Syria: will the West attack?
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ALB.
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April 19, 2018 at 11:09 pm #96293
alanjjohnstone
KeymasterWithout this aid directly from the Saudis and other Gulf States, i don't think a civil war to the degree that took place was possible.The fact that Western intelligence was also involved suggests that these states were acting as proxies for the West, sharing the same strategic goal from the earliest daysHow much in actual dollars that the US/UK/France gave compared to the Saudis and its allies, i have no idea. Nor do i know how much finance was given to Assad by Iran and Russia.The fact that Turkey permitted ISIS to enter Syria once again appears to be confirmed that Jihadists are being found in the ranks of the Syrians fighting the Kurds.https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-yazidis-isis-islam-conversion-afrin-persecution-kurdish-a8310696.htmlIt was from reading about the transformation of mass protests in Syria into an armed uprising in Syria which led me to read a lot more on non-violent resistance and the necessity to aim for it in the socialist struggles. It brought the pacifist rather than the barricadist out in me, even more
April 21, 2018 at 1:58 am #96294alanjjohnstone
KeymasterThe United States, France and the United Kingdom violated international law by launching airstrikes against Syria in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack, an independent German parliamentary report has found."Military force used against a state to punish it for infringing an international convention violates the prohibition of force under international law," said the report by the German parliament's non-partisan research service (the "Unterabteilung Wissenschaftliche Dienste"). The report was commissioned by Germany's Left party, which asked the civil servants to ascertain if the strikes conformed with international law. The findings cited the UN Charter, which calls on members to "refrain … from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state." This ban on using military force, the report added, still applies when a country breaches an international treaty such as the CWC. Moreover, the report disagreed with an argument voiced by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who had cited the UN Security Council's inability to react to the suspected chemical attack as part of his support for the airstrikes. The Council's indecisiveness, based on Russia's opposition to US-backed proposals to investigate the suspected attack, was irrelevant from a legal perspective, it said.http://www.dw.com/en/syria-airstrikes-violated-international-law-german-parliamentary-report/a-43476594
April 21, 2018 at 2:46 am #96295alanjjohnstone
KeymasterRemember Scott Ritter, the ex-UN arms inspector during the Iraq WMD treasure-hunt. He may now be out of the loop but his experience i believe still counts for somethinghttps://www.truthdig.com/articles/a-shocking-lack-of-intelligence-in-our-missile-strike-on-syria/
Quote:One of the major problems confronting those who contend that both sarin and chlorine were used in the alleged Douma incident is the absolute incompatibility of the two substances. A U.S. Army study from the 1950s found that chlorine serves as a catalyst that promotes the decomposition of sarin nerve agent, meaning that if both substances were either combined or released together, the sarin would rapidly decompose. This reality seemed to escape American officials evaluating the Douma incident, who postulated to The Guardian that chlorine and sarin were stored separately in the same cylinder, ignoring how this would be achieved in a gas cylinder of the type alleged to have been used in Douma…. Azizah’s narrative of smoke inhalation is consistent with the finding of the French intelligence report on the Douma chemical attack, which noted that, based upon an examination of the images of the alleged victims, one of the possible explanations behind the symptoms produced was “hydrocyanic acid” (the solution of hydrogen cyanide in water). Hydrogen cyanide is something not found in either chlorine or sarin exposure, but prevalent in the smoke produced by structure fires. The presence of hydrogen cyanide would be explained by a structure fire, and as such, Azizah’s testimony provides a viable alternative explanation for the victims being treated by the Douma hospital, as well as those filmed dead at the scene of the alleged chemical attack.Perhaps our resident chemist can comment.However as ALB pointed out previously Ritter observes
Quote:the French case for war—and by extension, that of its allies, the United States and the United Kingdom—rested solely on “open source” information provided by opponents of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, for whom military intervention by the West was a long-standing objective.April 21, 2018 at 4:15 am #96296Anonymous
Inactivealanjjohnstone wrote:The United States, France and the United Kingdom violated international law by launching airstrikes against Syria in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack, an independent German parliamentary report has found."Military force used against a state to punish it for infringing an international convention violates the prohibition of force under international law," said the report by the German parliament's non-partisan research service (the "Unterabteilung Wissenschaftliche Dienste"). The report was commissioned by Germany's Left party, which asked the civil servants to ascertain if the strikes conformed with international law. The findings cited the UN Charter, which calls on members to "refrain … from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state." This ban on using military force, the report added, still applies when a country breaches an international treaty such as the CWC. Moreover, the report disagreed with an argument voiced by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who had cited the UN Security Council's inability to react to the suspected chemical attack as part of his support for the airstrikes. The Council's indecisiveness, based on Russia's opposition to US-backed proposals to investigate the suspected attack, was irrelevant from a legal perspective, it said.http://www.dw.com/en/syria-airstrikes-violated-international-law-german-parliamentary-report/a-43476594https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/socialist-standard/1990s/1998/no-1129-september-1998/not-worth-paper. Do they care about law and treaties ?
May 17, 2018 at 11:17 am #96297alanjjohnstone
KeymasterA confession of sortsThe shadow foreign secretary said Mr Assad “There is an argument that if [President Assad] had been as overwhelmingly unpopular as the rebels told the West at the outset, then he wouldn’t be there. “I think there has been a depth and a breadth of support for Assad that has been underestimated.” Thornberry said foreign forces, including Britain, which has struck Isis targets as well as the Syrian regime's chemical weapons facilities, need to leave the country. "They're not fighting for the sake of the Syrian people," she said. Thornberry refused to denounce Russia for vetoing 11 UN Security Council resolutions, saying: "People will always block resolutions. If you look at the number of resolutions America has blocked, I mean that’s the way of politics.”https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/assad-syria-emily-thornberry-support-underestimated-jeremy-corbyn-russia-a8355241.html
May 17, 2018 at 11:16 pm #96298Anonymous
Inactivealanjjohnstone wrote:A confession of sortsThe shadow foreign secretary said Mr Assad “There is an argument that if [President Assad] had been as overwhelmingly unpopular as the rebels told the West at the outset, then he wouldn’t be there. “I think there has been a depth and a breadth of support for Assad that has been underestimated.” Thornberry said foreign forces, including Britain, which has struck Isis targets as well as the Syrian regime's chemical weapons facilities, need to leave the country. "They're not fighting for the sake of the Syrian people," she said. Thornberry refused to denounce Russia for vetoing 11 UN Security Council resolutions, saying: "People will always block resolutions. If you look at the number of resolutions America has blocked, I mean that’s the way of politics.”https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/assad-syria-emily-thornberry-support-underestimated-jeremy-corbyn-russia-a8355241.html It would like denying that Adolf Hitler, Stalin and Fidel Castro did not have any popularity or support. Still more than 36 millions of peoples are supporting Donald Trump
May 21, 2018 at 9:49 am #96299ALB
KeymasterThey're all at it:http://theconversation.com/is-it-time-for-israel-to-reveal-the-truth-about-its-chemical-weapons-95604When it comes to states defending vital capitalist interests it's all hypocrisy and lies.
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