Robert Fisk on Syria - We should have been traumatised into action by this war in 2011. And 2012. But now?
Before the stupidest Western war in the history of the modern world begins – I am, of course, referring to the attack on Syria that we all now have to swallow – it might be as well to say that the Cruise missiles which we confidently expect to sweep onto one of mankind’s oldest cities have absolutely nothing to do with Syria
They are intended to harm Iran .
They are intended to strike at the Islamic Republic now that it has a new and
vibrant president – as opposed to the crackpot Mahmoud Ahmedinejad – and when
it just might be a little more stable. Iran
is Israel ’s
enemy. Iran
is therefore, naturally, America ’s
enemy. So there is nothing pleasant about the regime in Damascus .
Nor do these comments let the regime off the hook when it comes to mass
gassing. But I am old enough to remember that when Iraq – then America ’s
ally – used gas against the Kurds of Hallabjah in 1988, we did not assault Baghdad .
Indeed, that attack would have to wait until 2003, when Saddam no longer had
any gas or any of the other weapons we nightmared over. And I also happen
to remember that the CIA put it about in 1988 that Iran
was responsible for the Hallabjah gassings, a palpable lie that focused on America ’s
enemy whom Saddam was then fighting on our behalf. And thousands – not
hundreds – died in Hallabjah. But there you go. Different days,
different standards.
And I suppose it’s worth noting that when Israel killed up
to 17,000 men, women and children in Lebanon in 1982 in an invasion supposedly
provoked by the attempted PLO murder of the Israeli ambassador in London – it
was Saddam’s mate Abu Nidal who arranged the killing, not the PLO, but that
doesn’t matter now – America merely called for both sides to exercise
“restraint”. And when, a few months before that invasion, Hafez al-Assad
– father of Bashar – sent his brother up to Hama
to wipe out thousands of Muslim Brotherhood rebels, nobody muttered a word of
condemnation. “Hama Rules,” is how my old mate Tom Friedman cynically
styled this bloodbath. Anyway, there’s a different Brotherhood around
these days – and Obama couldn’t even bring himself to say ‘boo’ when
their elected president got deposed.
So what in heaven’s name are we doing? After countless
thousands have died in Syria’s awesome tragedy, suddenly – now, after months
and years of prevarication – we are getting upset about a few hundred
deaths. We should have been traumatised into action by this war in
2011. And 2012. But now? Why? Well, I suspect I know
the reason. I think that Bashar al-Assad’s ruthless army might just be
winning against the rebels whom we secretly arm. With the assistance of
the Lebanese Hizballah – Iran ’s
ally in Lebanon
– the Damascus regime broke the
rebels in Qusayr and may be in the process of breaking them north of Homs .
Iran is ever
more deeply involved in protecting the Syrian government. Thus a victory
for Bashar is a victory for Iran .
And Iranian victories cannot be tolerated by the West.
And while we’re on the subject of war, what happened to those magnificent Palestinian-Israeli
negotiations John Kerry was boasting about? While we express our anguish
at the hideous gassings in Syria ,
the land of Palestine Israel ’s
Likudist policy – to negotiate for peace until there is no Palestine
left – continues apace, which is why King Abdullah of Jordan ’s
nightmare (a much more potent one than the ‘weapons of mass destruction’ we
dreamed up in 2003) grows larger: that Palestine
will be in Jordan ,
not in Palestine .
But if we are to believe the nonsense coming out of
Washington, London, Paris and the rest of the ‘civilised’ world, it’s only a
matter of time before our swift and avenging sword smiteth the
Damascenes. To observe the leadership of the rest of the Arab world
applauding this destruction is perhaps the most painful historical experience
for the region to endure. And the most shameful. Save for the fact
that we will be attacking Shiite Muslims and their allies to the handclapping
of Sunni Muslims. That’s what civil war is made of.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/we-should-have-been-traumatised-into-action-by-this-war-in-2011and-2012but-now-8789506.html
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