Islamic political party, Hizb ut Tahrir has become the first Muslim organisation in Britain to come out against western intervention in Syria.
The group, which campaigns for an Islamic state in the Muslim world, said that any Western intervention will not be about removing a murderous tyrant or saving the people of Syria after the horrific gas attack in Damascus.
Instead it will be about intervening to secure their interests, block the progress of Islamic change, as well as placating their critics at home and abroad.
The following is an abridged statement from the HT website:
“Firstly, this is far from the first massacre we have seen in the past two and a half years. So, any objective observer would be forgiven for asking ‘why now?’ – after Bashar has killed over 100 000 and millions have been displaced, when the regime has used chemical weapons on a smaller scale in the past, there was barely a whimper. So, again, it must asked be ‘why now?’
“Secondly, the hostility by the US-UK to the Islamic nature of the grassroots opposition to Assad is evident. Their attempts, over the past two years to manufacture an alternative regime to secure their interests in the region, have borne little fruit. At the same time they have seen, against all the odds, the opposition managing to resist the attempts of Assad to quell the uprising.
“Their desire to intervene for Western interests alone is very clear. Only days ago, General Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated: ‘Syria today is not about choosing between two sides but rather about choosing one among many sides’ – acknowledging it is not about opposing Assad and backing the rebels. He went to say ‘It is my belief that the side we choose must be ready to promote their interests and ours when the balance shifts in their favor. Today, they are not.’
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“Thirdly, the plans discussed hitherto, of surgical strikes against the regime, do not sound in anyway a plan to remove this murderous regime. It with worth remembering that the Assad family regime were well-regarding in Western capitals – and London and Washington made excuses for them long after the blood-shed started in 2011. It is notable that the US – despite all its rhetoric – still maintains diplomatic relations with Assad’s government, with US Secretary of State John Kerry personally phoning the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem last week, after the gas-attacks.
“Western intervention in the Middle East and Muslim world, under whatever excuse, is unwelcome. Britain and France divided the lands, sowing the seeds of chaos after World War One. The West usurped Palestine, impaling the Zionist entity into the region, and supporting its grotesque atrocities over decades. They promoted coup and counter-coup in Syria until the Assad regime finally secured power, serving their interests.
“Only weeks ago, the US-backed military in Egypt ousted an elected president, in a bid to maintain security for their interests – and is now embarking on an all-out war on political Islam.
“After realizing all this, how could anyone welcome a Western military intervention.
“The actions and inactions of foreign powers in Syria – when US, UK, EU or Russia, whether directly, or indirectly via their proxies – has all been about preserving their interests in the region; converting a political conflict into a sectarian conflict, protecting the Zionist entity and trying to prevent the rise of an independent Islamic Khilafah state in the region.
“We call upon all Muslims to continue to support those rising up against the regime – who want to see the removal of the Assad regime and who call for Islam in Syria. And to oppose foreign intervention as it is NOT for the saving of life, but for the saving of colonial interests.
“As for protecting the people from massacres such as this week, it is unquestionably the duty of those capable from the Muslim armies in the region – whether from Turkey or Jordan or elsewhere. They have sat on their weapons for over two years watching as the pure blood of innocents have been spilled by this murderous regime. It is they whom the people of the region have a right to expect to help.”
