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Michael Karadjis says: 'As the SDF advances on Raqqa, US airstrikes (and SDF artillery) are creating what UN war crimes investigators described as a “staggering loss of civilian life.” The US is literally carpet bombing Raqqa, “destroying the town to save it.” ' The UN report does not use the term "carpet bombing", nor say that the US is "destroying the town to save it". However it is true that the report talks of a "staggering loss of civilian life" in Raqqa: www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21741&LangID=E Undoubtedly the aerial bombardment of Raqqa has killed a lot of civilians. The US air force often bombs with reckless disregard for civilian lives. The US currently has an agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces on military cooperation in fighting ISIS. But this does not mean that the US bombing of Syria is dependent on the consent of the SDF. US bombing began before the agreement was reached, and would undoubtedly continue to occur if the agreement was terminated. The presence of the US air force has been a deterrent to Turkish or Assadist bombing of SDF-controlled cities. Both Assadist and Turkish planes have carried out some bombing raids on SDF areas, but only on a small scale. However, Turkey has carried out frequent ground artillery bombardments of SDF-controlled areas, and would undoubtedly carry out large-scale aerial bombardments if not restrained by the US. It would be preferable if the SDF could defeat ISIS and deter its other enemies without US aid. But I can understand why a society under siege, such as the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, makes use of whatever allies it can get. The US is an unreliable ally. As Michael says: "Finally, as the SDF leaders are no doubt themselves aware, neither the Assad regime, Russia nor the US are ever going to be reliable allies, and so they will need to constantly watch their backs. Yet this means the only real ally of the Syrian Kurdish people are the Syrian Arab people. " I agree that there is a need for unity between Kurds and Arabs (and other nationalities). The SDF leaders are certainly aware of this. There are increasing numbers of Arabs in the SDF. This includes fighters from a Free Syrian Army background. However, there are several obstacles to unity between the SDF and most anti-Assad rebel groups. Many such groups are dependent on Turkish aid, which would be cut off if they cooperated with the SDF. Some groups have been coopted into Turkey's war against the SDF. In addition, many rebel groups are Sunni-sectarian, or allied with Sunni-sectarian groups. A democratic revolution must unite people across religious and ethnic lines. Sectarian groups can't do this, because they oppress religious minorities. Hence the SDF can not unite with such groups. But the relative isolation of the SDF creates its own problems. Just as an isolated socialist state - such as Cuba - is likely to be distorted by the pressures of a hostile world, so too a democratic revolution that is isolated in one part of a country - such as northern Syria - is subject to pressures that are likely to distort it, and may cause it to completely degenerate. If this happens, the critics will be able to say "I told you so". But the revolution is still continuing, and has spread to non-Kurdish areas, so we should not give up hope yet. An example of a non-Kurdish area that is part of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria is Manbij (Minbic), a predominantly Arab town: http://kurdishquestion.com/article/3941-a-trip-to-liberated-minbic-in-northern-syria-from-hell-to-paradise Chris Slee ________________________________ From: Marxism <marxism-boun...@lists.csbs.utah.edu> on behalf of mkaradjis . via Marxism <marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> Sent: Tuesday, 27 June 2017 10:37 PM To: Chris Slee Subject: [Marxism] US enforces its No Fly Zone over Rojava, leading to World War III … ******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. ***************************************************************** https://mkaradjis.wordpress.com/2017/06/26/us-enforces-its-no-fly-zone-over-rojava-leading-to-world-war-iii/ US enforces its No Fly Zone over Rojava, leading to World War III … … well, not quite, just the continuation of six years of genocidal war as Assad, Russia and the US pulverize Syria By Michael Karadjis For the first time in the 6-year Syrian war, the US shot down an Assadist warplane on June 18, in defence of its allies in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the US-backed military and political front dominated by the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG). Assadist warplanes had carried out the highly unusual act of bombing the SDF in the town of Ja’Din, near Tabqa in Raqqa Province. For most of the war, the Assad regime and the YPG/SDF have largely avoided militarily confronting each other. While not allies, neither are they enemies, and have at times collaborated in parts of the country when it suited, including the YPG’s assistance to Assad in the recent siege of rebel Aleppo. In contrast, the YPG/SDF has become the largest and most strategic US ally in the conflict, as both the US and the SDF are focused entirely on defeating the Islamic State (ISIS) in eastern Syria. As neither have any interest in supporting the rebellion against the Assad dictatorship, a phenomenon overwhelmingly taking place in the more populated west of the country, they can get on with what is largely a parallel war elsewhere. Thus the US has provided the SDF with wall to wall air cover for all its operations since late 2014, has sent hundreds of US special forces to aid the SDF, and has set up a number of military bases in SDF-controlled territory. The Obama administration announced its first and only No Fly Zone in Syria in the Kurdish-dominated parts of northern Syria known as ‘Rojava’, controlled by the YPG/SDF, in August 2016, when Assadist jets suddenly decided to do a little bombing of the YPG in Hassakah. Although the YPG had not done anything to provoke this attack, at times the regime likes to remind anyone outside its control who is boss. While the regime pragmatically allows the SDF to run Rojava so that it can use all its resources to crush the Syrian uprising, it occasionally likes to remind the SDF that it is opposed to either any Kurdish autonomy, or to any ‘democratic confederalist’ project the SDF seeks to run in Rojava, and that as soon as the rest of the rebellion is crushed, it will come for them. That time, last August, the US warned the Assadist warplanes to keep away or they would get bombed. They ran away fast. Now they came back to test out the NFZ, so the US knocked a warplane out of the sky. On the question of “World War III” Full: https://mkaradjis.wordpress.com/2017/06/26/us-enforces-its-no-fly-zone-over-rojava-leading-to-world-war-iii/ [https://mkaradjis.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/us-f18-super-hornet.jpg]<https://mkaradjis.wordpress.com/2017/06/26/us-enforces-its-no-fly-zone-over-rojava-leading-to-world-war-iii/> US enforces its No Fly Zone over Rojava, leading to World War III …<https://mkaradjis.wordpress.com/2017/06/26/us-enforces-its-no-fly-zone-over-rojava-leading-to-world-war-iii/> mkaradjis.wordpress.com … well, not quite, just the continuation of six years of genocidal war as Assad, Russia and the US pulverize Syria By Michael Karadjis For the first time in the 6-year Syrian war, the US shot down … _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm [http://www.marxmail.org/rosa.jpg]<http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm> Marxism list Subscription Information - marxmail.org<http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm> www.marxmail.org MODERATION PRINCIPLES: The Marxism mailing list is extremely permissive. 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