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Title: Betrayal and Solidarity Author: Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement Date: October 7, 2019 Language: en Topics: solidarity, Rojava, Syrian civil war Source: Retrieved on 11th October 2019 from https://web.archive.org/web/20191011151035/https://www.revolutionaryabolition.org/news/solidarity-with-rojava/
The United States, as expected, is abandoning the Kurdish movement, and
leaving revolutionary forces to face a multi-pronged assault from
reactionaries: the Turkish state and ISIS.
The US recently opened the Rojava-Turkey border, on the east of the
Euphrates to joint Turkish and US military patrols. It was clear at this
point, with Turkish forces entering into Rojava, that a line had been
crossed.
Erdogan, then, took the opportunity to announce on Sunday, October
6^(th), that Turkish forces will immediately invade Rojava, continuing
the takeover they began in Afrin. The US announced the following day
that it will not stand in Turkey’s way and, in fact, their troops will
abandon their positions so Turkey can invade with no US resistance.
In this grim moment, we stand in solidarity with revolutionaries on the
ground, and with the people of the region as they prepare for a fight
for their lives.
Turkey has, since its inception, executed racist policies against its
Kurdish population, and imprisoned, tortured, or killed, anyone who
resisted. Turkey has materially and ideologically supported ISIS (Daesh)
in its fight against the Kurds. Yet in spite of this support and Daesh’s
brutality, the Kurds were able to push Daesh out of Kobane, and turn the
tide against Daesh fascism. The US, seeing an opportunity to halt
Daesh’s advances, and gain a logistical foothold in the Middle East
(particularly as its power and influence is waning), supplied the Kurds
with weapons and tactical aid in their fight, peculiarly allying
themselves with a left-wing movement.
As supporters around the world knew, this alliance was self-serving and
temporary. But the betrayal is still devastating. Recently, for
instance, the US requested the Kurds remove their border defenses for
the joint patrols. This act set the stage for an unimpeded Turkish
invasion. To add insult to injury, the US announced it was going to hand
over Daesh detainees to the Turkish state, essentially returning
fighters to the battlefield and reigniting the war in an unpredictable
and heinous fashion. The war is about to take on a new, even more
vicious form.
The United States’ betrayal comes as no surprise. Historically they have
forged duplicitous alliances with the Kurds which lead to historically
well known massacres.
During the Iran-Iraq War the US supported Saddam, giving him diplomatic
cover and military aid as his regime launched the Anfal campaign which
was one of the most genocidal acts in recent history. Then during the
Gulf War, in the early 1990’s, the US encouraged the Kurds to rise up
against Saddam and abandoned them as Saddam launched a savage campaign
of repression.
During this recent juncture, the US has been consistently playing a
double game. In November of 2018, U.S. State Department offered a $12
million bounty on information about the Kurdish guerrilla leadership.
Even as the US sent bombers in support of Kurdish positions in Raqqa
they were selling Erdogan weapons and giving him logistical support as
he hunted guerrillas in the mountains of Iraq.
Why the US is selling out the Kurds at the particular juncture is
unclear, but we do know that far right states, even when they are at
war, depend on each other for their continued existence. The rise of
political Islam ran concurrently with the rise of fundamentalist
Christian political power in the US; similarly to how the rise of Putin
and Berlusconi was a prelude to Trump and Bolsonaro. The mutual
understanding of these regimes run deep: from authoritarian ruling
practices to ruthlessly extinguishing resistance movements to
maintaining strict social hierarchies in order to rule.
In the euphoric moment when the Kurds began to prevail in Kobane,
anarchists from around the world began to flock to Rojava, joining other
revolutionaries who had already found their way to the region. A
beautiful moment of solidarity erupted: revolutionaries from all
backgrounds fighting side by side for the liberation of oppressed
people.
The anarchists had come to support an active anti-state,
anti-imperialist, feminist social movement in its infancy. But, with the
hindsight of the past in clear focus we anarchists have always
maintained: collusion with imperialists is a mistake, and the United
States is a totalitarian beast.
The tyranny the US imposes within its own borders, on people around the
world with its history of colonial, imperialist violence leaves no
debate about where America stands.
The United States is the regime at the helm, with Turkey and Daesh as
appendages of its ruthlessness. Its very existence depends on the
extermination of revolutionary forces, and it will continue to combat,
deceive, and destroy us all. To establish a liberated society, all
reactionary forces, particularly the US, must be completely destroyed.
RAM stand in solidarity with the people of Rojava — the Kurds, Arabs,
Assyrians, Syriacs, Yezidis, and Armenians — who are yet again going to
be in a fight for their lives, and would like to live free of all
authoritarian regimes.
RAM stands resolutely with Tekoşîna Anarşîst (Anarchist Struggle) — the
anarchist militant group in Rojava- and the revolutionary forces who
will now have to fight both Daesh and the Turkish state.
Long live anarchism!
Long live the revolutionary struggle!
Şehîd namirin!