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Vol. 81/No. 47 December 18, 2017
(front page)
US gov’t to keep troops in Syria to defend its imperialist interests
BY BRIAN WILLIAMS
Washington remains the foremost military power in the Middle East,
despite inroads being made by Tehran in asserting its military and
political role in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, and the growing influence of
Moscow in the region. The Pentagon announced Dec. 5 that the U.S. rulers
plan to keep their bases and troops in Syria for the foreseeable future,
determined to defend their imperialist interests there and throughout
the region.
“The U.S. will sustain a ‘conditions-based’ military presence in Syria
to combat the threat of a terrorist-led insurgency, prevent the
resurgence of ISIS [Islamic State], and to stabilize liberated areas,”
Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon told Agence France-Presse Dec. 5.
Washington must deal with Tehran’s “growing capability, their use of
militias, proxies and terrorist organizations,” National Security
Adviser H.R. McMaster said Dec. 3. “About 80 percent of [Syrian dictator
Bashar al-]Assad’s fighters are Iranian proxies in Syria to establish a
land bridge over into the Mediterranean.”
But U.S. rulers face a dilemma. They cannot deploy massive numbers of
ground forces to the area because of political opposition by working
people at home. With the exception of Kurdish forces fighting Islamic
State in Syria and Iraq, backed by Washington, the Pentagon has been
unable to put in place an effective fighting force on the ground in the
region.
While not widely publicized by Washington, the number of U.S. forces in
the Middle East is in the tens of thousands and slowly rising. Some
10,000 military personnel are stationed in Qatar at the Al Udeid Air
Base, which coordinates U.S. airstrikes throughout the region; another
7,000 are in Bahrain, from where the 5th Navy Fleet operates; and 15,000
are in Kuwait.
The U.S. military has 10 bases and “outposts” in northern Syria, several
of them with airfields, and two other outposts in southern Syria near
the Iraqi border, with no plans to leave anytime soon. U.S. forces have
11 regular and “temporary” bases in Iraq.
The biggest winner in the war against Islamic State has been the regime
in Tehran. They have moved to “fill the void in Iraq and Syria,”
McMaster said, calling them “weak states” Tehran can take advantage of.
Moscow, whose airstrikes over the past couple of years together with
ground troops from Iran, Hezbollah and related Tehran-backed militias,
has resurrected the Assad dictatorship in Syria, and is expanding its
military presence there. A decadeslong agreement with the regime
reinforces Russia’s Tartus naval base on the Mediterranean, its air base
in the Latakia area, and a new one built near Damascus, Syria’s capital.
Saudi rulers push ‘modernization’
To counter Tehran’s growing influence, Washington is backing the al-Saud
monarchy in Saudi Arabia and its drive to clear away aspects of the
country’s tribal-based social, religious and political relations that
pose obstacles to capitalist “modernization” there.
There are 5,000 third-generation princes in Saudi Arabia whose families
and entourages eat up $30 to $50 billion per year. These “royals” have
accumulated vast economic power through special access to government
contracts and control over imported labor.
The Saudi regime is now offering freedom to some of the over 200 people
— princes, current and former cabinet ministers and oil-monopoly
billionaires — arrested Nov. 4 on charges of “corruption” if they put
large amounts of their wealth into government coffers. This would place
some $100 billion in capital in the hands of the state for investments
to expand infrastructure, industry and manufacturing to diversify the
economy away from over-dependency on oil.
Over three-quarters of Saudi citizens work for the state, with generous
social benefits. That’s not the case for the 9 million foreign-born
workers — about 30 percent of the total population — who comprise nearly
80 percent of the workforce. Many are brought into the country on
fixed-term contracts and face dangerous working conditions and low pay.
This drive — led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — includes
eliminating many restrictions on women, including the right to drive and
attend public events. These steps are popular among the vast majority of
the Saudi population, 65 percent of whom are under age 30. Steps have
also been taken to reign in the powers of the Wahhabi Muslim ministry
over political and social life.
To further its impact in the region, the Saudi government has initiated
a Muslim Military Alliance of some 40 countries that includes Turkey and
excludes Iraq, Syria and Iran.
With Washington’s support, the Saudi air force has been bombarding Yemen
in a nearly three-year-long war aimed at defeating Tehran-backed Houthi
rebels who have taken control over large parts of the country. At
Riyadh’s insistence, the U.N. Security Council imposed a total blockade
on the country Nov. 6.
According to the U.N., some 7 million of the country’s 28 million people
are on the brink of starvation, nearly 1 million have contracted cholera
and over 2,000 have died from it.
Former Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed in Sanaa Dec. 4.
Saleh made billions for himself ruling Yemen with an iron fist for 33
years before being forced to resign in 2011 because of mass “Arab
Spring” protests. He sided with the Houthis against the Saudi-led
coalition, but broke with them two days before being killed.
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