@misslasvegas
Since I found this post because you resteemed it:
Please understand that Sarah is an Assad supporter and will also twist the truth if it fits her agenda.
I´m not saying she did it in this case, since I did not even watch the video, but some time ago she was slandering the Kurdish movement in Syria, mixing them all into one pot with Iraqi Kurds and tales of genocide, and got answered by some Kurdish activist exposing her lies.
She is also in the US, while a comrade of mine has actually been in Northern Syria on humanitarian missions with the Kurdish Red Crescent a few times as a medical doctor, and as an anarchist he surely would not support the Kurds of Syria if they were a genocidal bunch.
To quote one of our German military geniuses:
"The first thing to die in war is truth." - Clausewitz
When I was younger I would have never thought that I would be quoting Ronald Reagan one day but now I do it quite often and happily:
"Trust but verify!"
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@likedeeler, I am aware she may support Assad to some extend, I didn't know the rest you mentioned. However, the picture painted about Assad is painted by the Western Governments and their mainstream media. I've followed a Canadian journalist for a while (can't come up with her name right this moment) and she was in Syria. What she and also others who were there said was that first of all, the mainstream media like CNN, Fox etc. has hardly set foot in Syria, if at all and that it is NOT Assad who is attacking his own people but fundamentalists like ISIS and the west. ISIS was recruited, trained and is funded by the US, UK and other Western entities, among others. From the beginning, when I didn't know much about it yet, my thoughts were that Assad is not the evil man they depict. Just like they did with others, (I won't mention any names, because I don't want an endless discussion this will surely bring), they vilify Assad, because they need the people to agree and back them in order to justify 'bringing peace' when in truth, the US has NEVER bothered with any country if they couldn't gain by it in some ways. They come in, 'liberate' the people, take what they want and then leave the country to rot....And they have the media in their pockets....
Yes, I´m with you about the US trying another regime change in Syria, Assad being just another domino on the way to Teheran and the embedded media paint him as pure evil while the US is supporting all sorts of Islamists which are way worse.
Maybe you mean Eva Bartlett?
Anyway, I just wanted to bring to your attention that Sarah also twists the truth to suit her agenda occasionally by telling lies about the Kurds.
I was first reluctant to do it here in a comment to your comment, since I know she got some fans who would defend her, was thinking about doing it on slack, but then thought if I do it here, it would be more responsive and direct.
Traditionally there is strong support from the German left for the Kurdish cause, when I was still more involved in some anarchist stuff we had quite a few Kurdish comrades, some of them having survived the Turkish torture chambers, it is heartbreaking sometimes.
All I really care about in this mess in Syria is the survival and success of the Rojava revolution and in my book the Kurds are also the most successful fighters on the ground against Daesh and other Islamist groups.
Their whole way of democratic confederalism, organizing from bottom to top, women empowerment (and if that means giving Kalashnikovs to women so they can defend themselves against Islamist rapists so be it), peaceful coexistence of different religions could become a model for the whole Middle-East.
I see similarities to the social revolution of 1936 in Spain which was basically crushed by an alliance of statists, because that´s what they all fear more than anything else, that the people find out that they don´t need any rulers, no Assad, no Putin, no Trump, no mullahs, that they can govern themselves just fine.
History has shown that whenever the danger of a paradigm shift arises in which the ruling class of a state might be swept away by the people, the rulers of other countries forget all their differences with the beleaguered ruler and rush to his aid, because the self-government of the people, the social revolution, the big A, must be prevented at all costs.
I thank you for your extensive reply and explanation. I'm glad (but not surprised) to see that we are on the same page with a lot of things. And yes, I meant Eva Bartlett. I simply don't know enough about Sarah to be able to know for sure what her motives are. I thank you for pointing this out to me, so I can investigate further. That being said, I believe she has valid points with this post, aside from what else she might do and say. I also know too little about the Kurdish issues. When I lived in Holland, I had friends who were originally from Turkey so I really only heard their side of the story. That being said, they never told me or anyone that they hated the Kurdish people though simply because they were too young to really know much about it themselves and had never really lived in Turkey to be able to judge what they were told. I absolutely agree: to these leaders, any leaders (or most of them) the A word is a no no. I believe this also falls in line with our stories here on Steemit for the question of the week this week. Patriarchy in its ugliest form. The fear of loss of control and power also brings these people together. I haven't formed a 100% picture about Assad either, to be honest, when I try to judge a person, I usually firstly go by gut feelings and instinct. Most of the time I feel I'm a good judge of character, but this is of course much harder to do if you don't actually meet the man in person. All I have to go by is body language, eye contact with others and gestures etc. (I did some training in that respect for crazy reasons but I won't waste too much time on that here and now). And in regards to Assad and his adviser for instance (not sure if that's who he was, but I thought he was) I felt that these men were definitely not the villains they were made out to be. That being said: I had a personal experience lately where I thought I knew someone in and out and this person managed to betray my trust in the most horrible way, so I am the last person to say that I get it right all the time....I know I had it right with Obama (when the first time I saw him on TV my first thoughts were that he was bad, bad news). But that aside. And even though I agree with you that leaders would take each others sides if something like the people taking control could become and issue, I also still want to believe that there is still good in some of those leaders. That not all are completely evil and that we do create our own reality by immediately believing that they have to be just like any other villain and be suspicious of everyone's motives. As far as it goes about Sarah, like I said: I don't know enough about her. But I also want to think there might be reasons why she says the things she says. It is surely led by emotions that came from somewhere. It is very hard to know for sure if you don't know the person. I was watching this video the other day about a Palestinian blogger/journalist in Israel. This Orthodox Jewish man asked him what he was doing and where he was from. He then told his 15 year old sister about this blogger. This 15 year old immediately said that he was evil and that ALL Palestinians were evil. Him and her brother tried to talk to her to change her mind, saying that not every Palestinian is evil, just like not every jew isn't and that most actually want peace. I think this was a great example to show how emotions can get anyone to think something very strongly when this might not be the case at all. She got this information from TV. It is usually TV, mixed with emotions that create hate like that. Not knowledge. Had she known and seen that there are actually Palestinians and Jews who can live together in harmony and don't want these fights at all, she might have had different views. I think if you are closer to the front lines and see only destruction, it is very hard to keep a clear and non-opinionated mind about things.
I have nothing more to add to what @likedeeler has already said. He knows what he is talking about. When you know the truth by first hand, nobody can feed you lies and defamatory information. We know @sarahaded is pretty good with that and she is in no way a reliable source of information. When I read her articles on the Kurdish fighters, my eyes bleed. YPG/YPJ don't kidnap people or force them to fight, they do not arrest people for no reason, we do not terrorize people or discriminante based on religion or ethnicity. Official languages in Rojava are : Arabic, Kurdish and Syriac. What other country in the middle east has 3 official languages ? What other country in the middle east defends minority rights ? Why would we terrorize others the same way we have been terrorized for over a century, it doesn't make any sense. Someone that sells such bullshit can not be taken seriously.
I understand your stance on this. For you, your mind is already made up, but in my case, I don't like to take any sides until I know the ins and outs completely. In my comment before, if you read it, I didn't just agree with her. What I did say however, is that the media paints a different picture than what is actually going on. And this media is paid by the West. I know like no other how they work, for I was once one of them. And this video is not the only source that I seen to come to this conclusion. To be honest, what I am talking about has nothing to do with the Kurdish fighters, it is something else entirely. I've also said that I simply don't know enough about that and what you and likedeeler said, to make any kind of judgement about the subject you bring forward. I can see that you have this close to heart, and I can understand your side too, but I also hope that you can respect where I'm coming from and that I can't and refuse to pass judgement on someone before I know the ins and outs.
@likedeeler
Sarah has also been to Syria, so what is your point? To paint her as an "Assad supporter" is ridiculous, and to counter that, I will paint you as a "terrorist supporter." While Assad is not perfect, people need to understand what will happen to Syria if Assad is removed from power - the vacuum of power which will result from his removal WILL be filled by terrorists. Sarah has explained the situation with the Kurdish movement quite thoroughly and objectively so please, I encourage you to watch the video to understand the reality of what is happening in Ghouta and Damascus, and the separate issue of the Kurds, I encourage you to look up all of her work on the Kurdish movement before you make comments such as the one above, which is completely devoid of any critical thinking.
https://steemit.com/politics/@ronahi/racism-and-slander-against-kurds-on-steemit
That's such a poorly written slander piece. Why are you promoting it? What does any of what you said have to do with this post. The video is less than 3 minutes long...if you find something wrong with it then you can bring it to my attention like a mature adult.