I knew people in the Hands Off Syria Coalition before they were Assadist propagandists

I knew people in the Hands Off Syria Coalition when they were principled antiwar activists; some were socialists. I remember when they opposed war in a principled way–not just US wars but all wars & wouldn’t have imagined supporting Syrian & Russian bombing of civilians as a freedom struggle.

But that was when they could tell revolution from counter-revolution, took gulags & accusations of torture very seriously & would not have posted idiotic claims accusing Amnesty of “stoking war in Syria” by documenting the monstrous criminality of Assad’s regime.

That was when they scorned David Icke as an anti-Semitic crackpot for teaching that reptilian Jewish bankers run the world. They would have howled with disbelief at the thought that one day they would post articles from one of his journals edited by his smarmy disciple & Assad propagandist Eva Bartlett.

I remember when they wouldn’t have touched the likes of Tulsi Gabbard with a ten-foot pole because of her Muslim-hating, support for military dictatorship in Egypt, adulation of Assad’s dictatorship in Syria, support for fascist Modi & the caste system in India, & willingness to serve in Trump’s regime. Now they promote her as an antiwar champion even though she’s just playing both sides of the street to see what shakes out best for her.

It’s not easy to tell where it all went wrong with them because it didn’t happen overnight. But there is something of the sorry-assed lemming in their self-righteous rush to a cliff led by propagandists whooping battle cries about fake news & head-choppers. It’s just so awkward to watch a rebel morph into a lemming like a bad remake of invasion of the body snatchers.