After a 54-year reign of state terror and a 12-year civil war, Syria’s gangster Bashar al-Assad's regime collapsed after a siege of just 11 days. As opposing forces, led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and backed by Turkey, took control of the capital city of Damascus, a volatile situation in the Middle East became even more precarious.
After Israel obliterated Syria’s military infrastructure from the air and reportedly moved ground forces as close as 15 miles from Damascus (cnn.com, 12/11), the U.S. rushed additional troops to the country (Newsweek, 12/11). With tens of millions of workers caught between rival capitalists and their ruthless drive for profit, the potential for this latest upheaval to trigger an all-out regional war—and even world war—is a real danger.
As a critical crossroads in the region with the world’s richest reserves of oil and gas, sitting between Iran and Israel, Syria for decades has been a centerpiece in the constant fight among the biggest imperialist powers. After a quarter-century of French colonial rule and a series of coups, the two-generation Assad regime seized power in 1970. It quickly aligned with the Soviet Unión—which had already slid back to capitalism—and positioned itself as a counter to U.S. power in the region. Both Hafez al-Assad (the father) and Bashar al-Assad (the son) brutally suppressed any opposition, gassing and bombing workers and children. In 2012, a full-scale civil war broke out, with a host of anti-Assad factions backed by the U.S., Turkey, and Al Qaeda, where HTS originated. Russia and Iran came to the military aid of Assad and managed to keep his despised regime afloat.
But in recent years, the big picture has shifted. After a string of military failures from Vietnam to Afghanistan and Iraq, and with the rise of the Chinese ruling class, the U.S. has declined as a world power. Russia is focused on its war in Ukraine, while Iran has been weakened by U.S. sanctions, its ongoing war with Israel, and the decimation of Hezbollah, the Iran-aligned militia based in Lebanon. Seeing the power vacuum in Syria, HTS set its sights on toppling Assad—with significant help from Turkey, which is eager to kick out three million Syrian refugees (AP, 12/9), weaken the U.S.-backed Kurdish opposition on the Turkish border, and became a bigger player in the Middle East.
The old U.S.-dominated, liberal world order is dying. A fundamental reshaping has been set into motion. As the imperialist bosses’ competition intensifies, war is inevitable. History shows that it’s the only way they can settle their disagreements; it’s the very nature of the profit system. But workers have no stake or allegiance in this vicious fight among capitalists. The bosses are ready and willing to sacrifice millions of workers' lives to keep themselves in power. It’s up to us to turn the guns around! Only a mass working-class revolution and a communist society can end this deadly cycle.
These rebels are not revolutionaries
Depending on their agenda, the bosses’ media have called the groups that ousted Assad either “rebels” or “terrorists.” In fact, they are small-time capitalists who have built a mass base by providing some security with a brand of religious fundamentalism—and, most significantly, by crushing any opposition (BBC, 12/10). We need to remember that not all rebels are revolutionaries! The anti-Assad opposition has controlled one third of Syria for the last 10 years. Like Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, they have oppressed and exploited the workers in these areas for their own benefit. Progressive Labor Party calls on the international working class to not be fooled by these junior gangsters who—along with the Assad regime—are responsible for the slaughter of more than half a million people in a country of 23 million (aljazeera.com, 12/2/23).
The lightning fall of Assad in Syria caught the imperialists by surprise. No one seemed to anticipate how easily the Syrian military would fold and Assad would fall. Now all of the bosses, big and small, are scrambling to grab what they can and to protect their own interests. As we go to press, Israel launched over 480 air strikes in Syria to terrorize the population and destroy what’s left of the Syrian military before HTS could use it. Both the Israeli and Turkish militaries have entered Syria and expanded their direct control over parts of the country (Guardian, 12/10). While Iran has withdrawn for the moment, Russia has declared it will keep its naval and air bases in Syria and defend them against any attack (New York Times, 12/10).
Once again, Syria is the place where capitalist powers have converged to fight for control. It seems unlikely that the latest developments will mark the end of war there, and more likely that they could herald a much wider battle. As the world saw with the initial fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001 and the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 2003, what seems to be happening at first may not be the way things end up. While we can’t predict how or when or where the bosses’ dogfights will escalate into a global conflict, we can be confident of one thing: A united, international working class with communist leadership cannot be defeated!
U.S. bosses’ split adds more chaos
The disarray within the U.S. ruling class adds another level of chaos to the crisis in Syria. One big difference between President-Elect Donald Trump and the big finance capitalists fronted by the Democratic Party is over the role of the U.S. military. Seeking to lower their tax burden, the domestic-based bosses backing Trump have long sought to let other countries deploy costly ground forces in the Middle East while the U.S. uses the threat of bombs and nuclear weapons to protect their interests. By contrast, the finance capitalists—the multinational oil companies and the banks that finance them—recognize that U.S. imperialism relies on military control over the flow of oil and gas to their competitors.
Trump sent a shock wave through the main wing’s board rooms by declaring that the U.S. has no interest in any involvement in Syria and would let the factions fight it out among themselves (NYT, 12/8). He seemed to forget that 900 U.S. soldiers are stationed in the country to protect oil wells under Kurdish control.
A communist opportunity
We live in a period of looming world war and rising fascism, which the capitalists will need to force the working class onto the battlefield. We also live in a period of tremendous opportunity for our class. Historically, workers have turned world war into class war. We can build a better world if the working class seizes the future by organizing for communist revolution.
None of the factions in Syria serve the interests of the working class. All of them represent competing imperialists and regional powers. Workers in Syria and beyond deserve a world where we own, share, and run all of society—a communist world. A world without borders, and without migrants fleeing the bosses’ terror. In short, workers deserve communism. We call on all workers to choose each other to keep us safe in these perilous times—to choose a communist future.
