Syria

White Helmets vow to soldier on after aid cut-off

Two months after it was first reported that Trump had issued an order to freeze over $200 million in “reconstruction aid” to what media accounts called “US-backed rebels” in Syria, details finally emerge on which groups have had their aid cut. And the first to be mentioned isn’t a “rebel” group at all, but the White Helmets—the volunteer unarmed civil defense force that operates in areas under bombardment by the Assad regime and its Russian backers. The US State Department, which is said to provide about a third of the White Helmets’ budget, acknowledged that funding for the group is “under active review.” But White Helmets leader Raed Saleh pledged to persevere: “Our volunteers are still operating on the ground.” You can donate to the White Helmets through their website. (Photo: White Helmets)

Syria

Assad turns oil over to Putin for military protection

Bashar Assad arrived in Russia to publicly thank Vladimir Putin for his military support in the ongoing re-conquest of Syria—prominently including the deployment of new missile systems. Undoubtedly discussed behind closed doors was the new “energy cooperation framework agreement” between Moscow and Damascus, under which Russia is to have exclusive rights to exploit oil and gas in Syria. (Photo of Vityaz missile launcher via Wikipedia)

Syria

Syria chemical attacks vastly undercounted: report

The independent Syrian Network for Human Rights released the findings of its own investigations into the twin chemical attack in Douma. Drawing on accounts from survivors, eye-witnesses and paramedics as well as an analysis of forensic evidence, the report finds that the Assad regime was “probably implicated in attacking Douma City using chemical weapons.” Based on its own review of accounts from the field, the report also charges that the regime has carried out no less than 216 chemical attacks in Syria—only a small handful of which won media coverage or international response. The report stresses that the regime “has demonstrated its utter disregard for the international community,” repeatedly violating UN resolutions condemning the use of chemical weapons in Syria. (Photo: SNHR)

Watching the Shadows

Podcast: Against Red-Brown politics

In Episode Nine of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg rants against "Red-Brown Politics," the dangerous notion of an alliance between the left and fascist right against liberalism and the West—now evidenced in the growing support for the genocidal dictatorship of Bashar Assad on both the "anti-war" (sic) "left" (sic) and the "alt-right." Leading lights of the American "left" have joined pro-Assad delegations to Syria, as have figures on the fascist right. Emerging as the global representative for this sinister trend is Russo-nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin, who is bringing together supposed peaceniks and neo-fascists around supporting despots like Putin and Assad in the name of a "multi-polar" world. Weinberg urges that leftists utterly reject overtures from the radical right, and adopt a single-standard anti-fascism—which must inlcude solidarity with the Syrian Revolution. Listen on SoundCloud, and support our podcast via Patreon.

Iran

New oil shock feared in wake of Iran debacle

After all the talk we've heard in recent years about how depressed oil prices are now permanent, in the wake of Trump's announced withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal Bank of America is predicting that the price of Brent crude could go as high as the once-dreaded $100 per barrel in 2019. The report also cited collapsing production in Venezuela due to the crisis there. Brent prices have risen above $77 per barrel since Trump's announcement. Prices have jumped more than 8% over the past month and 15% since the beginning of the year. According to the analysis, investors fear that renewed sanctions on Iran could lead to supply disruptions. Although the report failed to mention it, the Israeli air-strikes on Iranian targets in Syria have doubtless contributed to the jitters. (Photo: Shana)

Iran

US to withdraw from Iran nuclear agreement

President Donald Trump announced that the US will withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 pact under which the US was to lift economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran agreeing not to develop nuclear weapons. The White House statement says the US will re-imposes all sanctions lifted or waived in connection with the JCPOA, including those instated by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996, the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012, and the Iran Freedom and Counter-proliferation Act of 2012. The sanctions are expected to go into effect in no later than 180 days. (Map: Myket.ir)

Syria

Multiple forced population transfers in Syria

Reports have been mounting for months that Assad is replacing those displaced from his reconquered territories with Iranians and Iraqi Shi’ites, in a form of “sectarian cleansing.” Now come reports that Turkey is replacing the Kurds displaced from its conquered “buffer zone” in Syria’s north with those displaced by Assad—specifically, the Kurdish residents who fled the town of Afrin are being replaced by Sunni Arabs that fled Eastern Ghouta. Since the fall of Eastern Ghouta, the regime has turned its campaign of aerial bombardment on Yarmouk refugee camp outside Damascus, causing thousands of the camp’s already once-displaced Palestinians to flee. (Photo of Yarmouk via UNWRA)

Syria

Podcast: from Guernica to Syria

In Episode Eight of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg notes the bitter historical irony: In April of 1937, the aerial bombardment of the Spanish town of Guernica by the Nazi Luftwaffe shocked the world. Today, what happened there is a near-daily occurrence in Syria (as well as Yemen and elsewhere around the world), and we are so inured to it that the “anti-war” people are actually on the side of the authors of aerial terror. During the Spanish Civil War, the left heroically opposed Generalissimo Francisco Franco’s drive to establish a fascist dictatorship with the aid of German military intervention. Today, it cravenly abets Bashar Assad’s drive to re-establish his fascist dictatorship with the aid of Russian military intervention. Even as Russia scrambles to block any investigation into the Douma chemical attack and other war crimes in Syria, “leftists” shamefully echo Russian propaganda denying any responsibility by Assad. Weinberg again urges that any legitimate anti-war position must begin with opposition to the genocidal regime of Bashar Assad, and with solidarity for the Syrian Revolution. Listen on SoundCloud. (Photo of Aleppo ruins from UNHCR)

Syria

Podcast: the anti-war left morphs into its opposite

In an in-depth interview for the Dobbstown podcast, CounterVortex editor Bill Weinberg traces the downward trajectory of the anti-war movement to the point that it now doesn’t protest when Trump (let alone Assad or Putin) bombs civilians, but does protest when Trump bombs warplanes that are used to bomb civilians. The poorly named “anti-war” left has morphed into its exact opposite: pro-war, pro-dictatorship, and even pro-genocide. Weinberg discusses his own political awakening in the Reagan cold war, and the American left’s descent to its current political and ideological nadir. He urges support for the actual social struggles in places like Syria, Libya, Crimea, etc., rather than viewing them as pawns on the geopolitical chessboard, as our imperialist enemies do. (Photo of Aleppo ruins from UNHCR)

Syria

Free Syria events in New York City

The group Syria Solidarity New York City will feature a screening of the VICE/HBO film Assad’s Syria, a documentary depicting life under brutal dictatorship and war conditions. Followed by a discussion with Malek Rasamny, a journalist and film-maker with experience on the ground in Syria. We will examine the causes of the refugee crisis, and what we as part of the world community can do to help. April 27, 6:30 PM at Word Up Community Book Shop, 2113 Amsterdam Ave. (at 165 St.), Washington Heights, New York City.. Syria Solidarity NYC also holds a Weekly Syria Peace Vigil every Friday at from 6-8 PM in Union Square Park.

Syria

Southern Front rebels next in Assad regime sights

Since the Douma chemical attack terrorized the rebel defenders of Eastern Ghouta enclave into accepting a “surrender deal” and evacuating to Idlib province, the Assad regime and its Russian allies have been preparing a final offensive on the last remaining areas of Syria still under rebel control. These of course include Idlib in the north, the largest rebel-held area. But mounting reports suggest the regime may first focus its firepower on Daraa province in the south, where the Free Syrian Army’s Southern Front continues to hold territory. And while the rebel militias that hold Idlib are mostly conservative Islamists, the Southern Front is secular-nationalist in its leadership. (Southern Front logo via Wikipedia)

Syria

Podcast: against pro-war ‘anti-war’ jive

In Episode Seven of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg rants against the sinister development of pro-war propaganda masked as “anti-war” propaganda. The overwhelming response of the “anti-war” left to the Douma chemical attack and Trump’s retaliatory air-strikes is to baselessly deny that Bashar Assad was behind the attack, to portray the victims as CIA-jihadists, and to change the subject (“What about Gaza, Yemen, etc?”) These are all propaganda tactics lifted directly from the Assad regime’s playbook. “Anti-war” hypocrites may protest that they do not support Assad, they just oppose US air-strikes. But when you echo the Assad regime’s propaganda and rush to exculpate it of every atrocity, you objectively do support Assad. You are actively abetting his war of extermination against the Syrian people. Any legitimate anti-war position must begin with opposition to the genocidal regime of Bashar Assad and his foreign backers in Moscow and Tehran, and with solidarity for the Syrian Revolution. Listen on SoundCloud. (Image: Syria Solidarity NYC)