Chaos and barbarianism rule Aleppo. Over the last days there were truly horror scenes in the zones of the city still controlled by Rebel groups fighting against the tyrannical regime of Bashar al-Assad. The number of deaths per day is impossible to calculate, as the committees had this task and now the ones in Aleppo are pretty dismantled. The attacks are through ground and sky, there are hundreds of deaths by air-strikes as well as for lack of food and medical attention. A true massacre is in course, whose responsible ones (Assad, Putin and other members of the coalition that gives bases to the regime) know they can continue to act with impunity, as the international community of States will not react.
The conquest of Aleppo is being possible only as the consequence of a policy of “burned land”: according the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (Syrian National Coalition – SNC), since the beginning of the offensive, on November 15, there have been more than 2000 air-strikes and 7000 artillery shells on the Eastern side of the city, and the field around it. This military offensive is directed to hospitals and schools, and destroys entire neighborhoods. It is a policy of systematic destruction, a repetition of Grozny demolition 16 years after; now, featured by the Russian Army with its sophisticated weaponry, and the Syrian Army with its drum pumps. The conquest of Aleppo and the military victory of the regime and its supporters can only result in the occupation of the country by foreigner militaries: Russia and the militias controlled by Iran and Hezbollah.
The occupation of the East region of Aleppo by the Syrian regime –supported by Iranian, Lebanese and Afghan militias- can be a matter of days. The ground troops receive the support of the Russian and Syrian aviation, which are still bombing not only Aleppo but also Idlib, despite the statements of the Russian Foreign Affairs Minister, Sérguei Lavror, saying that the attacks to Aleppo had been interrupted. Dozens of thousands of civilians have left the city over the last few days, but there are around 100.000 still trapped inside the attacked districts. Some families refuse to leave the city, and there were, until today, about 8000 thousand armed fighters, members of opposition groups.
Many activists and journalists are denouncing summary executions by the Syrian Army, of alleged members or supporters of rebel groups. Hundreds of men between 18-50 years have disappeared. The tyranny we observe with outrage is a prelude of what the country will be like if Bashar al-Assad wins the war.
But the same Assad affirmed, in an interview to a Syrian State Journal, that the war is still not over. Even if they take Aleppo, a great part of the province would still be in hands of the rebels, as much as Idlib and even zones of Damasco. Not to speak about the Kurdish regions. The next target will be Idlib, the only capital of the province still in hands of opposition groups. Syria is still divided into regions controlled by different groups.
A pact with the opposition was never the policy of the regime. Assad and Russia will only accept the unconditional surrender of all the rebels, and this, at least so far, does not seem to be the most probable short-term outcome. The Syrian regime does not have, either, unified armed forces under its command. There are dozens of militias fighting the rebels, but they respond to orders of different countries and political and religious currents.
Russia And Iran Are The Main Responsible Ones For This Massacre
The Syrian regime is completely controlled by Russia and Iran. Assad has lost any power of initiative and most of the soldiers fighting on his name are foreigners. Russia has decided to go all the way until the end with its policy of “Assad, or we burn the country”, at the cost of thousands of deaths and an unmeasurable destruction. The Syrian regime had done something similar before, but much more limited, when it crashed the rebellion in Hama, in 1982, using chemical gases, taking the life of more than 20.000 people.
Russia and Iran take advantage of a situation of economic and political instability in the main imperialist countries, U.S and the E.U above all, to deepen its project of keeping and expanding their zones of influence along the region. The statements of part of the world “left-wing” currents about these two countries representing some kind of “alternative axes” to the domain of the U.S is completely false and absurd. Those are two authoritarian and bloody regimes whose main goal is to remain in power in their countries and keep its political influence and economic benefits in Syria and the entire region.
The U.S And E.U Watch The Syrian Genocide Passively
The indignation before what is happening is Syria grows when we see the passive and hypocritical way the main imperialist powers of the world act in, as much as the U.N. They allow the Assad’s regime to continue air-striking and killing the Syrian people without taking any measure, despite some empty statements in forums that solve absolutely nothing.
The anti-Assad rhetoric of other times gave place to abstract speeches on “finding a pacific solution”. They do not dare to confront Russia –in practice, they collaborate-, and they do not even pose mechanisms of political pressure, and even less of economic sanctions – not even soft ones, as it was in the case of Ukraine. There is a counter-revolutionary agreement among all the powers, negotiating the total occupation of Aleppo. John Kerry, Secretary of State of the U.S, asked Assad for mercy and advised the rebels to leave the city.
The main concern of the E.U is to cut the flux of immigrants to the “European Fortress”, and so it is enough for it that the agreement signed with Turkey remains effective and Erdogan keeps his part of the deal. The main countries of the E.U are “too busy” with their internal problems (electoral grow of the extremist right-wing, Brexit, internal referendums and, above all, the social war against the workers to overcome the economic crisis) as for to care for the Syrian people’s lives. The policy of the E.U to Syria and, in general, to the whole Middle East, is still subordinated to the U.S’s.
The priority of these governments is to defeat the popular revolution of Middle East and Northern Africa, and to avoid any triumph, as partial and democratic that it could be (like a change of regime, for example) in one country of the region, as it would mean a significant aggravation of the current situation of global instability. The root reason is the imperialism wants to stabilize the region at any cost, even accepting for Assad and Russia to do it through a genocide.
Stop The Military Offensive And Allow The Entrance Of Humanitarian Aid
There is no solution for the Syrian conflict unless there is a change of regime. Assad has no legitimacy to rule the country. Not in the territories he controls, and even less in the territories controlled by the rebel militias or other groups, like the Kurdish militias and the self-called Islamic State.
His power is based on fear and brute force, secured by his international collaborators and the complicity of the rest of the countries. Unfortunately, the Syrian crisis is far from reaching an end. The Lebanese civil war lasted about 15 years and it thought us a situation like the one in Syria today can still last many more years.
It is necessary to start immediately a broad campaign to force the regime to stop the air-strikes and the ground attacks by the forces loyal to the Syrian dictator, and to allow the entrance of food and medication of first necessity. In Aleppo, there is not even one active hospital. The situation is too precarious and it can get even worse.
On the other hand, it is more than ever necessary to send weapons to the Syrian rebels, for them to defend themselves and the civil population in the region. The occupation of Eastern Aleppo by the forces of the Syrian Army, as of Homs, regions of Damasco and other cities previously under rebel control, or Hama, was only possible because of a total isolation imposed to the groups opposing Bashar al-Assad, who used all types of weapons and bombs, while the rebels were defending themselves with old and small calibre weaponry.
The Rebels Are Not Terrorists
The speech of Damascus’ regime, and of Russia and Iran, affirms all the rebels fighting Bashar al-Assad are terrorists.
This is a lie. Most of the rebels are Syrians who were forced to take arms to defend themselves of the violence used by the Syrian Armed Forces against the pacific protests that started in March 2011. The Castro-Chavist “left” supporting Assad is accomplice of this genocide.
The truth is the Islamic State took advantage of Assad’s offensive, supported by Russia, against Aleppo, to retake control of the city of Palmyra, which they had lost 8 months before.
It is true that the siege to the revolution (imposed by the imperialism and the pro-Assad “left”) generated a political emptiness that was used in many cases by countries of the region with an agenda of their own, very different of the values and essence of the demonstrations, which were initially only asking for specific reforms on the regime, which later became a popular revolution. The monarchies of the Gulf, like Turkey, took advantage of this situation to finance groups aligned to their interests.
However, there are still dozens of civil initiatives in Syria, like the Local Committees that are still operating, the Aleppo Media Center, etc., which represent the initial spirit of the revolution and fight to maintain the principles of justice, democracy and equality for the millions of Syrians that went out on the streets risking their lives. One of the first measures of the Syrian Army when entering Aleppo was to expel the White Helmets from the city, a group that was only working to rescue the population affected by the air-strikes.
In Aleppo’s battle, different groups like Fateh al-Sham (former al-Nusra Front, with about 10 thousand soldiers, 80% Syrian), acting inside Jeish al-Fateh (a coalition of “Islamist” and “Moderated” groups), and groups linked to the Free Syrian Army, fought hand on hand.
The crisis of revolutionary leadership takes a terrible dimension here, as there is no strategic alternative for the revolution.
It is true there have been confrontations also among the different militias of the opposition, but the unity against the regime’s offensive prevailed. If any group fights Assad, it wins popular support rapidly, as he represents the main threat to most Syrians, specially the ones in zones still under rebel control.
Down With Assad And His Gang!
The ‘sectarization‘ of the conflict took place, mainly, because of Assad’s policy. The U.S an other regional powers also contributed to strengthen their own pawns in the field. In practice, they abandoned the popular militias and the insurrectionist Syrian population to their own fate. To generalize the opposition as a whole as “Fundamentalist Terrorists” has been the strategy of Assad since the beginning, and it was also part of the speech of the main imperialist countries to justify the air-strikes.
We reaffirm our position of being together with the Syrian people against the tyranny of Assad’s regime and its supporters. We do not trust the U.S nor the E.U or the U.N. We defend the fall of the Syrian regime as the first and only step possible towards the resolution of the humanitarian crisis in Syria. We demand the immediate end of the attacks to Aleppo and Idlib and we commit to be part of the efforts to get humanitarian aid to Syria.
We demand from the workers’, popular and human rights’ organizations wound the world to start a unified campaign in solidarity with the Syrian people.
Long Live To The Syrian People Fight!
Down With Assad And Islamic State!
Immediate End To The Attack In Aleppo And Idlib!
Stop The Russiand And Iranian Intervention In Syria!
Humanitarian Aid To Syria Now!
Weapons For The Rebels!
No Trust In The U.S, The E.U And The U.N!
International Secretariat.
December 12, 2016.
