U.S. threatens bombing of Syria despite diplomacy

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VOL. 31, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2013 WWW.SOCIALISTACTION.ORG U.S. / CANADA $1 Washington’s agreement to pursue a diplomatic route to secure the dis­ armament of Syria’s chemical arsenal produced sighs of relief the world over from opponents of a new Middle East war. The threat of an imminent U.S. missile attack on that nation, an attack that would undoubtedly lead to civilian deaths and a weakening of the position of the grassroots democratic elements in the struggle against Assad, has ap­ preciably lessened.

It is important to recognize, however, that the threat of war remains real. The Obama administration is, on the one hand, using the UN process to lay the groundwork necessary to garner future international support for a direct U.S. intervention. On the other hand, it is stepping up the flow of arms to the sec­ tions of the anti-Assad forces they deem most useful to their long-term project of maintaining U.S. dominance over the resources of the broader region.

On Sept. 27, the UN Security Council approved a resolution that demanded that Syria allow an international team to destroy its chemical weapons. This resolution is understood as not autho­ rizing automatic punitive action if the process is not completed to the UN’s satisfaction. At the same time, however, the resolution does assert that should Syria not comply fully, the UN should impose measures under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. Chapter VII mandates sanctions, and if sanctions fail, “such ac­ tion by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore inter­ national peace and security.”

The Sept. 27 resolution is interpreted by The New York Times and Washing­ ton Post as requiring a second Security Council vote for the instigation of mili­ tary action by a UN-authorized force. Nonetheless, the vote marks the first time that the Security Council, pre­ viously constrained by Russian and Chinese objections, has unanimously moved to censure the Syrian govern­ ment. The U.S. is unlikely to have agreed to a resolution that could not be used, if necessary, as a stepping stone on the path toward greater international sup­ port for direct imperialist intervention.

Indeed, according to a Sept. 29 Reuters article, just a few days after the passage of the chemical weapons resolution, Security Council members began con­ sidering the demand that Syria allow humanitarian convoys from neighbor­ ing countries to enter and travel inside of Syria.

While the actual humanitarian crisis of the Syrian people is very grave—the U.S. and its allies have not come close to fulfilling their already inadequate aid quotas for the nearly 2 million refugees already outside the country—the de­ mand to allow convoys from Turkey and Jordan, both of which are collaborating with the CIA to send arms and fighters to Syria, is suspect. “Humanitarian cor­ Tony Savino / Socialist Action (Above) New York demonstration on Sept. 7 against U.S. intervention in Syria, sponsored by a broad range of antiwar organizations.

ridors” and like proposals have more than once been used for the very nonhumanitarian and imperialist ends of weapons and troop supply.

In short, the UN Security Council ac­ tion is a double-edged sword that has delayed U.S. missile strikes but given new authority to outside intervention into Syria. According to a Sept. 11 article in the Washington Post, the administra­ tion’s shift to diplomatic strong-arming was also accompanied by a very pub­ lic boost in arms deliveries to the pro-imperialist sections of the opposition forces. A July 2 article by David Ottaway in The National Interest reports that the U.S. is also looking the other way while the Saudi government supplies non-U.S.-made surface-to-air missiles.

(continued on page 5, in “Fascism shall not pass!”)

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