WAR IN SYRIA
What are emancipatory perspectives in a destroyed country?
By Bernd Drucke
[This article published on 4/27/2018 in Graswurzel revolution is translated abridged from the German on the Internet, http://linksnet.de/artikel/47492.]
In domestic politics, President Donald Trump is under pressure with the publication of the investigative book "Greater than the Office" by ex-FBI chief James Comey. For diversion, an attack was commanded on alleged chemical weapon facilities in Syria with 100 "beautiful missiles" (Trump's words). The misanthropist Trump is not concerned about the people in Syria suffering under a dictatorship and civil war. A power demonstration was on the agenda in the interest of the powerful arms industry.
Whether the chemical weapons facility used as a pretext by Trump and his sisters and brothers in arms Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron is actually operated by the state terrorist Assad regime is irrelevant.
The air attack on suspected chemical weapons facilities in Syria was a breach of international law. An expert opinion of the Bundestag came to that conclusion, tagesschau.de said on April 30, 2018.
This does not matter to Trump. He knows no president of a military superpower need fear being brought before the International Criminal Court for war crimes. The right of the militarily strong embodied by this racist president is on his side. This is also true for kindred autocrats when they represent a military superpower. Does anyone seriously believe Vladimir Putin will be hauled before the International Criminal Court for his war crimes in Tschechnya and Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkey's dictator) for Afrin's bloody annexation?
One can only react to the supposedly real "international law" with irony as the satire portal "Der Postillon" shows. Absurd spirals of violence occur with that kind of argumentation. After the missile attack, "Der Postillon" declared under the title "Retribution for Illegal Attack on Syria: China Bombs US, Great Britain, and France": "Peking cannot leave this conduct unpunished. The Chinese military bombed several military targets in the US, Great Britain, and France after the illegal strikes of the US, Great Britain and France. There were many wounded in the three countries. At a press conference, Chinese president Xi Jinping justified the brief attack. "We show attacks on other states have consequences with our precision strikes against radar stations, missile installations and military airports of the three countries."
When the actions of the US president were so misanthropic, absurd and dangerous in letting weapons speak, Merkel & Co. showed "understanding" and leading German media stood by the weapon lobbyists. So Dominic Johnson rejoiced in taz (die tageszeitung on April 15: "Under every aspect of respect for human life, the military strikes against Assad's chemical weapons program were a complete success."
When the state trusts citizens, citizens trust the state, said Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister
The security state is a distortion of the constitutional state and is marked by the generalization of fear, the depoliticization of citizens, and demogogic claims of supreme leaders.
Trump created his own reality when he spoke of Iran as a threat to the world and described the 100 missiles as "beautiful missiles."
The Horror clown could bring the world to the edge of the abyss and doesn't care about the Syrian people, international law, the Children's Health Insurance or the rights and dignity of the poor.
There should be robust discussions of pluralist economics and reduced working hours, post-growth, post-fossil and post-patriarchal economies. Progressive taxation, closing tax havens and sharing the benefits of productivity, digitalization and information technology could create new revenues and new possibilities. Community centers (like the 26 in Vancouver B.C.) have multiplier and cushioning effects!