Syria

US-UK bombing won't stop Daesh!

On Wednesday 2 December (after we go to press) the House of Commons will vote on proposals to extend UK air strikes to Syria. As Jeremy Corbyn has given Labour MPs a free vote, Cameron is likely to have a majority for extending the bombing. The government says the renewed military campaign, now including UK, US, France, Turkey and the Gulf States, will be aimed at pushing back Daesh (Islamic State). But it is unlikely to make a decisive impact on Daesh’s position. It is more likely to perpetuate the current stalemate between all the military-political forces in Syria. That is, in fact, the...

Daesh shifts its tactics

Daesh has since its evolution from Al Qaeda in Iraq concentrated on the “near enemy”, on sectarian killing of Shia Muslims, non-compliant Sunnis, and other minorities, and conquest of contiguous territory to form its “Islamic State”. The “far enemy” was not a priority for Daesh. Now there is a shift in the style and type of attack that Daesh and its supporters carry out. The downing of a Russian plane, the bombing of Beirut, and the bombings and mass shootings in Paris, are more like Al Qaeda attacks such as the 2004 Madrid bombing. Daesh do not follow the guidance issued by Al Qaeda in 2013...

The killings in Sinai, Beirut, and Paris

On 31 October, the Islamist group Daesh claimed the destruction of a Russian passenger aircraft flight 7K9268, over Sinai, Egypt, on 31 October, killing 224 people. On 12 November it claimed 43 civilians killed by bombings in Beirut. And now it has claimed 129 people killed in Paris on the evening of 13 November. In Paris, gunmen opened fire in many crowded cafes, dance halls, and stadiums. The latest count is 352 injured, 99 critically. The suspected ringleader, a Belgian national, has been killed in a police raid. Daesh conquered Iraq’s second city, Mosul, in June 2014, and since then has...

For freedom and solidarity, against all the barbarisms!

The French anti-racist group Memorial 98 has published this response to the Paris atrocities of 13 November, solidarising with the democrats and socialists in Syria who stand against the Assad dictatorship and against Daesh and similar groups. These are the words of the last message of Razan Zaitouneh, a Syrian fighter for human rights and democracy, an opponent of the dictatorship, who was kidnapped by an armed group in 2013 when she decided not to leave the country, despite being stalked by the regime's murderers and by the terrorist groups who had publicly told her to choose between exile...

An atrocious massacre

This statement on the Paris atrocities was made by Nathalie Arthaud of the French revolutionary socialist group Lutte Ouvriere. To massacre people in a theatre, in bars, in restaurants, around a sports stadium; those who carried several attacks yesterday [13 November] in Paris and Saint-Denis wanted to to kill as many as possible, indiscriminately. These attacks are despicable. We express our sympathy and our solidarity with the victims and their relatives. Whatever the ideas claimed by those who perpetrated these attacks, they are then enemies of workers everywhere. If it is confirmed that...

Syria: continuation and containment of war

The US Government will deploy a group of special-ops forces to northern Syria to help the “Syrian Democratic Forces” (SDF), the multi-ethnic opposition that the US has positively “vetted”, and is now willing to publicly arm and support. The US liberal magazine Mother Jones cites a White House official “the leadership of these groups are vetted as individuals for human rights abuses and ties to terrorism” The SDF is dominated by the Kurdish Peoples’ Defence Units (YPG), linked to the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK). But by the YPG going under a different banner, both they and the US have more room...

Solidarity with refugees Open the borders!

Refugee flows into Europe from the Middle East and Africa were expected to decline as autumn sets in and sea crossings become more dangerous, but the numbers of people fleeing poverty and war, particularly in Syria, remain very high and are even growing. UN figures show 218,000 crossed the Mediterranean in October; at least 700,000 have arrived in Europe this year. At least 3,000 have drowned trying to sail to Europe this year; the most recent victims were 11 people who drowned on 1 November when their boat overturned in heavy seas, just 20 metres from the Greek island of Samos. The dead...

Russia backs Assad's new offensive

The Russian military intervention has had its intended effect of strengthening the Syrian Army, enabling it to start a major offensive in the north east of the country. Both Aleppo and the valley of Orontes, previously strongholds of Jabhat al-Nusra, are now under sustained attack by the Syrian military with the support of Russian airstrikes. Russia’s air war is being guided by Damascus. Independent reporter Robert Fisk claims Russia receives up to 800 coordinates a night for targeted airstrikes. These co-ordinates are being shared with Turkey, and Fisk reports a communications system now...

Labour right backs Cameron on Syria

David Cameron had indicated that he will seek Parliament’s support for airstrikes on Syria. It remains unclear when a vote will take place. In an interview with the BBC on 6 October, Cameron said he would go to for a parliamentary vote “at a time when there’s a greater consensus across the House of Commons for that action”. Some Tory MPs oppose military action in Syria, so the Prime Minister might have to rely on opposition MPs to pass a motion for airstrikes. The vote will be a significant moment for the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn’s left-wing leadership. Corbyn has said that he is against...

Russia bombs to defend Assad

Russia has begun bombing Syria, claiming they are targeting Daesh (IS). But the airstrikes are, in effect, a defence of the Assad government, which Russia maintains is the legitimate government of the Syrian people. The Guardian reported that a rebel group trained by the CIA, Liwa Suqour al-Jabal, had its training camp in Idlib struck repeatedly in two separate bombings. Russia has hit a range of targets in both northern and central Syria, affecting the increasingly fragmented rebel groups, including members of the Islamic Front and the Al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra. One of Russia’s most...

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