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Stop Obama’s New War on Iraq and Syria

In his speech on September 10, President Obama brought back the same old failed strategy of military action to control the Iraq and Syrian regions of the Middle East.   Coming out of the NATO summit in Wales last week, Obama was able to put together a new coalition of countries to wage war against the people of Iraq and Syria.  He has initiated a bombing campaign in Iraq and says he will pursue IS (ISIS/ISIL) anywhere, including Syria.

The U.S. government always comes up with a pretext to justify its aggression towards other countries.  In Iraq, it has been Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, imagined weapons of mass destruction, and now The Islamic State (IS/ISIS/ISIL).  Make no mistake: the U.S. bottom line has always been to “protect American interests,” read “control the energy resources and ensure profit for U.S. corporations.”  No U.S. military intervention has ever improved the lives of the people in those countries.  In fact, the total opposite has occurred.

It is U.S. policies that have led to secular states in Iraq and Syria becoming chaotic, sectarian, failed states that have brought terrible living conditions to the people of those countries.  The U.S. has been attacking Iraq for decades, starting with its support for the 1980-88 Iraq/Iran war, which killed over a million soldiers from the two countries.  In 1990, the U.S. launched the Gulf war against Iraq, followed by the imposition of sanctions that killed 1.5 million Iraqis and half a million Iraqi children.  The “Shock and Awe” war started by the U.S. with the invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003 never ended. Through these actions, the U.S. has helped foster sectarian division in Iraq that allowed for the present situation, where the country is deeply divided between Kurds and Arabs and Sunni and Shia populations.  In such a situation, the U.S. is better able to fund and militarily support one faction over the others for the price of doing the bidding of U.S. imperialism.  In Iraq, a succession of U.S. supported Shia regimes brought misery to the Iraqi people, especially the Sunni population.  So when IS starting taking territory from the Iraqi puppet government, disenfranchised populations were quick to support them as the lesser evil to the U.S. and its puppet al-Maliki government.

Before the U.S. invaded in 2003, al-Qaeda had few supporters in Iraq.  But U.S. military aggression in the region, support of sectarian division and support for Al-Qaeda like groups by U.S. allies like Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been key to creating the situation that exists today in the region.

The U.S. is the enemy of the people of Iraq; it cannot be part of the solution in that country.  It is the problem.  One year ago Obama announced that he was going to bomb Syria.  There was such an outcry against this act of aggression that Obama had to go on TV and back off from his plan.  But his plans to intervene against the Assad regime and replace it with a sectarian puppet government have never changed.  So today, Obama is using the backdoor method of attacking IS in Iraq and pursuing them in Syria as a way to carry out his plans from a year ago.

Obama says that he will get Saudi Arabia to train “moderate” Syrian rebels to continue his effort to overthrow the Assad government.  But it is Saudi Arabia and wealthy Saudis that has been the funding and arms source for IS and other groups like al-Qaeda.  Since the “rebels” have been so discredited in Syria, the only way Obama’s plan can work is if there is outside intervention with boots on the ground.  As in Libya, this may mean foreign mercenaries in large numbers.  The role of the U.S. coalition partners in this process is something that antiwar forces must pay attention to.  A little at a time, Obama seems to be introducing more U.S. ground forces as well.

Although the U.S. is now using IS as justification for intervention in both Iraq and Syria, the U.S. has indirectly supported IS when it was fighting Assad in Syria.  The U.S. had admitted to giving non-lethal aid to Syrian rebel groups that made its into the hands of IS in Syria, and there has been evidence that the U.S. has trained fighters in Jordan that later joined IS.  But the main way that the U.S. has built IS and al-Qaeda is through its military actions in Muslim countries throughout the area.  These interventions have helped the U.S. steal resources such as oil and have caused death and destruction throughout the region.  It is anger due to these policies that has led to the growth of IS and other groups.

UNAC calls upon all antiwar and social justice organizations to start protesting the new Iraq/Syria war by building demonstrations, press conferences, teach-ins, petition campaigns and other actions.  UNAC is talking to other antiwar groups and hopes to be able to call for more coordinated actions soon.

Stop the Bombing!

Bring all the Troops home now!

No New Wars on Iraq and Syria!

Self-determination for the people of Iraq and Syria!

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