COUNTERVIEW: Red Flag should not have printed chemical weapons claim

In his article “No US Attack on Syria” (Red Flag, September 1) US socialist Lee Sustar claimed, “Evidence of a horrific chemical weapons attack by the Syrian regime against civilians has revived liberal calls for “humanitarian” intervention by the U.S. Military.”

Sustar provides no evidence the 21 August attack in Damascus was carried out by the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad and not its opponents. Despite the article’s ostensive anti-war stance, it repeats, without question, the key propaganda used by the US government to prepare public opinion for it to attack Syria.

US secretary of State, John Kerry claims that (classified) evidence constitutes a “clear and compelling” case against the Syrian regime. While Obama told PBS Newshour on 29 August, “We have concluded that the Syrian government in fact carried these out.” Neither statement is proven; both have been repeated uncritically by the overwhelming majority of the mainstream media.

Significant questions remain about the origins of the 21 August Chemical attack, and the previous ones. The Associated Press (AP) reported on 29 August that “multiple US officials used the phrase ‘not a slam dunk’ to describe the intelligence picture”.

The AP article cites a report by the Office of the Director for National Intelligence “acknowledging that the US intelligence community no longer has the certainty it did six months ago of where the regime’s chemical weapons are stored, nor does it have proof Assad ordered chemical weapons use, according to two intelligence officials and two more US officials.”

Given that Obama had publically stated the use of chemical weapons would be a “red line” triggering a US reaction, it is easy to see why sections of the opposition in armed conflict with Assad could have used a chemical attack to attempt to bring the US into the war. Military motive can equally be attributed to Assad. We are left with no conclusive evidence. It is unclear who is responsible.

When the US government, with the support of Australia and other allied imperialist regimes, is preparing a military assault, it is important not to believe anything printed in newspapers in support of their war drive.

When our own imperialist governments make specific claims to justify their aggression it is irresponsible for socialists, or any opponents of war, to repeat those claims without evidence.

Eds: We stand by our decision to publish Lee Sustar’s article, including the claims about chemical weapons.