Washington's Long War on Syria

by Stephen Gowans

When President Barack Obama demanded formally in the summer of 2011 that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down, it was not the first time Washington had sought regime change in Damascus. The United States had waged a long war against Syria from the very moment the country’s fiercely independent Arab nationalist movement—of which Assad and his father Hafez al-Assad were committed devotees—came to power in 1963. Washington sought to purge Arab nationalist influence from the Syrian state and the Arab world more broadly because it was a threat to its agenda of establishing global primacy and promoting business-friendly investment climates for US banks, investors and corporations throughout the world. Arab nationalists aspired to unify the world’s 400 million Arabs into a single super-state capable of challenging United States hegemony in West Asia and North Africa and becoming a major player on the world stage free from the domination of the former colonial powers and the US. Washington had waged long wars on the leaders of the Arab nationalist movement—Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser, Iraq’s Saddam, Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, and Syria’s Assads, often allying with particularly violent forms of political Islam to undermine its Arab nationalist foes. By 2011, only one pan-Arabist state remained in the region—Syria. In Washington’s Long War on Syria Stephen Gowans examines the decades-long struggle between secular Arab nationalism, political Islam, and United States imperialism for control of Syria, the self-proclaimed Den of Arabism, and last secular pan-Arabist state in the region.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Middle East, Politics, The United States Of America, Political Science

282 pages, Paperback

Published April 17, 2017

About the author

Stephen Gowans is an independent political analyst whose main interest is on who influences foreign policy in the United States. His book, Washington’s Long War on Syria (Baraka Books, 2017), was widely acclaimed.

Reviews

[Carlos Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very useful analysis of the key dynamics of the war in Syria. Gowans does an excellent job of situating the war in terms of the United States' ongoing war against Arab nationalism, which poses a clear threat to imperialist interests; genuine Arab unity, independence and socialist orientation is anathema to a global economic and political order that is designed by Wall Street. The author also usefully explains the role played by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and the UAE, as well as the origins, ideology and role of the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State.

The book is somewhat repetitive in places, and it feels like it's missing a nuanced analysis of the complex (and generally troubled) relationship between the different states in the region that have promoted economic independence and anti-imperialism - for example, the Iran-Iraq war, the dispute between the Syrian and Iraqi Ba'ath parties, the falling out of Iran and Libya, and so on.

Nonetheless, an important book that is well worth reading for anyone with an interest in the terrible war on Syria and in the broader politics of the region.

[Zulfiqar · Rating 5 out of 5]

“That the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood played a key role in the uprising that erupted three months later was confirmed in 2012 by the US Defense Intelligence Agency. A leaked report from the agency said that the insurgency was sectarian and led by the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the forerunner of Islamic State. The report went on to say that the insurgents were supported by the West, Arab Gulf oil monarchies and Turkey. The analysis correctly predicted the establishment of a “Salafist principality,” an Islamic state, in Eastern Syria, noting that this was desired by the insurgency’s foreign backers, who wanted to see the secular Arab nationalists isolated and cut-off from Iran. [29] Documents prepared by US Congress researchers in 2005 revealed that the US government was actively weighing regime change in Syria long before the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011, challenging the view that US support for the Syrian rebels was based on allegiance to a “democratic uprising” and showing that it was simply an extension of a long-standing policy of seeking to topple the government in Damascus. Indeed, the researchers acknowledged that the US government’s motivation to overthrow the secular Arab nationalist government in Damascus was unrelated to democracy promotion in the Middle East. In point of fact, they noted that Washington’s preference was for secular dictatorships (Egypt) and monarchies (Jordan and Saudi Arabia.) The impetus for pursuing regime change, according to the researchers, was a desire to sweep away an impediment to the achievement of US goals in the Middle East related to strengthening Israel, consolidating US domination of Iraq, and fostering open market, free enterprise economies. Democracy was never a consideration. [30]”
(What’s left. The Revolutionary Distemper in Syria That Wasn’t October 22, 2016. Gowans, Stephen)

[TG Lin · Rating 4 out of 5]

本書以另一種觀點，來看待美國人所發起的「敘利亞戰爭」。

自己年少時代在觀看國際新聞時，便常聽到「遜尼–什葉」兩派的鬥爭，當時以為這是瞭解中東伊斯蘭世界的重要關鍵。後來隨著年紀逐漸增長，亂讀了些歷史材料之後，才發覺這種區分法根本不合理——然而在歐美列強長期以來的干涉之下，謊話講了一千次，居然變成了真話。

作者認為敘利亞的阿薩德政權所走的是「民族主義」路線，而且與 Hussain 時代的伊拉克一樣，都是排斥伊斯蘭的神權統治的世俗政權，致力於國內的人民政治經濟上的平等。然而，非常有趣的是，歐美在歷史上的「現代化」，正是用民族主義的世俗政治、來取代基督教神權的封建政治。但當歐美諸國擺脫了自己的宗教束縳之後，卻完全容不得中東國家也能走相同的道路，巴不得他們的社會永遠受伊斯蘭教極端派給封閉窒息（如今日最新美的沙烏地阿拉伯）。因此敘利亞和伊拉克復興黨，便被美國媒體的哈哈鏡給長期扭曲，塑造成為「宗教少數派壓迫宗教多數派」的殘暴獨裁者。

本書 200 ~ 201 頁中提到一個有趣的對比。今日紐約市民，有著上百種的國藉與文化信仰；若照美國媒體對中東的分類投射，紐約市老早就該成為一個「所有人對所有人戰爭」的恐怖地獄了，根本不該像今天的和平單一國家城市。當大家都強調共同點，人與人便能大體地和諧生活；當大家都強調相異點，畢竟人人各自不同，那麼任何小事情都可以放大成你死我活的不共戴天之仇。列強在這三百年來進出中東，走的正是 Devide et Impera，將任何可資利用的議題搞大（比如前述的遜尼什葉之爭），為的正是要讓歐美國家可以有效地掌控這塊地方。只要有任何人或團體想要「團結」大眾，那麼英美帝國主義者便開始用各種手段加以分化。放在敘利亞國家，正因為阿薩德政府打算拋棄傳統伊斯蘭的包袱來建立新的民族與民主國家，美國人便資助宗教狂熱份子（放在美國本土，這群人應該正是恐怖主義者…）來搞垮阿薩德——號稱民主的美國反對號稱民主的敘利亞，號稱世俗政權的美國支持神權階級統治的敘利亞反抗軍……

誠然，作者對於阿薩德政府的經濟政策（國家社會主義）寫得太美好，我個人是不同意的；用私人資本振興國家經濟，永遠比國家統籌經濟來得有效許多的。但在更上一層的觀點上，我卻認定美國人對敘利亞國家經濟政策要怎麼走，That's none of your business。

[Kosta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on the consistent US opposition to the Syrian Ba'ath government.
As it was written in 2016 it doesn't go too in-depth into the actual war itself other than its beginnings. This book sets out to give an overview on the context of why the revolt became what it became.
He goes in depth into how US opposition to the Ba'athist governments has continued since the 1970s due to the latter's opposition to western ownership of the Syrian economy. The opposition has been consistently disguised/framed as opposition to the dictatorial rule of the Assad Government.and its minority run Alawite leaders oppressing the Sunni majority of Syria. When the Assad government came down hard on Arab Spring protests, the US saw its opportunity to bring the Ba'athist government to an end and replace it with an Iraq style client government and an opened up (to US investors) economy.
Gowans goes at length into why neither of these given reasons hold water: When the same Arab Spring hit Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy, they attacked the protestors with tanks, beheading the leader and crucifying his 17 year old son in public. This wasn't a problem in the US, as the Saudis cooperate with US investment and foreign policy.
As for the sectarian nature of the conflict, Gowans explains that the Syrian government has been avowedly secular and anti sectarian since its inception, and has majority support amongst Syria's many minorities as well as the Sunni majority because of this fact. The notion that the Alawite minority is oppressing the Sunni majority comes directly from the main opposition to Ba'athist secular Arab nationalism, Sunni political Islam, which has been leveraged by the US since the 70s. This led to the strange situation where the US was actively sending arms and funding to Al Qaeda in Syria to overthrow the secular government.
Four stars cause it didn't go enough into Assad's market liberalisation in my opinion, and while being meticulously researched, it's obviously a one sided book. This isn't a bad thing in itself, all writing on this topic is while acting like it isn't, and I have to respect Gowans for at least being upfront about that.
If you're looking to supplement your understanding of the conflict in Syria, I highly recommend this book

[Khaled · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect book to understand the recent war in Syria in clear prose.

[rabble.ca]

http://rabble.ca/books/reviews/2017/0...

Review by Jooneed J. Khan

With his just-released book Washington's Long War on Syria, Stephen Gowans blows away the twisted layers of disinformation and war propaganda around Syria, and exposes the great 21st-century tragedy in that West-Asian country in all its stark reality: a long war of aggression waged by the U.S.-NATO empire against a secular and pluralist Arab republic that, like Iraq and Libya, thwarted its hegemonic, capitalist interests, and resisted Israeli, Saudi and other theocratic and anti-democratic players in the region.
The international political reporter and analyst that I am, nearly 40 years with Montreal daily La Presse and three months of 2003 spent in Iraq, ploughed with frustration through the 105 pages of the stage-setting introduction and first two chapters, eager and hungry for the Ottawa-born author to get down to brass tacks and the nitty-gritty -- which he does with quiet but unswerving fact-based confidence and clarity in Chapters 3 and 4.

Read more here: http://rabble.ca/books/reviews/2017/0...

[Ang'Ela Vas Sol · Rating 1 out of 5]

If this book is trying to convince me that Assad’s Regime is innocent, and the US is the ultimate evil no matter what, then the writer didn’t do his job well.

Too subjective and repetitive, some arguments are very problematic and illogical (such as the alleged democratic election of Syria), totally not recommended.

[graceofgod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative!

[Juju · Rating 5 out of 5]

覺得小時候接收了好多片面的資訊，不幸中的大幸是還好在有生之年多讀到了不同的面向，至少就不會再把錯誤資訊傳給後人了。

這本在讀前言時有很看不快的感覺，跟《萬病之王》和《窮查理的普通常識》的因為知識量大的看不快不同，這本是因為資訊完全跟以往接觸的媒體太不同了！！
例如賓拉登原本其實是美國的盟友！
還有美國許多任總統包括歐巴馬的黑暗祕密。
美國人民大部分就跟我們一樣，以為美國是正義的使者。
很需要消化一下這些錯愕。

還有伊斯蘭教裡有好多支線，也需要思考記憶一下。

看這本書真的讓我各種震撼，我們看到的不見得就是事實。
不斷在思考自己對北韓是不是真的有很深的誤解。
在讀第三章「接著，這些人變成激進份子...」時看到美國會對「不乖」的國家增加武力威脅，而這些國家也因此提高自己警察的權利，而這是美國又會為這些獨裁者冠上「強人」頭銜，因而又能打著英雄的旗幟要去用拳頭大教訓人家、聯合世界各國執行經濟制裁。
被經濟制裁導致民生疾苦，被武力威脅所以又要顧好國防，這不就是北韓的狀況嗎？
以前會覺得北韓人民都那麼飢餓了，為什麼北韓還要一直發展武力？
因為他們只是想做自己堅信是對的政策，只不過不符合美國所謂的全球經濟（以美國利益為首的全球經濟），被美國歸為「邪惡軸心國」。
而且美國自己不放棄核武，卻一直在那邊嚷嚷別國不能擁有核武。
怎麼想都覺得好像美國高中校園劇，大姐頭或球隊隊長霸凌不順從的同學，像曼哈頓東區貴婦太太界的大姐頭霸凌不聽話的媽媽，只是跨大變成霸凌不聽話的國家，有種見微知著的感覺。
真心覺得蠻沈重也蠻難過，因為不知道自己能做什麼，好像就是分享出這些看到的現象吧！

感受到作者想呼籲許多西方國家被誤導而贊助的人民。

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gowans writes straightforwardly, his central thesis is clear and well supported. There's a lot of useful explanatory context for understanding the history of the region and the core ideological commitments of states that made them designated enemies of Anglo-American power. I would never encounter an exposition of Arab Nationalism or the socialist and anti-imperialist features of the Iranian constitution in mainstream publications, so it definitely filled in some blanks in my understanding. Cuts through alot of bs, such as a 'revolution' arising from the Arab spring and the famous 'moderate rebels'. Very informative

[Pushon Bhattacharya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book about American intervention in Ba'athist Syria is worth reading in conjunction with more mainstream accounts of the Syrian Civil War as it contains a wealth of crucial information not typically found in the Western press. It cogently explains the ideology of the Syrian government and its motives for its highly controversial actions from 2011 onwards. Additionally, Gowans reveals many of the dirty truths about the Western powers' interference in the Levant over the past few decades. However, readers should approach this volume with a measure of scepticism due to the author's rather generous depiction of the Assads and other Arab nationalist despots.

[Natali · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot but the author could use some organization. He repeats himself often. He also paints in some broad strokes. I don't think the chapter on Hitler was a success although the parallel is taken.

That said, he's a good writer and makes some really incriminating points about Washington's war on Syria and how it was sold to the world through lies. Much of it is irrefutable. Bush and Obama are both war criminals. It's bipartisan. It's so upsetting and I worry we're being sold the same bill of goods about the war in Ukraine. There is no trusting this super power. So many needless deaths. Just awful.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear and insightful, I would recommend reading this if you are interested in the history and reasons behind the US interest in regime change in Syria.

[Oli Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

economic determinism of US interventions could not be more evidenced 💯

[Mal · Rating 5 out of 5]

An obligatory read for anyone who wants to understand events in Syria.

[Hector · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gowans' analysis is great. I only docked a star because he repeated himself an absurd amount. The book could have probably been half as long if he only made each point once. The amount of times he repeated the three goals of secular arab nationalists that made them pariahs to washington (arab unity, socialism, anti imperialism) were almost insulting. That aside, this is an amazing breakdown and anyone who wants to understand foreign policy in the middle east has to read this book.