ON WEDNESDAY 27 November, militias with origins in the Islamic State and Al Qaeda terrorist groups launched a surprise attack on Aleppo, the largest city in northern Syria.
This ended a four-year ceasefire in the war carried out by imperialist-backed ‘rebel’ forces to overthrow the democratically elected government of Bashar al-Assad.
The Islamic State and Al Qaeda had the backing of the imperialist warmongers to seize control of Syria and its oil riches in 2011 but were defeated by the Syrian government supported by Russia and Iran.
Despite this defeat they still retained a presence, along with other NATO-backed militias in the north, while the US maintained a significant military presence in the north of Syria.
The American military did nothing to stem the rise of the latest incarnation of Islamic terrorism in the form of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) the main militia driving the attack on Aleppo and whose leaders were previously in the leadership of Al Qaeda.
On Monday Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said that the lingering and illegal American military presence in Syria is the main reason behind persistent terrorism in Syria and that the Israeli regime is the main beneficiary of regional insecurity.
He told a press conference: ‘The American military presence in Syria amounts to a violation of the Arab country’s clear principles and laws, and continuation of terrorist presence there is down to the United States’ presence in the country.’
He pointed out that, despite the fact that HTS is designated a terrorist organisation by the US and NATO, ‘neither the development nor the Daesh Takfiri terror group has ever posed a threat to the US and its interests.’
The US and its allies failed to overthrow the legitimate government of Assad just as it has failed to weaken Russia and open the way for a regime change there through the war being conducted in Ukraine.
Israel has failed to defeat and crush Hamas and the Palestinian resistance to occupation despite its genocidal campaign in Gaza.
In Lebanon, both the Zionist Israeli regime and US imperialism were fought to a standstill by Hezbollah and forced to enter a ceasefire agreement shattering illusions that the Middle East could be ‘reshaped’ by force.
This did not mean, however, that the US and its NATO allies have pulled back from war.
As Baghaei said at the press conference, ‘It was no accident that the terrorists became active right after a ceasefire in Lebanon’ adding ‘The terrorist groups’ history and their relation to the Zionist regime takes us to the conclusion that their resurgence has been no accident.’
Israel has long given support to Islamic terrorist groups including allowing them to escape into the illegally occupied Golan Heights following their defeat by Syrian forces.
Now these terrorist forces are coming to the aid of Israel and its imperialist backers as they seek to extend the war across the entire Middle East region.
With Russia and Iran actively giving military support to the Syrian government as its forces drive back the HTS and retake Aleppo the situation is fast developing into an all-out war that could engulf the entire world.
The imperative for capitalism in its death agony is to wage war to re-impose its domination on the world for the exploitation of a handful of capitalist bankers, speculators and bosses in order to preserve their profits at all costs.
This has met the unbreakable resistance of the Palestinian and Arab masses in the region which have thwarted all attempts by the US and its Zionist agents to crush them into submission.
It has also met the resistance of the overwhelming majority of workers and youth throughout the West who support the Palestinian fight against occupation and genocide.
This support must now be escalated into the fight to put an end to imperialism once and for all through socialist revolution.
The burning issue today is building sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International in every country to organise the strength of the working class to bring down their capitalist governments and take power, going forward to workers’ governments and socialism.
Consigning capitalism to the dustbin of history through the victory of the World Socialist Revolution is the only way forward.
