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Syria and the Reemergence of McCarthyism

Deboer, Fredrick
http://www.currentaffairs.org/2016/11/syria-and-the-reemergence-of-mccarthyism

Publisher:  Current Affairs
Date Written:  03/11/2016
Year Published:  2016  
Resource Type:  Article

Framing the rhetoric surrounding the Syrian conflict of 2016 as a reemergence of McCarthyism, with accusations of dictatorship being used to foster support for war.

Abstract: 

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Excerpts:

Anyone who lived in the immediate post-9/11 world is familiar with this type of thing. In the aftermath of the attacks, a culture of paranoid, aggressive patriotism enveloped the country, casting suspicion on anyone who didn’t plant a mini American flag on their lapel or their car. That anyone who didn’t press for all-out war on terrorism – whatever that meant – was guilty of tacit support for Al Qaeda was a given. Muslim Americans, and those who were unlucky enough to look as if they might be Muslim, were subject to constant suspicion and bouts of random violence.

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I suspect, in fact, that the cycle is starting up again. I suspect that the urge to purge is growing, and that the flashpoint will be Syria. I believe that some sort of American military intervention in Syria is likely coming. And, perhaps worse for those of us on the socialist left, the political battle over this war will not involve conservatives and some liberals fighting against a more-or-less unified radical left. This conflict will, I believe, divide the already-weak left, leaving it in tattered pieces.
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