In early April, there was hope that the years-long occupation of Syria by the US military might be coming to a close when Trump told media he was ready to “get out.” By mid-April, however, Trump and the entire establishment reversed their position, and they started moving towards a new all-out war on Syria.
On April 7 the entire corporate media reported on a chemical attack on Syrian civilians. Immediately, they suggested that the Syrian government was responsible, even though James Mattis reported months ago that they had no evidence that the Syrian government ever used chemical weapons. Trump and his military cabinet jumped on board and used this as a pretext to threaten Syria with total invasion.
The Syrian government denied any responsibility. They reminded the world that they have always allowed chemical weapons investigations from international organizations, which have always cleared them of using or having chemical weapons. They invited the inspectors to come back once again to try to find some proof for these serious allegations. However, without any evidence, the US, UK and France attacked Syria with over 100 missiles before the inspectors could even arrive.
Most of the missiles were from the US. The attack was ultimately useless, and the Syrian military claimed victory for their defenses, though infrastructure and private research facilities were destroyed. The attack wasted $100 million of our taxes and pushed the world closer to nuclear war.
The Syrian military has emphasized that they had no reason to use chemical weapons. They have only needed traditional warfare to almost completely retake the territories held by the foreign-backed terrorist groups that have ravaged their country for six years.
The US is refusing to accept defeat in Syria. Their goal has always been to overthrow the government to secure oil profits, like they did in Iraq and Libya. And just like in those catastrophic wars for profit, they will gladly lie to us to justify the destruction.
It is ridiculous to believe that the US,UK and France are concerned about the human rights of Syrians. Firing missiles on civilian populations will not bring about peace. And all of these countries are silent when it comes to the long and brutal war on the people of Yemen by their close ally Saudi Arabia. They also supported Israel’s terrible repression of Palestinian protesters in April, where dozens were killed and thousands more wounded, some by chemical weapons.
The hypocrisy is even more evident when you recognize that the US has consistently been the number one user of chemical warfare. From napalm in Vietnam to white phosphorous in Iraq and Syria, not to mention the chemicals used on US protesters from Ferguson to Standing Rock, the US has no moral authority to attack anyone on that basis.
We workers must stand with the people of the world to stop an invasion of Syria that would block peace in the country for years. We should speak out against the war mongering of both Republicans and Democrats, and we should call for the military to leave Syria. A war against Syria would not only devastate that country, but it would also be a war on workers and oppressed communities in the US.