En Passant

The U.S. involvement in Syria has nothing to do with democracy or even chemical weapons — it is about protecting and extending U.S. military and economic power, says John Passant  

Syrian socialist Ghayath Naisse, a member of the Revolutionary Left Current, spoke to Simon Assaf in International Socialism about the brutalisation of Syria, the goals of those intervening and the prospects for socialists in the region.

The Syrian war is an obscenity, a brutal meat-grinder that consumes mainly the innocent, writes Alex Callinicos in Socialist Worker UK. The initial popular revolutionary impulse that dictator Bashar al-Assad tried to crush by brute force still weakly survives. But it is now subsumed by the rivalries of imperialist powers and their local clients and allies. The fighting goes on because it is in these powers’ interests.

In a response to articles by journalist Max Blumenthal, Ashley Smith in Socialist Worker US challenges the view that the Syrian Revolution has been manipulated by the U.S. from the beginning. We must stand in solidarity with genuine liberation struggles from below, regardless of which imperial camp they are challenging. Our slogan is neither Washington, nor Moscow, nor Beijing, nor Damascus, nor Tehran, nor Riyadh, but self-determination for oppressed nations and international socialism.

As socialists we should argue for more money for the support of veterans and of course for the support of all people suffering mental illness, domestic violence , homelessness, poverty etc. Aborigines, victims of domestic violence, gays and lesbians, especially young gays and lesbians, refugees locked up in Australia’s concentration camps, for example, all have high levels of stress and anxiety, with PTSD and suicide rates well above average. Fund adequate services for them all. Make big business pay a fair share of tax to pay for these services. In relation to refugees, close down the mental illness camps. In relation to war, stop.

Ultimately however the only way to end war and its rotten consequences for all the combatants and all the peoples of the countries the West has invaded is to end the system that creates war – capitalism.

Intervention in Syria will only sow the seeds of further chaos writes Simon Assaf in Socialist Review.

Invading Iraq and killing up to 1.5 m Iraqis was, as we pointed out in our demonstrations against the Iraq War in 2003, always going to produce a backlash. It has, and this mirror of Western barbarity called ISIS is now wreaking some destruction in the West, although its main victims remain Muslims in Iraq and Syria. Far from being condemned, the Grand Mufti of Australia deserves our support for pointing out some of the Western drivers behind these terrorist attacks. More of the same – bombings, racism, xenophobia, locking up people without evidence, closing the borders – will only strengthen support for ISIS.

John Mullen in Paris has written a heartfelt note about the bombings, the anti-democratic and brutal nature of the French State, the real risks of a racist and fascist backlash and the need for the left to unite to fight Islamophobia. Click ‘Paris three days after the attacks: State of emergency, profiteers and confusions’ to read the whole article on John’s blog.

Nick Riemer in France writes about the terrorist attacks and the ruling class’s warmongering response in socialist magazine Solidarity. Among other things he says:

‘The opportunism of France’s political leadership will be paid for in more tragic and avoidable blood-baths, whether in France or in Raqqa. As a worshipper at a northern Paris mosque told Libération, “If we consider ourselves as at war, then the terrorists will have won their battle”. The three mainstream parties have no interest in that lesson: ordinary people’s interests do not figure in their calculations. A new French war on terror won’t bring peace; it will only reinforce the power of the political establishment.

‘Everyone else’s interests can only be safeguarded by a progressive and democratic movement from below. The radical, anti-capitalist left has a heavy responsibility, both in France and outside it.’

To read the whole article click here.

Julien Salingue lives in Paris and is a leading member of the New Anti-capitalist Party in France. He is a long-time Palestine solidarity activist and the author of La Palestine d’Oslo. He wrote the following comments after coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13 that left at least 129 dead and 352 injured. The article was first published at Resisteralairdutemps.blogspot.fr. It was translated by Todd Chretien and published in Socialist Worker US.

Fight for another world, a world that is not only possible, but more necessary than ever. Keep our heads and don’t give in to emotional pressure and shock. You may accuse me of being a dreamer. But my dreams never killed anyone in contrast to your “pragmatism.” More than ever, we must “resist the irresistible.” That’s the only way to move ahead. So…No, Cambadélis. No, Sarkozy. No, Hollande. “We” are not at war. It is not my war, it is not our war. It is your war. And once more, they are our dead. Just like Madrid in 2004, London in 2005, Egypt two weeks ago, Beirut this week. And everywhere else you sow your terror. Your wars, our dead. Your war, no more.