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There are some bloggers who are part of certain small sectarian groups and/or have gone on Syrian-government-sponsored tours who call themselves "independent journalists," but they essentially embrace the Syrian government's line and have little credibility. (In these tours, participants rely on government-provided translators, cannot interview anyone independently without a government minder present, only visit areas under government control and do not meet with any genuine dissidents.) ……. The Syrian government is essentially a family dictatorship rooted in the anti-leftist military wing of the Ba'ath Party. Virtually the only "liberalization" that has taken place under the younger Assad has been economic, privatizing once-public assets to various crony capitalists who pledge fealty to the regime. Just because the United States and other Western governments oppose a particular leader out of their hypocritical imperialist interests doesn't thereby make that leader "progressive." …… *Seymour Hersh has just reported that Trump knew of the Assad "false flag" concerning chemical weapons and bombed Syria anyway. This is not to mean that Assad doesn't terrorize his own people, but was this simply done to show that Trump is a "tough guy"?* I've been a fan of Sy Hersh for decades, but I've actually been pretty skeptical of much of his reporting on Syria. Evidence of Syrian government culpability in both chemical weapons attacks is pretty strong (including from credible non-US sources which have also been critical of war crimes by the United States and its allies). Regarding Hersh's article in Die Welt <https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article165905578/Trump-s-Red-Line.html>, I generally find evidence from medical professionals, forensic experts, independent strategic analysts and reputable human rights groups more credible than a single article rejected by the journal that originally assigned it because they found it based primarily on unnamed sources, and therefore unconvincing. http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/41207-how-syria-divides-the-left-an-interview-with-middle-east-scholar-steven-zunes _________________________________________________________ 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
