In Episode 69 [10] of the CounterVortex podcast [11], Bill Weinberg reviews The Responsibility to Protect in Libya and Syria: Mass Atrocities, Human Protection, and International Law [12] by Syrian American legal scholar Yasmine Nahlawi [13] (Routledge 2020). While Noam Chomsky's critique [14] of "humanitarian intervention" has merit, those who parrot it often act as if it simply ends the conversation—and, worse, engage in post-truth revisionism to deny that mass atrocities are even happening. The Nation magazine has repeatedly [15] run lying propaganda [16] that merely turns the realities of the Syrian war on their head, portraying the victims as aggressors. Contrary to the popular fiction of a "regime change" war, the US bombardment of Syria has overwhelmingly targeted ISIS—and has been coordinated with and approved by [20] the Assad regime. And contrary to the unseemly gloating [17] about the chaos in Libya since the fall of Qaddafi, there is a good case that the situation there would be worse, not better, if there had not been a "regime change" war. Listen on SoundCloud [10] or via Patreon [18].
Production by Chris Rywalt
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