We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Friday, September 22, 2017

The Kurdish Question: Why Federalization In Syria And The Creation of A Kurdistan Is A Very Bad Idea

Click here to access article by Brandon Turbeville from Activist Post

It is obvious that the US has long abandoned Plan A to get rid of President Assad of Syria and install a more compliant puppet as head of state. Now it's Plan B executed by the US's terrorist strategists in the CIA and Israel's Mossad. This is convincingly argued in this lengthy article in which Turbeville adds numerous quotes from other independent journalists and observers to bolster his argument. 
Shortly after the Russian entrance to the Syrian theatre, American media became full of stories praising the heroism of the Kurdish fighters battling against ISIS in areas such as Ayn al-Arab (Kobane) and others. From stories promoting the fighting prowess of the Kurdish brigades to cleverly created propaganda campaigns regarding female Kurdish fighters, the Western press, including the alternative media, was full of stories telling Americans that the Kurds were the real victims and the real heroes of the crisis. This propaganda campaign came about the same time that the Syrian military began making serious gains against Western-backed terrorists with the help of Russia. Thus, as America’s terrorists began losing the war, America produced another “freedom fighter” poster child – the YPG. 
The stories he refers to in alternative media promoting the latest version of "freedom fighter" heroes are such items by anarchist David Graeber, who has long championed the Syrian Kurds (see the latest), and one by Pete Dolack, who has otherwise contributed much to our understanding of financial issues. However Turbeville insists, and I agree with him, that this view serves Empire propaganda and fits very well with the Plan B of the US and its partner-in-crime Israel to balkanize Israel's Arab neighbors. I don't think it is a mere coincidence that Iraqi Kurds are holding a referendum on Monday while this is going on in neighboring Syria. Perhaps the Kurdish leader, Masoud Barzani, is a Mossad agent after all, as alleged numerous times by various observers. At least there is considerable evidence that the Kurds have long enjoyed the support and collaboration by the Israelis in their quest for independence. The US is against the referendum officially, but I think it is only a cover to protect them from the ire of the Iraqi government.