***Please circulate widely***
No to War Threats Against Syria and Iran!
December 15, 2011
The drumbeats of preparations for military intervention and war against
Syria and Iran are becoming louder. StopWar, Vancouver’s broad-based
anti-war coalition, which was founded in the movement to prevent the
disastrous war against Iraq in 2003, appeals to all Canadians to help
reverse this dangerous process. We call for the internal disputes in
Syria and Iran to be left for their own populations to settle, without
recourse to foreign military intervention.
The consequences of a new war in this region would be far reaching for
the entire world. A NATO-led military aggression against Syria or Iran
would result in massive human casualties, and enormous economic damage on
a local and global scale. The impact would not be confined to the
immediate military targets of the NATO powers and their allies; such a
war could spread across borders, inflicting new suffering and chaos
throughout the region.
There is no justification for such a reckless and potentially
catastrophic course of action. In our view, military intervention by NATO
in the Middle East and Central Asia is being driven by the interests of
transnational energy and resource corporations. NATO is acting to defend
and advance these interests, not to “protect human rights”.
To those who argue that the so-called “Responsibility to
Protect” doctrine obliges Canada to intervene in the name of human
rights and wage yet another war, we point out that many of the leaders
who are escalating tensions against Syria and Iran are themselves accused
of widespread violations of human rights, or even of committing serious
breaches of international law.
The United States, for example, stands accused by world public opinion
and many legal experts and scholars of practicing systematic torture. In
2003, it committed the supreme war crime of unprovoked military
aggression against Iraq – a crime which has resulted in millions of
deaths, vast population displacements, and enormous damage to economic
and social infrastructures. Israel, one of the most vocal critics of
Syria and Iran, has for decades illegally occupied Palestinian
territories, imposing a deadly apartheid-style oppression against the
Palestinian people.
The NATO countries killed thousands of people recently in Libya in an
attack that was a blatantly aggressive intervention aimed at ‘regime
change’, despite the fact that it was initially presented as a limited
mission to provide a ‘No Fly Zone’. Libya risks becoming a precedent that
NATO countries cite in order to justify new aggressive wars and
interventions.
Far from advancing the cause of human rights, imperialist military
threats and interventions often simply give excuses to authoritarian
rulers to suppress struggles for freedom. We stand in solidarity with
Iranians and Syrians, while we oppose any kind of sanctions and military
interventions.
What right do the United States and Israel – or their faithful ally the
Harper government of Canada – have to intervene in the internal problems
of Syria and Iran? Why should Canada and the United States, which have
led the destructive military occupation of Afghanistan for over a decade,
have any right to choose where their military forces will intervene next
to topple local governments and impose western-friendly regimes?
Genuine social justice and peace are not created by crippling economic
sanctions or endless wars and militarism. Instead, military spending and
the arms trade must be dramatically reduced, and all weapons of mass
destruction must be eliminated, including the creation of a nuclear-free
zone in the Middle East. The peoples of the world must mobilize to change
our planet’s priorities and tackle the urgent needs of those who are
today the most oppressed and poverty-stricken.
This is the view of StopWar. We urge all our supporters and friends to
join with us in demanding that the Harper government end its vocal
support for the war drive against Syria and Iran. Canada must instead
begin to support steps which will de-escalate tensions in the region,
including the immediate removal of all Canadian military forces from
Afghanistan, and a complete end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian
territories.