No U.S. Ground Troops in Syria! U.S. Out of Syria!

11/11/15

Antiwar forces in the U.S. must join together to plan actions to protest the growing U.S. intervention in Syria. The most recent step has been to introduce up to 50 Special Forces combat troops to work with what are called "moderate" rebel groups to fight against Islamic State/Daesh. This violates earlier promises by the Obama administration not to send troops to Syria.

Contrary to the official White House announcement, the mission is a combat one and troops are likely to face combat. This is an escalation of what is already a major intervention and war.

The intervention is an illegal invasion under international law; the Syrian government has not invited U.S. troops.

The so-called moderate forces supported by Washington are part of a broader alliance that includes the Syrian Al-Qaeda affiliate, the Al-Nusra Front. U.S. forces could end up in combat with Russian forces, in Syria at the government's invitation, that are in combat against Al-Nusra. Both Al Qaeda and Islamic State are aligned with the U.S.-allied Saudi Arabian regime. In Syria , as in Yemen, the Saudis are waging war with active U.S. support.

We reject the ongoing provision of U.S. weapons to forces waging war in Syria -- also a violation of international law and an act of war. Likewise the traffic in illegal oil and weapons to and from Syria by U.S. allies must be exposed and stopped.

No foreign country has the right to wage war against Syria or to demand regime change in Syria -- the Syrian people must decide their future.

Antiwar unity, based on the principle of self-determination for the Syrian people, is necessary to push back the new U.S. ground intervention. We must also oppose calls for an expanded U.S. air war, "no-fly" zones, and the like. These are acts of war by other means. Because of the seriousness of the situation, we must make every effort to organize visible, coordinated actions, as we did to ward off the last attempt to violate Syria’s sovereignty. We cannot remain silent as the U.S. and its allies expand their destruction in the Middle East and the numbers of refugees rise exponentially.

U.S. troops out of Syria! No air war against Syria!

No weapons to U.S. allies in Syria!

Reparations for the war on Syria!

Open borders and aid for resettlement of the refugees!