Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Syria: The Return to the Scene of Obama’s Crime
Black Alliance For Peace
11 Dec 2024
🖨️ Print Article
Syrian children

The US regime change campaign against Syria began after Barack Obama succeeded in destroying the Libyan state. All of his successors followed the same playbook.

Originally published in Black Alliance for Peace.

Around the world, many hoped that the Russia-negotiated agreement in 2020 between the Syrian, government and the coterie of right-wing Jihadist forces, common criminals and other forces against the government of President Bashar Al-Assad, would finally end the nightmare of war, displacement, torture, and mindless destruction suffered by the Syrian people – victims of  U.S. plans to overthrow all the major nations in the Middle-East that might challenge continued U.S. domination. However, just a few days ago, like cancer, the disease of U.S. imperialism has suddenly metastasized. The Black Alliance for Peace argues that current U.S. imperialist actions in Syria need to be placed in a historical context. It is important to remember that the vicious subversion of Syria, which began in earnest in 2011, was only one of the two criminal assaults that year on nations perceived to be obstacles to U.S. regional hegemony. The other, under U.S. assault, was Libya. In Libya, however, the Western-orchestrated assault resulted in not only the overthrow of the government but the country’s leader, Muammar Gaddafi, being raped and murdered by the right-wing Jihadist friends of the U.S.

Linking the U.S. imperialist assault on Syria to that of Libya is important because it informs how the few authentic anti-imperialist forces that still exist in the U.S. understand and articulate opposition to the moves being made by U.S. and Western imperialism in their desperate attempts to avoid the inevitable end of white world dominance. Our positionality in relationship to the Pan-European white supremacist colonial/capitalist patriarchy compels us to remind our friends and sometimes allies that they cannot pretend to be in solidarity with Palestine and then cheer on the overthrow of one of the few states in the world that has never turned its back on Palestinian people, no matter what one might think of the internal politics of the Syrian state.

Such concerns about the nature of the Syrian state became a cover for defending U.S. imperialism and were expressed by dishonest actors or those who were politically naive. Now that the U.S.-backed jihadists have emerged triumphant, hope for authentic self-determination for the Syrian people has once again been delayed. 

Trump’s absurd claim that the U.S. does not have anything to do with Syria is only a reflection of why he will never gain full control over the state and non-state apparatus that is directing U.S. foreign policy. The notion that whoever is sitting in the white house represents the final and only power of the U.S. state is dangerously naive. Just recall when Secretary of State John Kerry negotiated a ceasefire with Russia in Deir Ezzor, Syria, only to have it ignored by his generals and CIA.   

Reigniting the war in Syria will prolong the tragedy experienced by the people of Syria since 2011. The Black Alliance for Peace will continue to monitor the situation and will not hesitate to reveal the facts as we find them.

Syria
US interventions
Middle East
US foreign policy

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
In the same boat?
09 September 2026
BOOM goes tuna and swordfish stuffed brown burlap bags aboardboats blown to smithereens. Presto! Fishing is now narco-trafficking.
Joseph Massad
Who threatens the Arab world: Iran or the US and Israel?
18 March 2026
It should be clear to Gulf Arab states hosting US bases that the American presence does not protect them but instead places them in danger.
The Cuban Institute of Friendship with The Peoples
We Express our Firm Solidarity with the Iranian People: Statement from the ICAP
04 March 2026
In this statement, the Cuban Institute for Friendship of the Peoples (ICAP) expresses solidarity with Iran and condemns the United States and I
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Standing with Iran
25 February 2026
The task of the left, of all anti-imperialists, is to oppose U.S. aggression around the world.
​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
The Anti-Imperialist Imperative: Confronting Globalized Fascism
18 February 2026
Ajamu Baraka, BAR Editor and Columnist, gave this presentation at the U.S. Peace Council Webinar on Iran.
Navid Farnia , Nina Farnia
Iran v. US Imperialism: An Interview with Navid Farnia & Nina Farnia
11 February 2026
A discussion on the protests in Iran, US imperialism, and Iranian resistance.
Black Alliance For Peace
The Black Alliance for Peace Condemns U.S. Intervention in Venezuela and Stands with the Venezuelan People in Their Resistance to U.S. Imperialist War
07 January 2026
The Black Alliance for Peace takes a clear anti-imperialist stance on U.S. intervention in Venezuela.
Luke Goldstein , Lucy Dean Stockton
Corporations Invested In Lawsuits Before Venezuela Invasion
07 January 2026
Trump’s removal of President Nicolas Maduro could tilt international court proceedings and provide a windfall to corporate plaintiffs.
Yusleny Morales , Orinoco Tribune
Venezuela: In Mass Demonstrations, the People Demand Return of President Maduro
07 January 2026
Mass demonstrations in Caracas and throughout Venezuela are a rejection of U.S. regime change.
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Venezuela Declares State of Emergency, Calls for International Solidarity in Official Communiqué
07 January 2026
Venezuela's statement categorically denounces U.S.

More Stories


  • Freedom Rider: Campaign Confusion in the Age of Collapse
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Campaign Confusion in the Age of Collapse
    28 Oct 2020
    Biden always obliges Trump by denying that he will do anything that rank and file Democrats want and that would in fact increase his odds of winning.
  • COVID-19 Exposes Economic Misery as U.S. Capitalism’s “New Normal”
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    COVID-19 Exposes Economic Misery as U.S. Capitalism’s “New Normal”
    28 Oct 2020
    Neoliberal capitalism is incapable of containing the pandemic or facilitating an economic recovery for the masses.
  • Bankrolling blu klux klans? 
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Bankrolling blu klux klans? 
    28 Oct 2020
    Rhythms of red, white, blue ‘party’ lights flashing beneath screaming sirens; The rush of warm crimson drawing 2, 4, 6, 8, 10—and then some…
  • We’re All Living in a Future Created by Slavery
    Ameer Hasan Loggins
    We’re All Living in a Future Created by Slavery
    28 Oct 2020
    The carceral class is made up of persons of African descent who are systematically stigmatized as unfit for freedom and deserving of the dehumanization that comes with being incarcerated.
  • What the Political Realignment Suggest about the Prospects for Fascism 
    Ashton Rome
    What the Political Realignment Suggest about the Prospects for Fascism 
    28 Oct 2020
    The Democratic Party has seemingly accomplished the impossible – a revival of centrism in the midst of its collapse.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us