US Killing of Baghdadi Changes Nothing Worth Bragging About: Nobel Nominee

“The trouble for the Democrats is that the public now expects Trump to be impeached, and killing Baghdadi won't change that,” David Swanson, who is based in Virginia, said in an interview with Tasnim.

“Nor will it change significantly the situation in Syria or Iraq,” he said, adding, “A change worth bragging about would be a real withdrawal, a disarmament agreement, a weapons ban, a peace treaty, nonviolent peacekeeping, actual aid, or improved lives for people in Syria. We haven't seen any of those things.”

David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is executive director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson’s books include War Is A Lie and When the World Outlawed War. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk Nation Radio. He is a 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee. Swanson was awarded the 2018 Peace Prize by the US Peace Memorial Foundation.

Tasnim: US President Donald Trump declared Sunday that Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was dead after a US military raid in northwest Syria over the weekend. In reaction, the spokesman for Iran’s administration, Ali Rabiei, shrugged off the US president’s announcement and said Washington’s policies are the main reason for the emergence of Daesh, adding that the death of Baghdadi does not mean that Takfiri terrorism or “Daeshism” has ended. Do you think the killing of the Daesh leader would play a major role in the fight against terrorism in the region or bring an end to the phenomenon given its root causes?

Swanson: You cannot promote the rule of law by loudly bragging about committing murder. You cannot end terrorism by committing terrorism. Here is a US president openly proclaiming that he has committed murder in order to let people be afraid they'll be next. If anything fits the definition of terrorism, that does. The US public cannot see it because (1) whatever the US does is good, (2) Trump's fans support anything he does, (3) loyalists of the Democratic Party believe that any crimes Barack Obama committed can never be crimes even if Trump commits them. But this crime is not just accepted; it's a point of pride -- a way to feel superior to other countries that have not murdered any terrorists or even created any terrorists to murder.

Tasnim: The US claims that it has started the withdrawal of its troops from Syria and says its forces shouldn’t be there. What was the main reason behind the US military operation? What do you think about the developments behind the scenes?  

Swanson: It is not a matter of anyone's opinion that the United States has sought the overthrow of the Syrian government for years. The trouble is that the US public is not excited about destroying Syria; it's excited about destroying ISIS. So, for years now, the US government has sought to appear to be attacking ISIS while attacking the Syrian government. This does not seem to have changed. Killing the leader of ISIS -- six times thus far -- builds US public support for the war. But the war is to overthrow the government of Syria, or -- if that can't be done -- at least to steal a bit of its oil.

Tasnim: According to some analysts, the killing of the Daesh leader changes some things for Trump. It temporarily changes the political conversation away from the impeachment inquiry which began a month ago. What do you think? Wasn’t the operation a show-off for media attention? 

Swanson: The Democrats will jump at any opportunity to avoid impeachment, but just as the US government as a whole has pretended to put everything into attacking ISIS, while actually aiming at greater control of the world and of the US public, the Democrats have pretended to put everything into attacking Trump, while actually aiming at pleasing the same corporate oligarchs he serves. The trouble for the Democrats is that the public now expects Trump to be impeached, and killing Baghdadi won't change that. Nor will it change significantly the situation in Syria or Iraq.

A change worth bragging about would be a real withdrawal, a disarmament agreement, a weapons ban, a peace treaty, nonviolent peacekeeping, actual aid, or improved lives for people in Syria. We haven't seen any of those things.