The US president, Donald Trump, finally ordered an attack with missiles in Syria. The White House executed the operation in coalition with France and the UK. The reach [of the attack] was limited, almost symbolic.
By International Secretariat.
The Pentagon presented it as a “precision strike,” restricted to three military bases and centers of investigation and chemical weapons production of the Syrian regime, in the suburbs of Damascus and Homs.
A hundred missiles from the cruise Tomahawk were launched from combat ships and planes against those specific targets. So far, there is no concrete information on civilian or military victims. The Syrian dictatorship, that had several days to prepare for a possible attack, counted three people injured in Homs.
The IWL-FI strongly rejects the imperialist attack on Syria. Trump and his European allies’ excuse was the need to punish the Syrian dictator after the brutal chemical attack on Douma, but the airstrike “from the West” has nothing of “humanitarian.” It is an attack on an oppressed country and a people that features a revolutionary process. It does not aim to overthrow the bloody Bashar al-Assad by force either, as the Castro-Chavismo claims.
The political goal is to show strength and determination to negotiate on better conditions a “formula” to kill the revolution and ensure stability to imperialist businesses, with or without Assad. The Pentagon itself declared that it does not aim to intervene in the civil war and that its main goal is still the Islamic State.
This was a quick, surgical attack. They did not attack Tartus, Latakia, nor any of the main political and military centers in Damascus. This does not change the course of the war, neither it puts under risk regime’s control of two-thirds of the country.
The US aims to send the message, internally and outside the country, that it does not hesitate when it comes to respecting the “red lines.” By showing itself “stronger,” it can better move forward on a “diplomatic solution” including Assad and his godfather Putin.
Trump himself declared before the Congress: “The purpose of our actions tonight is to establish a strong deterrent,” and hours later he announced, “Mission accomplished.”
Such was the goal of this attack, not “humanitarian” at all. There are no imperialist “humanitarian” interventions. The US and all world powers, by not delivering heavy weapons to the Syrian opposition, in fact, let the Syrian regime killing advance. A barbaric situation that counts about half million deaths and ten million displaced.
The Syrian regime condemned the attack and affirmed that its military infrastructure has not been seriously damaged and that it will double its fight “against terrorism.”
The question is what will Russia and Iran do, main supporters of the Syrian dictatorship. The Russian diplomacy warned that there was a “risk of war” if the US intervened. Well, a “war” is highly improbable. Putin, evidently, rejected the attack. His argument is that the chemical attack in Douma was “set up” by rebels’ fractions. He accused Washington of “playing the game” of terrorism, and “aggravate the humanitarian catastrophe” in Syria. But he did not announce any retaliation. Furthermore, he saw the restraint in the US attack with relief. The US carefully avoided hitting any ground or aerial base protected by anti-aerial Russian defenses, which were not activated at all. Some specialists affirm that the Russians knew about the attack, but this was obviously denied by the US.
The Ayatollah regime pointed in the same direction: it rejected the airstrike and stood in solidarity with Assad against the “foreign threats” in favor of “terrorism.”
The multiplicity of actors and interests in Syria difficult the analysis. Even more when most of the left, Stalinist and Castro-Chavista, shamelessly aligned with the bloody dictator al-Assad against the Syrian people. Another part of the “left,” linked to European social-democracy and neo-reformism, fell into the trap of pacifism and joined imperialism and its hypocrite “humanitarian” speech.
What needs to be clear is that, in Syria, there is a revolutionary process in course – for seven years, now. This process might be in its more dramatic, difficult situation, but is not defeated. The Syrian people, subjected to every type of atrocity and suffering, still resists. There are local militias and committees that demonstrate and continue fighting, despite the conciliatory policy of the main bourgeois rebel leaders – be them “secular” or “Islamists,” they completely capitulate to imperialism.
Nevertheless, the Syrian regime – only standing thanks to Putin and his allies – as much as imperialism, are far from regaining control and stability as it was before 2011.
In face of this revolution, there are two main counter-revolutionary blocks: the Assad-Putin-Iran-Hezbollah, willing to anything to remain in power and drown the revolution in blood, and the US-France-UK-UN block.
Both sides, although they justify their crimes in the name of the Syrian people, are genocides. They are the people’s and revolution’s hangmen. In Syria, as in the rest of the world, the fight must be against both blocks, enemies of the Syrian people. Thus, from the IWL-FI we reject Trump-Macron-May’s attacks, and at the same time, we affirm that al-Assad must follow the same fate than Khadaffi.
We stand unconditionally with the Syrian revolution. It is necessary to carry out concrete solidarity actions in support of this cause. We need to call for demonstrations, organize the delivery of humanitarian aid, and demand every government to deliver, with no conditioning, heavy weapons and military technology to the rebels so they can defend themselves from Assad’s genocide attacks. The Syrian revolution must triumph.
