US Prepares For Military Intervention In Syria,

by SEP Wed Apr 18, 2012 10:06

The US and its allies have wasted no time in declaring the ceasefire in Syria a failure and preparing stepped up intervention aimed at regime change in the strategically pivotal Middle Eastern country.

After 13 months of armed violence, the failure of the plan brokered by former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to fully resolve the conflict within 48 hours proved more than enough time for the so-called “Friends of Syria” to opt for the alternative: the promotion of a full-scale sectarian conflict that could spread throughout the region.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, spelled out Washington’s position on Tuesday, announcing that “we are by no means limiting our efforts to the good diplomatic work that we are supporting here at the UN.” On the contrary, she continued, the US will continue providing the so-called “rebels” in Syria with “non-lethal support,” including such items as night vision goggles, sophisticated communications equipment, and US intelligence, all of which are meant to assist armed attacks on the regime’s security forces.

Qatar’s ruling emir, one of Washington’s closest allies in the region and a key partner in the US-NATO war for regime change in Libya, told a press conference in Rome that he considered the UN ceasefire deal “immoral” and gave it “no more than a 3 percent” chance of succeeding. Qatar and Saudi Arabia announced their support for arming the opposition in a bid to topple the Assad regime.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the ceasefire a lost cause. “Syrian President Bahsar al-Assad is trying to buy time,” said Erdogan. “It is the reason why Turkey does not believe in a ceasefire in the country.”

The Turkish government is hosting armed groups inside its territory that carry out terrorist attacks on Syrian security forces on a regular basis, provoking cross-border skirmishes. Such clashes could provide the pretext for Turkey invoking NATO’s mutual defense pact to clear the way for more direct imperialist intervention. Ankara has also initiated discussion with Washington on the seizure of Syrian territory to create a “buffer zone,” where more such attacks could be prepared.

In Paris, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe announced plans to hold a meeting of the “core members” of the Friends of Syria, i.e., Washington, London, Turkey and the monarchical dictatorships of the Gulf Cooperation Council, to tighten economic sanctions that have already driven unemployment past the 35 percent mark and cut real wages of Syrian workers in half. The aim is, as Richard Nixon said of Chile some 40 years ago, to “make the economy scream,” creating the best conditions for a societal collapse and all out civil war.
There is nothing that Assad could do to alter the positions of these proponents of regime change outside of committing political and physical suicide.
The campaign to topple the Assad government is publicly justified in the name of the “Arab Spring,” “democracy” and “human rights.” Such claims are belied, however, by the utter indifference of the “Friends” to—and indeed support for—the crushing of a mass movement for democracy and human rights on the other end of the Arabian Peninsula.

Amnesty International this week released a scathing report on Bahrain, declaring, “Despite the authorities’ claims to the contrary, state violence against those who oppose the Al Khalifa family rule continues, and in practice not much has changed in the country since the brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters in February and March 2011.” That crackdown saw Saudi troops and tanks stream across the causeway linking Bahrain to the Arabian Peninsula to carry out the military suppression of unarmed protesters.
More: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/apr2012/pers-a18.shtml

by An Draighneán Donn Sun Apr 22, 2012 16:07

I think its high time for the Irish Anti-War Movement to withdraw its support from the Al CIAda sectarian murder gangs in Syria, and support the efforts of the government to stabilize the country. We see the racist and sectarian Holocaust that is now Libya. The IAWM has still not said sorry for its part in bringing these racist gangs to power there. Why does the IAWM want to inflict genocide on Syria? There is a new constitution in Syria. Supported by the vast majority. If people dont like Al-Assad or the Ba'ath Party, they can simply vote them out. No need for violence. But, of course, democracy is the last thing these sectarian gangs and their Western backers want. They want a sectarian Holocaust, that would destroy Syria, and leave Iran wide open to attack.