Protests Launched Against the U.S. Bombing of Syria
As the U.S. supported by its Arab allies began airstrikes Monday against the Islamic State fighters in Syria, America is facing a series of protests back home against its decision to begin a new war.
The U.S. and partner nation forces have begun airstrikes inside Syria against terrorists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Adm. John Kirby said in a statement Monday.
The strikes are being undertaken through a mix of fighter and bomber aircraft and Tomahawk Land Attack missiles, he said.
U.S. Central Command has conducted a total of 190 airstrikes across Iraq in the battle against ISIL forces. The decision to begin the airstrikes in Syria was made earlier Monday by Centcom Commander Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, the admiral said.
The strikes are being made under authorization granted by the commander in chief, President Barack Obama, as part of the comprehensive strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL.
Related Stories:
ISIS – Is the Islamic State Really Islamic?
How President Obama’s Analysis Is Wrong on Terrorism
New Video Shows John Cantlie as ISIS Hostage
Meanwhile, ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), a U.S.-based civil society organization, has decided to hold nationwide demonstrations from Sept. 23 – 28 to oppose the bombing of Syria and Iraq.
It argues that this war, like the earlier ones, is being sold on the basis of misinformation and fear. The United States is a major part of the problem and cannot be the solution to the current crisis in Syria and Iraq.
Click the image to visit Wars and Conflicts page.
“Let’s tell the fundamental truth that the Obama administration conceals from the people: The so-called Islamic State or ISIS wouldn’t exist today as a major force either in Syria or Iraq if it wasn’t for the U.S. military aggression that smashed the secular, nationalist governments in Iraq in 2003 and Libya in 2011, followed by the U.S. government’s catastrophic support for the armed opposition against the similarly organized government in Syria,” according to ANSWER.
It further says that the real objectives of U.S. imperialism are to locate permanent Pentagon military bases in Iraq, Syria and the entire resource-rich region of the Middle East. This is the goal: the projection of permanent imperial power and domination in a region that contains two-thirds of the world’s oil reserves.
ANSWER argues that for the past 24 years, the United States has relentlessly bombed Iraq and now it is bombing Syria. Neither Iraq nor Syria has ever attacked the United States or its people.
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or Islamic State (IS) is a militant organization, which is currently active in Iraq and Syria. With a strong force of over 30,000 fighters under its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ISIL is attacking different nations with the aim to set up a large Islamic State.
Photo courtesy: ANSWER
