NOTE: this is one of the earliest articles I wrote on Syria. It is very mistaken and I completely reject the view that there is “no proof” that Assad committed this war crime. I am leaving it up because I don’t hide my mistakes. I try to learn from them and move on.
All the main points about the coming attack by the Obama regime on Syria have been made:
- There is no proof that it was the Assad regime who used poison gas; it could just as easily have been the “rebels”.
- Assad had nothing to gain and everything to lose by using poison gas.
- The Obama administration’s claim remind us of the Bush claim of “weapons of mass destruction possessed by Saddam Hussein.
- The US and its allies have used equally devastating chemical weapons – the US used white phosphorous and depleted uranium in Iraq; Israel used white phosphorous and the modern day formulation of napalm in Gaza.
What the coming attack is really all about is weakening – or attempting to destroy – the influence of the Iranian regime in the region. This is so that US and Western European capitalism can have control over the oil resources of the region, as opposed to Russian and Iranian capitalism. Neither side represents the interests of the working class people of the world.
Once again, we are reminded of oil politics.
In their drive to imperialize – that is, to loot and plunder – the world, the major capitalist powers waged two world wars. An essential part of the strategy to control the world was access to energy supplies – that is, to oil. This included not only possession of oil wells, but also access to shipping lanes to transport the oil.
Energy policy is a fundamental part of the strategy of all capitalist states. For the Obama administration, this policy involves a military war (on Syria and in the future on Iran) abroad and the war on the environment (fracking) at home.
- The workers’ movement should oppose any bombing or other military intervention by the regimes of the US and Western Europe as well as their Arab allies (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, etc.) It should also take full independence from corporate politics; it needs its own mass workers’ parties.
- The workers’ movement of the West should unite with their brothers and sisters of the region who are struggling against neo-liberal economic policies and for full democracy. It should establish direct links, including worker tours of the countries of the region. It should set up a workers’ cordon on the borders of Syria to prevent the inflow of any more arms or fighters for either side.
- For the workers’ movement to put an end to oil politics at home and abroad!