Sunday, 8 June 2014

Syrians mark real D-Day victory

Syrians celebrate after announcement of President Bashar al-Assad’s victory in the June 3 election.

By Finian Cunningham

Sat Jun 7, 2014 6:4AM GMT

This week as Western media focus on the 70th anniversary of World War II D-Day, the people of Syria were showing what that historic event really means in practice, in the present day.

Seventy years ago this week, tens of thousands of American and British troops and soldiers from many other Western countries gave their lives on the beaches of Normandy, France, in a victorious onslaught against Nazi Germany.

There is no doubting the courage and noble sacrifice of those men and women who, in their own convictions, died in a heroic struggle for freedom and justice against oppression.

This week, thousands of surviving war veterans and Western political leaders paid homage to that great human sacrifice. Together, they vowed to keep faithful to the cause of freedom and justice for which so many of their compatriots died.

But what good is commemoration of an historical event if that commemoration is not a living reality in the present day? More shamefully, what if people who claim to be commemorating such a noble cause are violating the very values they apparently proclaim through their contemporary actions? Is that not the most vile abomination?

Perhaps the most fitting tribute to the sacrifice of the American, British and other soldiers who died during the Second World War is the victory this week won by the Syrian people.

Syrians celebrations are still continued images from Lattakia

After more than three years of a foreign-sponsored war on their country during which more than 150,000 have been killed and millions more horribly maimed and traumatised, the Syrian people this week defied all their enemies by carrying out and winning a democratic election. Syrian President Bashar al Assad won a free and fair election by a landslide vote of nearly 89 per cent of the electorate.

Even the biased Western media, which has for so long grossly distorted what is really going on in Syria, could not disguise the stunning fact that the Syrian people have spoken loud and clear. They have said overwhelmingly: we endorse our president, our government and our national sovereignty, and we want an end to this despicable foreign-sponsored war of aggression in our land and against our people.

It is this spirit of defiance and courageous commitment to democratic, human values - displayed by the Syrian people this week in the face of horrendous violence - that truly marks the significance of what took place on the beaches of France 70 years ago.

American President Barack Obama was joined by his British and French counterparts, David Cameron and Francois Hollande, among other Western leaders, to mouth prayers and sing hymns in supposed dedication to the veterans of World War II.

Unlike the elderly veterans standing in the commemorative crowds in Normandy, what do these Western leaders know about courageous sacrifice for freedom, justice, democracy and peace?

These same Western leaders have backed and fuelled the murderous mayhem in Syria since March 2011, with their support for foreign mercenary terrorists who have slit the throats of women and children, gunned down unarmed civilians in cold blood, and ripped through markets, schools and hospitals with no-warning car bombs. These Western leaders have hidden behind cynical, deceitful words like "supporting moderate rebels" when the cold, brutal reality is that they have fuelled the most barbaric violence against innocent civilians - and continue to do so.

Against this oppression and tyranny, the people of Syria have withstood the enormous pressure to surrender, to abandon their government and submit to the nefarious Western agenda of criminal regime change. Their vote this week for President Assad is a resounding victory for all that is noble in the human spirit in the face of immense injustice and criminality.

The victory of the Syrian people is the most fitting tribute to the memory and sacrifice of so many 70 years ago this week. The people of Syria are united with the ordinary men and women who gave their lives during the Second World War in the cause for human freedom against oppression and tyranny.

It is absolutely disgusting, and astounding, that Western state terrorists like Obama, Cameron and Hollande should masquerade among the World War II veterans and seek to bask in their glorious sacrifice and memory. For the fight that these veterans bravely undertook against fascist tyranny and aggression is a fight that continues to this day.

The obvious enemy of yesteryear - Nazi Germany - is today embodied in the form of Western rulers who think they have the "exceptional" right to bully others "at the barrel of a gun", to smash international law, and to inflict murderous aggression with impunity on sovereign nations who resist their hegemonic dictates. Fascist ideology is not some historic episode; it continues to this day in the imperialist predations of Western capitalist governments and their corporate elite. It is only brainwashing Western media that prevents this abhorrent reality from being readily seen more widely.

The Western veterans of World War II see their spirit alive and well today in the Syrian people. To the Syrian people we can also add the people of Eastern Ukraine who are also bravely standing up to the same Western fascist regime-changers. They provide the real contemporary meaning of D-Day. We should salute them with heartfelt thanks for their courage to defend what is truly beautiful and noble in the human spirit.

FC/HSN