By crashing the party in Syria, Moscow is exposing Washington's two-faced policy in all its shame
This article originally appeared in MM News. Translated from the German by Paul Dunne
Well, should the Russians be allowed to bomb too? Herr Steinmeyer criticised the Russian air operations; Frau Merkel is “deeply worried” about Russian air attacks in Syria; the head of NATO, Stoltenberg, is worried as well; the British Minister of Defence sees the wrong people being bombed; and Barack Obama doesn't approve either. Accordingly, the German media is of one mind, as usual – only not its own.
As though awoken from a deep sleep, the West expresses itself in seemingly anti-militarist terms. Did we however hear or read anything about “worries” when Israel flew air attacks against Syrian territory? Were there protests from Washington or Berlin when the Israeli army crossed the Syrian border for the n-th time, for example in 2015 when they killed an Iranian general there? Did the German media pronounce itself concerned when US stealth bombers, accompanied by personnel from Saudi-Arabia, Qatar and other terror-financing states, bombed alleged al-Qaida positions in Syria? Did NATO express a single second thought about the bombing of Syria by the British (in August) or the French (in September)? No, not a peep. It seems that the thinking of the West is controlled by a primitive reflex: Western bombs good, Russian bombs bad.
Above all the Western media-coalition is worried about their “regime change” allies in Syria, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), which might be hit by Russian bombs. However, a formation that hardly exists at all is invariably a tough target to hit. And according to the General Inspector of the Bundeswehr (German Army), Volker Wieker, the Free Syrian Army was already falling apart as a fighting force in early Autumn 2013. In any case, the FSA is hard to distinguish from the usual Islamic terrorist organisations. Part of that is due to their religious orientation, which is Sunni; but part again is due to their partners: they co-operate with battalions of the Muslim Brotherhood and parts of the terrorist Al Nusra Front, who are really very little different from the Islamic State: rather, they are its competitors.
That the FSA was equipped with anti-tank weapons from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Libya obviously didn't bother the West. It's a fact that the Arab states can be classed under the friends of Islamic terror, but that is something the mainstream would rather not talk about. Nor do the criticisms of the FSA by Human Rights Watch concerning human rights violations, nor their recruiting of child soldiers, nor the accusations of the Syrian Orthodox Church of “ethnic cleansing of Christians” seem to bother the West unduly. Even the training of FSA fighters by the Turkish secret service, which has also supplied arms to al Quaida now and then, cannot upset the Western real democrats. So when Russian bombs are aimed to hit the soldiers of the FSA, they hit friends of the West and partners of Islamic terror at the same time.
Finally, the Russians have yet one more flaw in the eyes of Western observers. Their military operations have been publicly and officially agreed to by the Syrian government. To be sure, that is in accordance with international law, but because the West has up to now been proceeding in Syria contrary to that same international law – since the Syrian government doesn't suit the “Obama faction”, they don't need to be asked – the Russian attitude brings shame on the West. For quite a while now the Russian government has been pressing for talks involving all sides of the Syrian war. But so long as the USA insists on excluding the President of Syria from such talks, just so long will an end to the war remain out of sight. So, the bombings in Syria will continue. And regardless who does the bombing, the only victor is – War.
River to SeaWell, should the Russians be allowed to bomb too? Herr Steinmeyer criticised the Russian air operations; Frau Merkel is “deeply worried” about Russian air attacks in Syria; the head of NATO, Stoltenberg, is worried as well; the British Minister of Defence sees the wrong people being bombed; and Barack Obama doesn't approve either. Accordingly, the German media is of one mind, as usual – only not its own.
As though awoken from a deep sleep, the West expresses itself in seemingly anti-militarist terms. Did we however hear or read anything about “worries” when Israel flew air attacks against Syrian territory? Were there protests from Washington or Berlin when the Israeli army crossed the Syrian border for the n-th time, for example in 2015 when they killed an Iranian general there? Did the German media pronounce itself concerned when US stealth bombers, accompanied by personnel from Saudi-Arabia, Qatar and other terror-financing states, bombed alleged al-Qaida positions in Syria? Did NATO express a single second thought about the bombing of Syria by the British (in August) or the French (in September)? No, not a peep. It seems that the thinking of the West is controlled by a primitive reflex: Western bombs good, Russian bombs bad.
Above all the Western media-coalition is worried about their “regime change” allies in Syria, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), which might be hit by Russian bombs. However, a formation that hardly exists at all is invariably a tough target to hit. And according to the General Inspector of the Bundeswehr (German Army), Volker Wieker, the Free Syrian Army was already falling apart as a fighting force in early Autumn 2013. In any case, the FSA is hard to distinguish from the usual Islamic terrorist organisations. Part of that is due to their religious orientation, which is Sunni; but part again is due to their partners: they co-operate with battalions of the Muslim Brotherhood and parts of the terrorist Al Nusra Front, who are really very little different from the Islamic State: rather, they are its competitors.
That the FSA was equipped with anti-tank weapons from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Libya obviously didn't bother the West. It's a fact that the Arab states can be classed under the friends of Islamic terror, but that is something the mainstream would rather not talk about. Nor do the criticisms of the FSA by Human Rights Watch concerning human rights violations, nor their recruiting of child soldiers, nor the accusations of the Syrian Orthodox Church of “ethnic cleansing of Christians” seem to bother the West unduly. Even the training of FSA fighters by the Turkish secret service, which has also supplied arms to al Quaida now and then, cannot upset the Western real democrats. So when Russian bombs are aimed to hit the soldiers of the FSA, they hit friends of the West and partners of Islamic terror at the same time.
Finally, the Russians have yet one more flaw in the eyes of Western observers. Their military operations have been publicly and officially agreed to by the Syrian government. To be sure, that is in accordance with international law, but because the West has up to now been proceeding in Syria contrary to that same international law – since the Syrian government doesn't suit the “Obama faction”, they don't need to be asked – the Russian attitude brings shame on the West. For quite a while now the Russian government has been pressing for talks involving all sides of the Syrian war. But so long as the USA insists on excluding the President of Syria from such talks, just so long will an end to the war remain out of sight. So, the bombings in Syria will continue. And regardless who does the bombing, the only victor is – War.
Uprooted Palestinian 
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