Kissing the Feet of the Saudi Chainsaw-Crown Prince
On the Shameful Response of the Kurdish YPG on the Killing of the Saudi Journalist Kashoggi
A Commentary by Michael Pröbsting, International Secretary of the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT), 20.10.2018, www.thecommunists.net
Many so-called “left-wing” groups – both in the West and the East – praise the Kurdish YPG as a “progressive” or even “revolutionary” force in Syria. In contrast, the RCIT has always insisted that, while the YPG legitimately defended the Kurdish people against the reactionary terrorists of Daesh/ISIS, it has played, all in all, a shameful and reactionary role since the beginning of the Syrian Revolution in 2011.
In the first years of the Syrian Revolution they failed to unite the Kurdish masses with the Arab people rising up against the reactionary Assad tyranny. Instead, they collaborated with the regime. Since 2015 it has closely collaborated with US imperialism and, effectively, became the infantry of the Western Great Powers in Syria. In recent months, the YPG/SDF leadership again began negotiations with the Assad regime. (1)
As a result of their extreme opportunism, the Stalinist leadership of the YPG has become close allies of the Trump Administration and the tyrannical kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In exchange for military, political and financial aid, the YPG leadership serves the interests of these reactionary powers.
The YPG’s shameful role as prostitutes of the most reactionary powers has become evident again in the past weeks. As has been widely reported, the critical Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been brutally killed and dismembered with a chainsaw after he entered the Saudi Arabia Consulate in Istanbul on 2 October. (2) While the whole world discussed and commented on this issue, the YPG remained silent. While the YPG-related news agency Ajansa Nûçeyan a Firatê (ANF) published numerous articles in this period not only on Kurdish affairs but also on other issues (including on non-Middle East countries like Sri Lanka, Bolivia, Columbia etc.), they didn’t utter a word on the murder of Khashoggi.
Finally, when the Trump Administration has come under so much pressure by an enraged global public that it demands from the Saudi Kingdom an "explanation", the so-called "Rojava revolutionaries" finally managed to say a few words on this issue.
We reprint the YPG’s article, published on 19 October, in full in an appendix. As everyone can see, even now, when the Trump and the Saudis themselves have to admit that Khashoggi was murdered in the Saudi Consulate, even now, the YPG does not say a single critical word about the barbaric Saudi regime and its strong man, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman!
Why is the YPG kissing the feet of the Chainsaw-Crown Prince? The answer is very simple and vulgar: because the YPG is a close ally of Trump and MBS (as Mohammed bin Salman is often referred to) and because it receives financial aid from Riyadh. In exchange for the Saudi blood money, the YPG leadership refrains from any critical comment on the barbaric murder of the Saudi journalist.
We are in no way surprised about such a slavish submission to the most reactionary powers as one can see from our past critical assessments of the YPG. But what will all the Stalinist, semi-Stalinist and pseudo-Trotskyist friends of the YPG say about such a shameful and scandalous behaviour?! Will they continue to defend these pathetic servants of Trump and the Saudi Kingdom!
What we can observe is a bizarre and disgusting chain of shameful subservience: the YPG leadership kisses the feet of Trump and MBS and the pseudo-left in West and East kisses the feet of the YPG!
Marxists have nothing to do with pro-imperialist mercenaries and political prostitutes of reactionary powers disguising as “socialists”! They dedicate their forces to build an authentic revolutionary party which supports the struggles of the workers and oppressed against all Great Powers and against all tyrants all over the world!
Footnotes
(1) We have dealt with the role of the YPG in many statements and articles on the Syrian Revolution. These articles are collected in a special section of our website: https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/collection-of-articles-on-the-syrian-revolution/. On the role of the Kurdish YPG/SDF as a U.S. proxy see e.g. RCIT: “We have 50,000 partners on the ground.”, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/revelations-of-u-s-general-on-washington-s-allies-in-syria/
(2) The RCIT has published the following article on this tragic event: Michael Pröbsting: The Barbaric Slaughter of Jamal Khashoggi, 13.10.2018, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/the-barbaric-slaughter-of-jamal-khashoggi/
Appendix: Statement of YPG’s News Agency
Pressure building over the Khashoggi incident
As claims that Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in the consulate can’t be hidden any more, the pressure is building on the Riyadh administration.
ANF, 19 Oct 2018, https://anfenglishmobile.com/news/pressure-building-over-the-khashoggi-incident-30271
Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi Arabia Consulate in Istanbul on October 2, and was never heard from again. The suspicions that Khashoggi was murdered in the consulate are all but certain at this point. The Saudi government hasn’t made any statements to this end as of yet, but many countries and institutions are upping the pressure against them.
ATTENDEES WITHDRAWING FROM THE ECONOMY CONFERENCE
As the pressure builds over the Jamal Khashoggi incident, the number of countries and institutions withdrawing from the economy conference titled Invest in the Future Initiative to be held in Riyadh next week is on the rise.
The IMF, the World bank and many other institutions were to attend the conference at the presidential level, but have withdrawn. With this decision, several countries also withdrew from the conference.
TRUMP: IT IS CERTAIN THAT HE WAS KILLED, THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES
US President Donald Trump, after criticism that he didn’t exert clear pressure since the Khashoggi incident broke out, said it was “most probably” certain that the opposition journalist was killed.
Trump stressed that the incident is “very bad”, and that there will be consequences for the Saudi administration.