Views from the hemispheric South, on the struggle of workers and the poor, from around the world, with a very few pieces I wrote myself.
Syria: Assad's government at one of its worst times
Posted 6th August 2012 at 01:35 by eyeheartlenin
[From the Fracción Trotskista, ft-ci.org –Unofficial translation]
Assad’s government at one of its worst times
Heavy fighting in Damascus and an assassination of senior commanders of the regime. No to imperialist interference!
By PTS, Argentina
Thursday, July 19, 2012
By Diego Dalai
Amid the fighting that for four days has shaken the streets of the Syrian capital, on July 18, a bomb attack at a meeting of the top brass of the Syrian regime and of the dictator Al Assad’s inner circle, killed three senior commanders. They were the Defense Minister, his deputy and another important Army General. In addition, it injured several other key officials, like the Minister of the Interior. This action constitutes a new, harsh blow against the regime that is showing significant cracks.
Since July 15, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) has launched a military offensive on Damascus which it called “the final offensive,” since it would be the last phase in the overthrow of Assad. The FSA troops seized several outlying neighborhoods and resisted the attempts of the regime to dislodge them with tanks and heavy artillery. Despite the harsh repression by an outstanding division led by Assad’s younger brother, the fighting spread to the center of the city. The Syrian army, although better equipped with tanks and helicopter gunships, is trying to retake control of several neighborhoods at the same time that it is suffering attacks on some of its bases and barracks.
This offensive opens a new chapter in the Syrian civil war, since, up to now, the fighting had been limited, beyond some bomb attacks and isolated confrontations in Damascus, to the “rebel” provinces, like the symbolic Homs and others that were severely besieged and punished by Assad’s artillery and aviation. Recently, the town of Tremseh, where brutal repression left some 200 dead, suffered this harassment.
During these turbulent days, the international press has also broadcast news of new desertions in the very leadership of the Army. On this occasion, it was that of General Manaf Tlass, a highly-placed member of the regime (a native of Homs), who had had disputes with Assad already since this past February, when he refused to repress one of the “rebel” cities with blood and fire. Recently, President François Hollande announced that he is in France. The desertions have been going on for some months; they are not new, but now they have taken on new importance with the Tlass case, the high-ranking military deserter.
Breaches in the regime are growing
This sum of events in recent days is a sign of the fact that the regime is fracturing. Until now, Assad managed to keep the support of the Alawite elite, the religious minority that has control of the state and the regime and of a large part of the Sunni bourgeoisie (of the majority religion). But the fighting in the very stronghold of the regime, Damascus, and the attack that appears to have been the work of one of the Interior Minister’s bodyguards, seem to show that the dominant class is “giving the thumbs down” on Assad and going over in actions to the imperialist policy of a “regime change” favorable to their interests. Another version about the attack indicates that it would have been a suicide bomber that sacrificed himself in the building where the meeting was being held, a hypothesis that would likewise expose an enormous defect in the security system, that could hardly occur without the collaboration of some of the guards themselves. It remains to be seen if the rebels can sustain their offensive against a regular army, much better equipped. Assad quickly named a new minister, and a new communique from the army became known, asserting that “it will exterminate the bands of murderers and criminals,” trying to show responsiveness and authority. However, what is clear is that the regime is weakening and going through one of its worst crises.
It is likely that, given Assad’s powerlessness to put an end to the rebellion and “stabilize” the country, and the ensuing exhaustion after more than a year of civil war, that claimed the lives of 16,000 people, so many thousands of wounded, entire cities practically destroyed and more than 100,000 displaced people, more and more elements that previously supported the dictatorship will begin to see changing sides as the best solution, to be better off when el Assad falls.
The SNC and imperialist policy
The Syrian National Council (SNC) and the Free Syrian Army [FSA] do not represent the Syrian people’s rebellion, that broke out in March 2011, as part of the “Arab Spring” that was covering the Maghreb and the Middle East. The interests of the SNC are opposed to those of the Syrian working class and the masses. These organizations, with many of their members in France, are the bourgeois opposition to Assad, largely formed by deserters that, until yesterday, were backing the bloody dictatorship, and that have the active (diplomatic and military) support of the imperialist powers. From the very first, they have made it clear that they are trying to remove Assad from the hand of imperialism. subordinating themselves to its economic interests, tied to petroleum production, and its geopolitical interests, to tighten the siege on Iran and strengthen imperialism’s influence in the region. They are trying to imitate the Libyan experience, where, with French bombings, and the flow of weapons to the rebel militias, they managed to put the dictator and former partner of imperialism Muamar Gaddafi on the defensive and then topple and assassinate him.
Imperialist policy is to take out Assad and that a regime more favorable to imperialist interests should arise. For this, it was betting on the domestic rebellion led by the SNC and the FSA and is exerting pressure in the UN Security Council for economic and possibly military sanctions, protected by some “humanitarian mission” pretense, to isolate and weaken the Syrian regime. These plans were being resisted by Russia and China, that have veto power in the Security Council, because they have strategic interests in Syria. Russia, especially, is for a “political solution,” that is, for negotiations that will permit it to keep the most influence possible in the future regime that will emerge from the crisis.
For this, they are relying on the peace plan worked out by the mediator designated by the UN, Kofi Annan, that both sides signed in April of this year, where they committed themselves to a ceasefire verifiable by UN observers. This plan was never carried out in practice, but it favored Assad, giving him time and postponing possible sanctions from the Security Council. However, the inability to stamp out the rebellion diluted this advantage and put an end to Annan’s precarious plan. Now, the recent attack, in the framework of the opposition’s offensive in Damascus, is being used as an excuse by the imperialist powers, to reinforce their pressure by sanctions on the regime. Both the US and England and France, trying to appear as “friends of the Syrian people,” are cynically declaring themselves “against the escalation of violence”; they are demanding an end to the Security Council’s “inaction,” and the application of Article VII of the UN Charter, that authorizes economic and military sanctions. Kofi Annan personally traveled to Moscow, to negotiate with Putin (he also negotiated with the Chinese representatives) a “solution that will include everyone” in a new resolution of the Security Council, that is meeting at press time for this edition.
At the same time that it is pushing the fall of Assad, the US wants to avoid a collapse of the regime that will result in a civil war of unforeseeable consequences, as already occurred in Iraq. For this, it is now establishing links with the different factions of the opposition (which go beyond the SNC and the FSA) and with the high-ranking deserters from the old regime (as is the case with Tlass, a refugee in France) with the aim of directing a transition, as controlled as possible, that will keep the essential part of the state apparatus. The transition to a new regime would be a delicate process, bearing in mind Syria’s great geopolitical importance in the region, being Iran’s biggest ally and a key element in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
No to imperialist interference! Down with the Assad dictatorship! The Arab Spring has had its expression in Syria since March, 2011, with massive mobilizations throughout the country, that were resisting, week after week, the bloody onslaughts of the repression by the regime, that added some 3000 deaths in a few months. But, as we said, the SNC, that presented itself as a leadership of the movement, took the rebellion of the masses behind the imperialist strategy of a “regime change” favorable to its interests and those of a group of the dominant class allied to them. Only the workers and the impoverished masses, opposing any policy of the imperialist powers, can, with their mobilization and self-organization, topple the hated dictator and impose their own workers’ and popular solution.
July 18, 2012
Assad’s government at one of its worst times
Heavy fighting in Damascus and an assassination of senior commanders of the regime. No to imperialist interference!
By PTS, Argentina
Thursday, July 19, 2012
By Diego Dalai
Amid the fighting that for four days has shaken the streets of the Syrian capital, on July 18, a bomb attack at a meeting of the top brass of the Syrian regime and of the dictator Al Assad’s inner circle, killed three senior commanders. They were the Defense Minister, his deputy and another important Army General. In addition, it injured several other key officials, like the Minister of the Interior. This action constitutes a new, harsh blow against the regime that is showing significant cracks.
Since July 15, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) has launched a military offensive on Damascus which it called “the final offensive,” since it would be the last phase in the overthrow of Assad. The FSA troops seized several outlying neighborhoods and resisted the attempts of the regime to dislodge them with tanks and heavy artillery. Despite the harsh repression by an outstanding division led by Assad’s younger brother, the fighting spread to the center of the city. The Syrian army, although better equipped with tanks and helicopter gunships, is trying to retake control of several neighborhoods at the same time that it is suffering attacks on some of its bases and barracks.
This offensive opens a new chapter in the Syrian civil war, since, up to now, the fighting had been limited, beyond some bomb attacks and isolated confrontations in Damascus, to the “rebel” provinces, like the symbolic Homs and others that were severely besieged and punished by Assad’s artillery and aviation. Recently, the town of Tremseh, where brutal repression left some 200 dead, suffered this harassment.
During these turbulent days, the international press has also broadcast news of new desertions in the very leadership of the Army. On this occasion, it was that of General Manaf Tlass, a highly-placed member of the regime (a native of Homs), who had had disputes with Assad already since this past February, when he refused to repress one of the “rebel” cities with blood and fire. Recently, President François Hollande announced that he is in France. The desertions have been going on for some months; they are not new, but now they have taken on new importance with the Tlass case, the high-ranking military deserter.
Breaches in the regime are growing
This sum of events in recent days is a sign of the fact that the regime is fracturing. Until now, Assad managed to keep the support of the Alawite elite, the religious minority that has control of the state and the regime and of a large part of the Sunni bourgeoisie (of the majority religion). But the fighting in the very stronghold of the regime, Damascus, and the attack that appears to have been the work of one of the Interior Minister’s bodyguards, seem to show that the dominant class is “giving the thumbs down” on Assad and going over in actions to the imperialist policy of a “regime change” favorable to their interests. Another version about the attack indicates that it would have been a suicide bomber that sacrificed himself in the building where the meeting was being held, a hypothesis that would likewise expose an enormous defect in the security system, that could hardly occur without the collaboration of some of the guards themselves. It remains to be seen if the rebels can sustain their offensive against a regular army, much better equipped. Assad quickly named a new minister, and a new communique from the army became known, asserting that “it will exterminate the bands of murderers and criminals,” trying to show responsiveness and authority. However, what is clear is that the regime is weakening and going through one of its worst crises.
It is likely that, given Assad’s powerlessness to put an end to the rebellion and “stabilize” the country, and the ensuing exhaustion after more than a year of civil war, that claimed the lives of 16,000 people, so many thousands of wounded, entire cities practically destroyed and more than 100,000 displaced people, more and more elements that previously supported the dictatorship will begin to see changing sides as the best solution, to be better off when el Assad falls.
The SNC and imperialist policy
The Syrian National Council (SNC) and the Free Syrian Army [FSA] do not represent the Syrian people’s rebellion, that broke out in March 2011, as part of the “Arab Spring” that was covering the Maghreb and the Middle East. The interests of the SNC are opposed to those of the Syrian working class and the masses. These organizations, with many of their members in France, are the bourgeois opposition to Assad, largely formed by deserters that, until yesterday, were backing the bloody dictatorship, and that have the active (diplomatic and military) support of the imperialist powers. From the very first, they have made it clear that they are trying to remove Assad from the hand of imperialism. subordinating themselves to its economic interests, tied to petroleum production, and its geopolitical interests, to tighten the siege on Iran and strengthen imperialism’s influence in the region. They are trying to imitate the Libyan experience, where, with French bombings, and the flow of weapons to the rebel militias, they managed to put the dictator and former partner of imperialism Muamar Gaddafi on the defensive and then topple and assassinate him.
Imperialist policy is to take out Assad and that a regime more favorable to imperialist interests should arise. For this, it was betting on the domestic rebellion led by the SNC and the FSA and is exerting pressure in the UN Security Council for economic and possibly military sanctions, protected by some “humanitarian mission” pretense, to isolate and weaken the Syrian regime. These plans were being resisted by Russia and China, that have veto power in the Security Council, because they have strategic interests in Syria. Russia, especially, is for a “political solution,” that is, for negotiations that will permit it to keep the most influence possible in the future regime that will emerge from the crisis.
For this, they are relying on the peace plan worked out by the mediator designated by the UN, Kofi Annan, that both sides signed in April of this year, where they committed themselves to a ceasefire verifiable by UN observers. This plan was never carried out in practice, but it favored Assad, giving him time and postponing possible sanctions from the Security Council. However, the inability to stamp out the rebellion diluted this advantage and put an end to Annan’s precarious plan. Now, the recent attack, in the framework of the opposition’s offensive in Damascus, is being used as an excuse by the imperialist powers, to reinforce their pressure by sanctions on the regime. Both the US and England and France, trying to appear as “friends of the Syrian people,” are cynically declaring themselves “against the escalation of violence”; they are demanding an end to the Security Council’s “inaction,” and the application of Article VII of the UN Charter, that authorizes economic and military sanctions. Kofi Annan personally traveled to Moscow, to negotiate with Putin (he also negotiated with the Chinese representatives) a “solution that will include everyone” in a new resolution of the Security Council, that is meeting at press time for this edition.
At the same time that it is pushing the fall of Assad, the US wants to avoid a collapse of the regime that will result in a civil war of unforeseeable consequences, as already occurred in Iraq. For this, it is now establishing links with the different factions of the opposition (which go beyond the SNC and the FSA) and with the high-ranking deserters from the old regime (as is the case with Tlass, a refugee in France) with the aim of directing a transition, as controlled as possible, that will keep the essential part of the state apparatus. The transition to a new regime would be a delicate process, bearing in mind Syria’s great geopolitical importance in the region, being Iran’s biggest ally and a key element in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
No to imperialist interference! Down with the Assad dictatorship! The Arab Spring has had its expression in Syria since March, 2011, with massive mobilizations throughout the country, that were resisting, week after week, the bloody onslaughts of the repression by the regime, that added some 3000 deaths in a few months. But, as we said, the SNC, that presented itself as a leadership of the movement, took the rebellion of the masses behind the imperialist strategy of a “regime change” favorable to its interests and those of a group of the dominant class allied to them. Only the workers and the impoverished masses, opposing any policy of the imperialist powers, can, with their mobilization and self-organization, topple the hated dictator and impose their own workers’ and popular solution.
July 18, 2012
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