UNITED NATIONAL ANTIWAR COALITION (UNAC) STATEMENT ON SYRIA

Hands off Syria and Iran! End the Drone Wars!

We Need Jobs, Education and Healthcare, Not Endless War!

The ominous signs of impending war with Syria escalate. NATO is massing
troops and military equipment on Syria's borders, and preparing to install
missiles aimed at Syria. U.S. warships are stationed off Syria’s coast.
‘Special operation’ units are readied. The U.S. government has been supplying
arms and logistical support to a few selected Syrian paramilitary groups
favored by the U.S. as “replacements” for Assad. The media bombards us with
arguments that support foreign intervention, supposedly for “humanitarian
reasons”. Like WMD’s in Iraq, alarms are sounded, with no credible evidence,
that Assad may unleash chemical weapons, thus establishing a pretext for
invasion.

These are the facts that impel us to oppose any military, economic,
diplomatic, or covert intervention aimed at controlling the internal affairs
of Syria or any other country:

• The Syrian people in their majority, regardless of their political
  positions re: the current government, have rejected calling for foreign
  intervention, such as occurred in Libya.
  
• Sanctions harm the people of Syria by causing food shortages, power
  outages, and blocking the distribution of goods.
  
• The U.S. is directly involved in arming and training a few selected
  Syrian militias favorable to the U.S., contributing to the escalation of
  violence, direct foreign military intervention, and total destabilization.
  The people who always suffer the most are the people not engaged in the armed
  struggle.
  
• We see the results of ‘humanitarian’ U.S. wars and occupations in
  Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya today, where the people, especially women and
  children, are worse off than before, with millions dead, injured, and/or
  displaced, an infrastructure and economy in shambles, and where there is no
  peace. A country that has a river of Iraqi, Afghan, and Libyan blood on its
  hands has no right to tell other countries what to do.
  
• The U.S. government’s goals in Syria are to gain dominance in a part
  of the world that holds the vast majority of the known oil reserves and to
  gain strategic advantage as it seeks to isolate and contain competitors like
  Russia and China. The U.S. has no interest in democracy or the humanitarian
  well-being of a country’s peoples anywhere in the world, especially in areas
  where the U.S. has economic or strategic interests.
  
• The U.S. has a long history of thwarting the emerging economies and
  progressive initiatives of the third world while supporting repressive
  regimes.

While activists may hold different views of Syria’s internal political system,
we must all agree that the U.S. government has no right to impose its will on
other countries, especially those formerly colonized and exploited by the
West. In all cases, we must support the right of nations to self-
determination – that is to be able to decide on and resolve internal conflicts
free from any foreign intervention.

The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) demands:

No U.S. or NATO intervention in the internal affairs of Syria!

No War! No Sanctions! No Intervention!

Self-determination for the Syrian people!

www.UNACpeace.org

12/24/12