria to deter a possible Turkish invasion 
and/or an Assadist invasion.

John says: "Putin is looking out for the interests of the Russian capitalists". 
 I agree.

Similarly Trump, when he intensified the sanctions against Venezuela, was 
acting in the interests of the US capitalist class, which wants to overthrow 
the Venezuelan government.  Trump acted in the tradition of US imperialism, 
which regards Latin America as its "backyard".

Why do imperialist powers sometimes support progressive governments or 
movements?  Why does Russia support Venezuela, and why does the US support 
Northeast Syria?

Sometimes inter-imperialist rivalry leads to such surprising occurrences.  
During the second world war the US and Britain supported Communist-led 
resistance movements against German and Japanese imperialism.

While both Putin and Trump act in the interests of their respective ruling 
classes, there are some differences.  Putin is firmly in control of Russia, 
whereas Trump faces a lot of opposition.  A large part of the ruling class is 
hostile to him.

But this does not mean Trump is a servant of Putin.  It just means the US 
ruling class is divided.

Chris Slee




From: John Reimann <1999wild...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, 10 May 2019 2:08:27 AM
To: Chris Slee
Cc: Activists and scholars in Marxist tradition
Subject: Re: [Marxism] Trump and the reluctance to reckon with something 
fundamentally new

I was going to bow out of this discussion since I felt I had nothing further to 
add. But "Russia sending aid"? Really? Does anybody really think that that 
reactionary capitalist government, whose head of state is little but the capo 
di tutti capo is sending "aid" to Venezuela when he sends in his troops and 
fighter jets? Is Russian imperialism operating on a different wavelength from 
US imperialism? Putin is looking out for the interests of the Russian 
capitalists. Period.

Of course, the article was on far more than just Venezuela, as I've pointed out 
before, and in fact Venezuela is not the only issue that exists on the planet. 
But that's another question.

John Reimann


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Re: [Marxism] How America’s Oldest Gun Maker Went Bankrupt: A Financial Engineering Mystery - The New York Times

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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On 5/9/19 9:25 PM, Louis Proyect via Marxism wrote:


Last fall, a former Remington executive, who asked that his name not be 
used for fear of a backlash, opened the door to his house in Huntsville 
and beckoned me into his study, where we sat on either side of a 
fireplace. A four-volume edition of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” 
bound in dark green leather sat on the mantle, next to Howard Zinn’s “A 
People’s History of the United States” and a copy of the United States 
Constitution.


Turns out the author of this article Tweeted about its arrival in the NY 
Times:


"This tweet has a very limited audience, but I have a piece coming out 
tomorrow that I'm pretty sure will be the first time Andreas Malm is 
mentioned in the NYT."


The Old Mole is digging away.
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[Marxism] How America’s Oldest Gun Maker Went Bankrupt: A Financial Engineering Mystery - The New York Times

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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(Howard Zinn certainly gets around.)

Last fall, a former Remington executive, who asked that his name not be 
used for fear of a backlash, opened the door to his house in Huntsville 
and beckoned me into his study, where we sat on either side of a 
fireplace. A four-volume edition of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” 
bound in dark green leather sat on the mantle, next to Howard Zinn’s “A 
People’s History of the United States” and a copy of the United States 
Constitution.


I had met the executive in a bar in Huntsville, where I was looking for 
a different Remington executive, one who ultimately refused an interview 
because I couldn’t satisfy his condition of getting a prominent American 
war journalist to send him a personal email. This one told me he would 
talk if I showed up at his house the next morning with a Dunkin’ Donuts 
pumpkin latte, which I now set in front of him on his Oriental rug.


He was hired, the executive explained, as the plant was coming online, 
and he was tasked with wrangling together some scattered acquisitions. 
The business was, according to him, “in shambles.” It seemed that the 
companies Cerberus had moved to Alabama had been “bought and forgot.” He 
explained that he was “a realist” about business, a game in which not 
everyone gets “a shiny rose at the end,” but even so he sensed that 
something had gone deeply wrong. Executives were fired at a fast clip. 
Line employees came and went. Parts piled up on the factory floor. Most 
worrying, Cerberus, which was trying to integrate disparate brands — the 
father-son pastoralism of Remington with the urban-militia aesthetic of 
AAC, for instance — seemed to him miserly when it came to marketing. 
“The decisions were all about: Where can I save another dime?” he told me.


Despite all this frenzy, he was certain that Cerberus had somehow made a 
great deal of money on Remington even before opening the Huntsville 
factory. According to him, Cerberus had made “hundreds of millions of 
dollars” almost immediately. “They pulled out all that money up front, 
took as much cash as they could.”


“How?” I said.

He squinted cryptically. “They get their money.”

I realized he didn’t know. I went back and reread Remington’s public 
filings. It was obvious when the debt appeared, in 2012. What wasn’t 
clear was where the money went. I showed the filings to a professor of 
finance. He said it looked as if Cerberus had wound up in debt to 
itself. “Seems like they did something stupid,” he said. “But that can’t 
be right, because they’re not stupid.”


full: 
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/05/01/magazine/remington-guns-jobs-huntsville.html

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[Marxism] Top Sanders adviser embezzled union funds in 2008 - VTDigger

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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https://vtdigger.org/2019/05/09/top-sanders-advisor-embezzled-union-funds-2008/
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[Marxism] Average American worker takes less vacation than a medieval peasant - Business Insider

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Life for the medieval peasant was certainly no picnic. His life was 
shadowed by fear of famine, disease and bursts of warfare. His diet and 
personal hygiene left much to be desired.


But despite his reputation as a miserable wretch, you might envy him one 
thing: his vacations.


https://www.businessinsider.com/american-worker-less-vacation-medieval-peasant-2016-11?

---

"Although their standard of living may not have been particularly 
lavish, the people of precapitalistic northern Europe, like most 
traditional people, enjoyed a great deal of free time. The common people 
maintained innumerable religious holidays that punctuated the tempo of 
work. Joan Thirsk estimated that in the sixteenth and early seventeenth 
centuries, about one-third of the working days, including Sundays, were 
spent in leisure. Karl Kautsky offered a much more extravagant estimate 
that 204 annual holidays were celebrated in medieval Lower Bavaria."


Michael Perelman, "The Invention of Capitalism"
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.372.4137=rep1=pdf
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[Marxism] The wild way to rapid transition – how rewilding can slow climate breakdown, protect from its worst effects and improve biodiversity | Rapid Transition Alliance

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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https://www.rapidtransition.org/stories/the-wild-way-to-rapid-transition-how-rewilding-can-slow-climate-breakdown-protect-from-its-worst-effects-and-improve-biodiversity/
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Re: [Marxism] Regime preservation: How US policy facilitated Assad’s victory

[Steffan Wyn-Jones via Marxism]

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Great work as always. Some of the hyperlinks in the piece don't seem to 
work, or at least I'm having trouble accessing the websites they direct 
to. If you made a word document or pdf with the original web addresses 
of the articles you link to, could I get a copy please? Or perhaps 
you'll be posting it on your academia.edu page?


Once again, thanks for this, and all your work on these topics.

SWJ.


On 08/05/2019 15:13, mkaradjis . via Marxism wrote:

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  Here in my debut on the wonderful al-Jumhuriya site, I have attempted to
comprehensively take apart years of nonsense spouted by pro-Assad writers
(like the epigone version of Ben Norton) about what they claim was some US
role in pushing "regime change" against Assad in Syria, which both denies
the agency of the millions of Syrian people who rose up to overthrow a
tyrannical regime, while also being false to the very core factually. "As
the military conflict in Syria has been largely decided in favor of the
Bashar al-Assad regime, there have been a number of attempts to review the
role of US intervention, or lack thereof, in the Syrian outcome. Late last
year, Washington’s special envoy to Syria, Jim Jeffrey, clarified that
while the US wants to see a regime in Damascus that is “fundamentally
different,” it is nevertheless “not regime change” the US is seeking.
“We're not trying to get rid of Assad.” Much commentary jumped on this as
some kind of major shift in US policy, or a signal the US had “given up” on
regime change. Yet, as will be shown below, the US never had a “regime
change” policy. On the contrary, Washington has always sought a modified
form of regime preservation. Jeffrey’s statement was followed by President
Trump’s announcement of an immediate US withdrawal from Syria. While the
“immediate” was later dropped for reasons of expediency, a more gradual US
withdrawal is still on the cards; a process coinciding with a creeping
rapprochement with Assad by Trump’s Gulf allies, spearheaded by the United
Arab Emirates and Bahrain restoring diplomatic relations with Syria in late
December 2018."
https://aljumhuriya.net/en/content/regime-preservation-how-us-policy-facilitated-assad%E2%80%99s-victory?fbclid=IwAR0ZDa2HWqC4HA0ZP-He2DdgsalCPWcX7xXcgXYamUQnnTfnEedVhdYd-bA
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[Marxism] “If it takes a bloodbath, let’s get it over with” -- When Ronald Reagan sent troops into Berkeley

[Alan Ginsberg via Marxism]

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East Bay Yesterday
May 8, 2019

50 years ago, a group of students, activists and community members
transformed a muddy, junk-filled parking lot into a park. When the
University of California, under heavy pressure from Gov. Ronald Reagan,
tore up the grass and surrounded the land with a heavily-guarded fence,
this response triggered a surreal and tragic set of events. The maelstrom
of violence that engulfed Berkeley in May 1969 would be almost impossible
to believe if the cameras hadn’t been rolling.

Dozens were shot, hundreds were arrested, and thousands were teargassed –
protesters and innocent bystanders alike. During the military occupation of
Berkeley by National Guardsmen, a helicopter launched a chemical attack on
the University campus, children were surrounded by bayonet-wielding
soldiers, and journalists were detained under the supervision of brutally
sadistic guards. Following the upheaval, Gov. Reagan cracked, “If it takes
a bloodbath, let’s get it over with, no more appeasement.”

more text, photos, and audio at
https://eastbayyesterday.com/episodes/if-it-takes-a-bloodbath-lets-get-it-over-with/
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Re: [Marxism] Trump and the reluctance to reckon with something fundamentally new

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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I was going to bow out of this discussion since I felt I had nothing
further to add. But "Russia sending aid"? Really? Does anybody really think
that that reactionary capitalist government, whose head of state is little
but the capo di tutti capo is sending "aid" to Venezuela when he sends in
his troops and fighter jets? Is Russian imperialism operating on a
different wavelength from US imperialism? Putin is looking out for the
interests of the Russian capitalists. Period.

Of course, the article was on far more than just Venezuela, as I've pointed
out before, and in fact Venezuela is not the only issue that exists on the
planet. But that's another question.

John Reimann

On Wed, May 8, 2019 at 9:13 PM Chris Slee  wrote:

> Trump may have changed his rhetoric (no longer talking about invading
> Venezuela), but he has not changed his actual policy (economic blockade).
>
> I suspect the change of rhetoric was mainly due to the failure of Guaido's
> latest coup attempt.  Only a handful of soldiers responded to Guaido's call.
>
> If the Venezuelan army remains united, a US invasion would be very
> costly.  The US has been hoping for a split in the army, in which case US
> forces might intervene in support of the anti-Maduro section.
>
> In the absence of such a split, I think a full scale invasion is
> unlikely.  (Raids across the border are possible)
>
> Trump is continuing the blockade in the hope that a continuing and
> deepening economic crisis in Venezuela will eventually lead to a split in
> the army.  Activists in the United States and its allies should be
> campaigning vigorously to end the blockade.
>
> I don't think Trump's comments welcoming a Russian role in Venezuela are
> very significant.  Short of shooting down Russian planes flying to
> Venezuela, the US can't stop Russia from sending aid, so it doesn't matter
> what Trump says about it.
>
> Chris
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> *From:* John Reimann <1999wild...@gmail.com>
> *Sent:* Thursday, 9 May 2019 10:06 AM
> *To:* Chris Slee
> *Cc:* Activists and scholars in Marxist tradition
> *Subject:* Re: [Marxism] Trump and the reluctance to reckon with
> something fundamentally new
>
> Chris, please quote me accurately, meaning in context. I did not say that
> Trump's blockade is irrelevant; I said that what you raise is irrelevant to
> my main point. In relation to the blockade, my main point was how Trump
> completely changed the tune of his administration (as communicated by
> Bolton and Pompeo) immediately after talking with Putin. THAT was the point.
>
> In any case, there really is a lot more to Trump's foreign policy than
> Venezuela, as I demonstrated in my article.
>
> John Reimann
>
> On Wed, May 8, 2019 at 3:19 PM Chris Slee 
> wrote:
>
> John Reimann says that Trump's economic blockade against Venezuela is
> "irrelevant" in judging whose interests Trump serves.
>
> I think the blockade has been imposed in the interests of the US ruling
> class, which does not want to see left wing governments in Latin America
> that challenge the economic interests of US corporations.
>
> If John thinks that Trump follows instructions from Putin, he has to
> explain why it is in Putin's interest for Venezuela to be blockaded by the
> United States and its allies.
>
> Chris Slee
> --
> *From:* Marxism  on behalf of John
> Reimann via Marxism 
> *Sent:* Wednesday, 8 May 2019 10:46:06 PM
> *To:* Chris Slee
> *Subject:* Re: [Marxism] Trump and the reluctance to reckon with
> something fundamentally new
>
>   POSTING RULES & NOTES  
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> *
>
> To be blunt, the responses of Chris Slee and Richard Fidler to this article
> are perfect examples of exactly what I was raising: The failure of
> socialists to absorb what is happening in US politics. The failure to
> consider that the way capitalism has ruled in the US ever since the Civil
> War is undergoing a basic shift. (Disclaimer: Please note that I'm not
> saying it's all the way there, but just the fact that we've gone this far
> is huge.)
>
> Venezuela is only one small part of this issue. And in any case, what Chris
> Slee raises concerning Trump's Venezuela policy is really irrelevant to the
> main point I was making.
>
> Marxists, above all others, are supposed to be looking at the big picture.
>
> John Reimann
>
> --
> *“In politics, abstract terms 

Re: [Marxism] CIA polices weapons entry to Syria as spooks invade Turkey

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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On 5/9/19 11:05 AM, DW via Marxism wrote:

The article appears to be behind a pay wall.


The Australian
August 13, 2012 Monday, 1 - All-round Country Edition
CIA polices weapons entry to Syria as the spooks invade Turkey
Byline: JOHN FOLLAIN, TONY ALLEN-MILLS, ISTANBUL WASHINGTON


DESPITE mounting calls in Washington for a more aggressive US military 
role in Syria, the CIA has been quietly working along its northern 
border with Turkey to limit the supplies of weapons and ammunition 
reaching rebel forces, Syrian opposition officials say.


``Not one bullet enters Syria without US approval,'' one official 
complained in Istanbul. ``The Americans want the (rebellion) to 
continue, but they are not allowing enough supplies in to make the 
Damascus regime fall.''


Details of the CIA's policing activities offer a rare insight into the 
complex struggle for regional advantage that is rapidly developing at 
the margins of the Syrian civil war. Conducted mostly by clandestine 
agents from the US, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Iran, the conflict 
has turned Turkey's rugged border provinces into a hotbed of arms 
dealers, spies and would-be fighters.


Over the past 10 months, a Syrian opposition official told The Sunday 
Times, the CIA has blocked shipments of heavy anti-tank and 
anti-aircraft weapons, which rebel units of the Free Syrian Army have 
long said are vital to their efforts to overthrow the regime of 
President Bashar al-Assad. At the same time they have approved supplies 
of AK-47 Kalashnikov rifles, and just over a month ago gave the green 
light to a shipment of 10,000 Russian-made rocket-propelled grenades.


``The weapons are being carried across the border on donkeys,'' the 
official said.


Since the fall to rebel forces of Azaz, a Syrian town near the Turkish 
border, guns have begun to arrive by truck.


The weapons are either bought on the black market in Istanbul or 
supplied by the rebels' allies in Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.


``Qatar sends money and usually says `Go and buy what you want','' the 
official said.


``The Turks just give the weapons free of charge, especially light 
anti-tank weapons.''


Yet rebel frustration is mounting at the CIA's reluctance to allow heavy 
weaponry across the border for fear that it may eventually be used 
against America's allies.


``The RPGs aren't enough,'' the opposition official said. ``You have to 
be close to the tank to make any impact, and often the fighter using it 
gets killed.''


The CIA's activities highlight a contradiction in Washington's approach 
to Syria. While President Barack Obama's administration supports the 
rebel uprising, has called for Assad to step down and is supplying 
opposition forces with millions of dollars in non-lethal aid, it has 
shied from a more forcible military intervention.


Suggestions that Washington was deliberately prolonging the conflict 
while it attempted to identify a friendly successor to Assad were 
described by one former CIA official as ``a little too Machiavellian''.


Bob Grenier, a former director of the CIA counter-terrorism centre, said 
the CIA's policing activities along the border were intended to protect 
the administration from future embarrassment if the rebel groups it 
supported turned out to be hostile to Israel or the US should they gain 
power. ``It would not be good if it was later established that weapons 
reached people identified with al-Qa'ida, and we could have done 
something about it,'' he said.


He described the administration's current policy as ``hiding behind the 
CIA''.


Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, said in Turkey on Saturday 
that measures to assist the rebels, including the possible imposition of 
a no-fly zone, were being considered.


``It is one thing to talk about all kinds of potential actions, but

you cannot make reasoned decisions without doing intense analysis and 
operational planning,'' she said.


CIA agents have been active along the border, trying to prevent 
jihadists sympathetic to al-Qa'ida from joining the Syrian fray.


``The CIA vetoes al-Qa'ida and it's not very keen on the Muslim 
Brotherhood,'' a Syrian opposition official said.


Khaled Khoja, from the opposition Syrian National Council, said American 
fears of an Islamist takeover were unfounded.


``Islamists in Syria are a very minor group, no more than 2000 soldiers 
compared with more than 100,000 FSA members,'' he said.


``They can be controlled. This won't be a new Iraq (where US forces 
found themselves confronted by Islamic insurgents).''


With both the CIA and Israel's Mossad trying to locate Syria's 
stockpiles of chemical and 

Re: [Marxism] CIA polices weapons entry to Syria as spooks invade Turkey

[mkaradjis . via Marxism]

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I deal extensively with the question of the TOW missiles in my article. Re
the US embargo on anti-tank weapons, yeh this article Louis posted was from
2012 when US spooks turned up on the borders to prevent anti-tank and
anti-aircraft weapons getting to the rebels. The first TOW anti-tank
weapons were received by some rebel groups in April 2014, ie, that embargo
was lifted 2 years later. My article thoroughly goes through the whole
story oft he rise and fall of the TOW, the restrictions on them, and the US
cut-off of them once it was clear the rebels refused to give up the fight
against Assad and direct all their fire against ISIS.
The offensive you refer to where rebels took out a lot of Assad tanks with
TOWS was early 2015 (certainly not 2016, by which time the program was well
and truly shut down). In my opinion, this relatively one-off success was
due to other factors of the moment. As you say, the total number of TOW
ATGMs (anti-tank guided missiles) distributed to the rebels over 2014-15 is
reckoned to be about 1000. It is difficult for me to figure out how
decisive that could be considering the regime itself had some 5000 ATGMs -
as well as the 9000 or so tanks and armoured vehicles.

On Fri, May 10, 2019 at 1:07 AM DW via Marxism 
wrote:

>   POSTING RULES & NOTES  
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> *
>
> The article appears to be behind a pay wall.
>
> I've argued that the concept of regime change in Syria was given lie
> because of these bans on MANPADS (surface to air missiles) and other
> heavier weapons...and the fact that the US could easily have destroyed the
> Syrian armed forces in about a week, at least enough for an early victory
> by the rebels.
>
> However, the CIA did, through Qatar or S. Arabia, provide many Tow II
> anti-tank weapons, which disabled around 18 Syrian T-55 and T-72 tanks
> (most of which were returned to service) in 2016. There are youtube videos
> of this available. [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvVd1e8Gwug ], I
> can't
> remember what year this was. But...the Syrian Army has one of the largest
> armored equipped armies on the entire planet with close to 5,000 armored
> vehicles with at least 3000 of that being heavy tanks (mostly T-55s, now
> obsolete but fine for urban warfare it seems). But total number of TOW
> anti-tank missiles are much higher according to this recent article:
>
> https://www.newsweek.com/us-military-targeted-own-missiles-middle-eeast-1277293
> It seems that there were over 1000 TOW missile launchers given to the
> rebels in Syria. So the US via it's Arab state allies provided the
> missiles. But...
>
> The problem then really lies in the obvious lack of anything else such as
> command and control, access to satellite intelligence, MANPADS and even
> heavy machine guns to down helicopters and Russian fighter jets. Zip. Zero.
> There ARE YouTube vids of rebels using MANPADS to shoot down choppers and
> jets early on in the civil war but these were all taken from the Syrian
> arsenal by deserting Syrian troops. They are clearly Igla surface to air
> missiles being used by the rebels.
>
> So it goes again to motivation of by the US to supply some, but not enough,
> heavy defensive and offensive weapons by the CIA/NATO/EU.
>
> David
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[Marxism] CIA polices weapons entry to Syria as spooks invade Turkey

[DW via Marxism]

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The article appears to be behind a pay wall.

I've argued that the concept of regime change in Syria was given lie
because of these bans on MANPADS (surface to air missiles) and other
heavier weapons...and the fact that the US could easily have destroyed the
Syrian armed forces in about a week, at least enough for an early victory
by the rebels.

However, the CIA did, through Qatar or S. Arabia, provide many Tow II
anti-tank weapons, which disabled around 18 Syrian T-55 and T-72 tanks
(most of which were returned to service) in 2016. There are youtube videos
of this available. [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvVd1e8Gwug ], I can't
remember what year this was. But...the Syrian Army has one of the largest
armored equipped armies on the entire planet with close to 5,000 armored
vehicles with at least 3000 of that being heavy tanks (mostly T-55s, now
obsolete but fine for urban warfare it seems). But total number of TOW
anti-tank missiles are much higher according to this recent article:
https://www.newsweek.com/us-military-targeted-own-missiles-middle-eeast-1277293
It seems that there were over 1000 TOW missile launchers given to the
rebels in Syria. So the US via it's Arab state allies provided the
missiles. But...

The problem then really lies in the obvious lack of anything else such as
command and control, access to satellite intelligence, MANPADS and even
heavy machine guns to down helicopters and Russian fighter jets. Zip. Zero.
There ARE YouTube vids of rebels using MANPADS to shoot down choppers and
jets early on in the civil war but these were all taken from the Syrian
arsenal by deserting Syrian troops. They are clearly Igla surface to air
missiles being used by the rebels.

So it goes again to motivation of by the US to supply some, but not enough,
heavy defensive and offensive weapons by the CIA/NATO/EU.

David
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[Marxism] As States Race to Limit Abortions, Alabama Goes Further, Seeking to Outlaw Most of Them

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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NY Times, May 9, 2019
As States Race to Limit Abortions, Alabama Goes Further, Seeking to 
Outlaw Most of Them

By Timothy Williams and Alan Blinder

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Amid a flurry of new limits on abortion being sought 
in states around the nation, Alabama is weighing a measure that would go 
further than all of them — outlawing most abortions almost entirely.


The effort in Alabama, where the State Senate could vote as soon as 
Thursday, is unfolding as Republicans, emboldened by President Trump and 
the shifting alignment of the Supreme Court, intensify a long-running 
campaign to curb abortion access.


Yet the Alabama measure is also a departure from the incremental 
strategy that abortion critics have often pursued: There is nothing 
gradual about the sweeping ban that the state’s lawmakers are considering.


Alabama’s measure would effectively ban most abortions at every stage of 
pregnancy, from conception on, and would criminalize the procedure for 
doctors. A doctor could be charged with a felony, and face up to 99 
years in prison, for performing an abortion in most circumstances; a 
doctor could risk a 10-year prison term for attempting an abortion. Some 
exceptions were being considered, including provisions added to the 
measure on Wednesday that would allow abortions in cases of rape or incest.


“The back door hasn’t worked, I’ll just tell you,” said Representative 
Rich Wingo, a Republican from Tuscaloosa County and an architect of the 
Alabama legislation, which the State House approved last month. “Other 
methods haven’t worked to date. This is a yes or no, up or down.”


Some measures in other states have tested the boundaries of court 
protections for abortion in various ways. But the expansive Alabama 
legislation stands in direct opposition to the Supreme Court’s landmark 
Roe v. Wade ruling of 1973, which legalized abortion up to the point 
when a fetus is viable outside the womb, usually about 24 weeks into a 
pregnancy.


As with the long list of abortion limits being weighed in other places, 
the Alabama measure is aimed at reaching the Supreme Court, where 
conservatives have been buoyed by the arrival of Justice Brett M. 
Kavanaugh. Alabama Republicans say they want the court to re-examine the 
core issues in Roe.


“Our position is just simply that the unborn child is a person, and the 
bill goes directly to that,” Mr. Wingo said. “Courts can do — and have 
done — many things good and bad, but we would hope and pray that they 
would go and that they would overturn Roe.”


The differing tactics of abortion opponents have been on display this 
year, as new abortion restrictions have sped through statehouses in the 
South and Midwest. On Tuesday, Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia signed a 
so-called heartbeat bill that essentially bans abortions after six weeks 
of pregnancy — a time when many women do not yet know they are pregnant. 
Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio have passed similar laws this year, and 
legislators in South Carolina and Tennessee considered comparable 
restrictions.


Other states have taken more limited steps. Arkansas reduced by two 
weeks the time frame in which a woman can have an abortion legally. 
Missouri legislators have been considering an array of new limits.


“This legislative session could turn out to be the most harmful for 
women’s health in decades,” said Leana Wen, president of the Planned 
Parenthood Federation of America.


The proposal in Alabama, where voters amended the state Constitution 
last year to declare that the “public policy of this state is to 
recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of 
unborn children, including the right to life,” is the latest 
far-reaching measure with a reasonable prospect of passing.


On Wednesday, a committee of the State Senate sent the measure on to the 
full Senate, after amending it to include exceptions for cases of rape 
or incest — exceptions that were not in the version of the bill the 
State House passed. The House version allowed an exception only in the 
case of a “serious health risk” to the mother.


Elsewhere, abortion opponents have urged states to adopt rules like 
waiting periods and mandatory counseling, with the notion that some 
limits are better than none. “My philosophy is, you throw spaghetti up 
against the wall and you see what sticks,” said Tom McClusky, president 
of March for Life Action, a private nonprofit advocacy group.


But in Alabama, abortion critics said that a piecemeal approach has 
proved inadequate. Eric Johnston, president of the Alabama Pro-Life 
Coalition and a lawyer who drafted much of the pending bill, said that 
more 

[Marxism] Anti-Kurdish protests in east Syria could endanger US plans

[RKOB via Marxism]

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https://apnews.com/3314a11ddb2b40fdbfbe689d812fa080

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[Marxism] National Liberation in an International Context

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Review of Helena Sheehan autobiography.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/05/06/national-liberation-in-an-international-context/
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[Marxism] CIA polices weapons entry to Syria as spooks invade Turkey

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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(For years now, I have been posting excerpts from a WSJ article written 
in 2012 about the CIA blocking MANPADs from reaching the Syrian rebels 
from Libya. It was only now that I discovered from Michael Karadjis's 
article that it was also blocking anti-tank weapons. So, when Assadists 
used to "explain" the embargo on MANPADs being dictated by the need to 
protect civilian airliners, I should have asked them whether tanks were 
being used to bus children to school in Damascus. Given the mindset of 
Max Blumenthal, Vanessa Beeley, et al, I am surprised that I didn't get 
such an argument.)


The Australian, August 13, 2012
CIA polices weapons entry to Syria as the spooks invade Turkey
Byline: JOHN FOLLAIN, TONY ALLEN-MILLS, ISTANBUL WASHINGTON

DESPITE mounting calls in Washington for a more aggressive US military 
role in Syria, the CIA has been quietly working along its northern 
border with Turkey to limit the supplies of weapons and ammunition 
reaching rebel forces, Syrian opposition officials say.


``Not one bullet enters Syria without US approval,'' one official 
complained in Istanbul. ``The Americans want the (rebellion) to 
continue, but they are not allowing enough supplies in to make the 
Damascus regime fall.''


Details of the CIA's policing activities offer a rare insight into the 
complex struggle for regional advantage that is rapidly developing at 
the margins of the Syrian civil war. Conducted mostly by clandestine 
agents from the US, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Iran, the conflict 
has turned Turkey's rugged border provinces into a hotbed of arms 
dealers, spies and would-be fighters.


Over the past 10 months, a Syrian opposition official told The Sunday 
Times, the CIA has blocked shipments of heavy anti-tank and 
anti-aircraft weapons, which rebel units of the Free Syrian Army have 
long said are vital to their efforts to overthrow the regime of 
President Bashar al-Assad. At the same time they have approved supplies 
of AK-47 Kalashnikov rifles, and just over a month ago gave the green 
light to a shipment of 10,000 Russian-made rocket-propelled grenades.


https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/cia-polices-weapons-entry-to-syria-as-spooks-invade-turkey/news-story/4209b7f1bce83979b8af29edb1128681
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[Marxism] The Comintern debates the United Front | John Riddell

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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https://johnriddell.wordpress.com/2019/05/05/the-comintern-debates-the-united-front/
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[Marxism] Support Ken Silverstein's Investigation of Sen. Marco Rubio!

[Andrew Stewart via Marxism]

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Are you disgusted with the imperial bluster of the Trump administration toward 
the Bolivarian revolution and the people of Venezuela? Want to see Ken go after 
the beating heart of it all and take no prisoners as he rakes the muck? Then 
pledge to support his $1,200 investigation of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a truly 
disgusting individual who has played a key role in the attack. With ports of 
call in Washington, Miami, and Caracas, we need YOU to help put the 
shoe-leather onto the pavement with this one, folks.

So please, SHARE this on social media platforms and promote it to all your 
like-minded friends. If you are a podcaster, consider including some or all of 
the audio version of this spot on your show (see links below). If you run any 
sort of newsletter or blog, please help us out by giving us a plug. Any and all 
help is appreciated!


https://www.patreon.com/posts/26716071


Best regards,
Andrew Stewart 
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[Marxism] Eric Hobsbawm, the Communist Who Explained History | The New Yorker

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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https://www.newyorker.com/books/under-review/eric-hobsbawm-the-communist-who-explained-history
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[Marxism] Panama City Rally: Trump Laughs at Supporter’s Proposal to Shoot Immigrants

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-laughs-at-supporters-proposal-to-shoot-immigrants
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[Marxism] Williams College student government rejects pro-Israel group

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/05/09/williams-college-student-government-rejects-pro-israel-group
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[Marxism] Until the Next Crash | Online Only | n+1

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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ADAM TOOZE BEGINS Crashed, his chronicle of the financial crisis and its 
aftermath, in New York City in the fall of 2008, when Wall Street was in 
full panic. Yet Tooze opens the narrative not on the trading floors but 
at the United Nations. There, one national leader after another leapt to 
the floor to attribute the crisis to the US and its model of unregulated 
free-market capitalism. The problem with this criticism, Tooze says, was 
that the 2008 financial crisis was inherently global.


https://nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/until-the-next-crash/
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[Marxism] Who owns antibiotics? | Science and Society | The Morning Star

[Kevin Lindemann and Cathy Campo via Marxism]

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/who-owns-antibiotics


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