My little flock of cockatiels have been distressed lately. Captivity gets to them. So I’ve been playing “Les Miserables” to calm them. They like it as much as I do & sit here for hours just listening. Another is on my shoulder and one is sitting just off camera

Militarily, the war in Syria is very complex & convoluted because all of the combatant forces have conflicting interests–except their unity in crushing the Syrian revolution against Assad’s dictatorship. The power of that revolution can be seen in the military force required to defeat it, including Syria, Russia, the US coalition, Turkey, Iran, Hezbollah, ISIS, & other foreign agents arming & funding mercenary forces. But one needn’t be a military strategist to take a stand on this war; one needn’t understand the conflicting interests which anyway shift according to the needs of counterrevolution. The fundamental thing to understand is that Syria is not a “proxy war,” not a regime change operation on the part of the US, not even a war to defeat ISIS. It is a militarized counterrevolution.

Given the conflicting interests of the combatants & the shifts in policy now that all parties claim to have defeated ISIS, it is inevitable that those conflicts would emerge on the battlefield, threatening years more of barbaric bombing & paramilitary violence. Provocations will be involved & counter measures taken, as was the case when Israel recently downed a drone Iran sent into Israel. Israel & Syria both responded by firing anti-aircraft missiles. The Israeli missiles directed at Syrian & Iranian targets in Syria reportedly killed Iranian military personnel. Another recent case is when US coalition forces took out at least 100 Russian mercenaries laying siege to a US military training facility. No one is grieving for those mercenary hired killers, but the regimes involved will use such assaults to justify continuing involvement in Syria.

This photo of a White Helmet rescuing a small child was taken on February 8th in Arbin city in Eastern Ghouta district of Syria. In 23 airstrikes & heavy artillery firing that day, 27 civilians, including ten children & four women, were killed; 114 were injured. And Assadists call this a US regime change operation? Those who dare vilify the White Helmets–who must sustain extremes of PTSD in rescuing traumatized victims with bodies mangled & often dismembered–are beyond political redemption. May they burn in hell. Our fullest solidarity with the White Helmets.

The only principled demands are for the immediate cessation of Syrian, Russian, & US coalition bombing & for the immediate, unconditional withdrawal of all foreign military forces from Syria. Out now!

(Photo from White Helmets)

Just listened to a 2 & 1/2 hour UN Security Council meeting on the Rohingya genocide. When it comes to long-winded speeches, the UN is right on top of things. When it comes to action–like sanctions against Burma, humanitarian aid to refugees, or asylum with visas & full refugee rights–the UN diplomats are all hot air.

And for the record, under capitalist competition, there is no such thing as an “international community”–unless you’re talking about social movements of solidarity.

Reuters coverage of the Rohingya genocide has been deplorable. But since two of its reporters in Burma were arrested by the Suu Kyi regime it has found a modicum of journalistic integrity to report what is happening without equivocating a genocide away.

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/myanmar-rakhine-events/

Children of Gaza peeking through the walls of a building damaged by Israeli bombing:

From September 28th, 2000 to February 8th, 2018, the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem reports that 9,556 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, including 2,173 children. The B’Tselem report did not indicate the ages of the children, i.e., if they included small children with teenagers. The figures are staggering either way. As was reported in 2013, that is about one Palestinian child killed every three days. Such is the character of ethnic cleansing.

B’Tselem also reports that in the same time period at least 100,508 Palestinians were injured, some permanently disabled, particularly in the repeated bombing sieges over Gaza. Denying the disabled & seriously ill to leave for specialized medical care not available in Gaza because hospitals have been bombed out is human rights criminality that is part & parcel of ethnic cleansing.

Report: https://israelpalestinetimeline.org/

(Photo from several Palestinian sources)

Censorship on social media is a major political problem, especially for those freedom struggles up against news blackouts & dishonest reporting. Reporting fake news to Facebook or Twitter is not the solution because it plays straight into the hands of the censors. Sorting through & vetting the barrage of information is essential for activists & is a learned skill available to all with the internet at hand. Why would anyone allow the political forces who control social media to discharge news reports with a censor button rather than do the heavy lifting of research?

On military occupation of Kashmir:

“my friend by my side sank into a chair and sighed with sadness, Zafar, I don’t want to sleep, I don’t have dreams anymore but long last nightmares.”

–Zafar Iqbal

British foreign secretary Boris Johnson is the latest politician to show up in Bangladesh to push the Burma-Bangladesh forced deportation plan for Rohingya refugees. The Dhaka Tribune reported that he urged a “quick repatriation” claiming “any delay might complicate the issue.” This dirtball politician had the temerity to compare the Rohingya “exodus” to that of Palestinians in 1948. The ethnic cleansing comparison is not inapt at all but it is odious coming from Johnson, a Tory known for his racism, a strong supporter of Israel, & a voluble opponent of BDS. On a trade mission trip to Israel & the West Bank in November 2015, he was disinvited from meeting with Palestinian business groups after publicly ridiculing BDS in Israel. It comes as no surprise that officials from the Palestinian Authority proceeded to meet with him since they officially opposed BDS until recently.

After meeting with Sheikh Hasina, Johnson proceeded on to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma. He later tweeted that he urged Suu Kyi to back a “full & independent investigation” into Rohingya claims of “persecution” & to create safe conditions for refugees forced to return to Burma. He also spent a few hours touring a torched village in Arakan state before returning to the UK. Does Johnson want another “independent” investigation like the Kofi Annan whitewash? Did he tour the concentration camps (without sanitation facilities) the Suu Kyi civilian government is building to house forcibly returned Rohingya refugees? Did he investigate the mass graves? Were nearby torched villages still smoldering? Is he actually so stupid as to believe the Rohingya will be safe in the killing fields of Burma whilst they continue to pour across the border into Bangladesh? Or does he just not give a rat’s ass about human life? At least more than he’s concerned about protecting British trade & investments in Burma which are among the highest of any other nation?

Stand with the Rohingya people & demand no forced deportation & asylum in any countries they choose with visas & full refugee rights.

(Photo of Johnson & Hasina from February 9th Dhaka Tribune)

Another valuable article by Thai dissident in exile Giles Ji Ungpakorn about movement building against the military junta in Thailand but applicable to movement building everywhere:

https://uglytruththailand.wordpress.com/2018/02/11/verbal-solidarity-is-not-enough/

Couldn’t be more brilliantly said:

“Barge into a mourning village. Fire like you are in a war. Kill three & wound a dozen. Shield the killers & blame the slain. And then when the population picks up stones & guns, blame Pakistan & radicalization.”

–Kashmiris need freedom Facebook wall