No popular revolution is launched with imperialism’s backing

By Bahman Azad

The message below, from U.S. Peace Council President Bahman Azad, was read by Saher Al Khamash of the Bronx Anti-War Coalition at a webinar on the U.S. role in Syria, organized by the United National Antiwar Coalition, on Dec. 28, 2024. 

Please forgive me for not being personally present at this critical and timely webinar organized by UNAC.

After more than a decade of military occupation, imposition of civil war and deadly economic sanctions by U.S. imperialism and its regional allies, the legitimate government of Syria was finally brought to its knees and a rebranded group of terrorists occupied Damascus and implemented imperialism’s long-term plan for regime change in Syria; an act which could not have been possible without direct military assistance of the U.S. and Israel and support from Türkiye and the reactionary regimes of the region.

The rapid collapse of the Syrian government has led many who do not have a proper understanding of imperialism’s objectives and the historical global trends — and who base their assessments and analyses only on momentary and transient events — to blame Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian government for the present defeat. Some, in line with the imperialist network CNN, even go so far as referring to the difficult situation of the Syrian people, including the economic crisis and high poverty rates in recent years, as a “people’s revolution” against an “incompetent dictatorship.”

But the reality is that this was neither a “people’s revolution” nor the result of the “dictatorship” and “incompetency” of Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Regime change, not popular revolution

First, no “popular revolution” is launched militarily and with the help of imperialism from outside the borders of a country. Calling this event a “revolution” can only mean endorsing imperialism’s policy of regime change in Syria and considering the terrorists trained and armed by the U.S. and Israel as “the people.”

This is nothing less than distorting the objective facts, calling an imperialist “counter-revolution” a “popular revolution” and thereby throwing dust in

the eyes of the people in accordance with imperialist propaganda.

The same plot was carried out once before in 2011 and the Syrian people, despite all the difficulties caused by the imposed situation, stood by their government and army for 14 years. Their stunned silence today cannot, and should not, be taken as their endorsement of this counter-revolution.

Syria subjected to deadly sanctions

Second, the plight of the people and widespread poverty in Syria could be attributed to the “incompetence” of the Syrian government only if we ignored the decades of imposed war, the deadly imperialist economic sanctions and the blatant theft of Syria’s oil resources by the occupying U.S. forces.

Since 1979, the Syrian government has been on the U.S. list of “state sponsors of terrorism” and has been subject to severe sanctions due to its firm and consistent support for the Iranian Revolution and Hezbollah; sanctions that had become increasingly severe every day due to the Syrian government’s increasing resistance. These sanctions finally reached their maximum intensity in the form of the “Caesar Act,” which had led to the collapse of the Syrian economy since 2019.

Our world has witnessed the same criminal acts against Yugoslavia, Afghanistan,

Libya, Iraq, etc. Those who ignore these undeniable facts and direct their attacks at the victims of imperialism and Zionism, willingly or unwillingly, become the propaganda mouthpieces of the enemies of the people.

The temporary nature of this military setback becomes clearer when recent regional developments are viewed within the context of the broader struggle toward a multipolar world. For nearly two decades, a global movement for dismantling imperialism’s unilateral dominance has been forming and gaining momentum, as peoples around the world one after the other rise against this hegemony. The unipolar order that emerged after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the socialist bloc is in decline, with an increasing number of nations joining this global struggle every day.

This process, which began in the early 21st century with the rapid economic rise of China’s and Russia’s reassertion of their independent role in international affairs, entered a new, qualitative phase with the entry of Russian forces into Ukraine. For the first time, resistance to imperialist hegemony shifted from a defensive posture to active engagement.

Russia’s successive victories in Ukraine, coupled with the heroic uprising of the Palestinian people on October 7, 2023, demonstrated to imperialist powers, particularly the United States, that their hegemonic order is nearing its end. They realized that they needed to use any means at their disposal to halt this process before it reaches the point of no return.

Imperialism seeks to dismantle Axis of Resistance

In this context, dismantling the Axis of Resistance in the critical region of the Middle East — the loss of which could make the transition to a multipolar world irreversible — became the top priority for imperialist powers. This urgency was exacerbated by Iran’s abandonment of its hesitant policy toward the West and its pivotal move toward Russia and China under the administration of the martyred [Iranian] President [Sayyid Ebrahim] Raisi and Iran’s adoption of a more active role in support of the Palestinian liberation movement, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis (Ansarallah) in Yemen.

These developments, and not the so-called Assad government’s “failures,” were the main cause of the forced regime change in Syria.

Imperialist hegemony is declining, and a new order is emerging. The global battle we face today may occasionally result in temporary retreats or even defeats on certain fronts, but the advancement of this global movement cannot be stopped. Let us not forget that after years of U.S. and NATO military occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, neither country remains under U.S. or Western control. Syria’s fate will certainly not be different in this regard.

The global resistance against imperialism will continue until its final victory!