War, refugees and Syria

WAR CREATES REFUGEES.

AUSTRALIAN TROOPS OUT NOW!

VICTORY TO SYRIA!

11-09-2015 – Images of refugees perishing on the shores of Europe while attempting to flee for their lives are flooding the globe currently. In response to the image of a drowned boy on the beach inciting outrage internationally, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s only response was “this is why we need to stop the boats.” Callous indifference to human suffering, and/or using the deaths of asylum seekers for political gain has unfortunately come to be the norm in the Australian body politic, at least on behalf of the major parties.

Yet this latest refugee exodus out of the Middle East and Africa and into Europe has clear and definable causes. Innocent human beings are fleeing from the endless wars being waged by the US and their allies, particularly the war on Libya in 2011, and the ongoing war on Syria, from 2011 to the present. These wars are not fought by conventional means, in terms of powerful countries sending in uniformed troops to invade and overthrow sovereign governments, as in the example of Iraq in 2003. These wars are essentially outsourced to barbaric mercenaries by the US and their allies. In the same manner in which the pro-socialist Afghanistan government in the 1980s was besieged by ultra-reactionary Mujahideen fighters armed and funded by the US government as part of its war against the Soviet Union, ultra-reactionary jihadists were and are funded and armed by the West in a brutal campaign for “regime change” in Libya and Syria. In Libya, Western backed Al-Qaeda terrorists were unable to overthrow the former Libyan government led by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. NATO stepped in and bombed the Libyan state out of existence, and Gaddafi himself was lynched. With no state and government existing, Libya has become a death zone, with warring jihadists fighting each other in a dystopian Mad Max scenario. Previously, Libya had provided its citizens with the highest standard of living in Africa.

At the same time, the US was arming and funding the same jihadists in an effort to overthrow the sovereign Syrian Arab Republic. For four and a half years, the heroic Syrian people have resisted this lawless invasion by psychotic Western armed barbarians, who carry out unspeakable atrocities without a second thought. US allies Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and Jordan all play a huge role in funding, arming, training and transporting these mercenaries into Syria, while Israel occasionally bombs Syria while treating wounded jihadists for free in their hospitals. More than 80% of these mercenaries are not Syrian, and have never previously been to Syria. Yet the Western corporate media narrative is that Syria is undergoing a “civil war”. This is preposterous. If Australia was beset by foreign mercenaries who embarked on an armed uprising, while beheading and torturing those who did not follow them, we would scarcely use the term “civil war”. The war on Syria is plainly a war for regime change, led by the US, but egged on by the Australian government.

The horror of war is what many Africans, Syrians and others are fleeing. This war would finish in a few months IF the US and its allies cut off the arms flowing to the jihadists. The Syrian Arab Army would have little trouble in rounding up even several thousand mercenaries IF they did not receive constant material aid from the US, Turkey and Saudi Arabia especially. The Western powers, including the Australian government, are playing a double game. While feigning concern about “ISIS” – PM Abbott even comparing them to Nazis – the US and its allies arm, and to an extent, control this latest bogey man. There are videos on YouTube of US and British warplanes dropping supplies in ISIS held areas in Iraq and Syria. There are stories of British soldiers fighting with ISIS while wearing black balaclavas. This couldn’t be made up but it is true enough. A scant effort at research will produce evidence. 

Unfortunately, the anti-war movement in Australia, while it exists, is restricted to a few brave souls and groups such as Hands Off Syria. Large sections of the left and political bodies who can usually be relied on to oppose US imperialism, have swallowed fantastic claims about a mythical Libyan or Syrian “revolution”. A social revolution, for one thing, must have overwhelming popular support. This has never been the case in either Libya or Syria. In fact, in June last year, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad was re-elected, in the midst of war, with 88.7% of the vote! What is occurring in Syria is a classic “dirty war”, where death squads are armed and given a green light to do their worst in the service of their benefactors. The Latin Americans know from personal experience what a dirty war is all about. They have suffered this ignominy for decades at the hands of the US government. This is why the Cuban, Venezuelan and Bolivian governments, to name a few, staunchly defend Syria against the US Empire. 

Working people in Australia, who are generally politically progressive, can be forgiven for not identifying the character of the last two major imperialist wars. However, left political parties who espouse their beliefs in socialism should know a lot better. Chief among these is Socialist Alternative (SAlt), Socialist Alliance (SA) and Solidarity (Sol). It should be noted that the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) backed the war on Libya, but appears to have corrected its error with regard to Syria. SAlt, SA and Sol have certainly not recognised their error on Libya, and have in fact deepened the error in the case of Syria. What this has meant in practice is that they have effectively maintained a pro-war, anti-refugee position for the last four and a half years. Now, with perished refugees washing up on the shores of Europe, these left parties are again, perhaps unwittingly, doing the bidding of the imperialist powers they claim to oppose. Western government leaders, from Germany’s Angela Merkel to Australia’s Tony Abbott (backed by the ALP, the Greens and GetUp!), are now saying they will accept Syrian refugees. This justifies their agenda of regime change in Syria. If we should give shelter to Syrian refugees, surely we should finish the job by bombing Syria back to the stone age? Moreover, as Syrians flee for their lives to safety, Syria itself is drained of its populace, lessening its defences, which prepares the victory of the genocidal ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Al-Nusra, Ahrar Al-Sham, the “Free Syrian Army” and the like – who are in effect outsourced US government contractors.  Alas, the influence of mistaken left parties over bodies such as the Refugee Action Collective, has led to large sections of the refugee rights movement effectively backing, rather than opposing, US led wars. And these are the very wars which have created the catastrophic situation refugees now face.

Working people and their supporters should of course welcome refugees to Australia, Syrians included. However, to call for the welcoming of Syrian refugees, without at the same time launching a vigorous defence of the right of the Syrian government not to be overthrown by Western employed mercenaries, is to side with world imperialism against the working and oppressed people of the world. We also have a duty to call for the Australian troops, and Australian military hardware, to be immediately withdrawn from Iraq and Syria. We need to take this demand not only amongst the people, but crucially into the Unions. Workers’ opposition is what has more power than any moral force – just look at the anti-war movement in 2003. It mobilised the largest number of people in history and yet was unable to raise a serious challenge to the warmongers.  Working people have a right to a world without war. Unfortunately, the dire economic crisis afflicting the capitalist economies worldwide is driving us to the edge. What is required is the mobilisation of workers in their own interests by opposing capitalism’s drive to war, the victimisation of refugees and for a world worth living in.

AUSTRALIAN TROOPS OUT NOW!         VICTORY TO SYRIA!

MARXIST-LENINIST GROUP

PO BOX 66  NUNDAH QLD 4012 – mlgroup271@gmail.com – 0421 408 692  - www.ML-Group. Blogspot.com.au

No War on Syria

NO TO WAR! AUSTRALIAN TROOPS OUT NOW!

VICTORY TO SYRIA!

05-09-2015 – In an eerie similarity to the Vietnam War, Australian PM Tony Abbott has denied that it was his office which pushed the US to request Australian assistance to extend air strikes into Syria.[1] In the spirit of never believing anything until it is officially denied, it is a fair assumption to state that the official entry of Australia into the US war on Syria echoes Australia’s entry into the Vietnam War over four decades ago. Then, it was the Australian government which urged the US to intervene militarily in Vietnam, rather than the US requesting Australian participation. This time, there are no conscripts being sent to fight a war for the US empire, but there are certainly Australian troops brandishing military hardware, including six F/A 18F Super Hornet fighter jets, along with a KC-30 refuelling tanker. These jets have already been bombing targets in Iraq, while the tanker has been refuelling US fighter jets. 

Above: Druze on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights celebrate Syrian Independence Day.  Photo by Hamad Almakat.

The criminal US led war to destroy and overthrow the Syrian Arab Republic has now entered its fourth year. The majority of the world’s population vehemently opposed the US led war on Iraq in 2003. Yet around 10 years later, many of those who opposed that war are now either not active or are silent in the face of the West’s war on Syria. It is not being carried out by conventional means – it is not a case of simply declaring war on a sovereign state and sending in uniformed troops to invade and occupy. These days, it is much more convenient for US imperialism to outsource its wars, invasions, and overthrows of states which are not totally compliant to the Washington consensus. In the case of Syria, mercenary jihadists from 81 different countries have been armed, funded and in many cases trained by the US and its NATO allies Britain, France, Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Qatar – and ferried into Syria. All the jihadist groups now in Syria, which claim to be an “opposition”, compete for the weapons and funding flowing in from the West. All jihadist groups, from the so-called “Free Syrian Army”, to Al-Qaeda, to Al-Nusra, to Ahrar Al-Sham, to the manufactured “ISIS” have the same aim – the overthrow of the Syrian Government led by President Assad, on behalf of their benefactors.

Washington, egged on by Canberra, Tel Aviv, Riyadh, London, Paris and the like, have not been successful with their aim of “regime change” in Syria, for a number of reasons. Not the least of these is the fact that the majority of Syrians support and back the secular state of Syria and its current President Bashar Al-Assad. In June 2014, presidential elections were held in Syria. Despite horrific war conditions, 73.42% of Syrians cast a vote, and 88.7% of these voted for Bashar Al-Assad.[2] Many Syrians no doubt rallied behind the government, despite many other concerns, because they recognised that the Syrian Arab Army was the only military force which was protecting civilians against the gruesome and barbaric executions carried out by the Western backed mercenaries. Since that time, the Syrian Arab Army has been joined by the Lebanese Hezbollah, who recognise the danger to neighbouring Lebanon if Al-Qaeda and “ISIS” are able to topple the Syrian government. Hezbollah are a significant fighting force, which was demonstrated during their effective defeat of the Israeli armed forces in 2006. 

Another significant reason why the US was not able to destroy Syria in the way that they destroyed Libya in 2011, was the opposition of major powers Russia and China. Russia and China unfortunately did not oppose the NATO bombing of Libya, which was preceded by the same arming and funding of Al-Qaeda linked jihadists. In the case of Syria, however, Russia and China appear to recognise that the war on Syria is also directed at them as much as the Middle East. Russia and China have voiced opposition to the war on Syria in the United Nations, and while they haven’t directly assisted Syria militarily, there are reports of Russian weapons being used by the Syrian armed forces. This is not unusual, however, as Russia and Syria have been allies since the days of the former Soviet Union.

“ISIS”

For the first two years of the war on Syria, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, did not exist. Until 2013, no one in Syria had ever heard of “ISIS”. It is extremely suspicious that it mysteriously dropped from the sky, and then received further prominence immediately after the resounding victory of President Assad in the elections of June 2014. This is because ISIS is almost entirely a manufactured proxy force. Forget about the fanfare stating that ISIS aims to establish an Islamic caliphate. The game was given away when it was recently revealed that British SAS forces have been dressing up as ISIS fighters, flying ISIS flags, and attacking the Syrian government under the pretext of “fighting ISIS”.[3] This is on top of the US and British government openly admitting and announcing that they are training the “moderate” Syrian opposition, that is, training the almost entirely non-Syrian jihadists to murder Syrian civilians in the most brutal manner imaginable. The West’s “war against ISIS” is the media line. In reality, ISIS is set up to justify the US war machine intervening anywhere in the world where “ISIS” shows its head. 

Washington, backed by Canberra, has in recent years specialised in funding and/or arming proxy forces in efforts to overthrow the government of any country which is too independent for their liking. Hence, there have been ongoing attempts to arm and fund opposition political forces in countries such as Libya, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong, no matter how reactionary the politics of the opposition forces may be. Yet in Syria, it is not an “opposition” which is being armed and funded by the US and it’s Saudi, Turkish, and Qatari allies. Overwhelmingly, the forces of the “Free Syrian Army”, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Al Nusra and the rest are not Syrian in the slightest way. In fact, they originate from 81 different non-Syrian countries.[4] So any notion of a “civil war” in Syria is demonstrably false. What’s occurring is a Western led proxy war for “regime change”, an invasion by armed mercenaries, in plain violation of any semblance of international law. 

Unfortunately, some left parties have fallen victim to US propaganda about the Syrian “dictatorship” which is allegedly suppressing a legitimate “revolution”. Left parties which, at other times, claim to stand for secularism, and even socialism and anti-imperialism, effectively reverse their stance when it comes to Syria. The fact that the only forces fighting to overthrow the Syrian Arab Republic, which is secular, multi-cultural and multi-religious – are all part of the most extreme versions of Salafism or Wahabism – seems lost on them. And it is even doubtful whether some have any allegiance to Islam at all, given that British soldiers are amongst them. Plus there have been reports of US soldiers taking part under black balaclavas as well. As President Assad has stated, a revolution requires ideas and leaders. A “revolution” which would return women to pre-medieval times, which rejects even conservative ideas of “democracy”, is quite obviously a reaction to a dark age, rather than a “revolution”.

Capitalist Crisis

If the US empire is able to destroy Syria in the way they have Libya, even more immense human suffering will result. Further, the Islamic Republic of Iran will almost certainly be the next target. The takedown of Syria, an Iranian ally, will mean Iran will be more isolated and more vulnerable to open imperialist assault. The proximity of Iran to Russia and China could easily trigger a world war, even if the total destruction of Syria does not. The decision to launch a world war may be incomprehensible to many citizens in the West, yet it may be the only way out for a capitalist ruling class which is desperate to save its system. The longer the US does not confront China, whose socialist dominated economy is tearing strips of the Western economies which are uniformly in recession, the further will the US fall behind. The US cannot accept this. Furthermore, greater integration between Russia and China possibly sets up an alternative trading and financial bloc which emerging countries can orient to. It may seem crazy, but for a crazed US ruling class whipped into a frenzy by its faltering economy, it may just go for what in poker terms is called “double or nothing”. That is, it is prepared to risk everything it has to go for the big prize – the toppling of Russia and China. Needless to say, a global holocaust will be only one of the results.

Canberra’s move to go to war in Syria should not be seen simply as a poor decision, or a mistaken policy that can be abandoned with rational argument. The drive to war stems from the deepest wellsprings of the system of private production for private profit, which has run aground yet again, with little or no prospect of revival. Working people need to make the link between the rapidly deteriorating standard of living in Australia, and ever more reckless and criminal wars overseas. The lawless abuse of refugees and asylum seekers, the ever-increasing surveillance of citizens using the internet, the tracking of communications, heavily armed police patrolling public transport and the recent attempt by the newly constructed “Border Force” to check the visas of people walking down the street, are all examples of increasing repression which occurs when big capital acknowledges that it could potentially lose its political control. They are aware that the skyrocketing cost of living, the unaffordability of housing, the daylight robbery of privatised electricity and water bills, the relentless harassment and bullying of workers by managers, the accelerating destruction of the natural environment, the continual slashing of public funds for health care and education, and the crumbling state of public transport infrastructure can only lead to open rebellion if not contained. Thus the war on the sovereign Syrian Arab Republic and the war on working people here are intricately linked.

This is one of the many reasons why it is in our interests to act to prevent the Australian rulers contributing to a vicious war of aggression against Syria. The Syrian people have endured unbearable suffering at the hands of the West’s covert and overt war, waged with the assistance of Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other Gulf Monarchies. They have the misfortune to be in the firing line of the West’s unconscionable arming and funding of non-Syrian mercenaries. These barbarians, whether in the form of the “Free Syrian Army”, Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Ahrar Al-Sham or others, have committed unspeakable atrocities against innocent Syrians, with either the knowledge or the participation of the world’s imperialist powers – specifically the US, France and Great Britain, but also Australia.

Some of the left parties who have backed the mythical Syrian “revolution” have, without acknowledging it, partially seen the political problem of offering support to US armed jihadists who appear beyond the pale to even those on the political right. Hence, they have jumped on the bandwagon of an equally mythical “Rojavan Revolution”. What occurred was that nationalist Kurdish groups initially allied themselves with the Syrian government for the first two years of the West’s proxy war. Then, Kurdish nationalists such as the People’s Protection Units (YPG) switched sides to ally with the US, presumably because they judged the days of the Syrian government were numbered. They now act under the cover of US air strikes, acting as bomb-spotters for the empire. In doing so, they have turned against the Syria with which they had been allied. A few skirmishes with some ISIS forces do not make them “revolutionaries”, especially when working directly with the US war machine. Moreover, they have also signed agreements with parts of the “Free Syrian Army” – which in practice is identical to ISIS. Workers internationally cannot afford to extend any political support to any group which works side by side with the US empire.

Workers and all those who stand against war need to take an urgent stance against the criminal war against Syria. No matter what your personal political opinion is of the Syrian government or its elected leader President Assad, Syria itself must be defended, and not just for the sake of Syrians, as important as that is. Syria must be defended so that the US war machine – in effect the military/political arm of world capitalism - can be blocked from achieving its goal of “full spectrum dominance”. Workers are entitled to a world without war, but the war against Syria indicates that we are going to have to fight for it. We can be inspired by the brave stance taken by the Syrian people, as well as those actors which have acted to prevent war, such as Iran, Hezbollah, Russia and China. The US and their proxies must be stopped.

AUSTRALIAN TROOPS OUT NOW!  VICTORY TO SYRIA!

MARXIST-LENINIST GROUP

PO BOX 66  NUNDAH QLD 4012

mlgroup271@gmail.com / 0421 408 692

www.ML-Group.blogspot.com.au

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[1] http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/prime-ministers-verbal-gymnastics-over-syria-20150826-gj8ojp.html

[2] http://www.rt.com/news/163696-assad-win-president-syria/

[3] http://www.globalresearch.ca/british-sas-special-forces-dressed-up-as-isis-rebels-fighting-assad-in-syria/5466944

[4] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/08/29/at-least-81-nationalities-are-fighting-in-syria/