By all accounts the war on Syria may be coming to a close. With the help of Russia and Iran, the Syrian government may be able to mount an assault on the last stronghold of the US, Turkey and Saudi backed rebels in Idlib (There can be little doubt left in anyone’s mind of the involvement and support the US is giving to the terrorists).
An assault on the terrorist rebels will allow the Syrian government to gain control of the Syrian nation. For the Syrian people and for the peoples of the world this assault has to be supported. At a summit in Tehran, Iran and Russia elected to support a full-scale assault to rid Syria of the terrorists once and for all. They rejected calls by Edorgan (Turkey) for a ceasefire saying “It is necessary for the fight to continue until all terrorist groups in Syria, especially in Idlib, are eradicated.”
In response, the US in late August deployed its missile destroyer USS ‘Ross’ to the Mediterranean and the USS ‘The Sullivans” to the Persian Gulf. The preparation of US military forces was condemned by Russia, with its Defence Ministry describing the move as “the latest evidence of the US intention” to take advantage of a false-flag attack”.
According to Russia Today, an independent news media, the false flag attack will be a chemical attack by the terrorists, not the Assad government. “Terrorists (are) readying chemical attacks to frame Damascus and provide pretext for US strikes,” it claimed. Eight canisters of chlorine were delivered to a village near Jisr al – Shughur for the terrorists to use, militants are being prepped by the private British security company ‘Olive’ and they have arrived in the same area as the chlorine. A chemical attack or a false chemical attack in Syria would provide the US with the excuse to use missiles against Syria as it did in the past.
The call for terrorist action against Syrian civilians and the Assad government came from a statement issued by John Bolton, the new national security adviser to Trump.
On August 22 Bolton stated, “If the Syrian regime uses chemical weapons, we will respond very strongly and they really ought to think about this a long time”. This statement could be understood as instructing terrorists to go ahead and use chemical weapons so US imperialism can go into Syria and bomb.
Who is Bolton? According to Steven Feldstein, a professor at Boise State University, Bolton is a man that “believes that force and coercion are preferable means to advance U.S. interests. Bolton views international relations as a series of “nasty, brutish and short” struggles where military force is the deciding factor”. Coinciding with right-winger Bolton’s appointment to the Trump administration are the shenanigans in our own parliament.
The disposal of Turnbull reflects a right-wing shift in Australian politics to mirror the direction of Washington. US imperialism’s desire for war in Syria, Iran, Yemen and North Korea, supported by its lapdogs UK, France and Australia will not go away unless we make the capitalist war mongers so afraid of revolt in our own countries that they back down. We have to remember, as Clausewitz said, “that war is not merely an act of policy but a true political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse carried on with other means”.
We cannot allow the war in Syria (and also Yemen) to continue without protesting Australia’s involvement. These are wars that are criminal, against all principles of human rights, decency and the national sovereignty of these countries.
At least one communist organisation has condemned the war on Syria stating, “The Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist) unequivocally condemns the outrageous so-called “precision strikes” against Syrian government facilities by the US-British-French imperialists. The strikes are a gross violation of Syria’s sovereignty and a clear breach of International Law that the imperialists hypocritically claim to uphold”. (1)
Australia’s involvement in the wars in the Middle East cannot be ignored. Australia is part of a group that supports US imperialism unquestioningly. According to Renee Westra and Nathan Church, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security in a report for the Australian government, “only a core group of nations conduct military operations in Iraq and Syria, which includes Australia. The Operation’s mission is described as: ‘by, with and through regional partners, to militarily defeat DA’ESH (the Islamic State) in the Combined Joint Operations Area (Iraq and Syria) in order to enable whole-of-coalition governmental actions to increase regional stability”.(2) That effectively means replacing legitimate governments to increase regime suitability.
How much is all this war costing us? The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) stated in its latest defence budget review publication, “The Cost of Defence”, that the ‘cumulative real cost’ of Defence operations against ISIS in Iraq from 2014–15 to 2019–20 is approximately $1.3 billion.
The money spent on unjust wars should be spent on creating good affordable housing, a better education system, better medical care, creating jobs and creating an energy program based on renewable sources not fossil fuels, all of which will benefit Australian workers.
These wars do not benefit Australian workers and we have a responsibility to defend the workers of Syria and Yemen and protest against these wars. They are unjust wars for profit. We should be calling for an independent, peaceful Australia and withdrawing from the Alliance with US imperialism.
(1) See; https://www.cpaml.org/lostfiles.php?id=1523767663 for Central Committee statement “We Condemn Imperialist Aggression Against Syria!” April 15, 2018
(2) https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BriefingBook45p/IraqAndSyria
(2) https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BriefingBook45p/IraqAndSyria
Further reading:
Al-Jaafari: Syria will not bow to political blackmail or threats of direct aggression at http://sananews.sy/en/?p=2302
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