The American Party of Labor condemns in the strongest terms the attack of April 6, 2017 of the United States Navy against a Syrian airbase. Despite the Trump Administration’s assertions that the military strike was a retaliatory measure aimed at protecting “vital national security interests,” this attack is clearly an effort to bolster the hegemony of the United States in the midst of Trump’s own catastrophic incompetence and a myriad of evolving geopolitical environments.

While Trump himself professes to lament the recent deaths of civilians in the long-standing civil war in Syria, he advocated the intentional murder of noncombatants during his candidacy. Furthermore, Trump has openly vilified refugees fleeing the Syrian conflict, showing that his administration and its supporters have little care or respect for the lives of oppressed people except when it is politically expedient.

Both Trump and his administration are but the newest faces in the evolution of American imperialism. A nation built on slavery and the genocide of the indigenous people and polluted by the cancer of institutionalized racism and class antagonism will, time and time again, predictably resort to further violence and mass murder to accomplish its political objectives.

According to Trump, this attack was launched against the Al Shayrat airfield in response to the use of chemical weapons, which the Pentagon and State Department have said was carried out by the Syrian government under Bashar al-Assad. Dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles have been fired at military bases in Syria. But this attack by the U.S. is not done for the sake of humanity or any ethical principle. The U.S. has been sinking its teeth into Syria for years now. Like Iraq and Libya before, humanity always comes second to the American ruling class in their never-ending quest for profits. The pronounced ethics of the imperialist state are nothing more than a sham.

This attack also demonstrates the strengthening of the international antagonisms between the imperialist powers. The U.S. and its NATO allies on the one hand, and Russia and China on the other, are steadfastly heading toward war. Their armies and navies are confronting each other in many regions of the world, such as Syria, the Arabian Peninsula, the South China Sea, the Baltic region and in Ukraine. The threats of war are now being expressed more openly than ever.

Imperialism sees war as a solution to the economic crisis and stagnation; new and enormous profits can be obtained through war and destruction, and subsequently reconstruction and domination of those regions devastated by war. There is an increasing risk that regional wars instigated by the imperialist powers, particularly the USA, may escalate to world war.

This attack is another blatant example of “humanitarian” imperialism and has grave consequences for the peoples of the world. The people of the world have seen this kind of aggression over and over, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Korea, Vietnam, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Argentina, Grenada, Iraq, Libya, and many, many other points on the globe. America’s attack on Syria is like the aforementioned acts of aggression and must be vehemently opposed by those who strive to bring justice, compassion, and eventual peace to humanity.

The American Party of Labor:

– Resolutely condemns in the strongest terms the attack of the U.S. against Syria. We stand opposed to any act of aggression against Syria.

– Condemns in the strongest terms the neo-fascist Trump regime, its warmongering and militaristic aggression, and its violation of the sovereignty of Syria.

No to war with Syria and Russia!

No to NATO and all imperialist aggressors!

International solidarity – our enemies are not other workers and people but the warmongering governments in our own countries!

Categories: Statements