This
weekly email contains a few useful articles on Venezuela and ALBA
Countries that contain bite-sized dose of the truth so that you can
fight the disinformation in your own community, that so much of the
media, including alternative media are putting out.
It
is AfGJ's conviction that we in the US defend Venezuela's sovereignty
and recognize that the Bolivarian Revolution has improved the lives of
its citizens, led the movement toward Latin America integration, and is
building participatory democracy structures that are an example for us
in the US as well. -AfGJ staff
AFGJ
Friends – we would like to include statements, events, and actions in
solidarity with Venezuela. If you are aware of any or are planning any,
please send them to us: stansfieldsmith100@gmail.com. These may also be used as part of the redesigned international solidarity page on Venezuelanalysis.com
A message came through from Syria on my mobile phone last week.
“General Khadour kept his promise,” it read. I knew what it meant.
Five years ago, I met Mohamed Khadour, who was commanding a few
Syrian soldiers in a small suburb of Aleppo, under fire from Islamist
fighters in the east of the city. At the time, he showed me his map.
He’d recapture these streets in 11 days, he said.
And then in July this year, I met Khadour again, far out in the east
of the Syrian desert. He was, he said, going to enter the besieged city
of Deir ez-Zor before the end of August. I reminded him, a trifle
cruelly, that the last time he told me he’d recapture part of Aleppo in
11 days, it took the Syrian army more than four years to retake. That
was long ago, he said. In those days, the army had not learned to fight
in a guerrilla war. The army were trained to retake Golan and defend
Damascus. But they had learned now.
The five-year long regime change effort in Syria may soon be over and
the United States and its allies will be the losers. The Syrian Arab
Army broke the siege of Deir Ezzor, which was one of the last Daesh
strongholds in the country.
The neocon plot for American hegemony was hatched during the George
W. Bush administration but was happily continued by Barack Obama and his
Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. Fresh from their evil success in
Libya, they thought the same combination of Arab monarchs and jihadists
could dislodge Bashar al Assad and achieve the goal of destroying the
few secular Arab governments still in power. But fortunately for
humanity, Assad hung on long enough and the Russian Federation finally
decided to back up their ally with military help.
It is good news that this war may soon be over. The United States and
its allies committed a terrible crime against the Syrian people and
five million of them were forced to flee their country to escape this
latest example of state sponsored terrorism. There is no downside to
Assad making good on his promise to take back his country from American
sponsored jihadists.
“The United States and its allies committed a terrible crime against the Syrian people.”
Israeli Warplanes Fired Missiles From Lebanese Airspace
Israeli warplanes carried out an overnight attack against a Syrian military base in the Hama Province, causing considerable damage to the facility and killing at least two people. Syria confirmed the incident, but Israel has yet to officially comment.
21st Century Wire says… How many of us can truly say we have witnessed such
exhilarating history in the making? Footage of the Syrian Arab Army and
their allies entering the city of Deir Ezzor has just been released. Yet
another one of the brutal and punishing sieges maintained by ISIS and
assorted US coalition armed and funded extremist forces has had its back
broken by the SAA and the stubborn resistance of the Syrian people. We
are witnessing the end of our existing global order, the victory of
Truth over Force and asymmetric power and the birth of a new
geopolitical paradigm.
Our endless gratitude should be extended to the brave people of Syria
for the gift they have given to Humanity – the proof that resistance
will prevail despite all the odds against them. The following video was
posted by independent Aleppo MP, Fares Shehabi, on Facebook. Watch ~
“Within minutes of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) lifting the siege
on Deir Ezzor city, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad contacted three top
Syrian commanders, all of whom played a major role in the victory, via
phone.
According to reports, the Syrian president spoke with Rafiq
Shahada (who is Deir Ezzor’s Chief of Security), Hasan Muhammad
(commander of the 17th Reserve Division, whose men were the first to
reach Syrian forces in Deir Ezzor) and Isaam Zahreddine (the
operational commander of all forces in Deir Ezzor).
In the phone conversation, President al-Assad congratulated the
three commanders for the historic victory which they have now achieved.
Whilst commanders Rafiq Shahada and Isaam Zahreddine played-out
the role of protecting Deir Ezzor and its residents from relentless
attacks by besieging ISIS forces over the last three years, Hasan
Muhammad, the commander of the 17th Reserve Division, led the vanguard
Syrian Army units which officially lifted the siege on the city.”
Hezbollah co-leader: US nurtured ISIS monster against Syrian govt, now has to fight them
September 09, 2017
The Intercept Mistranslates Assad Speech - Smears Syria As Neo-Nazi
There have long been attempts in the anti-Syrian media to claim
alignment of the socialist and anti-sectarian Syrian government with
western fascist and religious supremacist elements. The latest in this
propaganda genre is the just published Intercept piece Why White Nationalists Love Bashar al-Assad.
The Intercept is a rather dubious news outlet
founded by Pierre Omidyar, a major owner of the auctioning site eBay
and its PayPal banking division. It most recent remarkable moment was
its betrayal of a NSA whistle-blower who fatuously had trusted The Intercept to act professionally:
The Interceptpublished
a leaked five page NSA analysis about alleged Russian interference in
the 2016 U.S. elections. Its reporting outed the leaker of the NSA
documents. That person, R.L. Winner, has now been arrested and is likely to be jailed for years if not for the rest of her life.
As we noted back in June when the above incident happened:
The Intercept pieces are usually heavily
editorialized and tend to have a mainstream "liberal" to libertarian
slant. Some are highly partisan anti-Syrian/pro-regime change propaganda. [...] Some of its later prominent hires (Ken Silverstein, Matt Taibbi) soon left and alleged that the place was run in a chaotic atmosphere and with improper and highly politicized editing.
Investigation: White Helmets Committing Acts Of Terror Across Syria
The supposedly Syrian NGO White Helmets were established in
Turkey, not in Syria. They are largely trained in Turkey and Jordan,
not inside Syria. They were established in March 2013 by a British
ex-military officer with $300,000 in seed funding from Japan, the U.K.
and the U.S.
Israel Launches ‘Humanitarian’ Air Strikes On Syria, Assad Plays The Waiting Game
The move has made it clear that Israel remains deeply
uncomfortable with the Syrian Army’s overwhelming momentum of late and
seeks to keep the fires burning in Syria.
Losing in Syria, the US will target Russia more than ever
Finian Cunningham (born 1963) has written extensively on
international affairs, with articles published in several languages.
Originally from Belfast, Ireland, he is a Master’s graduate in
Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal
Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in
newspaper journalism. For over 20 years he worked as an editor and
writer in major news media organizations, including The Mirror, Irish
Times and Independent. Now a freelance journalist based in East Africa,
his columns appear on RT, Sputnik, Strategic Culture Foundation and
Press TV.
The spectacular victory this week for Syrian state forces and
allies liberating Deir ez-Zor portends an end to the war. But
celebrations should be tempered by the realization that the enemies of
Syria will shift their agenda for conflict elsewhere.
If we
segregate the many protagonists in Syria’s conflict, the two main rivals
to emerge from the melee are the United States and Russia. Russia may
have gained the upper hand in Syria. But, ironically, winning the peace
in Syria may unleash wars elsewhere.
The West’s counter-ISIS efforts cost Iraq and Syria dearly
Dr Alexander Yakovenko, Russian Ambassador to the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Deputy foreign minister
(2005-2011).
Follow him on Twitter @Amb_Yakovenko
According to the UN, mass media, and NGOs, as a result of air
and artillery strikes by the US-led counter-ISIS coalition in Syria,
hundreds, perhaps thousands, of civilians have died.
The
number of refugees and temporarily displaced persons from Raqqa has
reached 200,000. At present, there are still 25,000-40,000 civilians in
the city, which until 2013 was inhabited by almost 300,000 people.
Washington, Tel Aviv Love to See Arabs Fighting Each Other: US Activist
News ID: 1511928 Service: World
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A prominent anti-war activist based in California
highlighted the role of the US and Israel in creating conflicts in the
Middle East and said the two that form an “axis of evil” love to see
Arabs fighting each other.
“The US-Israeli
axis of evil encourage and love to see Arabs and other regional players
fighting each other to weaken the position of the popular governments in
the region to strengthen the position of the paranoid-Zionist state of
Israel,” Cindy Lee Miller Sheehan said in an interview with the Tasnim
News Agency.
Cindy Lee Miller Sheehan, whose son, US Army
Specialist Casey Sheehan, was killed during the Iraq War, attracted
national and international media attention in August 2005 for her
extended anti-war protest at a makeshift camp outside President George
W. Bush's Texas ranch—a stand that drew both passionate support and
criticism. Sheehan ran for Congress in 2008. Her memoir, Peace Mom: A
Mother's Journey Through Heartache to Activism, was published in 2006.
Sheehan was the 2012 vice-presidential nominee of the Peace and Freedom
Party.
The full text of the interview is as follows:
Tasnim: As you may know, recent airstrikes
by the Saudi-led coalition near the Yemeni capital have killed about 60
people, including dozens of civilians, and injured many others after
hitting a hotel in Arhab, 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of Sana’a. A
recent report authored by several international aid agencies said Yemen
suffered more airstrikes in the first half of this year than in the
whole of 2016, increasing the number of civilian deaths and forcing more
people to flee their homes. In your opinion, why has the Saudi regime
decided to increase the airstrikes, hitting civilian targets?
Sheehan:
It is important to always emphasize (especially to those in the West)
that without the encouragement, support, and permission of the US-Israel
cabal, Saudi Arabia would not be able to continue its program of terror
against Yemen.
There are, of course, many reasons that Saudi
Arabia is allowing itself to be used as a willing puppet/proxy of the US
and Israel, but increasing attacks on innocent civilians is a
time-tested and unfortunately successful strategy that has been employed
by the US empire and the Zionist state of Israel for many years.
Targeting
civilians helps to spread fear among the population and shows that the
dominant force (in this case the corrupt Saudis) will stop at nothing to
have its goals accomplished: to not allow the popular revolution of
Ansarullah to succeed. The US-Israeli axis of evil encourage and love to
see Arabs and other regional players fighting each other to weaken the
position of the popular governments in the region to strengthen the
position of the paranoid-Zionist state of Israel.
Tasnim:
Newly-leaked emails written by two former top US officials have shown
that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and defense minister Mohammed bin
Salman “wants out” of the war he started in Yemen. The Saudi regime has
reached none of its objectives in Yemen. In 2015, the kingdom had a
record budget deficit of almost $100 billion, prompting it to rein in
public spending in a bid to save money. Why is the regime continuing its
attacks on the Arabian Peninsula country despite its failures and
cash-strapped economy? What do you think about the future of the war?
Sheehan:
Saudi Arabia seems to have a lot invested in oppressing its own
citizens and those of its regional neighbors. Yemen is in a strategic
place on the Arab Peninsula and how can the repressive Saudis actually
have a progressive democracy right next door?
Tasnim: The
Saudi blockades on Yemen's ports and airspace has caused a human
tragedy. According to the World Health Organization, Yemen is facing the
"world's worst cholera outbreak". The WHO recently said the total
number of suspected cholera cases in Yemen this year hit the half a
million mark, and nearly 2000 people have died since the outbreak began
to spread rapidly at the end of April. Why have the international
organizations, particularly the UN, remained passive in the face of the
ongoing Saudi atrocities?
Sheehan: The
cholera outbreak and other humanitarian crises caused by the Axis of
Evil’s atrocities in Yemen are indeed very troubling, but not as
troubling as the lack of UN/world outrage against them.
Israel has
created a very powerful narrative since the occupation of Palestine
nearly 70 years ago: The atrocities committed on Jewish people by Nazis
in WWII were so great that Israel “deserves” its own homeland carved out
of the land and flesh of the Palestinian people. If Israel has to
participate in atrocities or condone atrocities by others (the Saudis),
then, that is unfortunate, but a small price to pay for Israel’s
security in the region.
What does this have to do with the crisis
in Yemen? Very few state leaders, and the UN Security Council (with veto
power of the US), will criticize Israel, or its policies in any way.
Israel wants the Saudis to destroy Yemen, just like Libya, Afghanistan,
and Iraq have been destroyed (as the Axis of Evil are also working on
Syria and Yemen), so there will be no outcry from so-called world
leaders or corporate media, consequently, no corresponding mass outcry
from the public.
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones was an extremely radical labor organizer who was "born in revolution" in Cork County, Ireland in 1837. A dressmaker in Memphis at the time, profound tragedy struck her in 1867 as her husband George Harris and her four children (all under aged 5) died of a yellow fever epidemic. I stand in awe of her strength and courage after burying one of my children almost destroyed me.
After her husband and children died, Mother Jones moved to Chicago to open another dressmaking business, but then it was destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire.
She went on to belong to the radical Knights of Labor which folded after Haymarket, then she went on to work with the Socialist Party of America and help found the Wobblies (International Workers of the World: IWW) and worked with the Mine Workers to help organize poor and beleaguered mine workers in the Appalachians.
When I rode my bike across the country in 2013, our Tour de Peace
Photo Courtesy, Tour de Peace
stopped in Mount Olive, Illinois to pay our respects to this "most dangerous woman in America" at her burial site where mine workers raised thousands of dollars to erect a very beautiful, yet powerful monument to honor their "mother."
After our ride through Mount Olive, I was talking about the experience of visiting her monument and a person in the audience approached me afterwards to tell me that the song "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain" is about Mother Jones: a factoid that I was not familiar with. Lyrics to the song include the verse, "She'll be wearin' red pajamas when she comes," which refers to her affiliation with socialism.
I've read that at times, Mother Jones was profane, witty, and a very inspirational speaker who worked overtime to improve working conditions of not only miners, but also children as she led the "March of the Mill" children in 1901 from Pennsylvania to the doors of President Theodore Roosevelt. Although Roosevelt (of course) refused to meet with them, the March brought much needed attention to the conditions of child labor and the fact that in the 1900 US census, it was revealed that 1/6 of all children under the age of 16 were employed.
Mother Jones, like contemporary labor giant, Eugene V. Debs, was not perfect, but she organized so many strikes and other actions for her "boys" that she was bound to make mistakes, however; her accomplishments are legendary.
Over the past several decades, hard won victories of labor have been slowly eroded by both Republicans who never pretended to be pro-labor and Democrats who are more treacherous in their dealings with labor.
At a time when most "big" labor unions here in the US have become reactionary tools of the Democrat Party, today, on Labor Day, we can look back on the life of Mary Harris Jones and other radical labor activists and marvel at her strength and commitment to improve conditions and the lives of all workers.
I believe the most famous quote attributed to Mother Jones is, "Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living."
As a Radical Granny myself, I will strive to internalize those words, especially on a day like today!
A weekly digest to distribute alternative (anti-imperialist) analysis to the propaganda about the
ongoing conflict in Syria.
Russia Responds to Netanyahu’s Ultimatum in Syria With a Warning to Israel
September 1, 2017
(ANTIMEDIA) — Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Russian
President Vladimir Putin in person that Israel will not tolerate an
Iranian military presence in Syria that threatens Israeli interests.
Netanyahu also stated that Israel is prepared to take action in Syria to
curb the alleged threat.
At the time, Putin did not respond specifically to Israel’s issue
with Iran. This provided some uncertainty regarding Russia’s position on
the current conflict given Russia views Iran as a strategic ally.
At the same time, however, Russia would likely not want to be dragged
into a regional spat between Israel and the Islamic Republic.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is pushing the panic button over the
collapse of the Saudi-Israeli jihadist proxies in Syria and now
threatening to launch a major air war, as ex-British diplomat Alastair
Crooke describes.
By Alastair Crooke
A very senior Israeli intelligence delegation, a week ago, visited
Washington. Then, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu broke into
President Putin’s summer holiday to meet him in Sochi, where, according
to a senior Israeli government official (as cited in the Jerusalem Post),
Netanyahu threatened to bomb the Presidential Palace in Damascus, and
to disrupt and nullify the Astana cease-fire process, should Iran
continue to “extend its reach in Syria.”
Russia’s Pravda wrote,
“according to eyewitnesses of the open part of the talks, the Israeli
prime minister was too emotional and at times even close to panic. He
described a picture of the apocalypse to the Russian president that the
world may see, if no efforts are taken to contain Iran, which, as
Netanyahu believes, is determined to destroy Israel.”
News Analysis: Beginning of end of Syria war could be closer than ever with IS collapse
Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-04 05:36:14|Editor: Lu Hui
by Hummam Sheikh Ali
DAMASCUS, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- The end of the Syrian
war seems around the corner with the near collapse of the Islamic State
(IS) group and the change of the international stance toward President
Bashar al-Assad, experts say.
This
weekly email contains a few useful articles on Venezuela and ALBA
Countries that contain bite-sized dose of the truth so that you can
fight the disinformation in your own community, that so much of the
media, including alternative media are putting out.
It
is AfGJ's conviction that we in the US defend Venezuela's sovereignty
and recognize that the Bolivarian Revolution has improved the lives of
its citizens, led the movement toward Latin America integration, and is
building participatory democracy structures that are an example for us
in the US as well. -AfGJ staff
AFGJ
Friends – we would like to include statements, events, and actions in
solidarity with Venezuela. If you are aware of any or are planning any,
please send them to us: stansfieldsmith100@gmail.com. These may also be used as part of the redesigned international solidarity page on Venezuelanalysis.com
