Islamism

Syria: the return of US “world policing”

During the US election Trump’s advice to Obama was, “do not attack Syria... if you do many very bad things will happen and from that fight the US gets nothing.” Therefore Trump was not heeding his own advice when he gave the go-ahead for 59 missiles to be fired at an Assad military airfield on 6 April. Trump’s non-interventionist stance had been based on an assessment that the Syrian opposition is dominated by various strands of Islamism, while Assad is a known quantity. In October 2016 Trump said: “If they ever did overthrow Assad... you may very well end up with worse than Assad.” While...

Tackle the roots of the new jihadism

It is probably not possible to know and therefore pointless to speculate why Khalid Masood carried out the attack on Westminster Bridge and the Palace of Westminster on 22 March. Better to focus our thoughts on sympathy with the victims of the attack and building the better society that can works against such behaviour. Daesh were quick to claim that Masood was a soldier of the Caliphate, who had responded to their call. Masood was a “soldier” in the same sense that the attackers in Nice and Berlin were soldiers who attacked civilians using vehicles. In Masood’s case he also used a knife...

Civilians caught in Mosul crossfire

The Iraqi Government has been attempting to recapture Mosul since October last year. By the start of March 206,000 people had been displaced from Mosul, but 5,000 Daesh fighters remain. Many camps set up by aid agencies are almost full and will be unable to cope with higher numbers. 650,000 civilians are thought to remain in the city. Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has ordered his fighters to “wreak havoc” in Mosul as a prelude to a Daesh “victory”. Mosul is a diverse city with a Sunni majority, so the recapture by the Shia-dominated Iraqi state will have to be heavily monitored. After the...

Daesh losing grip on Mosul

Iraqi forces have reached the Tigris River in their campaign to take Mosul back from Daesh. Lieutenant General Abdal-Amir al-Lami, the Iraqi deputy chief of staff for operations, confirmed on 8 January that the Iraqi security forces (ISF) had seized the eastern end of one of the bridges linking the two sides of the city. Iraqi forces are now present in 35 of east Mosul’s 47 districts. Thousands of Iraqis have fled but displaced numbers are not yet as high as expected. There is still a lack of clarity on the distribution of aid and humanitarian resources with corruption endemic. The BBC reports...

Aleppo doomsday

With the aid of Russian military jets and intelligence units, Syrian armed forces tightened their grip over eastern Aleppo in early December. The fall of the whole city to Assad’s regime is now increasingly likely. Many more civilians are dying, and thousands are fleeing the city. Since the latest offensive began last month, the territory under the control of Syrian rebels has fallen by 50%. The combined forces of the Syrian army, Shia militias from Iraq, Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah have made significant and probably irreversible gains. 30,000 people have already been displaced by the...

Daesh stages murderous fightback in Mosul

With the assault on Mosul advancing quickly, Daesh have mounted a last ditch fightback. Seven eastern districts of Mosul have been lost; fighters who remain are hiding amongst the civilian population and launching repeated smaller guerilla style attacks on the approaching troops. 34,000 people have now fled the city. Daesh leader and supposed caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has called unremitting opposition to the army, militias and Kurdish forces that are retaking Mosul. A spokesman for the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service told Reuters: “Sometimes they climb to the rooftops of houses where...

Socialist Worker drops “stop the bombing”

In Socialist Worker (18 October) Charlie Kimber says Mosul will be “the next city to be razed by imperialism”. He does not, however, make a direct call on the US or UK to end their bombing in support of Iraqi government forces. In the past, the SWP would have said “stop the bombing”, while (mildly) criticising Daesh’s rule. Kimber says “Isis’s rule has been appalling”. He adds that fighting “civilians are now terrified of the air and artillery assaults and the gun battles in the streets” — but plainly shies away from any “Hands off Daesh” line. He does not call for an end to the assaults. He...

Mosul: thousands flee the city

As we go to press Iraqi government troops are on the point of entering Mosul in their drive to expel Daesh (Islamic State) from the city. With Kurdish Peshmerga and Shia militias operating in the surrounding areas, Mosul is surrounded, leaving Daesh with limited capacity to repel the attack. 50,000 Iraqi soldiers, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, Sunni Arab tribesmen and Shia militiamen are now involved in the offensive. Almost 18,000 people have already fled Mosul and the UN believes a further 700,000 will follow. Daesh has increased its violence against the population. Civilians have been taken...

Part IV: Afghanistan: Defend the cities!

For nine years, the army and air force of the bureaucratic ruling class of the Soviet Union waged a brutal war of conquest against the peoples of Afghanistan. They napalmed villages and burned the crops in the fields. They devastated the countryside, wrecked the primitive economy, and drove as many as five million refugees — one quarter of the entire population — over the borders into Pakistan and Iran. Yet they never even came near conquering the people. Western military experts calculated that a full conquest would have taken at least three times as many as the 100,000 soldiers and flyers...

When the left refused to condemn 9/11 (2001)

The last issue of Action for Solidarity went to press two days after the aircraft attack on the US. At the time We believed the British left had condemned the attacks. That was not quite right. All of the British left have described the events as horrific, of course but most have not made an unequivocal condemnation. Rather they have condemned the “tactics” of the attackers(Socialist Party) or said they condemn the attack “because the actions will not take forward the struggle against US domination by a single step...” (Workers Power). The Socialist Workers Party did not want to use the actual...

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.