08-12-2024:  We have seen this movie before. Al Qaeda terrorists backed by the West and the Israeli state murderously advance against Syrian civilians and its government, while being lauded as “rebels”, or even “moderate rebels” by the pliant corporate media in the West. The latest incarnation of Al Qaeda in Syria is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, given the innocuous sounding acronym of “HTS”. However, HTS is the re-branded Al Nusra Front, parts of which was re-branded from ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) from which hundreds of Takfiri Salafist splinter groups emerged during the “Dirty War” on Syria[1] waged primarily by Washington from 2011 onwards. The US government aim, from long before 2011, was nothing less than regime change in Syria, to undermine the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Russian Federation and the Lebanese Shia resistance force Hezbollah – to the advantage of the Israeli state. The West animated the worst elements of Al Qaeda for this task, and still do to this day, even though many of its former allies have now abandoned any attempt to overthrow Damascus.

“Ceasefire” trigger

On November the 27^th, HTS launched attacks in the Idlib and Aleppo countryside, with HTS reportedly using Ukrainian drones acquired from Kiev’s NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) armed Nazified intelligence services.[2] Four students in a dormitory were killed from terrorist shelling of a university in Aleppo.[3] The HTS assault came literally the day after the Israeli government signed a ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon, which was supposed to last 60 days. Yet the IDF (Israeli Defence Force) violated the ceasefire within two days with an airstrike that it claimed targeted militants in Lebanon who were allegedly breaking the ceasefire.[4] The ceasefire with Hezbollah seemingly enabled what was a long-planned offensive against Syria by the US (United States of America) state, its Israeli state proxy[5] and up to 20 000 Al Qaeda operatives. The IDF has bombed Syria[6] literally hundreds of times over the last decade, which primarily benefits the positions of the Al Qaeda terrorists.

During the HTS offensive, there were reports of people living in Aleppo leaping into their cars and fleeing, as the scenario appeared to be similar to a previous ISIS/Al Qaeda takeover of Idlib. Videos were taken of HTS pictured in Aleppo and distributed, leading to some Syrians fleeing their homes.[7] These actions are eminently understandable, as Christmas time looms, and Christians especially were targeted by the Al Qaeda head choppers at the height of the US and Western backed regime change war. Despite this, veteran Palestine and Syria correspondent Eva Bartlett wrote that reports of Aleppo being taken over by HTS are well wide of the mark. Photos and videos showing HTS presence in Aleppo should not be taken as evidence that Aleppo has “fallen”. It is relatively easy for sleeper cell terrorists to pop up, take photos and videos, and leave.[8] In fact, the spreading of deliberate misinformation by HTS and its Western corporate media partners are in practice part of the regime change war in the same way as is the funding and arming of deranged terrorists.

Western propaganda: collapse, coup, Assad “flees”

Almost immediately, lurid tales began to appear not only in the Western media but also within the Middle East itself that “Aleppo had fallen”, “Syria was collapsing”, a “coup” had taken place, and President Bashar al-Assad had allegedly fled to Moscow. None of this was true. The US government funded Voice of America claimed that there was a “rapid collapse” of the Syrian army around Aleppo, while simultaneously referring to HTS as “rebels” and “terrorists”.[9] In the US, NPR repeatedly refers to Al Qaeda barbarians as “rebels” who carried out an “uprising” in 2011.[10] The Australian government funded SBS (Special Broadcasting Service) state that HTS are “rebels” but then admit that HTS is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the governments of Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom (UK).[11] The notion that Al Qaeda terrorists funded by Western governments, assisted and aided by the IDF on the ground, are fighting for “freedom” in Syria is nonsensical.

Dashing fantastic claims of Assad “fleeing” Syria, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met with the President in Damascus on December the 2^nd.[12] Araqchi had stated days earlier that the resurgence of Takfiri terrorism in northern Syria is part of an American-Israeli project which aims to spread insecurity in the West Asia region.[13] Syrian activist Mimi al-Laham (a.k.a “Syrian Girl”) was quoted as saying that the HTS violence in northern Syria is an Israeli plot to break up the alliance between Iran and Syria so that weapons cannot get to Hezbollah.[14] There is indeed a long and sordid history of the Israeli government and its IDF forces working on the ground in Syria with ISIS and Al Qaeda[15] in its crusade led by the Pentagon to overthrow Damascus. Many liberals in the West try to ignore the fact that Hamas worked alongside the IDF and ISIS and the various Al Qaeda affiliates in Syria[16] for ten years, with Hamas only officially ending its position of demanding the overthrow of secular Syria late in 2022.

The involvement of the Turkish government in these operations is murky and contradictory. While President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is known for his treacherous and disloyal actions, the Turkish government does have the right to combat the PKK (grossly misnamed “Kurdistan Workers Party”) terrorists in northern Syria which have wreaked havoc and taken innocent lives within Türkiye.[17] At the same time, the Turkish government under Erdogan has backed and enabled Takfiri terrorists operating in Syria, although to a lesser extent after Russia intervened in Syria at the invitation of the Syrian government in 2015. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has stated that his nation’s approach is to combat terrorism in Syria, while maintaining Syria’s territorial integrity – though many may scoff at this suggestion. Nonetheless, he makes the valid point that both Syria and Türkiye have a shared interest in removing the terrorist PKK and its Syrian affiliate the YPG (“People’s Protection Units”) from the north and east of Syria.[18] The PKK and the YPG work directly with the US military occupying Syria, stealing much of its oil and wheat. Despite this, President Assad has thus far refused to meet with Erdogan, stating that a full withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syrian soil is a pre-condition.[19]

Fightback by Syria, Russia

Despite Western corporate media spin, both the Syrian and Russian armies have struck back against the HTS terrorists in a big way. The Syrian General Command issued a statement that the Syrian and Russian air forces had carried out concentrated air, missile and artillery strikes on terrorist sites, warehouses, supply lines and movement axes. It said that its own movements on multiple fronts in Aleppo, Hama and Idlib had encircled the terrorists in preparation for further assaults. They also stated that reports of terrorist groups controlling areas, towns and villages are false and part of a propaganda campaign to boost morale amidst heavy losses.[20] While the Syrian General Command acknowledged that the army had lost dozens of service members, the terrorists had failed to establish fixed positions due to continuous bombardment. Syrian officials estimated the terrorist losses to be around 1000.[21] Syrian military forces also recaptured the towns of Halfaya, Taybat al-Imam, the village of Khirbet al-Hijama and Suran city in the northern Hama countryside.[22]

By December 3, unhinged US/Israeli backed HTS terrorists reached the town of Qalaat Al Madiq, northwest of Hama and 35 kilometres from Russia’s Khmeimim Air Base.[23] However, it was from Khmeimim that Russia launched the devastating air strikes on the HTS mercenaries. Russia also operates the seaport of Tartus in Syria, although it officially refers to it as a logistics hub rather than a military base.[24] Russia has maintained the Khmeimim and Tartus outposts since 2015, when its crucial intervention at the intervention of the Syrian government turned the tide in the US/UK backed regime change war, and ensured that the Syrian Arab Republic would not be overthrown by deranged Western funded and armed Al Qaeda hit-men. Along with the efforts of Hezbollah and Iran, who understood that Lebanon and Iran would be the next targets if Syria was overrun, the blocking of the long-planned regime change war drove the ruling classes of the West into a frenzy. Arguably, this increased their need to turn their attention to arming Nazis in Ukraine against Russia.

Syria’s return to the Arab League in May 2023[25] drew a semi-official curtain on the US/UK/Israeli regime change war. From that point on, the Gulf monarchies which had in previous years backed the overthrow of Syria, switched sides in the light of other geopolitical developments. The Saudi Arabian monarchy definitively rescinded its earlier position when the People’s Republic of China (PRC) brokered a peace deal between them and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Qatari monarchy always denied backing groups in Syria with ties to Al Qaeda, but its aid to the Muslim Brotherhood in practice served the same end. By 2023, however, Qatar did not oppose Syria rejoining the Arab League. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) once backed some anti-government terror groups in Syria, but its role was less prominent than that of Saudia Arabia and Qatar. By 2021, President Assad had begun to be invited to visit the UAE, which he did twice in that year. Jordan did back some terrorist outfits fighting in Syria, and the Jordanian monarchy has betrayed the secular Arab states many times – but Jordan never officially severed ties with Syria.[26] For its part, the PRC Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian issued a strong statement of support for Syria and its territorial integrity. Last September, Syria and the PRC signed a strategic partnership deal[27] involving cooperation on trade and security issues.

For an authentic anti-war movement

With Russia, China, Iran, Hezbollah, the Saudi and Qatari monarchies, the Arab League and almost all BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, United Arab Emirates plus 13 other partner nations of the Global South) all defending Syria, the US armed and Israeli backed Al Qaeda maniacs have little chance of taking Damascus. Enormous damage and loss of innocent life can still be enacted though, with the US military and its PKK miscreants still occupying the North and East of Syria, and up to 20 000 or more HTS sociopaths wreaking havoc in and around Idlib. Yet Syria is still a part of the Axis of Resistance, even though many in the Western “Stand with Palestine” movement do not recognise it, or even join with imperialism in calls for its overthrow. Syria is just as much a part of the Axis of Resistance as its other constituent parts – Iran, Shia militias in Iraq including the Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU), Hezbollah in Lebanon and Ansar Allah in Yemen. Working people internationally have a side in the military backing of the Axis of Resistance, Russia, China and the BRICS allies against US imperialism and its henchmen and proxy militaries such as the IDF.

A critical shortcoming of the “Stand with Palestine” movement in the West since October 7, 2023, has been open or de-facto endorsement of the actions of the terrorist Hamas fanatics, the former Palestinian chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas, ISIS, Al Qaeda, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Al Nusra etc. can all operate as proxy forces of US/UK imperialism due to their extreme anti-socialist hysterics. Large sections of the faux left are also anti-Syria, anti-Iran and anti-Russia and thus play into the very aims of the imperialism they deny they are a part of. This reformist left jumps up and down when Israel bombs Palestine, but are silent when Israel bombs neighbouring Syria, and then claim to defend Lebanon while denouncing Hezbollah – the most significant force in Lebanon. They go on to laud the Syrian “revolution” when it is plain to see that the only forces in Syria aiming to overthrow the state are psychotic head choppers who will not blink at taking the lives of anyone who does not share their ultra-extreme version of “Islam” – Christians, Alawites, secular Syrians and more.

Capitalism is reaching a historical breaking point, symbolised above all by Washington and London’s endless wars. This is why capitalism’s imperialist wars cannot be ended even if Russia and its allies have military superiority. Imperialism itself must be overthrown and consigned to the dustbin of history. It is critical that Marxist leadership of the working class be forged urgently. Workers’ vanguard parties must be constructed to aid the masses in their historic task of taking public ownership of the major means of production, the first step towards socialism. As much as the BRICS bloc offers an alternative to the destructive forces of decaying Western capitalism, it can at most point the way towards a better world. In the meantime, a genuine anti-war movement could demand: US TROOPS: GET OUT OF IRAQ AND SYRIA!  NO WEAPONS FOR ISRAEL, UKRAINE, TAIWAN!  NO TO NUCLEAR WAR!

Workers League

www.redfireonline.com

E: workersleague@protonmail.com

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[1] www.tim-anderson.site/the-dirty-war-on-syria-2016/ (04-12-2024)

[2] www.english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/syrian-army-foils-attack–launches-counteroffensive-in-idlib (04-12-2024)

[3] www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/29112024 (04-12-2024)

[4] www.unz.com/pgiraldi/when-is-a-ceasefire-not-a-ceasefire/ (04-12-2024)

[5] www.unz.com/mwhitney/for-bibi-the-road-to-tehran-goes-through-damascus/ (04-12-2024)

[6] www.aljazeera.com/podcasts/2022/9/15/why-does-israel-keep-bombing-syria (04-12-2024)

[7] www.globalresearch.ca/western-zionist-supported-al-qaeda-affiliated-terrorists-occupy-aleppo-syria/5874127 (04-12-2024)

[8] www.rt.com/news/608503-syria-terrorists-attack-aleppo/ (04-12-2024)

[9] www.voanews.com/a/rapid-collapse-of-syrian-forces-around-aleppo-stuns-many/7882626.html (04-12-2024)

[10] www.npr.org/2024/12/02/nx-s1-5211873/hts-islamist-syria-aleppo-assad-hayat-tahrir-al-sham (04-12-2024)

[11] www.sbs.com.au/news/article/what-is-happening-in-syria-and-how-did-rebels-gain-control-of-aleppo-city/mwxn6qusa (04-12-2024)

[12] www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2024/12/02/3211426/iran-s-araqchi-syria-s-assad-meet-in-damascus (04-12-2024)

[13] www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/12/01/738267/israel-terrorism-aleppo-defeat-lebanon-syria-support-resistance-axis (04-12-2024)

[14] Ibid, 13.

[15] www.globalresearch.ca/twenty-six-things-about-the-islamic-state-isil-that-obama-does-not-want-you-to-know-about/5414735 (04-12-2024)

[16] www.middleeasteye.net/news/how-did-hamass-military-expertise-end-syrias-rebels (04-12-2024)

[17] www.redfireonline.com/2022/06/06/turkey-moves-to-clear-north-eastern-syria-of-us-proxy-forces/ (04-12-2024)

[18] www.levant24.com/news/international/2024/11/fidan-speaks-on-turkeys-syria-policy/ (04-12-2024)

[19] www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-says-syrian-rebels-launched-limited-operation-near-aleppo (04-12-2024)

[20] @enemywatch Telegram

[21] www.sott.net/article/496445-Syria-pushes-back-terrorist-forces (04-12-2024)

[22] www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/12/01/738262/Nearly-1000-foreign-backed-terrorists-slain-in-northern-Syria-over-past-3-days (04-12-2024)

[23] www.bulgarianmilitary.com/2024/12/03/russias-khmeimim-base-just-20-miles-from-advancing-syrian-rebels/ (05-12-2024)

[24] www.caspiannews.com/news-detail/russia-reportedly-withdraws-ships-from-syrias-tartus-naval-base-amid-escalating-conflict-2024-12-4-0/ (04-12-2024)

[25] www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/arab-league (04-12-2024)

[26] www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/then-now-how-arab-states-changed-course-syria-2023-05-19/ (05-12-2024)

[27] www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/274809919/china-vows-support-for-syria (05-12-2024)

Image: HTS terrorists in Idlib, Syria, in 2019. http://www.middleeastmonitor.com