THE last few days has seen an acceleration in terrorist activity of all types. The first terrorist attack was last Thursday when the US announced that it had executed a British citizen in Syria, with the support of the British PM Cameron, who said that the state organised murder was a brilliant defensive move.
In accordance with the rules of imperialist piracy the UK had not sought the permission of the Syrian government, or of parliament for the killing on Syrian territory – it just went ahead and did it. The second terrorist attack was two massive bomb blasts at Mosques in Beirut, on the same day, aimed at Shi’ite supporters of Hezbollah.
These blasts killed over 40 Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians, and were carried out by IS to try to ease the intense pressure on it that has seen Hezbollah and Syrian troops drive it back, supported by Russian airpower.
On Friday night IS struck in Paris killing 129 with 98 seriously injured in a series of attacks that stunned France and Europe, reminding British workers that they may well pay the price for Cameron’s terrorism. In fact, far from bringing the imperialist powers to their senses the IS strike in Paris is being seen as a golden opportunity for another Gulf War.
The US and the UK are not saying that they will now work with Assad to destroy IS, and will allow the Syrian people to elect the government of their choice. They are singing their old song but even louder. This is that you cannot smash IS until you have smashed Assad. Once that is done, they will be able to deal with ISIS.
What this means is that as soon as Assad has gone, the Saudi and Qatari paymasters that back IS, will tighten the financial strings and bring IS to heel, and then Syria can be dismembered with Turkey taking the north and pacifying the Kurds, with the Saudis grabbing what they will of the east of the country, and Israel taking the Golan Heights, that it lusts after because of its water sources.
This is the imperialist perspective.
In fact the present moment, when French workers have paid with hundreds of deaths and more wounded for the bomb Syria policy of the French government, the imperialist powers are having a 9/11, 2001 moment. The assault on the Twin Towers in 2001 was the tocsin for Bush and Blair to mount the Gulf War to destroy Iraq without which there would be no ISIS today. Bush and Blair paved the way for the war on Libya and Syria that created the multi-million refugee crisis of today.
Now their heirs are working on the same plan for the destruction of Syria and the redrawing of the old Sykes-Picot map of the Middle East. This is why they cannot tolerate the Baathist secular regime of Assad.
At Vienna on Saturday the imperialists would not concede that Assad would have the right to stand for the presidency in any new Syrian elections! As far as they are concerned the wishes of the Syrian people are irrelevant. They are now attempting to seize the moment, as Blair and Bush did!
One – they intend to stampede the UK parliament into accepting at once all of the proposed spying and anti-terror legislation, using IS as their recruiting sergeant, and two – they want to bomb Assad out of the way so that Saudi Arabia can work out a deal for the redrawing of the map of the Middle East with IS and others.
Cameron’s decision to OK the murder of a UK subject by a drone in Syria, has put the lives of many UK citizens in danger, the events in Paris testify to that. Just like Bush and Blair he thinks it will be well worth it, if the UK ruling class is able to use the crisis to redraw the map in the Middle East, liquidating Syria for the benefit of Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey and enriching itself in the process, while at the same time it is able smash the trade unions and the Welfare State at home.
UK workers are not fools. They will not allow any attempt to replay 2001 and its consequences.
The trade unions must spell it out that any attempt to rush through draconian laws for the benefit of the bosses and the secret police, to strangle free speech and the trade unions, and to launch an attack on Syria will be met with a general strike to bring the Tories down and bring in a workers government and socialism. Our enemy is not Assad or Syria, it is Cameron and the Tory party!