THE 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) unequivocally condemns the unilateral and unjustified imperialist aggression of Syria by the United States and some of its NATO allies.

Over a hundred missiles, targeting three facilities in Damascus and Homs, were launched from ships and planes. Last year, President Trump accused the government forces of using poison gas and ordered missile strikes on a Syrian airbase.

The missile strike on Syria by the armed forces of the United States, France, and the United Kingdom is a crude instance of imperialist aggression. US aggression will extend the ongoing military conflict, which has already resulted in the loss of millions of Syrian lives and untold misery for the Syrian people. This aggression will also help sustain the gruesome activities of the diabolical Islamic State and other terrorist outfits.

The NATO trio arrogated to themselves the right to attack a sovereign country on the pretext that it was to curb the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons. The military action had no sanction from the UN Security Council. These same powers had vetoed a Russian proposal in the Security Council to send an international team of experts to investigate the allegations of the use of chemical weapons in Douma on the outskirts of Damascus.

It is also noteworthy that the strikes took place when a team from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was already in Damascus to inspect the alleged affected site. They were to visit the site on April 15 and the strike took place a day before. Why were the US and its allies unwilling to wait for an investigation before taking action?

The reality is that the US and its Western allies are desperately trying to stall the advance of the Syrian army in rebel-held enclaves. Douma is in eastern Ghouta, which was being retaken by the Syrian troops.  It would have been self-defeating for the government troops to have used poison gas when they were poised to recapture the area.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been emphatic: “There’s an obligation, particularly when dealing with matters of peace and security, to act consistently with the Charter of the United Nations and with international law in general. The UN Charter is very clear on these issues…”

The 22nd Congress demands that the government of India oppose this unilateral and unlawful aggression by US imperialism and its NATO allies in the United Nations and other international forums. The Congress also appeals to the widest possible sections of Indians who bear the legacy of our glorious anti-colonial freedom struggle to condemn the aggression.