Vijay Prashad's Hypocrisy Now on Syria and Assad

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Is it possible that the sheer banality of our "anti-imperialists" knows no limits? Are they so disconnected from the realities on the ground that they can speak pure nonsense? Listen to this latest defense of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as put forward by Amy Goodman's guest Vijay Prashad on Democracy Now, Tuesday, 29 September 2015:

I mean, I would just like to say something about that slogan, "Assad must go." You know, in 2011 and 2012, the slogan meant one thing, because at that time Mr. Assad was fairly powerful, controlled most of Syria and was able to operate with an almost open hand against his population. But today, Mr. Assad is deeply weakened. He is a different Assad entirely. The statement now that "Assad must go" is anachronistic, because in very many ways he’s already gone.

If he relies on Democracy Now's "The War & Peace Report" for his news on Syria, Prashad is probably unaware of what the Assad regime is doing day-to-day. If he was, he would realize that now Assad is acting like cornered animal and striking out blindly everywhere. Now he is most dangerous precisely because he is weak, precisely because he has lost so much ground and is desperate to avoid defeat and justice. These facts have motivated him to step up his killing campaign, and that fact makes the demand "Assad must go!" more urgent than ever. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights [SOHR] this is the death and destruction wrath by Prashad's "anachronism" the next day. These reports are from 30 September 2015 only:

1. 5 airstrikes on al-Akrad mount and human losses in Idlib and Der-Ezzor
2. Explosion in al-Hasakah and explosive barrels hit Kweres military airport outskirts
3. Explosive barrels and continued clashes in Reef Dimashq
4. The helicopters continue striking the city of Darayya, and shelling targets al- Nabi Younos Top in the northern countryside of Lattakia
5. Shells hit Hama and Homs, more than 20 casualties reported
6. Shells target the city of Mhardah, and barrel bombs dropped on the countryside of Daraa
7. The regime forces shell countryside of Hama and more injuries in the shelling at Homs and its northern countryside
8. Helicopters kill 3 men and injure others in Muadamiyat al-Sham city in the Western Ghouta and target areas in the countryside of Daraa
9. About 10 wounded including children in the shelling at the neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsoud
10. Russian warplanes target the countryside of Hama and Homs and directly participate in the Syrian people killing

Aftermath of Russian bombing of Talbiseh yesterday. Prashad says Assad is an anachronism the day before the Russians started bombing for him.

Vijay: That dog has rabies and will die soon. I wouldn't worry about him.

Russian Occupation airstrikes against Roman ruins very close to Kafranbel the city 1:00pm 1Oct15 #Syria #Kafranbel pic.twitter.com/QDkjGIPmh7

— Raed Fares (@RaedFares4) October 1, 2015

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