Statement from Mobilization Against War & Occupation - MAWO

February 20, 2015

For almost four years the United States and other imperialist governments have been actively engaged in a bloody campaign to overthrow the government of Syria. They have been limited so far to imposing a cruel civil war upon the country by pumping it full of anti-government mercenaries. Throughout this entire time they have been constantly searching for an excuse to justify a full scale military intervention. Now they think they finally have one in a so called “the war against ISIS/ISIL”.

More than 190,000 people have been killed and 22 million displaced because of the installed civil war in Syria. Within this fiery chaos also emerged the armed group ISIS/ISIL. Nobody benefited more from the hyper-injection of foreign military aid and funding than they did, and thanks to the vacuum of power created in war torn areas, they also expanded across Syria and moved into Iraq.

Never ones to miss an opportunity to justify increased war and occupation, the US used this as a justification to re-escalate their occupation of Iraq through hundreds of air strikes and an expanded military presence. The Canadian military joined the war drive by sending almost 700 soldiers, six CF-18 warplanes, two surveillance aircraft and an air-to air-tanker. The first six months of the Canadian mission alone will cost taxpayers 166 million dollars. This is despite repeated demands by Iraqis that all foreign troops leave the country immediately.

Now they are using a supposed war against ISIS/ISIL, a group they helped create, to try and finally accomplish what they've been aiming for the whole time: large scale direct military intervention in Syria. US President Barack Obama has asked for authorization to dispatch ground troops to fight against ISIS/ISIL, and to remove any geographic boundaries in the fight. The US is already in Iraq, so where else would they go besides Syria?

We have seen these warn out boogieman excuses time and time again since September 11, 2001. They have been used by the US and other imperialist countries to try and justify their wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, Libya, Mali and beyond. In Afghanistan it was the Taliban, which they also created! In Iraq it was weapons of mass destruction, which never existed! Now over a decade later and millions of people dead and displaced by these wars, they want us to once against believe they have only the best of intentions in their newest offensive.

In August of 2013, the US and UK were literally hours away from bombing and direct military intervention in Syria. Pressured by the mobilization of poor and working people across the world, the government of the UK lost a key vote to authorize the military action the strategy fell apart from there. Even US President Obama had to concede the defeat in a televised address. This was an important victory for all peace loving people! Now in February 2015, it is crucial that we once again rise up to demand an end to imperialist war and occupation, and especially against a new war in the Middle East: the war on Syria. The new era of war and occupation these governments have been imposing on oppressed people around the world must be brought to an end, and we cannot allow them to expand their bloody campaign further into Syria.

We must unite to educate, organize and mobilize against imperialist war and occupation!

We must demand, “No War on Syria!”, “Imperialists Out of the Middle East!”

Mobilization Against War & Occupation (MAWO)
www.mawovancouver.org