President Biden
ordered illegal airstrikes on Syria and Iraq
during the night of June 27. This marks the
second major U.S. air assault on these sovereign
countries since Biden came to office.
The Iraqi government in a statement from the
office of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi
said, "We condemn the U.S. air attack that
targeted a site last night on the Iraqi-Syrian
border, which represents a blatant and
unacceptable violation of Iraqi sovereignty and
Iraqi national security."
Iraq's military in a similar statement
condemned the U.S. actions describing the
strikes as a "breach of sovereignty."
Saeed Khatibzadeh a spokesperson for the
Iranian Foreign Ministry said that the United
States through these constant attacks and
occupation of Iraq are "disrupting the security
of the region."
The U.S. has been attacking Iraq continually
since the first Gulf War in 1990. The U.S.
aggressors subsequently launched a full-scale
military invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003
under the fabricated pretext to find Iraqi
weapons of mass destruction, which did not
exist. Since the invasion, the U.S. military has
illegally stationed troops and warplanes in Iraq
constantly attacking the people with airstrikes
and Special Forces and interfering in their
economic, political and social affairs.
Attack on Syria
In 2014, the U.S. military openly admitted that
it was engaged in illegal military operations in
Syria aimed to overthrow the legitimate
government of that sovereign country. A U.S.
military occupation of several regions in Syria
including oilfields and attacks against the
Syrian military and people have continued since
then with the June 27 airstrikes yet another
escalation.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the
latest U.S. air strikes as a "flagrant violation
of the sanctity of Syrian and Iraqi lands." It
said, "Syria renews its call on the U.S.
administration to respect the unity of the land
and people of Syria and Iraq and to stop these
attacks on the independence of the two countries
immediately."
The U.S. trotted out its usual rationale for
its continuing wars and other attacks as
"self-defence" of its occupying military forces
and its national security. A statement from the
U.S. Department of Defense attributed to John
Kirby, Pentagon press secretary, reads in part,
"At President Biden's direction, U.S. military
forces earlier this evening conducted defensive
precision airstrikes against facilities used by
Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria
border region . As demonstrated by this
evening's strikes, President Biden has been
clear that he will act to protect U.S.
personnel.... As a matter of international law,
the United States acted pursuant to its right of
self-defense. The strikes were both necessary to
address the threat and appropriately limited in
scope. As a matter of domestic law, the
President took this action pursuant to his
Article II authority to protect U.S. personnel
in Iraq."
An occupying power cannot claim self-defence as
an excuse for launching strikes against the
occupied people. No such international or
domestic legal justification exists for military
operations against a sovereign country. The
Biden and previous Obama administrations'
justification for launching military attacks
overseas under Article II of the U.S.
Constitution has been broadly denounced by a
wide range of political opinion even in the
United States.
Occupying invaders cannot act in violent
defence in the nations they have invaded and are
occupying. U.S. troops are only in Iraq by way
of an illegal 2003 invasion that has been widely
denounced as conducted under a false pretence
with the aim to overthrow the legitimate
government led by President Saddam Hussein.
Their presence in Syria is equally illegal.
The U.S. military
entered Syria in 2014 without the permission of
the Syrian government. Their presence in both
Iraq and Syria is one of aggressors, similar to
the U.S. invasion and occupation of Afghanistan
and elsewhere throughout the world. In these
circumstances the U.S. cannot claim to act in
self-defence. The sole defensive action
President Biden could take would be to order the
immediate removal of U.S. troops and bring them
home not only from Syria and Iraq but worldwide.
Canadians condemn the Trudeau Liberal
government for its silence on U.S. military
attacks and Canada's participation in the
illegal occupation of Iraq. The Canadian
government should bring its troops home now and
disengage from all U.S. military operations and
organizations including NATO and NORAD.
This article was published in
Volume 51 Number 7 - July 4, 2021
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2021/Articles/M5100712.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
