Stop the War in Syria - No Intervention

Foreign intervention from all sides is contributing to the escalation of violence, the possibility of civil war, and total destabilization.

Courtesy: fightbacknews.org

(DAMASCUS) - The ominous signs of impending war with Syria are escalating. A nightmare is unfolding across the country and has now reached the streets of Damascus and Aleppo.

As we are writing these lines, the Minister of Defence Dawoud Raha and Assad’s brother in-law Assef Shawkat have just been assassinated, supposedly by terrorist attack. And we all sense how the story will probably end: Thousands of soldiers and civilians killed, towns and families destroyed, and President Assad and his family beaten to death in a ditch.

NATO and the EU are backing Turkish support to the opposition, along with Saudi Arabian and Qatari millions and arms flowing into Syria from every corner. Any arms trade, by Western countries and their allies and by Russia, intensifies the civil war and conflict. Western media repeats arguments to justify foreign intervention.

The International Coordinating Committee of the Network No to War – No to NATO, opposes any military, economic, diplomatic, or covert intervention aimed at controlling the internal affairs of Syria or any other country:

Sanctions harm the people of Syria causing food shortages, power outages, and block the distribution of goods.

Foreign intervention from all sides is contributing to the escalation of violence, the possibility of civil war, and total destabilization. This includes any interventions under the cover of “securing” against the possible use of chemical weapons. The people who always suffer the most are the people not engaged directly in the armed conflict.

The world knows very well the results of ‘humanitarian’ U.S. wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the people, especially women and children, are in a far worse situation than before, with millions dead, injured, and/or displaced, an infrastructure and economy in shambles, and certainly no peace.

Washington and NATO/EU goals in Syria are to impose their will and control a part of the world that holds the vast majority of the known oil reserves, and to gain strategic advantage as they seek to isolate and contain competitors like Russia and China. The U.S. and NATO/EU have no interest in democracy, social or economic justice for the peoples of the world, especially in areas where the Western powers have economic or strategic interests.

We oppose all forms of political repression including the repression done by the Assad government.

Freedom, democracy and participation of people is a part of our peace movement's self-understanding and goals.

We may hold different views regarding Syria’s political system. We all agree that the western Governments and their allies have no right to impose their will on other states, even if they choose different forms of government, appropriate to their culture and idiosyncracy.

In all cases, we support the right of nations to self-determination – that is, to be able to decide on, and resolve internal conflicts free from any foreign intervention.

For all these reasons, the International Coordinating Committee of the network No to War - No to NATO demands:

No U.S. or NATO/EU intervention in the internal affairs of Syria!

No war! No sanctions!

Self-determination for the Syrian people!

www.no-to-nato.org

This report was first published on 30 July 2012.

Special thanks to Silvia Cattori