Everything was going well for the al-Assad regime as it basked in 40 years of rule — until what started as a peaceful demonstration against the Baathist dictatorship violently escalated into full-blown civil war.
Another war in the Middle East? Uncle Sam wants you!
US president Barack Obama can now green-light his administration’s plan to arm Syrian rebels and assist the uprising against the regime. The House Intelligence Committee is allowing the plan to move forward. Aside from Obama, some other high profile politicians are drooling over the opportunity to become interventionists once again as well — namely war hawks John McCain and Lindsey Graham (who are going even farther and calling for a no-fly zone over the country).
Of course we’re told that intervening in Syria is in our “national interest,” that there will be no boots on the ground, that this is a humanitarian mission and a vital part of the never-ending “War on Terror” (even though al Qaeda could be armed) and spreading democracy around the Middle East. We have been told all of this before. Governments like rallying people around the flag, using collective “our nation” rhetoric and fear propaganda to fraudulently gain consent for interventionism and war. This is how Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, the drone wars and well, you name the war, have been sold to us. What is sinister here is there may very well be a pre-determined agenda. If these small arms do not result in the overthrow of the current regime you can bet your bottom dollar we’ll see US troops marching into yet another country.
There are no just interventions. In our age any use of military force is sure to result in the deaths of innocent children, women and men. In the US government’s “War on Terror” the vast majority killed, injured and displaced are innocent people — especially children.
So, we are faced today with the prospect of yet another war. Human beings keep going through this. We keep having our lives taken from us by and for the state. Governments cannot wage wars without us. We need to take a stand now. We need to stop supporting the state and organize against aggression — especially against war.
It is time to think long-term. War is a criminal act — mass murder by the state, for the state. War for the health of the state must be abolished. In a libertarian society it would be.
We have no obligation to “our” government. We have an obligation to champion life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. As the Declaration of Independence notes, when governments become destructive of these ideals it is the right of the people to alter or abolish them.
Social movements have altered states throughout history and states have continued to carry out crimes against humanity — now is the time to become a truly free and liberated people. Abolish the state.
