Plan C
Wednesday December 2, 2015
Today (2nd Dec) the UK’s House of Commons has decided to expand its military operations, via a campaign of ‘targeted’ air strikes on ISIS/ISIL/Daesh (we’re going to just call it ISIS from now on). Beyond Parliament, in the street outside and beyond, there is widespread and multivocal opposition to this action which comes from a variety of political perspectives. As members of Plan C we have joined our voices with those opposing further military action in Syria on these terms. However, we want to add some thoughts, directions and a vein of practical solidarity which we hope other comrades will pursue around and beyond this media flashpoint. We also want to use this opportunity to make a brief intervention to amplify the voices of those in Syria, and those who have fled, voices which have too often been pushed aside, whether by leftists or British parliamentarians. This is not intended to be a ‘Plan C position’ that we can clobber round the heads of other groups or organisations. There’s a lot we don’t know. But here are some things we do know.
Firstly, what’s actually going on? It’s necessary to point out that the UK is already militarily involved in this conflict in a number of messy and contradictory ways – it has conducted airstrikes in Iraq, it sells arms to Saudi Arabia who are also involved in this conflict (as well as in Yemen). Also, this isn’t a humanitarian mission, and it’s dishonest of pro-intervention MPs to say it is. There is no dossier. Never mind the millions of Syrians (and Kurds, Yazidis, Iraqis etc.) who have been displaced by the conflict and now suffer on and between our borders, this resolution would not be on the table if it weren’t for the Paris terrorist attacks. All states are acting for imperialist motives. All these motives are different, and some conflict. What about ISIS? There are many different analyses of ISIS out there, but what’s clear to us is that ISIS is a reactionary authoritarian project whose appeal is not just on the ground of religion. There are, for example, important questions to be asked (by us) about why some young people from rich countries are drawn to these groups. The British government suggests other less odious things in this resolution – Vienna peace process, humanitarian assistance for Syrian refugees – but there is no concrete commitment to these beyond what’s already been made. TL:DR – Throwing more murderous weapons into Syria is a shit idea.
Secondly, it’s evident to us that only certain voices are listened to when the British state, other European states and the USA go to war and engage in peace processes, and only certain politics are present. This piece eloquently expands upon the short-sightedness of the UK’s Stop the War Coalition (StWC), which has rumbled into action with a one-sided account of imperialism which pays no nuanced attention to the barbarism of Assad and ISIS, or Russia’s role in the conflict. The ongoing project in Rojava in Northern Syria, which aims to create a secular, democratic, autonomous state and simultaneously has had significant success in holding off ISIS, is barely mentioned in the British media or Parliament. To redress this imbalance, we have compiled a short list of further reading from less-publicised voices in the conflict that we think have important things to bring to the discussion.