Caught in a vice of imperialist rivalries
DAYS OF punishing air strikes by Russian military forces reached a new and destructive level in Syria, with the Moscow government announcing that it struck dozens of targets over the weekend.
Russian officials claim their bombs are paving the way for a political compromise and eventual stability in Syria. But they seek the "stability" of dictatorship and death, as the interests of U.S. and Russian imperialism play out in a new phase of a war that has already caused immense suffering.
"When a division of international terrorists stands near the capital," Russian President Vladimir Putin told Russian state television, "then there is probably little desire for the Syrian government to negotiate, most likely feeling itself under siege in its own capital."
Putin claims the Russian air war is targeting those terrorists--fighters for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which now controls large parts of Syria, along with territory conquered in Iraq. But according to reports from inside Syria, most of Russia's air strikes have not targeted ISIS at all, but rebel groups opposed to the Syrian government of dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Read more: http://socialistworker.org/2015/10/13/caught-in-a-vice-of-imperialist-rivalries
