The Syria Solidarity Movement wishes to draw the attention of the peace movement to the renewed danger of a unilateral US attack on Syria. Here’s what we have recently observed:
1) Since the collapse of the Geneva 2 talks, US Secretary of Defence, Chuck Hegel, has come up with “further options” on Syria. They include:
a) the establishment of a 25-mile-deep, no-fly zone along Syrian borders;
b) the deployment of unmanned drones for pinpoint strikes on targets farther inland;
c) the equipping of the US-supported, foreign mercenaries with the latest anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons in time for a spring offensive – and partly to upset plans for a Syrian presidential election in April 2014.
2) The political cover for these acts of aggression against the sovereign state of Syria will be the latest form of “humanitarian interventionism”, known as Responsibility to Protect, or R2P. In Syria, the pretext for the no-fly zone will likely be UN Security Council resolution 2139 (February 22, 2014) regarding Syria. This resolution demands “that all parties allow the delivery of humanitarian assistance, including medical assistance.”
3) March 15, 2014, marks the third anniversary of the covert war of aggression against Syria launched by western and regional powers through the so-called “Friends of Syria” Group. President Obama is impatient. His advisors predicted in March 2011 that the government of Syria would fall within weeks. Instead, virtually every sector of Syrian society has rallied to save the country from being balkanized into hostile statelets à la Libya, Iraq, Yugoslavia and Afghanistan. Russia, China, and Iran have remained firm allies.
4) The US empire is on the warpath. Fresh from a disastrous regime-change operation, utilizing extreme right wing and fascist forces, against the elected government in Ukraine, and an on-going destabilization campaign against the elected government in Venezuela, Washington policy makers are now demanding some results against the elected government in Syria.
5) The peace movement must deny Washington a victory in Syria in the spring of 2014, just as we helped mobilize world public opinion against the U.S. threat of immediate war in August 2013. We need to mobilize our base to contact elected officials and tell them, just as we did in August 2013, that the people of the world will not accept a ratcheting up of the war on Syria. Instead, we now demand:
- Quit the Friends of Syria Group now – end the illegal aggression against the sovereign state of Syria;
- Drop the economic sanctions against Syria – they are outside the mandate of the UN Security Council and are, therefore illegal and unjust;
- Re-establish full diplomatic relations with Syria – open the door for a political, not military, settlement of the Syrian crisis;
- Cease and desist from providing any direct financial, material, and political support to foreign mercenaries in Syria, whether linked formally to Al Qaeda or not;
- Stop the campaign of disinformation, demonization, and delegitimation against the government of Syria.
In short, the peace movement in every country needs to tell its own domestic political leaders to keep their HANDS OFF SYRIA!