A Lesson from historical Syria

From Hillary Clinton to Sheherazad
by Luz Marina López Espinosa

All cultured men belong to two nations: his own and Syria. These beautiful and consecrating words of historian André Parrot hardly can be predicated of another nation, but it is superbly illustrated by Syria in the history of mankind. Consider just a small sketch:

Its political history dates back to 4,000 BC with the installation of shops and towns along the Euphrates River. But its history goes back to the full true "dawn of time" in terms of social and political organization, when civilization dawned there with the knowledge and development of agriculture and, with it, human settlements.

This is coupled with the discovery of copper and bronze tools with all the advancements in the field of arts, crafts and techniques for multiple activities, all came about in shaping the civilization that survives to this day - who knows if it will tomorrow: agriculture laws, the administrative organization of cities, metallurgy, the first alphabet, religion, philosophy, trade regulations and international relations, among others.

Syria is part of Asia, in particular the Middle East, and because of its age and as part of Mesopotamia, it was the home where there were so many discoveries, playing an important role in the history of mankind. What other nation can afford to be called the cradle of civilizations?

Syria was the territory connecting East and West and where on its ground today we can find the most beautiful and characteristic testimony of the early days of our culture: Roman structures, Byzantine cities, mosques as precious as the Umayyad dating from the year 705, beautiful Christian cathedrals of the Middle Ages, the castle and the tomb of Saladin, none other than the great legend of the Muslim East, hero of the struggle against the Crusades.

The ancient city of Damascus was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO because of its one hundred twenty-five monuments and buildings, a spectrum of the treasures of cultures, religions and powers over the millennia that conquered and governed the city: the Egypt of the Pharaohs , the Assyrians, the Persians, Alexander the Great, the Roman Empire, Mamluk, Byzantine, Arab Muslims, Ottoman Turks, Mongols, Crusaders and finally the French in the twentieth century ....

The city is so splendid, with the Umayyad Mosque, one of the holy places of Islam, and the tomb of St. John the Baptist is venerated by Christians.  One of the eight gates of the city, dating back to Roman times, marks the spot where the Christian apostle Paul also came, fell from his horse and his subsequent conversion when going on the "road to Damascus."

We are then talking about a melting pot nation, home to a history where somehow almost each and every kind is encountered.

And that place, that place as beautiful and meaningful, is the one about to be devastated by the imperial fury, hatred born of demented petty and perverse interests of the owners of the political, economic and military world. Power validated and legitimized only by force, hatred and interest that allows them to destroy any nation that opposes or is not functionally subservient to them.

And those owners have names: they are the United States, a catalyst for the interests of capitalism and its spearhead.  It is in its imperialist stage and what that means: the international financial capital, the oil companies, the U.S. military industrial complex, and the European powers that rotate and are part of identical interests. So to quote a pessimist, "who knows if there will be a tomorrow."  We placed an ellipsis after the French as the most recent invaders of the great nation.

Because today, as reported in a previous article "The neoliberal model of new feudalism," Greater Syria was formed well before its current territory in what is now Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon.  Now it is on the verge of the United States and NATO, covered or not, it does not matter, by a resolution of the Security Council of the United Nations that permits or not it does not matter, to bomb, destroy and invade. And of course its oil and geostrategic position will be more valuable, and far more momentous than the lives of hundreds of thousands of Syrians, Saladin, the tomb of John the Baptist or that medieval castle in the city of Aleppo settled on its foundations dating from 3,000 years BC, from whose battlements two thousand years ago the king's archers repelled hordes of Gengis Khan.

And you have them now referring to the "civil war" that exists in Syria. Certainly there are some unhappy people, the system of government is not "democratic" - has that ever mattered to the West?  And there is some opposition to the government of President Bashar Al Assad. But this has little or nothing to do with the war that lives there.

Very little, because the political opposition, civilian and unarmed there, is not the one that dynamites hotels in Damascus, or the defense ministry headquarters.  They do not down military aircraft and commit civilian massacres to win against the government the fuel to stage a "humanitarian" foreign intervention before it has been decided.

This opposition to the government knows with all lucidity that if they triumph, there will be continued insurrection, bloodshed, anarchy and the destruction of the country's wealth - and of course the loss of national sovereignty will be immediate and inevitable. And in that bloodbath, thousands of civilian opponents unconnected with mercenary groups, extremists, criminals and simple foreign forces like Al Qaeda and Turkish military that make up the rebel army will be massacred.

Not free, the Workers Party of Turkey demanded that its government declare the U.S. Consul in the city of Adana, Deria Darnell, persona non grata for training Syrian terrorists fighting the president of this country.

Nor is it a coincidence that on August 7, 2012, the Syrian army captured in the city of Aleppo seven officers of the secret services of Turkey and Saudi Arabia when rebels came into this city. And it is no coincidence that the rebels turned mercenaries kidnapped 48 Iranian pilgrims in Damascus.

Therefore, it must be stressed, that this war is not a popular uprising against the government of Syrian President Al Assad.  It attempts to spread fatigue to the war front for the benefit of portraying the potency of the aggressor powers via their media, in which case it would be necessary to see the insurrection as a hope that the internal contenders will come to define a new legitimacy of power.  No.

The war is a laboratory, planned and executed from the Pentagon in a project to implement its geostrategic policy and redesign the Middle East to make it functional for imperialist political and economic interests. The "civil war" in Syria is assisted by the intelligence services of the United States, Israel and England especially, CIA, Mossad and M16, from Turkish soil. From here they direct operations and supply arms, ammunition and financial resources to the so-called Free Syrian Army and Al Qaeda - Al Qaeda Yes!  So involved in the conflict.

The greatest crime of war, is war. And the greatest crime against humanity, is do it. Because of the material and moral devastation it causes, causing rivers of pain and death.

That is why those who make wars of aggression like the one about to be unleashed against Syria, as before against Somalia, Kosovo, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Iran again soon and North Korea, mask their unspeakable noble motives with "humanitarian reasons," the "defense of humanity" and the cynical "preventive self-defense."

Therefore, it is high time that the moral conscience of mankind, that the big chains of communication do not broadcast in the service of war.  Stand up and say "No More!"  As in Argentina, never more wars for "justice,"or "freedom" and "democracy," where the newly freed are only but shackled on land among the mass graves.

All nations mentioned here as scenarios for such cruel wars, have a past of splendor also bequeathed to humanity, such fantasy milestones as The Thousand and One Nights, where there is the presence of death and treachery, the stories of Aladdin and Ali Baba, tales of Scheherazade to King Schariar are the occasion of a moral which honors life and goodness. It warns us, as though done today, the exhortation at the beginning of the beautiful text:

 "The ancient legends are a lesson for the modern, so that man learns from the events that occur to others who are not themselves. Then they must respect and carefully compare the words of past peoples .... For this, Glory to the one who keeps the accounts of those who were first as a lesson dedicated to the latest!

Rebellion



Translated from the Spanish version by:

Lisa Karpova
Pravda.Ru