PRESIDENT Obama has given his authorisation for US air power to be used to support the forces that the US and Turkey are training, in a ‘secure zone’ in northern Syria, for action supposedly against IS.
In particular, the Wall Street Journal has revealed that the order has been issued that this air power is to be used against the Syrian army and pro-Assad militias if these should come into conflict with the US puppet forces that are being assembled.
The US is said to be having a problem with training these Islamic forces, who are allegedly to be used against the IS. The problem is that these Islamists want to fight Assad, and see the Syrian government as the enemy and they sympathise with IS.
They have joined up to fight Assad. However this desire may well be the real intention of US imperialism and its UK ally. The announcement by Obama will serve to assure them that the target is Assad after all. Last week, the US airforce conducted airstrikes in Syria to protect its ‘New Syria Force’ after it was attacked by al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, the al Nusra front.
The US intervention into northern Syria comes after the recent NATO meeting called by Turkey which obtained NATO support, including the UK, for its air strikes against IS, and also for air strikes on the PKK in northern Iraq and the YGP Kurdish People’s Defence Units, that liberated Kobani from IS, and are now fighting alongside the Syrian army against IS in northern Syria.
Turkey has been bombing the PKK in northern Iraq and YGP positions in Syria. The main enemy of Turkish imperialism is the Kurdish people. Turkey fears the movement of the Kurdish people, and has a record of good relations with IS! NATO agreed to support the US and Turkish joint operation, including the establishment of a ‘safe no-fly zone’ inside Syria where US and Turkish puppet forces could be trained.
US Defence Secretary Ash Carter has acknowledged that US air power alone won’t be sufficient. The promise of defensive air support, US officials argue, will help persuade prospective recruits the Pentagon is serious about protecting them, including against the Syrian army. The Pentagon used air power for the first time on Friday to help defend its new force when the compound it was using in northern Syria came under attack from the Nusra Front.
Its target is to train 3,000 fighters by the end of this year. This force will be no good for fighting IS, but will be keen to fight Assad and march on Damascus, with US air cover. The cause of war will be an attack by pro-Assad forces on the US and Turkish puppet army. This can be manufactured with ease. The Gulf of Tonkin incident is an example of what the US can do. Its result saw massive US forces being sent to fight in Vietnam.
In that incident, North Vietnamese torpedo boats supposedly attacked the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin, off Vietnam, in a pair of assaults on August 2 and 4, 1964. It was the basis for the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which committed hundreds of thousands of US forces to the war in Vietnam. The resolution passed the House of Representatives unanimously, and passed in the Senate with only two dissenting votes.
This time around, all that will be needed is the incident, since the authorisation has already been given by Obama in advance. In the meantime, the US will be getting ready to deal with Syria’s anti-aircraft defences from within Syrian territory. It is common knowledge that where the US treads, its UK partner in crime will not be too far behind. In fact Cameron has already publicly stated his desire to take part in bombing Syria!
The UK trade unions have a duty to take action to defend the Syrian people against any new imperialist assault on them and their country. The TUC Congress is meeting this September. It must warn the UK government that it will organise political strikes and a national campaign to bring down the government if it takes part in, or supports, any US bombing of the Assad government and the Syrian people.
