One of the hallmarks of the War on Terror has been the invasion of Iraq that took place in 2003. To justify the invasion the US gave false claims of “Weapons of Mass Destruction”, a term meant to evoke fear in the minds of the American people. It was often repeated that these weapons would be used to attack the US public. A decade and a half later it has become quite clear that the accusation was a lie perpetuated to justify the invasion. Immediately before the invasion was planned Iraq had begun to cease trading oil in US dollars, instead preferred to use Euros. This undermined the power of the US dollar and increased the cost of purchasing Iraqi oil.

That lie cost the lives of over a million and a half Iraqis and created great instability in the region leading to the creation of the Islamic State (Daesh). Despite this destruction, it seems as though US imperialism has learned nothing from it.

US officials speaking to Reuters has claimed that Syria continues to keep chemical weapons despite their promise to destroy them. The US alleges that the Syrian government is currently producing “evolved” versions of the weapons and using them on a smaller scale. They allege that such incidents have taken place since the last chemical attack was carried out last April. Evidence shows that it was the so-called rebel forces that perpetrated it, but the US has insisted that the Syrian government is guilty.

The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that they’re concerned that the proliferation of such weapons threatens to leak out into other areas of conflict in the region. They specifically gave a warning of those weapons being used against the US, bringing them right “to U.S. shores.”

“It will spread if we don’t do something,” the official warned. They went on to make clear that the US was committed to taking military action against the country in order to prevent their use.

The officials allege that Syria is considering their use because they supposedly lack the manpower to carry out the continuing war. This claim is nonsense, nothing could be further from the truth. The Russia/Syrian/Iranian alliance is already winning the war. They have no need to use such tactics. By contrast, the US-backed side does. Great infighting has struck pro-US forces that threaten to tear apart their alliance. With this new development, the US is looking for a justification to send in more of their own forces to back up the failing anti-Assad alliance.

It’s clear that what the US is doing, they’re using the old Weapons of Mass Destruction line to justify a military invasion of Syria. The same was used against the government of Gaddafi when the US used proxy forces to attack the Libyan government. That invasion too was intended to capture the energy resources of the country, just as with Iraq.

Invoking the image of a threat to the US public is a sure-fire way to get the population of the US behind another invasion intended to prop up a failing US empire. As with each of the previous Weapons of Mass Destruction lies, it seems the US public will believe this one as well.

US imperialism is committed to using whatever means necessary to overthrow the legitimate government of Syria in order to capture its energy resources. This war will be different from those past, as Russia and Iran are also involved in Syria’s defence. This situation has the definite potential to explode into a much larger conflict, maybe even a world war. The US is hellbent on capturing Syria at any cost.