DAVID W PEAR—Andre says he is a Communist in an era when being a communist is not fashionable. Most liberal/progressives are afraid to mention John Maynard Keynes, let alone Marx, Lenin and Mao. For a while in 2016 socialism was popular among supporters of Bernie Sanders, whom claimed to be a socialist. He promised his followers what every poll shows that most Americans want: universal healthcare, low cost higher education, better economic safety nets, and $15 dollars an hour minimum wage. Where have all the socialists gone now that Bernie disillusioned them?
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PATRICK RIGOLOT—If the pressures are anti-war, as in the Johnson and Nixon examples Draitser gives, then why not add to the pressure? If the pressures are to prevent dialog between nuclear powers, or re-install a “neoliberal/neoconservative consensus”, then maybe those pressures are not such a good thing.
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MOA—U.S. intelligence on North Korea is notoriously bad. The North Korean missile launches and nuclear tests last year were only detected when they were imminent. It is unlikely that U.S. spy services know what senior North Korean official “discuss” about “potentially asserting” something. The U.S. services probably “gathered” that through South Korea’s spy service. But whatever South Korean agencies say about North Korea is colored by their traditionally very hawkish position. They pay up to $860,000 to those North Korean defectors who make up the most scary stories. Such stories are often false.
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ELIJAH MAGNIER—By liberating the south, Syria will be faced with two occupation countries, the USA and Turkey. There will no longer be dozens or even hundreds of groups and organisations paid by different foreign countries for their confrontation. Therefore, when Assad says “my patience is coming to an end” he means firing against Israeli jets will not be difficult and that his allies, Iran and Hezbollah, will be more than happy to support him.
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WILLIAM VAN WAGENEN—Also a myth is the idea that any US intervention in Syria would seek to protect civilians. While allegations that Syrian and Russian forces were committing genocide in Aleppo proved baseless, US planners have themselves supported rebels intent on committing genocide and sectarian mass murder. This was clearly evident in the Syrian city of Latakia, which by the time of the Russian intervention in October 2015 was on the verge of falling to a coalition of Syrian rebel groups including al-Qaeda (known in Syria as the Nusra Front) and the US-armed and funded Free Syrian Army (FSA).
