Today 26 August the organisation Australians for Mussalaha (Reconciliation) in Syria has published on its website a statement in response to calls for military action against Syria. The statement begins:
In response to an as yet unattributed use of chemical weapons in Syria,
the US and its allies are seriously considering military
action against including surgical air strikes
in Syria.
Australians for Mussalaha (Reconciliation) in Syria (AMRIS), regards
these proposals as an extreme escalation of the conflict.
Military escalation in Syria cannot defuse the crisis, limit the
casualties of war or produce peace. Instead, some believe it can lead
to a world war.
Over the past eight years all the leaders of the Coalition of the
Willing have conceded that they entered the Iraq war on false information.
May our leaders consider what is really at stake in escalating the
current crisis in Syria and may they protect not just the interests of the 23
million people of Syria, but also the long-term interests of Australia.
May our leaders have the moral strength and clarity to resist an
Orwellian chant: we must destroy Syria in order to save it.
There are powerful
voices in the United States who have spoken against war propaganda and
military intervention in Syria, while others have adopted a
hawkish push for war. Australia must find its own way.
Access the full statement, which contains abundant links to
other articles, at The
response of AMRIS to calls for military action against Syria.
1 comment:
“Australians for Reconciliation in Syria” (AMRIS) condemns Australian participation in an illegal war in Syria - First published at https://candobetter.net/node/4565
Following a meeting in Melbourne Australia of “Australians for Reconciliation in Syria” (AMRIS) today, 3 September 2015, spokesperson David Macilwain said that AMRIS unequivocally condemns atrocities committed by ‘Islamic State’ in Syria.
AMRIS deplores, however, the decision by the Australian Government to follow the lead of the United States in taking military action against IS within the borders of Syria, one of the founding members of the United Nations, without the consent of the Syrian Government.
Mr Macilwain said, "Such action will do little to ‘degrade and destroy’ the terrorist group, whose control over territory has only continued to increase despite a year of US Coalition airstrikes. Furthermore there have been significant civilian casualties and damage as a result of those airstrikes, leading to further refugee flows."
"While Australian involvement in the campaign in Syria will do little to change this situation, culpability for ‘collateral damage’ sustained within Syrian sovereign territory could bring us before the ICC," added Mr Macilwain.
"Rather than looking for an alternative pretext that might be legal, such as the ‘responsibility to protect’ Iraqis, AMRIS proposes a clear alternative - cooperation with the Syrian Army in its fight against IS and other terrorist groups."
"AMRIS also considers that if the Australian government is genuine in its desire and commitment to defeat IS, Al Qaeda and allied terrorist groups in Syria, and seeks to restore peace and security such that refugees can return, then it must be prepared to work in cooperation with the Syrian government and security forces. Such a commitment also entails the recognition of that government as legally constituted and representing the majority of the Syrian population, as mandated in the election of June 2014." 1
Mr Macilwain further stated, "In the absence of such cooperation with the Syrian authorities, Australian military intervention in the Syrian conflict will be neither legal nor moral, regardless of the stated target and pretext. The consequences of such an illegal intervention, which under international law constitutes the ‘supreme crime’ of launching a war of aggression, would be both inconceivable and uncontrollable."
"AMRIS demands that there must be a full disclosure of the objectives, conditions and limitations of this intervention, subject to a parliamentary debate and public scrutiny before this apparent decision to take us to war is finalised."
http://australiansforreconciliationinsyria.org/about/
David Macilwain.
Footnote[s]
1. ↑ At the Presidential election of 4 June 2014, 10,319,723 Syrians, or 88.7% of the 73.42% of eligible Syrian voters who voted, voted for President Bashar al-Assad in spite of the obstruction of expatriate voters by some countries, including Australia and France.
The fair conduct of those elections was attested to by five international observers at a press conference held at the headquarters of the United Nations on 19 June 2014. See Syria's press conference the United Nations doesn't want you to see (21/6/15) with an embedded 53 minute YouTube broadcast. This article was previously published on Global Research.
I don't know of one of the leaders any one of the formal democracies opposed to Syria – the United States, Great Britain, Canada, France, Turkey, Israel, Australia, ... let alone the dictatorships of Saudi Arabia and Qatar – who can claim to have even close to President al-Assad's popular endoresement.
At the conference not one of the 'reporters' who, before and since, have peddled the narrative that Bashar al-Assad is a corrupt, brutal dictator, attempted to challenge their testimony.
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