Imperialists against truce in Syria

The anti-Syria imperialists would not be happy to see a ceasefire which would allow for dialogue to resolve the turmoil in the country, says an activist.

The Arab League has welcomed the formation of a new anti-Syria opposition bloc, recognizing the so-called Syrian National Coalition for Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (SNCROF) as the representative of the Syrian people.

Press TV has conducted an interview with Eric Draitser, the founder of stopimperialism.com from New York City, to discuss the latest developments regarding Syria. He is joined by two additional guests on Press TV’s News Analysis program: Randy Short, with the Dignity, Human Rights and Peace organization from Washington, and Sharif Nashashibi, the chairman of the Arab Media Watch from London.

What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.

Press TV: The British Foreign Minister William Hague, he was saying in reports today, in his words: We have to see in practice that this new coalition is inclusive and has the support of the opposition groups inside of Syria before we take a move to recognize it as the representative of the Syrian people.

Do you think that the West is actually reluctant in recognizing the coalition, or we are going to see this move take place sooner or later?

Draitser: Well, they are certainly not reluctant and this is merely a pretext. This is the window-dressing — the prelude to recognizing them as the so-called legitimate representatives of the people of Syria.

I would remind people that the precedent has been already set in Libya. The National Transitional Council, which also was not a representative of the people of Libya, was immediately given recognition by the Western imperialist powers and through that recognition they were able to leverage all of the other countries, the smaller, weaker countries in the region and around the world to recognize that same entity.

So I think that we have already seen that happen in Libya and that is what we are looking at in Syria and I would also add that moving forward this new coalition, as they are calling it, is merely a public relation stunt. This is re-branding the same so-called opposition that we saw with the Syrian National Council. These are not legitimate representatives of the people of Syria even if they have been inside of the country recently.

One of the main problems with the Syrian National Council was people around the world saw that these were barely even Syrians who have been there in decades.

The new form of this national coalition is a little bit closer to the people of Syria but it still represents the interest of the Western finance capital, NATO and the Western imperialist powers and I think that those nations like Russia and China and elsewhere have already recognized this.

Press TV: Do you think for instance when William Hague says: We are not excluding any option for the future, that would mean military intervention? That would mean a no-fly-zone? What we saw in Libya happen or not?

Draitser: Absolutely and I would also add that no-fly zones, humanitarian buffer zones, sanctions, all of these elements are merely preludes to wars, to interventions. We saw this in Iraq. We saw this in Libya as well.

A no-fly zone was never about being a no-fly zone. It was about providing a pretext for a military intervention and this has been the goal of the United States all along.

The issue has really never been just about Syria. The goal ultimately is to break the Shia arch of dominance that exists from Tehran to Baghdad, to Damascus and then to southern Lebanon with Hezbollah. And the United States and Israel and the Western powers more generally have to destroy that alliance and the most apparent way that they are going to do this is by creating chaos in Syria.

It is important to note that the issue of democracy and the issue of a functioning government is secondary to the United States, as we see in Libya the goal was never the creation of a functioning government. They are perfectly content with creating chaos because chaos leads to a failed state and a failed state is in the interest of the US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the rest of their clients in the region.

Press TV: Let us go a little while back now and look at the Geneva Agreement that was made, which was supported by Russia, China, they have been saying for weeks and weeks now that we have to go ahead still with that Geneva Agreement because it was an agreement in which the Assad government came forward said, I am going to go ahead with reforms, I am going to start negotiations and I want this issue to be resolved in a political manner.

Now looking at the story from the Assad’s viewpoint, we are hearing him saying that, OK! I am going to go ahead with the ceasefire, I am going to stop fighting but when the insurgents strike I have to strike back.

What is stopping the ceasefire from working? Why are the insurgents striking? and why is this battle continuing?

Is there, as some say, some kind of concerted effort to keep Syria in a state of civil war?

Draitser: Of course there is. Again it is in the interest of the powers to continue this conflict and to keep it going. Remember that there are different factions within this opposition. There are factions that are on the ground in Syria, things like the National Coordinating Councils and various other entities, but there are also outside forces, the so-called Free Syrian Army and then the various other al-Qaeda and extremist elements which have been there really since the beginning and it is those elements that continually sabotage this process. So when they say that there is going to be a ceasefire, the ceasefires breakdown because they are deliberately subverted.

It is important to remember that a ceasefire which would allow for dialogue would create a political solution and that is exactly the opposite of what the imperialist powers want.

They have to topple Assad and put in his place a puppet government as we saw in Libya. Moreover, Russia and China have for months now been saying that there is no other option. You have to have all parties come to the table and to negotiate and the United States flatly rejects this.

The objective of the United States, NATO and the rest of the Western powers is to create this chaotic situation.

We have to remember that these various factions in the opposition are not really on the same page. The Free Syrian Army — as it is called — is an entity that is really the creation of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey with the United States lurking in the background.

The al-Qaeda elements which came from Libya, such as the Libya Islamic Fighting Group and others, they are also in the category of these outsiders. So I think that it is unfortunate that many analysts mischaracterize the nature of the opposition because if they understood that they would understand why these ceasefires never seem to work.

Press TV: Do you think that the presence of these groups are posing a danger and will pose a danger for the Syrian people even if and when again the Syrian regime right now goes and the Assad government goes?

Draitser: Yes, of course and I just want to respond to this mischaracterization and I would call a propaganda that the extremists and the al-Qaeda elements have come in after the fact. They were imported into Syria from the very beginning of this conflict and they were brought there to do exactly what they are doing, to create chaos, to execute massacres, these are the death squads that have been mentioned all over the place in the international press despite the fact that there is a blackout…

[In response to the guest from London] They absolutely were. The New York Times, the Washington Post it has all been documented. If you want to ignore the facts that are clearly evident and that is fine, but the reality is that history will show they were imported by the imperialist powers and this cannot be ignored.