Late Fall 2015
Today, we are in the midst of the Fall Season. The year is almost up and so much has changed since January of 2015. This work will deal with many controversial issues. I had to write this information since I have been thinking about these subjects for a while. I thank the Most High always for giving me the opportunity to show my views. The greatness of the Black Panthers was that they not only talked about revolutionary concepts and liberation. They actually did something about things. They organized community based programs to help the children of the community, the elderly, the sick, and other human beings. First, it is important to understand the social conditions during 1966, which was the year when the Black Panther Party was established by Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton. After World War II, here was the post capitalist economic boom. Yet, that boom left out millions of workers and the poor. There were still high poverty rates in many areas of America back during the 1960's. Also, the 20th century Great Migration existed. This massive migration was about African Americans going from the South to the North, Midwest, and the West Coast (like in California). African Americans involved in the Great Migration wanted jobs, equality, and other opportunities. Many workers were in industrial factories, etc. The civil rights movement caused the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act to be passed in 1964 and 1965 respectively. Yet, there was massive class exploitation and other forms of inequality. Dr. King exposed this truth during the late 1960's especially. The oppressive conditions of economic deprivation, poverty, police brutality, etc. influenced the rebellions of the North and the Midwest including the West Coast, which started in a high level by 1964.
The Black Panthers' anti-imperialist, anti-police brutality, and pro-community views appealed to the black youth who wanted a change in the world. The black youth felt that the actions of the civil rights movement didn't go fast enough. The Black Panthers were 10,000 strong by 1970 during their peak. Their 10 Point Program outlined many legitimate grievances that black people had (in opposition to racism, police terrorism, imperialist wars, economic exploitation and other forms of injustices going on). They acknowledged accurately that self-defense, and community development are ways for any oppressed people to enact. African Americans sincerely fighting for justice being slandered as a hate group is a common occurrence. Then and now, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense have been slandered by extremists. Right wing extremists abhor any black person standing up against oligarchic oppression and racial injustice. FOX News never targets Neo-Nazis, the Klan, and other real hate group with the same fervor as they as do to sincere movements for social change like the Black Lives Matter movement (who want civil, human, economic, political, and democratic rights for all black people).
The United States government not only orchestrated the murder of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark in 1969. They also had a role to play in the murder of LA Black Panthers back in the same year of 1969 too (and the 1969 LAPD raid via the newly form SWAT Team happened in the Party’s Los Angeles office as well). The Black Panther Party was one of the greatest expressions of resistance against an oppressive, capitalist system done by people of black African descent in human history. The Black Panther Party’s free Breakfast for Children program and the Free health Care clinic actions helped thousands of lives. The FBI slandered the Free Breakfast for Children program and the FBI in 1968 considered the Black Panthers as the “greatest threat to the internal security of the United States.” As we know, the FBI committed as massive amount of terrorism against black people and other oppressed people in America. The FBI's COINTELPRO program was used explicitly to try to harm the Black Panther Party (causing splits in the New York City and the Oakland factions of the BPP) and other progressive movements for social change. Also, the Department of Homeland Security today has done corruption and monitored unjustly activists from peace groups to the Black Lives Matter movement. One source on this time period (of the late 1960's) is the following:
"...Though explicitly calling themselves "Marxist-Leninists," the Panthers tended to focus their attention not on the Black working class, but on what Karl Marx called the "lumpenproletariat"--the class of permanently unemployed "brothers off the block," to use the Panthers' words--as the leading force for revolution in the U.S. Where Marx and Marxists after him argued that the lumpenproletariat's disconnection from the economy made it an unstable and relatively powerless compared to the organized working class, the Panthers argued that since they had no stake in capitalist society, they would be the most willing to overthrow it. Thus, while the Panthers did form caucuses and organizational networks at the General Motors plant in Fremont. Calif., and in a few other factories, they lacked a systematic working class orientation that might have provided the party with a more stable membership and a powerful political force. As the experience of militant Black autoworkers in Detroit showed at the time, Blacks could and did take their militant nationalism into the workplace...But despite the brief length of its heyday, the importance of the Black Panther Party can't be underestimated. Whatever its weaknesses, it was the first openly revolutionary organization in 40 years to achieve anything close to a mass following in the U.S. As such, it provided a model for people moving from protest to radical ideas to revolutionary action. Given the barbaric repression used against the Panthers, that is no small achievement..." ("The Black Panthers" by Lee Sustar and Alan Maass).
The Black Panthers served the people in the action of fighting for the establishment of political and social revolution. The Black Panther Party was targeted by the United States government, because they wanted independent community development and they opposed the imperialist policies of the West overseas (i.e. The BPP rightfully opposed the Vietnam War). They wanted liberation without capitalism and without compromise. That is why they were targeted by the FBI, etc. Huey P. Newton was constantly harassed by the government and he died in 1989. The BPP ended by many factors. There was the state using repressive measures against the Panthers from slander to outright murder. There was the end of the Vietnam War and the growth of neoliberal policies that cause U.S.imperial interests to have diplomatic relations with many of the nations that the Panthers had solidarity with. Many Panthers worked in electoral politics. The conditions of state repression and other social conditions caused the Black Panthers to decline in power. Alliances made with the working class is critical in forming real change. The names of George Jackson, Bunchy Carter, John Huggins, and other Party members should never be forgotten. Also, the strong, intelligent black women in the Black Panther Party should always be remembered and respected like Kathleen Cleaver, Angela Davis, Olive Morris, Barbara Easley-Cox, Afeni Shakur, etc.
ISIS
How did we get to this place? First, we have to start at the beginning. We have to look at history chronologically. The situation in the Middle East definitely existed in large part by the imperialist policies from the West spanning decades. After WWI, the Ottoman Empire was defeated. European imperialist nations carved up the Ottoman Empire and other areas of the Middle East too. There were secret treaties like Sykes-Picot where Britain and France divided the region into separate states. These states were ruled either by imperialists directly or by puppet Arabic potentates. This bad policy artificially separated peoples and recognized many nation states while dismissing others like the Kurds. The Kurds would be subject to national oppression then and now. The British supported the Balfour Declaration, which set in motion events which caused Israel to be a nation by 1948 (after World War II and the evil Holocaust) while the indigenous Palestinian people would be dispossessed of their land for decades. After WWII, America became a dominant power in the world beyond the European powers in the Middle East. Europe and America had heavily influenced of the oil of Saudi Arabia. The USA wanted to contain Arabic nationalism in the region and any Russian influence in the region too (under the guise of the West promoting "anti-communism"). That is why the U.S. and the West supported reactionary dictatorships and monarchies (in order to prevent independent movements and any anti-capitalist movement from taking hold in the Middle East in a massive level). The dictator Shah Pahlavi came into power in 1954 with US/British backing after Operation Ajax. America has consistently supported Israel, especially after Israel’s victory in the 1967 Six Day War. Israel has been used a monitor and watch person of the region. Israeli has committed numerous international war crimes. Any nationalist or secular left wing movements in the region have been checked by the U.S.-backed fundamentalism of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. So, America has supported counterrevolution in the region (like being against national liberation, against the labor movement, and against real democracy).
The Iranian Revolution in 1979 changed the whole world. The Shah was toppled and the reactionary Ayatollah Khomeini regime opposed America. The US, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabian backed fundamentalist Mujahedeen fought the Afghanistan’s then Stalinist nation. The USSR invaded and occupied the nation. The USSR left Afghanistan in defeat. America once supported Osama bin Laden in the 1980’s and Saddam Hussein (in his stalemate war against Iran where over 1 million people died between Iraqis and Iranians). Later, Iraq had 14 billion dollars in debt. Iraq invaded Kuwait to get its resources, oil, etc. Hussein mistakenly thought that America gave him the greenlight to invade Kuwait, but President George H. W. Bush launched the Persian Gulf War (since this invasion from Saddam Hussein in his mind would threaten American-backed oil resources in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia). George H. W. Buh once inspired the Shias and the Kurds in Iraq to rise up against Saddam. Yet, they weren’t supported by the US, so the Iraqi army massacred thousands of people. Bush Sr. used a no fly zone in the Kurdish North and the Shia South, which caused sectarian strife and was the beginning unofficially of the Iraqi nation. Afterwards, murderous sanctions in Iraq caused over 1 million Iraqis to die. Al-Qaeda grew. During the late 1990’s and the early 21st century, the neo-cons promoted an invasion of Iraq when Iraq was no direct threat to America. American military bases grew all over the Middle East.
The attacks on the World Trade Center and in the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 began the war on terror. The attacks were done by extremists. The attacks happened in New York City, Arlington, Virginia, and Shanksville, PA which killed 2,993 human beings. There was the rise of the anthrax attacks in September and October of 2001 too. Some have accused people close to the USAMRIID as being involved. The United States government passed many anti-civil liberty laws like the Patriot Act during the aftermath of 9/11. These laws became part and parcel of the reason why civil liberties are so important to protect and fight for. Immediately after 9/11, Islamophobia grew and many Muslims were rounded up randomly by the FBI. On October 7, 2001, the West (as supported by President George W. Bush) attacked Afghanistan via imperial aggression with bombers, soldiers, and other military forces. There were other events happening. The U.S. and other nations attacked Iraq unjustly and based on false intelligence on March of 2003. The aggression in Iraq violated national and international law. The Iraq war would be a disaster for human beings worldwide from Iraqi infrastructure being destroyed to tons of people being killed in the Middle Eastern region. The Madrid bombing existed in 2004. The 7/7 bombing happened in 2005 in London, UK. We find that the mastermind of the bombing had ties to MI6. Saddam Hussein died via hanging in December 30, 2006. In 2009, President Barack Obama was inaugurated as President of the United States of America. He talked about "hope and change." Yet, many of the same policies of George W. Bush continued during his administration. In the same year, Boko Haram grew. There was the Fort Hood, TX shooting in November of 2009.
By December 18, 2010, the Arab Spring existed. This was a movement of people who were protesting against authoritarian regime in Muslim nations of the Middle East and Northern Africa. Many people in the Arab Spring were sincere and wanted democratic freedom and others were infiltrated by NGOs and corporate-backed forces. It lasted until October 26, 2013. The Syrian Civil War started in March 15, 2011 between pro-Assad and anti-Assad factions (which includes Western-backed forces, al-Qaeda activists, ISIS, etc.). The Libyan crisis came about in 2011. It started by people who wanted Gaddafi to go. Gaddafi made Libya a very strong nation. Soon, NATO supported the Libyan rebels and Libya transformed into chaos. Gaddafi was murdered by Libyan rebel forces. NATO bombed Libya and there was not strong, progressive movement to keep Libya together. After Gaddafi died, the civil war in Libya has intensified.
Benghazi is a stronghold of al-Qaeda in Libya for years:
"...There is no question that al Qaeda’s Libyan franchise, Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, is a part of the opposition,” Bruce Riedel, former CIA officer and a leading expert on terrorism, told Hindustan Times. It has always been Qaddafi’s biggest enemy and its stronghold is Benghazi..." (The Hindustan Times). Another source says about Libya:
"...The United States switched sides in the war on terror with what we did in Libya, knowingly facilitating the provision of weapons to known al-Qaeda militias and figures,’ Clare Lopez, a member of the commission and a former CIA officer, told MailOnline.
Ironically, Gaddafi was about to attack Benghazi in 2011 since it was an al-Qaeda stronghold, but NATO planes stopped him..." (as documented in the article entitled, "Libya: Benghazi about to fall... then came the planes" written by Rob Crilly for the Telegraph on March 20, 2011).
The evil 2012 Benghazi attack was when terrorists on the evening of September 11, 2012 attacked the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. The terrorists killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith. Stevens was the first U.S. Ambassador killed in the line of duty since 1979. The attack has also been referred to as the Battle of Benghazi. The From 2014 to the present, Libya is still in the era of civil war. ISIS develop after the de Baathification of Iraq, the Sunnis having their political power weakened, and the refusal of the Shia President of Iraq to have a great power sharing system among ethnicities. ISIS also came about because of the Western invasion and occupation of Iraq, which created chaos and more inter religious tensions among Sunnis and Shias. ISIS goes by many names. It was crated in 1999 by Jordanian radical Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as Jamāʻat al-Tawḥīd wa-al-Jihād, "The Organisation of Monotheism and Jihad." In 2004, they allied with Al-Qaeda.
ISIS beginnings
ISIS or the Islamic State spread their organization quickly in the Middle East. The Islamic State of Iraq or ISI existed in 2006. By April 18, 2010, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi controlled ISI after its two top leaders (Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri) were killed in a joint U.S.-Iraqi airstrike in Tikrit. When Syria Spring turned from a democratic protest movement to civil war (from March 2011 to March 2013), Islamic groups like al-Qaeda’s the Nusra Front joined the civil war. Fighters loyal to Baghdadi cross into Syria exploitation the power vacuum, so they could get territory. ISI starts to bomb places in Iraq. ISIS fighters with the Nusra front enter the northeastern city of Raqqa, Syria. On April 2013, Baghdadi declared that he has absorbed the Nusra Front to form a large entity called the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which was operation in Iraq and Syria. The Nusra Front denied back then that it has accepted the merger. This causes a leadership rift within al-Qaeda. Their spread was quickly growing by June 29, 2014 when they called themselves officially Islamic State of Iraq and Levant or ISIS. Their goal is to form a theocratic caliphate in the lands that they conquer in the Middle East. Its leader is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi or he called himself the “Caliph of all Muslims.” ISIS have used extreme violence by using beheadings, rape, slavery, destructing heritage sites in the Middle East, and taking territories illegally. They advertise their violence online.
In January of 2014, ISIS overruns the Iraqi city of Fallujah. They seize parts of Anbar’s regional capital of Ramadi. More than 13,000 families flee the area. There are reports of British jihadists being recruited as reported by sources. In Syria, IS fights rival rebel groups over land. In June of 2014, there is an overnight assault by hundreds of ISIS fighters capture Mosul, Iraq or the second largest city. They overran key local government, police, and military headquarters, also seizing considerable amounts of U.S. supplied military hardware. ISIS comes to the south quickly in June 11, 2014 conquering most of Nineveh province and Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit. It reportedly becomes the richest terror group ever after looting 500 billion Iraqi dinars - the equivalent of $429m (£256m) – from Mosul's central bank. In conquered lands, ISIS imposes strict Sharia laws over their territories. They continue to use mass kidnappings and executions in Iraq and Syria. By June 29, 2014, the group declared the establishment of a “caliphate” and renamed itself the Islamic State. The rift deepens with al-Qaeda by July 5, 2014. On this day, IS released a video of Baghdadi delivered a sermon at Al-Nouri Mosque in Mosul. He called on Muslims to obey him and join the caliphate. It is important to note that ISIS has nothing to do with Islam or Muslim. ISIS is a terrorist organization and it’s a reactionary group.
IS attacked the Iraqi district of Sinjar or the home of the Yazidi Kurds. The Yazidi Kurds are an ancient religious minority group that radical Sunnis consider heretical. Thousands of Yazidis flee, hundreds are killed or kidnapped. Women are enslaved. Then on August 8, 2014, the U.S. launched air strikes against ISIS. On August 2014, the jihadi group released the footage showing a masked militant with a London accent beheading American journalist James Foley in retaliation for U.S. air strikes. The clip is called “Massage to America.’ Video footage of the beheading of the U.S. hostage Steven Sotloff existed in September 2, 2014. In the same month, America forms a 10 nation anti-IS coalition. It includes Britain, France, and Canada. Many Arabic nations would soon join this coalition to fight ISIS. British aid worker David Haines is beheaded before a camera too. By September 13, 2014, ISIS launched an offensive on the northern Syrian city of Kobane. This is home to a strong Kurdish population. The siege lasts for four months. In October, more Westerners are beheaded and a IS English language propaganda magazine called Dabiq wants further attacks. In October 20, 12014, a Canadian convert and IS sympathizer runs down 2 soldiers and killed one with his car near Montreal. 2 days later, a gunman killed a soldier guarding the National War Memorial in Ottawa before storming Canada’s parliament building. He is shot dead later by security forces. Peter Kassig was beheaded by November of 2014. In January 26, 2015, Kurdish fighters retake full control of Kobane as they successfully push back IS militants.
In February 15, 2015, IS Libyan branch released footage showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians on a beach. In March of 2014, Iraq troops backed by Shiite militias and U.S. air strikes reconquer the strategic city of Tikrit. On April 19, 2015, ISIS Libyan affiliated release a clip showing militants shooting and heading about 30 Ethiopian Christians. The Iraqi defense ministry announced IS second in command Abu Alaa Al-Afri was killed in an air strike on May 13, 2015. IS fighters take over Ramadi because of the meltdown of Iraqi troops. The U.S. criticized those Iraqi forces heavily. IS conquered the Syrian historic city of Palmyra in central Syria on May 2015. From June 16 to 23, 2015, Kurdish fighters advance deeper into IS territory. They capture the Syrian town of Tal Abyad and an army base in southwest Ain Issa. On June 26, 2015, IS claims responsibility for the killing of 38 people in a shooting at a Tunisian beach resort and for a separate suicide bombing that killed to least 25 Shiite worshipers in a Kuwait mosque. On July 21, 2015, the Telegraph reported on British troops going to Saudi Arabia to train Syrian rebels (who oppose Assad). In July 2015, sources have said that the territory controlled by ISIS saw a 9.4% reduction in the first six months of 2015. In August of 2015, ISIS destroys antiquities in Palmyra. The nearly 2,000 year old Temple of Baalashami is destroyed. UNESCO or the UN’s cultural organization calls the destruction of the temple “a war crime.” In September 3, ISIS killed more than 40 of its own militants (in the Musbaq al-Suney district of al-Mayadin, Syria) since they refused to join the battles in the Aleppo province. There are clashes between Syrian rebel fighters and ISIS forces in Syria too during September of 2015.
The Kurds are divided into many factions. Yet, they are unified in opposing ISIS. The United States has given massively aid to the Kurdish forces (especially the Peshmerga forces) as a way for them to fight back against ISIS. They are some of the strongest militia forces in the Middle Eastern region too. The Kurdish forces face 2 problems. One problem that they face is about ISIS, which they have killed many Kurdish people, including women and children. Another problem that they face deals with of course the nation of Turkey. Turkey has consistently opposed any form of Kurdish self-determination, especially inside of the Turkish nation. Kurdish peoples are not just found in Iraq and Syria. They exist in many parts of Turkey too. So, Turkey has classified many Turkish organizations as terrorists (like the Kurdish PKK or the separatists Kurdistan Workers Party. The PKK was crucial in pushing back ISIS in northern Iraq.). PKK’s affiliate in Syria is called the PYD or the Kurdish Democratic Union Party. Its armed wing is called the YPG. Turkey has bombed Kurdish forces in Syria. This complicated the war since America and Turkey are allies; especially both nations are in NATO. Yet, America wants Assad gone while Turkey is more concerned with containing Kurdish nationalist fervor. Turkey wants the U.S. to fight ISIS, but they are adamantly opposed to giving sophisticated military equipment to Turkish fighters. The U.S. and Germany have given weapons to the Kurds. In the final analysis, I don’t support ISIS and I don’t support Western imperialism. I support independent forces wanting freedom in the region. Also, we all agree with the right of the Kurdish people to have self-determination (like in the self-determination region of Rojava in Syria with a lot of Kurdish people) and to defend their families.
Syria
In Syria, the Western-instigated civil war has devastated Syria. Over 200,000 human beings have died as a product of the vicious civil war. President Obama has aided the rebels to fight ISIS. Many of these rebels are terrorists. We know that the U.S. had funded radical jihadists in the region for years and decades. General Lloyd J. Austin III is the head of the United States Central Command. He admitted to the Senate’s Armed Services Committee that the 500 million dollar program to train 5,000 so-called “moderate” rebels in Syria only resulted in the training of a few dozen people. We know that for a long time, the west want to destabilize Syria, so Assad is gone and a puppet regime is in its place. This has been admitted by former General Wesley Clark as Clark said that Syria on a hit list of government targets slated for a military intervention. Much of the Arab Spring actions in Syria have been aided by NGOs and Western backed organizations. Even WikiLeaks confirmed that that the U.S. spent 12 million dollars (from 2006 to 2010) in order to support and instigate demonstrations and propaganda against the Syrian government. This has been revealed by over 7,000 secret diplomatic cables. The CIA has given arms to Syrian opposition groups, and many of these groups are outright terrorists. We know that the CIA supports Al Nusra. Al Nusra is a jihadist organization that has committed countless atrocities. This group is affiliated with al-Qaeda. Al Nusra has been described as the terrorist arm of the Free Syria Army or the FSA. With all of this war mongering executed by the Obama administration in Syria, Libya, etc., the extremist Republicans in Congress feel that the President isn’t going far enough. Many Republicans oppose the Iran nuclear accord, because they want Iran to suffer even more. Yet, Iranians collectively should not be blamed for the totality of the crisis in the Middle East. Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon at all. There are thousands of Iranian Quds forces in Syria. They are fighting ISIS. So, there is an alliance between Iran, Russia, and Syria. Also, Russia has been using Iraqi airspace. Now, Assad isn’t perfect. Assad has issues of violating the democratic rights of Syrian people, but I rather have Assad control Syria temporarily than ISIS control Syria permanently. We have to look at foreign policy realistically. Only the Syrian citizens, not America, not France, and not the UK, should decide Syria’s political future.
Turkey and Erdogan
Turkey has overly joined the U.S. war in Syria by July of 2015. Turkey has always been an ally of America for decades. Turkey is a NATO country. Once, the government of Ankara has used a more restrained approach when dealing with ISIS. Turkey wants the government of President Bashar al-Assad to be gone, but there is another caveat. Turkey wants to stop Kurdish nationalists. Turkey has been caught (by many reports and sources) covertly aiding ISIS too. The Jerusalem Post reported that an ISIS fighter said that Turkey funds the terrorist group. According to a leading Turkish newspaper (Today’s Zaman), Turkish nurses are sick of providing free medical in Turkish hospitals. The Tunisian oil smuggler Abu Sayyaf smuggled oil from Syria’s eastern oil fields. Black market oil became the main driver of ISIS revenues and Turkish buyers were its main clients. We know that Turkey has overtly supported jihadi groups like Ahrar al-Sham (which believes in much of al-Qaeda’s ideology) and Jabhat al-Nusra. Even Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said that Israel has given aid to Syrian rebels. Overtly, the Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has worked with President Barack Obama now to secure the Turkish-Syrian border and fight ISIS. Now, the United States uses Turkish air bases at Incirlik and Diyarbakir, so the U.S. can launch aerial attacks in IS positions in Syria and Iraq. There are predator drones being launched from the Incirlik air base. According to the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News, the deal, treated by the Turkish side as a “secret cabinet decree,” also includes plans for a “buffer zone” in northern Syria, something Ankara has long demanded as a means of escalating the war for regime change in Syria.
Erdogan has a notoriously authoritarian government. There are plenty of stories about demonstrators being arrested and experiencing tear gas by the police in Turkey. He has used raids via his army against ISIS. Turkey still views some Kurdish nationalist groups as terrorists. The Kurdish town of Suruç experienced a suicide attack that killed at least 32 people. Suruç lied on the Turkish side of the Turkey-Syrian border from the city of Kobanê. The bombing, which also injured more than 100, was reportedly carried out by the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS) against SGDF activists who were preparing to cross the border to help with the reconstruction of Kobanê. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Ozan Tekin is a member of the Revolutionary Socialist Workers Party (DSIP), which is affiliated with the International Socialist Tendency. There are working class activists in Turkey who are fighting for real change in that nation. The U.S. has aided Kurdish groups in Iraq, which Turkey disagrees with. The U.S. is an ally of Saudi Arabia, but as the Daily Beast has report, ISIS is funded by wealthy donors from Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. So, Gulf States are funding ISIS as a counterweight against the Sunni hegemony of Syria and Iran. These Gulf States also fund the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda called the Al Nusrah Front and other Islamic groups fighting on the ground in Syria. So, the U.S., Turkey, and Israel have funded Syrian rebels in order for Syria to be a puppet client state of the West.
ISIS Overseas
ISIS is known for its social media influence. They have used the Internet to spread hate and extremism. There is no solution in nihilism at all. There have been many lone wolves with no links to ISIS, but desire to do evil as they were inspired by ISIS. Today, they control areas in the realm of about 10 million people. Thy have affiliated in Africa, Asia, etc. The Salafi, jihadist group of ISIS is very evil.
Russia
Russia has sent its military support for Assad. They have reportedly setting up a new air base in northwestern Syria, the traditional stronghold of Assad’s Alawite Shiite regime, a development Washington has been unable to block. And on the eve of Obama’s speech to the UN, the US-backed Iraqi government announced that it had signed an intelligence-sharing agreement with Syria, Iran and Russia, evidently without the prior knowledge of the US government. An Iraqi government official said Monday that Baghdad would welcome Russian surveillance flights over the country. The West wants Syria to be rid of Assad in order to spread a pro-Saudi hegemony. Saudi Arabia wants Assad gone to promote its interests and Assad is a Shia person (while the Saudi leadership is Sunni). The Western instigated sectarian civil war in Syria has caused massive amounts of refugees to leave Syria and come into Europe, etc. The U.S. wars in the Middle East exist in order for the West to gain the region’s energy resources, to promote American hegemony in the region, and to counteract the political moves made by Russia including China (which are both nuclear powers). Essentially the same jihadist terrorist forces that constitute ISIS were financed and armed by the CIA, Washington’s Sunni Gulf allies (Saudi Arabia, Qatar) and Turkey to serve as proxy forces in the overthrow and murder of the secular Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, as well as in the war for regime change against the secular regime in Syria. Iran, (which has been called an evil empire by the neo-cons), is today a potential asset of US imperialism in the region. The US is backing a Shiite sectarian regime in Iraq that is aligned with Iran, even as it collaborates with Sunni Saudi Arabia in waging war in Yemen and the effort to topple the Shiite Assad regime in Syria. These are all contradictions and it shows the complexities of the war on terror. These wars have caused chaos and most Americans don’t want more massive wars in the Middle East. The reactionary Republicans like John McCain, Rubio, etc. are trying to pressure the White House to be more hawkish. We see NATO still showing an aggressive posture towards Russia. NATO supports military war games near Russian territories along eastern European countries.
The Future
The future of the Middle East is really uncertain. There is a massive amount of instability is many nations of the Middle East. The war on terror will undoubtedly continue for many decades into the future.
Appendix A: The Migrant Crisis
The refugee crisis in Europe is real. It was not caused by the refugees themselves. It was caused by a combination of factors like poverty, war, Western imperialism, and the destabilization of the Middle East. The tragic image of a picture of a lifeless 3 year old child named Aylan Kurdi (who was a Syrian refugee) on a Turkish beach is representative of how huge the crisis is. Aylan died along with his mother including his 5 year old brother in trying to reach the Greek island of Kos. They left the hometown of Kobane in Syria. They traveled hundreds of miles through Turkey and the father survived. During this year alone, more than 2,500 refugees have perished in the Mediterranean Sea. We know that these deaths are preventable since the crisis came about because of Western imperialism, poverty and closed borders. Many European governments are debating on the responses. These refugees do need resources like food and water. They are not only fleeing from Syria. They are fleeing from Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and from other countries of the world. The police including security forces in Europe have readily shown routine violence against the refugees. Some in Europe have express real concern for the humanity of the refugees. Other Europeans have shown callousness, bigotry, and other hate from far right groups. Many of these reactionaries have scapegoated the refugees and migrants in vicious terms (as a way for them to advance a conservative agenda). The influx of people is has caused the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War. The UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, expects a 40 percent increase this year in the number of people fleeing to Europe by boat. An estimated 310,000 people have already crossed the Mediterranean Sea this year, according to the UN. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) puts the figure even higher, at 350,000--and reports that at least 2,535 people have died making the crossing so far this year. Makeshift refugee centers in Greece, Italy, etc. have been filled to the bursting point for months. Many smugglers have exploited this tragedy by charging money to get refugees, kidnapping refugees, and abusing refugees. The cost to hire a dinghy for the 2-mile trip from Turkey across to Greece that Aylan Kurdi and his family perished on reportedly costs as much as 1,000 euros--$1,120--per person. Drowning is not the only cause of the death of refugees. In Austria, the bodies of 71 Syrian refugees including at least 3 children (aged 2, 3, and 8) were found abandoned in the truck along a highway. They were being trafficked from Hungary. International law mandates that refugees in particular have the right to asylum when they flee. Many European nations continue to refuse to allow the refugees to enter in a timely way. Macedonian police attacked refugees including families and small children as they gather at the border. In September 1, 2015, hundreds of refugees with paid for train tickets were expelled from Keleti station (or the main station in Budapest, Hungary) as the police tried to stop the flow of refugees to Germany.
The crowds of refugees, many fleeing the violence of the civil war in Syria, chanted, "We are human. We are human"--a fact that European Union officials seem slow to recognize. Many refugees want to leave as many have gone days without food and water. "In Europe, they're treating us like ISIS did, beating us up," said Ahmad Saadoun, who came from Fallujah, Iraq, one of the cities now under the control of the reactionary fighters that the U.S. government, in alliance with the European Union, has declared war on. Many trains in Channel Tunnel between Britain and France have been delayed as hundreds of refuges attempt to cross the tunnel on foot by hanging on the roots of trains. There are 4 million refugees in Syria’s neighboring states in Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan. Yet, there are only a few hundred thousand refugees in Europe. In Hungary, where the right-wing government's main rival is a far-right party with ties to neo-Nazis, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on September 3 that the migration crisis was a "German problem," and that Europe had a moral duty to block migrants from coming. As of June, America had taken in fewer than 1,000 Syrian refugees. Washington recently announced a commitment to accepting between 5,000 and 8,000 Syrian refugees. The U.S. and other European nations have a role in the civil war in Syria, the destabilization of Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. So, the refugee situation has existed as a product of the imperialist policies of the West. There are people in Europe who are doing what is right. Some people are putting that sentiment into practice. German soccer clubs, pushing back against the far right, organized the display of banners welcoming refugees at matches across the country last week. Soccer club Bayern Munch announced that it would donate $1.1 million to refugee charities and that players would take the field for upcoming games by walking hand-in-hand with refugee children. The Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS), whose independently run rescue boats in the Mediterranean have saved more than 10,000 people, said it has seen a 15-fold increase in donations in the 24 hours after the pictures of Aylan Kurdi were published. "People are saying they don't want to be bystanders anymore," MOAS's director Martin Xuereb told the Guardian. There are charities who are helping the migrants all of the time. Some 5,000 people turned out August 29 for a rally in defense of immigrant rights called by the Anti-Nazi Alliance. Holding a banner reading "Prevent the pogroms of tomorrow today," protesters chanted, "Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here." The lesson is that we need to have solidarity, the development of infrastructure, and the organizing of assistance to the refuges as solutions. We have to hold governments accountable and allow immigrants to be welcome not only in Europe, but all over the world.
It is totally sad that many human beings would not care about the plight of others until a picture is shown of a human being who passed away. The refugee crisis in Europe was caused by Western imperialism. We have to keep it real. Western forces have participated in wars and imperialism for centuries in the Middle East and in Africa. ISIS grew out of the de Baathification of Iraq and the sectarian divisions in Iraq (when Shias have the majority of the political power in Iraq while some Sunnis feel politically disenfranchised) that wasn’t rectified (as a product of the 2003 invasion of Iraq). ISIS evolved from al-Qaeda forces. War in the world has caused the refugees (many of them come from Africa too. NATO has bombed Libya too which caused the Libyan civil war and refugees have fled Africa into Europe. Many of the refugees are black people) to flee from all over the world into Europe. I read where neo-Nazis have attacked many refuges in Budapest (as racist, fascist gangs are found throughout Europe), so hatred is not just an American problem. It is a global problem. Nations like France, the U.S., Germany, etc. are heavily responsible for the crisis in the Middle East. We have to express empathy for humanity (the refugees are human beings just like us) and we have to promote solutions as well.
The refugee crisis continues in September and it will continue in October of 2015. Video from the border on September 15 and 16 showed Hungarian riot police using tear gas and water cannons indiscriminately against desperate refugees--including families with small children--clamoring to be allowed into the country from neighboring Serbia. On September 21, Orban's right-wing Fidesz party backed with the far-right nationalist Jobbik party to pass a new law that allows the military to use even greater force against refugees who want to cross the border, including "rubber bullets, pyrotechnical devices, tear gas grenades and net guns," according to a statement on the Hungarian parliament's website. Hungary has deployed the army against refugees too. This happened after the parliament of Hungary passed a constitutional amendment on Monday, which permitted the deployment of the country’s army at the country’s borders to repel refugees. There were 152 votes in favor of this including the votes of the ruling Fidesz party and the far right Jobbik party. The bill received the two-thirds majority required for changes to the constitution. The new law will allow the armed forces to stop people at the border and search vehicles. The army will also be allowed to use batons, rubber bullets, and nets. The initial draft also allowed police to search homes without a court order if they suspected the presence of refugees. This provision was then deleted from the final text following a wave of protest. Hungarian soldiers have already been mobilized on the country’s border with Serbia to erect a high barbed wire fence. They are also permitted to reinforce police units at the border.
RIP Aylan Kurdi.
By Timothy
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