Syrian Researcher: Focus on Alleged Chemical Attack Ignores War’s Ongoing Deaths by Airstrikes, Bullets

I have come across several people on the left who believe we should take a stand against the Bashar al-Assad (بشار اسد) Regime and some have even suggested supporting the Free Syrian Army, which the US has been supporting. There are a few points they try to make. Most have claimed they are not supporting US imperialism and yet they believe we should demand Assad step down. That is the same position the US takes and as far as I am concerned the US has no authority to tell a foreign leader to step down. Some of these so-called leftists are claiming that the slaughter of his own people is unjustifiable and we should take up the cause to get rid of him. They claim that Marxists must always support the people on the bottom of society in their attempt to overcome a leader or ruling class at the top. Some claim we should not support any dictators. Supporting a reactionary revolution is not a Marxist position and I totally oppose that.

I don't actually support Assad, but I oppose the FSA because it is a reactionary faction, similar to the Nicaraguan Contras. They are mostly Islamists. I am a Marxist and not an Islamist. I don't support Islamist revolutionaries. Many of those people would kill us if we went there. I refuse to take up the causes of US imperialism. They plan to put puppet governments all over the Middle East. That does not help anyone. The only revolutionaries I will support in Syria are Marxists. There aren't many Marxists there today. One thing I will not support is the imperialist efforts to replace Assad with a puppet government. - សតិវ ​អតុ

From Democracy Now:

As the United Nations Security Council holds an emergency session over the growing prospect of a war between Russia and the U.S., after President Trump threatened U.S. strikes in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma, we get response from Syrian-Canadian writer Yazan al-Saadi. “Let’s remind everyone that the U.S. is striking Syria already. You have more than 2,000 soldiers on the ground. There are bases.” He adds, “For me, as a Syrian, I see it as an occupation, just like how I see the Russians are an occupation on the country.” Regarding the alleged chemical attack in Syria, he says, “This ignores the fact that most deaths are happening through conventional means,” such as airstrikes.

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