As socialists, we fundamentally oppose imperialism and imposed military force around the world. The United States-led coalition has launched over 14,000 missile strikes in Syria since 2014.[1] These indefensible international crimes were punctuated by the recent missile strike in Damascus on April 14th. The U.S. government has claimed to be motivated by humanitarian reasons, but these claims cannot be reconciled with this administration’s repeated attempts to ban immigrants from the Middle East, as well as the fact that only 11 Syrian refugees were accepted in 2018. The concept of a humanitarian military strike is a tragic contradiction and only furthers the adversities the Syrian people face.
While we see media outlets openly fantasize about the possibility of reporting on more perpetual conflict, the stock of missile-making companies rose by $5 billion after the missile strike.[2] Meanwhile, innocent civilians are used as political pawns between Russian and US imperialism, and the death of 400,000 Syrians [3] and sustained oppression of millions more is erased and ignored.
Silicon Valley DSA stands in solidarity with the global anti-war struggle and rebukes all US bombings and any further involvement in Syria.
[1] Daily military reports. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://airwars.org/daily-reports/
[2] Atkins, C. (2018, April 16). Syria airstrikes added $10 billion to missile manufacturer stock values. Retrieved from https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/syria-airstrikes-added-10-billion-to-missile-manufacturer-stock-values/
[3] Syria death toll: UN envoy estimates 400,000 killed. (2016, April 23). Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/04/staffan-de-mistura-400000-killed-syria-civil-war-160423055735629.html