CNN’s “Diversity Friendly” Headchoppers Overturn Syria

HTS-Idlib

20-12-2024: After decades of subversion funded by US-led imperialism, the Syrian government was toppled on December 8, with former President Bashar Al-Assad and his family being evacuated to Moscow.[1] CNN, the premier corporate news outlet of the American liberal elite, obtained an exclusive interview with the purported leader of HTS (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham) Abu Mohammed Al-Jolani in which he explicitly stated the goal is the overthrow of the Assad government.[2] The CNN reporter fed the former ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) and Al Qaeda leader softball questions, while deferentially donning a headscarf to cover her hair. CNN’s Clarissa Ward was soon exposed for setting up what was an obvious fake freeing of a prisoner from a Syrian jail,[3] which hardly justifies the whitewashing of the mercenary barbarians used by the West to undermine and eventually overthrow a secular Arab state. Britain’s Daily Telegraph chimed in, with stories about how Syria’s “diversity friendly” jihadists plan to build a new state.[4] So the rebranded ISIS, rebranded Al Qaeda, now HTS cutthroats known for their gruesome beheadings of secular or Christian Syrians or supporters of the Syrian Arab Republic from 2011 onwards are now reformed woke and aware statesmen – according to the West.

Dirty War

Imperialism’s tissue of lies about Syria are endless. It was never a “civil war” with “rebels” supposedly fighting for democracy. It was a dirty war[5] from the get-go, irrespective of whatever flaws the Syrian Arab Republic contained. Washington and its NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) allies conducted a regime change proxy war aimed not only at Syria, but primarily against its largest allies – the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran. In fact, the horrific crimes imperialism imposed on Syria was not just about Syria, but rather about Washington’s goal to weaken Damascus in order to weaken Moscow, Tehran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.[6] It is an open secret that the US deep state created and funded ISIS and hordes of Al Qaeda mercenaries, joined by thousands of jihadists internationally, and then unleashed them after years of planning in 2011.[7]

The US government has listed HTS as a terrorist organisation since 2012, and has a $10 million bounty on the head of Al Jolani.[8] This never stopped Washington from funding and arming all manner of terrorists in Syria, and those who entered via Türkiye in the north. In 2012, Jake Sullivan, the then Deputy Chief of Staff, emailed his senior Hilary Clinton to state that “Al Qaeda is on our side in Syria”.[9] Now that Al Qaeda (“HTS”) and its terrorist allies have overturned Syria, the reprisal killings appear to have begun. Videos have already emerged showing HTS engaging in summary executions of Alawites, while being denounced as “Nusayriyah” (an anti-Alawite slur).[10] This time the executions appear to be by shooting, rather than beheading, perhaps another indication of just how “reformed” the now “pluralist” death squads are. Despite its shortcomings – and what nation does not have its shortcomings – Syria was a state where multiple faiths (Shia and Sunni Muslim, Christians, Druze, Kurds and others) lived together, though not always in complete harmony. Yet imperialism’s concern was Syria’s alliance with Russia going back to the times of the former Soviet Union, and today its part of the Axis of Resistance, mainly led by Iran.

Israel invades

The Israeli state wasted no time in invading Syria virtually five minutes after the fall of Damascus. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF), the US military, ISIS and Al Qaeda worked together for years during the proxy war on Syria. ISIS and Al Qaeda terrorists were treated for their injuries in Israeli hospitals, while Israeli air strikes on Syria perennially benefitted Al Qaeda operations on the ground.[11] Today, by December 10, several days after the collapse of Damascus, the Israeli government had re-taken the Golan Heights and advanced further into the south of Syria. It also claimed to have destroyed 80% of the Syrian military “to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands”.[12] The bombing of Syrian helicopters and Syrian naval vessels in Lattakia is obviously aimed at preventing any type of fightback or return of the secular Syrian state. There is zero chance of a clash between the IDF in Syria and the Western backed HTS, with Al Jolani stating on December 14 that HTS will “not fight” with the occupying Israeli military.[13] Al Qaeda and its various off shoots have never engaged in conflict with the Israeli state, giving the game away that it is an imperialist proxy force in a similar way in which Israel is a proxy state used by US led imperialism for its geo-political goals in the Middle East.

Those who have defended Syria against the US backed regime change war are understandably dismayed at what appears to be a betrayal by Syria’s main allies Russia and Iran. It is clear that some kind of deal was struck between Russia, Iran and Türkiye[14] to not intervene militarily, and allow Assad and his family to be evacuated to Moscow. Yet, Russia and Iran do not have complete power to always step in and prevent Washington from carrying out its relentless regime change wars. Russia has to prioritise the US led proxy war via Ukraine, which is constantly threatening to break out into a nuclear conflagration. Biden and his backers are clearly attempting to create chaos in Ukraine in order to make it as difficult as possible for the incoming Trump administration to strike a peace deal – even at the cost of World War III. The US military, in concert with its proxy Kurdish allies, has occupied a third of Syria,[15] and continues to do so. US imperialism clearly used the ceasefire deal of 2019, where Al Qaeda would continue to operate in Idlib, to rearm and regroup, in preparation for the current assault. In the context of enormous sanctions eating away at the Syrian economy, the government was hollowed out from within. Eventually, despite their efforts, Russia and Iran had to “let go” of Syria.

Türkiye, PRC

There is little doubt that Turkish President Erdogan has played a treacherous role in Syria in relation to Syria and Russia. Despite this, the Turkish state does have a legitimate interest in preventing the (grossly misnamed) Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its YPG and YPJ off-shoots from engaging in terrorist acts against Ankara.[16] The terrorist PKK – which by no means represents “the Kurds” – has committed an even more gross betrayal by working directly with the US military in occupying a third of Syria, enabling the theft of Syrian oil and wheat. The ludicrously named “Syrian Democratic Forces” (comprising the PKK, YPG, YPJ etc.) have worked hand in glove with the illegal US military occupation, ensuring that 90% of Syria’s oil and more than half of its natural gas[17] continues to be literally stolen. Yet, now that Erdogan has allowed the Syrian state to be overrun by the Al Qaeda operatives it covertly but sporadically aided, a pro-US PKK “Kurdish” ethnostate could be set up in Syria, further endangering the security of Türkiye.

Some defenders of Syria have also criticised the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for not doing more to defend Syria against US backed regime change war. In September 2023, Syria and the PRC signed a significant strategic partnership which involved Chinese government support for Syria’s sovereignty and security, co-operation with the Belt and Road Initiative, and other measures.[18] However, the PRC traditionally restrains itself from military assistance, as it unendingly pursues “peaceful coexistence” with the West. Imperialism will never play ball with this game, and Washington itself has provided financial backing of the World Uyghur Congress,[19] which aims at separating the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) from the PRC up to and including the use of extreme violence. The World Uyghur Congress won the “democracy award” from the notorious National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in 2019.[20] The NED is the specialist regime change arm of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and is funded by US Congress for endless imperialist foreign policy schemes.

Prominent amongst the non-Syrian terrorists imported into the country to fight alongside ISIS and Al Qaeda was the US backed Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP). After years of life-taking terrorism in Xinjiang, up to 5000 of these Western backed jihadists are still fighting with the likes of Al Jolani’s HTS.[21] Days after the fall of Damascus, The Telegraph in the United Kingdom (UK) was reporting that TIP was vowing to “come for China next”. The TIP made grandiose statements that its mission was to “liberate the Muslims of East Turkestan from the Chinese occupation”.[22] Of course, “East Turkestan” does not exist, and the PRC has taken rational steps towards countering the US funded expansion of fundamentalist jihadism throughout the XUAR. Beijing has prioritised the provision of training, jobs and the raising of living standards in its Western province, which has had remarkable success in reducing the number of Uyghurs being drawn into violent fundamentalism.[23] Meanwhile, no evidence has been provided by the West to substantiate its lurid claims of “genocide” and “forced labour” in the XUAR.

“Stand with Palestine” stands exposed

Syria was the last Arab state which defended Palestine. Now with its overthrow by US/NATO and Israeli state backed headchoppers, the situation for Palestine is more perilous than it has ever been in 76 years. The Axis of Resistance has been cut in half, as the land bridge from Iran to Iraq to Syria to Lebanon and Palestine no longer exists. Funding and weapons for the real Palestinian resistance will now be incomparably more difficult to transport. The Axis of Resistance is an Iranian led Shia military alliance which combats imperialist incursions in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, i.e., the US/UK/NATO and its Israeli state proxy. Hamas is NOT part of the Axis of Resistance, and not only because it is a Sunni extremist former Muslim Brotherhood chapter, which regards Shias as infidels. Hamas fought with the IDF, ISIS and Al Qaeda for ten years on behalf of US imperialism working to overthrow the secular Syrian state. As if to dispel any lingering doubts as to its role, Hamas issued a statement welcoming the overthrow of the Syrian state and hailed the “freedom and justice”[24] supposedly gained by Syrians as a result!

Since October 7, 2023, there has been a “Stand with Palestine” movement which has continually mobilised in Western countries. While a protest movement against the Israeli state assault on Palestine was obviously required, it needed above all to defend Palestine within the context of a global war waged by imperialism on Iran, Russia, China and the ever-rising BRICS + alliance. BRICS is a non-imperialist bloc which is forming a desperately needed alternative to 500 years of imperialist plunder of the globe. Currently, it comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates as full members – plus 13 other nations as partners.[25] Unfortunately, the leadership of the pro-Palestine movement in the West reduced their focus to Palestine only, and even failed to defend Iran which was arguably the main target. Many of the so-called left parties leading the pro-Palestine movement were also anti-Syria and anti-Russia – and thus gave tacit or even open support to NATO for the arming and funding of Nazi battalions in Ukraine.

What is more, the leadership of the pro-Palestine movement in the West did not oppose the blatant terrorist attacks of Hamas, and some even endorsed them. Even though many of them are aware that Hamas collaborates with the IDF and the Israeli state in a similar way in which the loathed Palestinian Authority does, for opportunistic reasons they barely mentioned these aspects. This meant that the pro-Palestine movement was in practice pro-war, rather than anti-war.[26] It was trapped in a nationalist perspective (“Israel bad, Palestine good”), from which it could not move forward. From a Marxist point of view, standing behind a national flag and hating the other side to the point of war, is incongruous.

The cardinal lesson should be that while working people can and should offer military support to those nations and forces which are genuinely involved in anti-imperialist resistance (Axis of Resistance, the BRICS alliance and its partners and allies), capitalist imperialism cannot be defeated by military means alone. All the objective factors of history are on the side of working people and their non-imperialist allies, however, internationally linked Leninist vanguard parties anchored in the theory of Permanent Revolution need to be formed urgently. Socialism will not be a land of milk and honey, but it will forever end the scourge of imperialist war, imperialist funded chaos, terrorism and mayhem. With the major means of production in public hands, the drive to conflict and war will wither away.

Workers League

www.redfireonline.com

E: workersleague@protonmail.com

[1] www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/12/08/bashar-al-assad-and-family-are-in-moscow-russian-news-agencies-a87264 (17-12-2024)

[2] www.edition.cnn.com/2024/12/06/middleeast/syria-rebel-forces-hayat-tahrir-al-sham-al-jolani-intl-latam/index.html?os=qtft_1&ref=app (17-12-2024)

[3] www.thewrap.com/cnn-investigating-background-of-prisoner-may-have-given-false-identity/ (17-12-2024)

[4] www.mintpressnews.com/from-terrorist-to-freedom-fighter-how-the-west-rebranded-al-qaedas-jolani-as-syrias-woke-new-leader/288820/ (17-12-2024)

[5] https://ia801409.us.archive.org/17/items/syria-and-arabia-history-texts/TimAnderson (17-12-2024)

[6] www.globalresearch.ca/washington-celebrates-al-qaeda-victory-syria/5874554 (17-12-2024)

[7] www.globalresearch.ca/syria-rebels-nato-israel-turkey-us-role/5874537 (17-12-2024)

[8] www.aaronmate.net/p/in-syria-dirty-war-our-side-has-won (17-12-2024)

[9] www.mintpressnews.com/how-the-us-and-israel-quietly-revived-al-qaeda-allies-in-syrias-idlib-offensive/288772/ (17-12-2024)