To ex-members of the anti-imperialist left propelled into the arms of NATO by the Libyan war last year, the conflict now devastating Syria pits the regime of Bashar al-Assad against “the Syrian people.”

Thanks to this brilliantly clear dichotomy, anyone less than gung ho about providing weapons and other forms of support to the Free Syrian Army instantly becomes complicit in mass murder, having forsaken humanity in favor of lazy contrarianism and clichéd Sixties rhetoric.

Assad is entirely deserving of popular wrath, though the Manichean Syrian-people-versus-government distinction excludes Syrian citizens who support Assad despite technically qualifying as people.