• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Manufacturing Crisis: Cuban Troops in Syria

T

TheDemSocialist

Gradualist
DP Veteran
Joined
Apr 13, 2011
Messages
34,951
Reaction score
16,311
Gender
Undisclosed
Political Leaning
Socialist
"A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes," quipped humorist Mark Twain, repeating an old adage. The report that Cuban troops had deployed to Syria to drive Russian tanks in support of the Bashar al-Assad's government swept across conservative social media like a firestorm earlier this month after the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami posted it, citing no sources whatsoever. Fox News then picked it up, claiming the report had been confirmed by an unnamed "U.S. official" citing intelligence reports that Cuban "paramilitary and special forces units" were in Syria.Within days, both Cuba and Syria denied the accusation categorically, and White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest shot it down, declaring, "We've seen no evidence to indicate that those reports are true."
In the heat of the moment, conservative commentators were quick to draw parallels to Cuba's past military adventures abroad in Syria (1973), Angola (1975) and Ethiopia (1978). But the better comparison turned out to be the phony crises manufactured by conservatives to derail President Jimmy Carter's attempt to normalize relations with Cuba.
As Peter Kornbluh and I document in our recent book, Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havana, Carter was the first president to explicitly decide to normalize relations. Progress stalled over Cuba's involvement in Ethiopia, but throughout 1978 and 1979, Washington and Havana kept up a secret dialogue trying to resolve their differences. Conservatives, convinced that Carter was soft on Cuba, did their best to build a political bulwark against progress.


Spectacular stories about Cuban aggression are also headline grabbers. Many people will remember the initial accusation, but never hear the rebuttal. Fox News did not run a correction of the report that Cuban troops were fighting in Syria, nor did theDaily Beast, which also took the bait, hook, line, and sinker.


Click to expand...


Read more @: Manufacturing Crisis: Cuban Troops in Syria

"Cuban aggression" has always been a big headline grabber for many US media outlets. And many US media outlets like to run these stories about "cuban aggression" without confirming them. Take for example the recent faux reports that Cuba has sent troops to Syria to drive tanks for Assad. A good chunk of US media outlets ran with the story, especially the right wing media outlets. But what happened, turned up to be a unconfirmed story with no evidence behind it.
 
TheDemSocialist said:
Read more @: Manufacturing Crisis: Cuban Troops in Syria

"Cuban aggression" has always been a big headline grabber for many US media outlets. And many US media outlets like to run these stories about "cuban aggression" without confirming them. Take for example the recent faux reports that Cuba has sent troops to Syria to drive tanks for Assad. A good chunk of US media outlets ran with the story, especially the right wing media outlets. But what happened, turned up to be a unconfirmed story with no evidence behind it. [/FONT][/COLOR]
Click to expand...

Sandokan assures us that it's true. :shrug:
 
after a half century embargo, cuba's economy was in ruins and its communist government on the brink of collapse. soft power had worked. then obama...threw away 50 years of effort in the name of trying to erect his half assed legacy of failure.
 
QuadpolarNutjob said:
after a half century embargo, cuba's economy was in ruins and its communist government on the brink of collapse.
Click to expand...

Ummmm... Brink of collapse? What are you talking about? They lived through the "special period". There was no indication that the Cuban government was anywhere near collapsing.
 
TheDemSocialist said:
Read more @: Manufacturing Crisis: Cuban Troops in Syria

"Cuban aggression" has always been a big headline grabber for many US media outlets. And many US media outlets like to run these stories about "cuban aggression" without confirming them. Take for example the recent faux reports that Cuba has sent troops to Syria to drive tanks for Assad. A good chunk of US media outlets ran with the story, especially the right wing media outlets. But what happened, turned up to be a unconfirmed story with no evidence behind it. [/FONT][/COLOR]
Click to expand...

It has been a long time since they openly sent troops into foreign campaigns. I guess they are signalling that the USA is still the enemy.
 
QuadpolarNutjob said:
after a half century embargo, cuba's economy was in ruins and its communist government on the brink of collapse. soft power had worked. then obama...threw away 50 years of effort in the name of trying to erect his half assed legacy of failure.
Click to expand...

Bullcrap. The embargo against has been a failed and illegal policy for over 50 years. Isolating Cuba resulted in Cuba developing a strongly domestic economy, an environmental example for the whole World, a wonderful Medical educational and practicing community and an export Medical community. Cuba has earned the admiration of the Free World by standing up to the Economic and Military hegemony of the US. Real News is not found in your Pentagon narrative.
 
QuadpolarNutjob said:
after a half century embargo, cuba's economy was in ruins and its communist government on the brink of collapse. soft power had worked. then obama...threw away 50 years of effort in the name of trying to erect his half assed legacy of failure.
Click to expand...

By no measure was Cuba's economy in ruins or their government anywhere near the brink of collapse.

At the time we abandoned a useless 50+ year old policy against Cuba, they were *already* trading with China, Venezuela, Italy, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, the UK, Spain, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, and Russia. Cuba was exporting everything from Sugar to Petroleum to Nickel, and importing everything from Industrial Equipment to Wheat and Corn to clothing to various food products. Some businesses in the US were already engaged in trade that found a way to sidestep and/or receive special permission to trade with Cuba.

"Soft power" did not work... it did not collapse Cuba, nor convince them to change, nor did it inflict enough economic harm. They were in fact trading with so many nations, including close allies to the US, that our embargo was seen on the international stage as useless and generally ignored.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom