The Syrian army supported by Russian bombers is engaged in an offensive on those areas held by revolutionists against the regime. Medical personnel report that most of the fatalities are women & children. Assad supporters portray this carnage as the liberation of Syria in defense of national sovereignty. But national sovereignty for whom? The Assad dictatorship or for the Syrian people?

This small boy in Douma (15 kilometers from Damascus) under siege is holding up a fragment of a bomb dropped on an unarmed, civilian population.

The only principled demand is for the immediate cessation of bombing & the immediate, unconditional withdrawal of all foreign military forces from Syria.

Thousands of Dalit protesters & strikers closed down businesses & schools & blocked roads & transportation in parts of Mumbai, India after Dalits were attacked by rightwing upper caste nationalists at a gathering in another city on New Year’s day. The rebellion in Mumbai & other areas of the state began when rightwing goon squads attacked Dalits at the 200th anniversary celebration of a battle when Dalit fighters in the British colonial army defeated an upper caste army several times their size. The celebration in the village of Bhima Koregaon (170 kilometers/105 miles from Mumbai) represents a historic moment when Dalits defeated upper caste Hindu oppressors. Two Dalit men were killed in the attacks & their deaths are what ignited the Mumbai protests.

Our fullest solidarity with the Dalit protesters who are taking a stand against the rise of rightwing nationalist thugs & against caste oppression.

(Photo of Dalit protesters from Reuters)

Little boys in Kashmir. Posted for no other reason than it’s a delightful photo of kids playing.

(Photo by Aasif Shafi)

Kashmiri photo/video journalists on their way to an encounter with the Indian occupying army. It’s not an exaggeration to say they are among the best photojournalists in the world documenting a very dangerous occupation.

(Photo by Faisal Khan)

Children under the Indian occupation of Kashmir: a picture worth a thousand nationalist lies.

(Photo from Kashmir News Trust)

More of Usman A Khan Tahir’s sarcasm:

“Yesterday, on a ride home, my Careem captain said: “Why don’t these maulvi hazraats [common term used in Pakistan for Imams/clerics] teach traffic awareness to people?”

Yeah, because in the West people get all their traffic awareness from churches and synagogues, and there’s never any traffic awareness campaigns in schools. Of course, Catholics go to Vatican to do a course on traffic management.”

The little black dog I pulled off the streets a few weeks ago kept escaping & running back to the house where he was abandoned. Once, he climbed through a few inches of car window when I was doing an errand & traveled about 3 miles back to the house, even crossing a major road to get there. But the neighbors said they didn’t take care of him since he belonged to a family that moved & they wanted me to take him. His old caretakers called him Blacky but I call him Rocky for no special reason except that it rhymes with rock star. KInda.

It’s freezing temps here now & if I hadn’t happened across him, he might not have survived outside. He has a little lucky star over his head. He doesn’t run any more since I’ve plugged up all the escape routes but he isn’t trying to either. He’s taken a liking to little Mac & they nap & cuddle together. He also comes when I call & loves to be held like a baby. He used to be afraid to come in the house but now hustles in with all the rest. This is the good part of rescuing dogs–seeing them transform into loving & being loved. We won’t talk about the sad parts today.

Given that Assad supporters are on a political continuum from reactionary stupid to fascist, it was certain they would come out slugging for the Iranian theocracy & claiming protesters are in their majority rightwing. It isn’t just that Assadist politics are always, in every instance on the side of state power (even in those states engaged in genocide & vigilante executions of the poor)–as in Syria, Venezuela, the Philippines, Burma–but that the Iran regime is paying a central military role in the counterrevolution in Syria, including with child soldiers, because it is terrified of revolution in Iran.

Those who follow Assad’s stable of fascist ideologues like Vanessa Beeley, Eva Bartlett, & Tim Anderson sarcastically predicted what their line would be on the Iranian protesters because their politics are simple-minded fascist politics. Even though their rationales for supporting Assad are rooted in Islamophobia & anti-Semitism, they put all their secular crap about Assad aside to support the theocracy in Iran because of its role in Syria & because they cannot break from groveling before state power.

This is how Usman A Khan Tahir brilliantly satirized what the Assadist line would be when the protests first erupted one week ago & this is exactly what the Beavis & Buttheads of the Assad dictatorship are promoting today. Usman is brilliant but they are also predictable like a broken record of anthems to state power (because that’s where the money is):

“To the Wahabbi/Zionist protesters in different cities of Iran: leave the regime alone. This CIA-backed attempt to disrupt Tehran will be defeated by the ‘Axis of Resistance’. #HandsOffIran #HandsOffKhamenei #HandsOff_IRGC”

Tango Graffiti predicted that Assadist publications Global Research, Moon of Alabama, & Mint Press would soon deluge us with articles pushing that line. Yup, they’re already hot off the press. It’s called the Assadist school of falsification.

Couldn’t find videos on YouTube of Kashmiri woman rapper Mehak Ashraf but did find this rapper discussing rap & resistance politics:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF8L-e4FX9w