Defend Raqqa – Drive U.S./NATO Imperialists Out of Syria and Iraq! (tags)
A new stage has opened in the fighting in Syria and Iraq with the launching of offensives against the Islamic State (I.S.) by U.S. imperialism and its allies. On May 24 the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a military front dominated by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), announced the beginning of a drive on the de facto capital of the I.S. in Raqqa. They are participating in a military operation under direct U.S. command. Already U.S. commandos have been sighted carrying out operational activities at the front. Moreover, three days before the offensive was announced, the head of the U.S. Central Command, Gen. Joseph Votel, flew secretly to the area for an on-site inspection of preparations. Dropping leaflets calling on the population to flee the city, the imperialists are preparing a slaughter. Amid the all-sided communalist/sectarian civil war raging in Syria, internationalist communists (Trotskyists) call to defend Raqqa against the U.S.-led attack and the Kurdish and Arab forces serving as ground troops for the imperialists. In Iraq, the Shiite sectarian regime has launched an attack on the I.S. stronghold of Falluja, while U.S. and Kurdish forces threaten Mosul. We call to drive the imperialists out of the region and to defeat them by international workers action.