Arab dictatorships increase their support for the foot soldiers of U.S. imperialism in Syria
By Michael Pröbsting, International Secretary of the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT), 14 March 2020, www.thecommunists.net
A recently published report has revealed new information about the massive support of reactionary Arab regimes for the Kurdish YPG/SDF in Syria. Al-Monitor, summarizing the findings of the London-based newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, reports:
“According to unnamed Egyptian sources, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia have provided “major military assistance” to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to aide them in their battle against Turkish troops in northeastern Syria. The sources added that the SDF received significant financial support from both the UAE and Saudi Arabia with Egyptian coordination. The paper earlier revealed that the Egyptian government had been providing political support to the SDF, such as opening a diplomatic office and a TV channel for them in Cairo.” [i]
The newspaper also reports that the Egyptian military dictatorship, which has been a backer of Syria’s Assad tyranny for years, has opened a communication channel between Damascus and the YPG.
These revelations are not surprising. The RCIT has pointed out since several years that the YPG are not at all a progressive force – contrary to the claims of numerous pseudo-left wing forces. As we documented in a recently published article, the YPG has received for years hundreds of millions of US-Dollars from the Pentagon in exchange for their service as foot soldiers of U.S. imperialism in Syria. We have also pointed out several times the close links of the YPG with the Egypt military dictatorship and the totalitarian monarchies of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. [ii]
Hence, given the fact that the YPG leadership serves the goal of U.S. imperialism and its allies among the reactionary Arab dictatorships, it is hardly surprising that is receives such a vast amount of military, financial and political support.
It might surprise some that so-called “Marxist” organizations have uncritically praised the YPG since years – despite its very visible close relations with U.S. imperialism. True, some might have been fooled by the claim that the YPG and U.S. imperialism were supposedly defending the Kurds against Daesh. In fact, the so-called “war against terror” has been a fig-leaf to advance the imperialist occupation of the eastern areas of Syria. [iii]
However, the support of such “Marxist” organizations should not come as a surprise. Just remember that the “Communist” Party of Egypt praised the military coup of General Sisi in July 2013 as a “second revolution”. And their Stalinist comrades in Damascus have supported the Assad tyranny for many years until today. One should also not forget that the pseudo-Trotskyists of the Morenoite LIT and of Alan Woods’ IMT have also hailed the military coup of General Sisi. [iv]
In short, a number of Stalinist, semi-Stalinist and pseudo-Trotskyist organizations prefer imperialism and bloody counter-revolution to popular uprisings if they take place with a religious consciousness and under an “Islamist” leadership.
In contrast to them, the RCIT has explained repeatedly that revolutionaries must support all legitimate popular uprisings against reactionary dictatorships and imperialist aggressors and, at the same time, struggle within such mass movements for a socialist strategy and against petty-bourgeois and bourgeois leaderships.
No one should have any illusions about Stalinism and pseudo-Trotskyism. While they might claim the banner of Marxism, in fact, they support Great Powers and their local allies like the reactionary Arab dictatorships or the Kurdish YPG.
[i] Mohammad Ayesh: Arabic press review: Egypt helping Kurdish-led troops in Syria fighting Turkish forces, 13 March 2020 https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/arabic-press-review-egypt-coordinating-support-kurdish-led-troops-syria
[ii] See on this e.g. Michael Pröbsting: Syria: How Much Does the Pentagon Pay for the YPG? On the regular subsidies of U.S. imperialism for its mercenaries in Syria, 24 February 2020, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/syria-how-much-does-the-pentagon-pay-for-the-ypg/; RCIT: Syria: Assad Regime and Kurdish YPG Strike a Reactionary Deal, 15 October 2019, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/syria-assad-regime-and-kurdish-ypg-strike-a-reactionary-deal/; Syria: The Shameful Alliance of the Saudi Monarchy and the “Left-Wing” YPG, 4 July 2019, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/shameful-alliance-of-saudi-monarchy-and-ypg-in-syria/; The Revelations of a U.S. General on Washington’s Allies in Syria. Another Blow to the Stalinist Myths about the Character of Syrian Liberation Fighters and the Role of the Kurdish SDF/YPG, 27.10.2017, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/revelations-of-u-s-general-on-washington-s-allies-in-syria/; Kissing the Feet of the Saudi Chainsaw-Crown Prince. On the Shameful Response of the Kurdish YPG on the Killing of the Saudi Journalist Kashoggi, 20.10.2018, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/the-shameful-response-of-the-kurdish-ypg-on-the-killing-of-the-saudi-journalist-kashoggi/
[iii] The RCIT has published a number of booklets, statements, and articles on the Syrian Revolution that can be accessed on a special sub-section of this website: https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/collection-of-articles-on-the-syrian-revolution/. For a Marxist critique of the so-called left see e.g. the following pamphlets by Michael Pröbsting: Is the Syrian Revolution at its End? Is Third Camp Abstentionism Justified? An essay on the organs of popular power in the liberated area of Syria, on the character of the different sectors of the Syrian rebels, and on the failure of those leftists who deserted the Syrian Revolution, 5 April 2017, https://www.thecommunists.net/theory/syrian-revolution-not-dead/ and Syria and Great Power Rivalry: The Failure of the „Left“. The bleeding Syrian Revolution and the recent Escalation of Inter-Imperialist Rivalry between the US and Russia – A Marxist Critique of Social Democracy, Stalinism and Centrism, 21 April 2018, https://www.thecommunists.net/theory/syria-great-power-rivalry-and-the-failure-of-the-left/.
[iv] The RCIT has published a number of pamphlets, statements and articles in the weeks after the military coup in July 2013. See e.g. RCIT: Egypt: Down with the Military Coup d’État! Prepare Mass Resistance! 8.7.2013, www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/egypt-down-with-military-coup-d-etat; RCIT: Egypt: International Solidarity against the Army Crackdown!, 14.8.2013, www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/egypt-international-solidarity; Michael Pröbsting: The Coup d'État in Egypt and the Bankruptcy of the Left’s “Army Socialism”. A Balance Sheet of the coup and another Reply to our Critics (LCC, WIVP, SF/LCFI), 8.8.2013, www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/egypt-and-left-army-socialism; Yossi Schwartz: Egypt: Mobilize Resistance against the reactionary military regime!, 27.7.2013, www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/egypt-no-to-military-regime; Michael Pröbsting: The Military’s Coup d'État in Egypt: Assessment and Tactics, 17.7.2013, www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/egypt-meaning-of-coup-d-etat; Yossi Schwartz: Egypt: The U.S. Support for the Military Coup and the Left’s ignorance. Notes on the role of US imperialism in the military’s coup d’état and the failure of the Egypt left, 11.7.2013, www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/egypt-us-support-for-military-coup.