Uprooted Palestinian: SALAM ALQUDS ALAYKUM – سلام القدس عليكم

Saturday, 10 October 2015

HAMA AFLAME AS CAMPAIGN TO LIBERATE PROVINCE IN FULL SWING; PALYMYRA ABOUT TO BE LIBERATED!

HAMA: The campaign I announced on October 2nd here is now in full swing. Don’t even read the tendentious and propagandistic Western Press. It is being skewed to give the impression the Russian intervention has failed. But, it is just the opposite. Russia has spared no effort and no weapons systems except its nuclear arsenal. With Russian satellites providing both the Syrian and Russian armies with real-time intelligence, the rodents are beginning to feel the cold edge of their own mortality. The operation is now being handled by the 4th Mechanized Armored Division which is normally an elite security force based south of Damascus. It is being used today in Hama to clear the northern parts of the province as preparation goes on to shut down the terrorists in Idlib.

Yesterday, the joint Russian-Syrian-Lebanese forces killed a confirmed 32 rodents all over the province including 38 wounded. The Syrian Army also took down 4 armored trucks, 3 cannons and 1 pickup with 23mm cannon. My source in Latakia, Wael, who keeps in touch with relatives in the SAA operating with the 4th Division, tells me 100s of Nusra and Jaysh Al-Fath vermin are escaping northwards to Idlib leaving thousands of weapons behind in fully usable condition. These weapons will be transferred to both the PDC and PKK.

The Syrian Army has liberated whole areas of northern Hama up to 70 square kilometers formerly infested by the American-supported cockroaches. At an area north of Kafr Zaytaa, the SAA and Russian air force annihilated a command-and-control center killing a reported 5 leaders inside.

At Kafr Nabooda, another Nusra leader was killed. In addition to this, the SAA confirmed the deaths of 15 other rodents here along with 12 wounded who wer taken prisoner. His name has not been announced yet.

At north Tallat Al-Sayyaad, a confirmed 31 rats were killed and 3 pickup trucks with 23mm cannons destroyed completely. As of today, 77 rats have died in the fire of the Syrian forces and their Russian allies.

We can also confirm the liberation of Al-Lataamina Town and Al-Bahsa Village. The scene there was one of jubilation as citizens came out to embrace the Syrian Army.

Via Wikimapia: http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=35.353496&lon=36.623268&z=13&m=b

Vasili Zaitsev sent me this video of Syrian Hind helicopters hitting rodents in Hama Province:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPnRwGIsdjA

Syrian soldiers of the 4th Mechanized Armored Division stop to pose for a SANA photographer on the way to cleansing Hama Province outside Al-Lataamina.

Rodents reportedly collected for incineration or transformation into fertilizer near the town of Kafr Zaytaa.

With Russian cruise missile carrying ships arriving off the port of Latakia, expect much more pandemonium in Hama and Idlib. The reports coming out of Damascus indicate a major restructuring of Nusra/Alqaeda with 3 groups breaking away from the central organization originally formed by Abu Muhammad Al-Jawlaani. The same is happening in the north where once blustering rats are now mere cowardly mice searching for any way out of the mess they created.

مقتل 9 إرهابيين بينهم متزعمان بعمليات الجيش في ريف القنيطرة

حصيلة اليوم الأول من عملية الجيش السوري الواسعة بريف حماة

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HOMS: THE LIBERATION OF PALMYRA IS NEAR. TADMUR IS IN THE SIGHTS OF THE SYRIAN ARMY….. AND ISIS IS BROKEN.

image: http://jpnews-sy.com/ar/images/news/big/93670.jpg

قصف جوي تمهيدي للمعركة القادمة.. الجيش السوري يخطط لتحرير تدمر ومحيطها

Tadmur (Palmyra): This glorious city built by the Romans has been defiled by the gang called ISIS. It has now received a battering from Russia. Cruise missiles fired from the Caspian Sea 28 times have struck their targets all the way to the Al-Jadhal Gas Field which sits in the shadow of Al-Shaa’er Mountain. The oil and gas area to the west of Palmyra is now firmly in the grip of the Syrian Army. This was a source of income to ISIS and kept their seedy commanders sleeping in silk – until today! Their families are leaving Palmyra for the relative safety of Al-Raqqa, another city reeking with the stench of Islamist terrorists.

Today, the Russian Air Force flying brand new Sukhoi bombers attacked rat positions at Al-Qaryatayn destroying more terrorist infrastructure. A warehouse and command-control center were obliterated all the way up to Sukhna where another major HQ for ISIS was located.

I am telling you that the preparation for the attack on Palmyra is already at the go-for-it level. It will be a huge assault involving the SAA, PDC and special forces based in Al-Qutayfa near Damascus. There will be 3 areas of assault: the first will be along the Damascus-Palmyra Highway to the south; the second will involve the Homs-Palmyra Road to the West; the third will be at the Al-Qaryatayn – Al-Bayaaraat axis near the Al-Jadhal Gas Field.

The Russian Air Force is softening up the ISIS positions which would have formed the front line of defense against the attack by the SAA. However, Russia’s persistence in bombing the rats both day a night is preventing the enemy from establishing any kind of fixed defensive position to take advantage of the age-old military principle about how defense is easier than offense. ISIS is wracked with dissention and declarations of disappointment with the way Allah has treated their special kind of Jihad. Reports are flowing in of mass defections and escapes from both Al-Raqqa and Mosul/Ramaadi.

An actual photo of Russian bombers taking off from the airbase at Humaymeem.

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ARMY CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF EXPLAINS TO THE SYRIAN PEOPLE THE NEW CAMPAIGN ON THE GROUND UNDER THE COVER OF THE RUSSIAN AIR FORCE AND SEA-BASED FORCES

Lt. General, ‘Ali ‘Abdullah Ayyoob, Chief of the Syrian General Staff, speaks to the Syrian people about the coming campaign to rid Syria of rats.

This photo is from today showing General Ayyoob surrounded by high-ranking commanders in the SAA at advanced positions in northern Hama.

Syria, Iraq: Russia Shows Its Cards And Wins

He he ... Russia is now really showing off :-)

Four Russian Navy warships have fired a total of 26 missiles at the position of the terrorist group Islamic State in Syria, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu announced. The missiles were fired from the Caspian Sea.

“Four missile ships launched 26 cruise missiles at 11 targets. According to objective control data, all the targets were destroyed. No civilian objects sustained damage,” Shoigu said.
The missiles flew some 1,500 km before reaching their targets, probing their efficiency.

"And a happy birthday to you dear Vladimir Vladimirovich," Shoigu added.

These Russian Klub (3M-14 KalibrN) cruise missile, with some interesting capabilities (vid), crossed Iranian and Iraqi airspace (vid) with the consent of those countries. There is a video of the launches and pictures of the left-overs of a night of "Russian Klub'bing" in Raqqa governate.
These launches have several aims:

destroy some Islamic State assets in Syria
provide that Russia, while giving intense air support (vid, 22 bombs in 5 min) to the Syrian army in its attack in Hama, is fully committed to the larger aim of destroying the Islamic State
demonstrate that Russia can and will engage in the fight from afar should its forces in Syria be attacked. (The earlier "offer" to the U.S. to join the fight against ISIS with Tu-22M(3) long range strikers of even Tu-160 strategic bombers made a similar point.)
challenge the U.S. to take up the war against the Islamic State in a serious matter.

The U.S. command has bragged about having flown such and such thousands of sorties in its operation Inherent Resolve against the Islamic State. What it did not brag about was thatonly 20% of those sorties included a weapon release and that many of these releases were only against minor targets. Destroying an "ISIS excavator" with a guided weapon is not war fighting but very expensive pinpricking. Others also noted the differences:

In Tel Aviv, Israeli military analysts have noted that the first Russian airstrikes in Syria seem much more aggressive than those of the U.S.-led coalition.

The Russian forces have now made sure that they have all the assets in or around Syria that are needed

to prevent the earlier planned NATO no-fly zone
to generate the superior intelligence needed to destroy the AlQaeda insurgents as well as the Islamic State
to allow for a settlement of the conflict on the terms of the Syrian government and its allies.

Despite a lot of noise from U.S. politicians, any U.S. controlled "no-fly zone" is now completely out of question. The Russians though could create such a zone in Syria in no time. Already U.S. reconnaissance drones over Syria get intercepted. The announced additional U.S. weapon deliveries to some Kurds and the newly formed Syrian Arab Coalition, which is just anothercollection of unreliable looters and thieves, will do nothing to free Raqqa or have any other major impact. The Kurds will not fight outside of their territories and the thieves will just sell their weapons, travel to Germany and become "refugees".

The other "relative moderate" rebels the U.S. armed have either turned over their weapons to Al-Qaeda or joined it. The public now learns that up to 80% of the weapons the U.S. delivered to Syria have ended up in the hand of Jihadis.

Relaunching such programs again and again will not change that pattern and can no longer be publicly justified.
The U.S. and NATO also make loud noise when two Russians planes violate Turkish airspace (to test the Turkish radars and reaction times :-). But 11 nations in the U.S. coalition regularly violate Syrian airspace to pinprick ISIS and I have yet to see any "western" complaining about that. There will now be more talks between Russia and Turkey, Israel and the U.S. about avoiding air incidents. The Russians will likely simply say "just stay away."

The Russians are offering the U.S. a wider alliance than just some airspace deconfliction.

But the U.S. so far rejected that. An alliance with Russia against the Islamic State does not fit its plans of splitting Iraq and Syria into many smaller U.S. dependent entities. The Iraqis, like the Syrians, have noted that and seek a larger role for Russia. The long planned for 4+1 coalition of Russia, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Hizbollah now leads the fight against the Islamic State.

The U.S. lost the game. It should take up the Russian offer or leave the table.

Posted by b on October 7, 2015 at 08:57 AM | Permalink

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Here's a Real Doomsday Turkey For You

By Jack Perry

October 7, 2015

Well, I mentioned a Doomsday Falafel on here, so we might as well have a Doomsday Turkey since Thanksgiving is fast approaching. Yeah, I know, there’s the question of what stuffing to use on such a bird. It certainly won’t be stuffed with sanity, I’ll tell you that. But we won’t need to worry about it getting done quickly, since the flash from a nuclear weapon detonation will make that tricky cooking time guesswork a thing of the past. Whooosh! Ah, nice and crispy! Say, where’s the gravy?

A Doomsday Turkey?! Why…yes! Have you seen the news? Evidently, there’s already been a border kerfuffle between some other birds, those being Turkish F-16s and Russian aircraft. Now who didn’t see this one coming? Let’s see…the U.S. would like a reason to stick its nose into that kitchen and, gosh, isn’t Turkey a NATO nation? Gee, we could be at war over there quicker than the time it would take to make Deviled Eggs! It appears the United States is deviling other things in the region. Look at this article.

Oh, so NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told us that recent breaches of Turkish airspace by Russian warplanes were “very serious” and that “It doesn’t look like an accident, and we’ve seen two of them over the weekend.” Ah, of course, Jens, but the U.S. bombing of a HOSPITAL in Afghanistan must absolutely, positively be an accident, right? Come on, Jens, how much is the United States paying you to say that? Probably the same as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who said, “Any attack on Turkey is an attack on NATO.” Yes, of course. How very, very, very convenient for the United States. Yes, an attack on a NATO nation requires a military response from all of them. Looks like we upgraded from getting rid of Assad into a world war. I wonder how much that upgrade cost? Maybe the planet, who knows?

Gee, and we always thought we avoided that nuclear war with the good ol’ Russkies after 1991. I suppose many people within the Pentagon were disappointed. Has anyone noticed that it’s like these jokers have some kind of mass murder and collective suicide death wish?! They ought to rename the Pentagon as Jonestown, for anyone my age or older who remembers the Jonestown Mass Suicide event. I mean, it was really simple: Just stay out of the way and let Russia handle this situation. But no! Thanksgiving is on the way, so let’s have a Doomsday Turkey!

“It’s unacceptable to violate the airspace of another country,” Stoltenberg told reporters. Yeah, you know what else is unacceptable, mister? Bombing a hospital and killing innocent people! Hey, that hospital was calling you NATO guys for an HOUR and you kept right on bombing. Yeah, where are we at on THAT investigation, field marshall?!

Oh, but the Afghan Hospital Massacre was a mistake! Right, so they tell us. See, when NATO and the U.S. (but I repeat myself) fight a war, bombing a hospital is always a mistake. But let a Russian aircraft stray over the Syrian border into Turkey, oh, no, that HAS to be intentional! “The hospital was mistakenly struck. We would never intentionally target a protected medical facility.” Thus saith General John F. Campbell and we’re expected to believe that and just sweep it all under the rug as their usual “collateral damage”. Right, events that happen so often they had the invent that phrase “collateral damage” to gussy it up in a nice calico dress. But if a Russian plane strays over a border, oh, no, that’s intentional! That cannot be an accident!

Yes, the Pentagon never has forgotten their Rand Corporation study “Zen and the Art of Doomsday” and so they’ve dusted it off again. Hey, it’s a classic! We won’t need a cookbook for the Doomsday Turkey because, hey, we’ll just nuke it and it’ll take much less time than conventional methods. Who knows? We might just have a swell Thanksgiving after all! Gosh, what’ll we wear? Burial shrouds?

See, this is just so very typical of the United States. Here’s this crisis in Syria. Yes, the U.S. started it. But then it blew up, as per usual, and a whole new terrorist entity was spawned and started killing people all over the place. A refugee crisis of historic proportions was caused. The U.S. tried and failed to stop it. So Russia goes in to do so. Now, this is like someone coming over and volunteering to mow your yard for you. Does the U.S. take the great opportunity to bail out of this quagmire and remove itself from the hotseat? No! Of course not! No, the U.S. sees it as a great chance to get into a war with Russia that we weren’t able to provoke with them over in Ukraine. It’s one thing to have a death wish. But it’s quite another to have a Doomsday wish.

I mean, hey, if these people are really THAT curious about Doomsday, then they should all pack themselves away into their underground bunkers and just stay there. That’s where they’re headed anyway if they get it started. So just go ahead now, with your families, and just live there now you suicidal maniacs. We can call it a “time capsule” for crazed politicians and insane military leaders—don’t open for 1,000 years. I think this is a great solution. Those Doomsday shelters for the politicians are already paid for. We might as well get some use out of them. Yes, Politician Time Capsules. In 1,000 years, they’ll excavate them and be amazed that people were that stupid.

The Best of Jack Perry

Jack Perry [send him mail] is an arrowmaker and writer who lives in the Four Corners area of the Southwestern United States. He has been a truck driver, a purchasing agent at a now-defunct renewable energy company (don't even ask him about the "Green energy" scam), and served in the 101st Airborne Division. He spends his time practicing traditional archery, making arrows in the wilds of the Arizona high desert, and finding himself only mildly amused by the antics of the Great Father in Washington.

Previous article by Jack Perry: Killing Is the Answer

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

6 Reasons Why Russia Cares So Much About Syria

OCTOBER 7, 2015

By Brandon Turbeville

As the potential for direct military confrontation between the United States/NATO and Russia in Syria escalates by the day, the vast majority of Americans have little clue why the Russians would have ever become involved in the crisis to begin with. Undoubtedly, most of them believe what they are told through the mainstream media – that Russia is yet again acting aggressively in its plans for total world domination and the establishment of the Fourth Reich.

For many observers in the alternative media, understanding the Russian move is somewhat more sophisticated but still substantially lacking. For instance, while some simply oppose the Russian involvement on the basis of not wanting to see any further escalation, others heap lavish praise upon Putin for his decisions and present the Russian president as the potential leader for the world. At times, the adulation borders on the cult of personality, a dangerous situation regardless of the pure motives of the individual at the center of worship.

It is true that, in the recent geopolitical back and forth that has been taking place between Russia and the West, the Russians have acted entirely in self-defense and that is has been the West that has provoked the current tensions. Indeed, in the context of Syria, Iran, and Ukraine, Russia has clearly stood on the right side of history while the United States and NATO move further and further in the opposite direction.

However, while Russia has indeed acted and continues to act as a savior in Syria, Iran, and Ukraine, it is important to note that Russian foreign policy is not an act of charity and that, ultimately, Putin’s concern is centered with the fate of Russia. Whatever the world wishes to see Putin do in Syria will be subject to the geopolitical, national, and domestic interest of Russia, a stance once can scarcely criticize any national leader for maintaining.

Below are a number of reasons that Putin and Russia are so concerned with the fate of Syria.

1.) The Pipeline

The West has long desired a Qatari pipeline project that would stem from the oil fields of Qatar and traverse Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, and Turkey before making its way to Europe. Besides the obvious benefits for Qatar and the basic addition of another source of oil and gas for Europe, the pipeline would represent a substantial reduction in the amount of leverage Russia currently holds over Europe. As of today, Russia is the main provider of the majority of Europe’s oil and gas. If the EU decides to act too provocatively in its eastern regions, Ukraine, or other areas of the Russian sphere of influence, Russia has the trump card of being able to turn off the oil and gas spigot, leaving Europe in the dark and cold. Europe would then be left with few options in the short to medium term other than to come around to Russia’s way of thinking. With the development of the Qatari pipeline, however, that trump card would be removed as Europe would then simply open the Qatari spigot further to make up for what was lost when the Russians cut there’s off. In that event, Russia would also be deprived of a substantial amount of oil and gas-related income.

Assad nixed the Qatari pipeline idea back in 2009 in favor of the Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline that would have seen oil and gas coming from Iran through Iraq and Syria and on into Europe. While not directly beneficial to Russia’s oil company Gazprom, the pipeline is one that is owned and operated by Russian allies who are generally beholden to Russian support in the United Nations Security Council and military support when faced with NATO/American war efforts. The Russian leverage over Europe would thus largely still exist and the “out” provided by Qatar would be prevented.

2.) The Warm Water Port

The quest for warm water ports has long played a major role in Russian foreign policy history. Currently, Russia boasts of a number of those ports – Sevastopol, Crimea, and Tartus.

The Syrian port of Tartus has no doubt been a major force behind Russian support of Assad and Syria throughout the crisis. Up until this point, however, the Russians only controlled a portion of the Tartus port. Recently, however, in concert with Russian military involvement, Russia now controls virtually the entire port. The control of the entirety of the Tartus port most certainly sweetened the deal in terms of Russian involvement. This new development has caused many to wonder whether or not Russia was able to squeeze greater control of the Tartus port out of Assad at a critical moment when Syria needed Russian help the most. It is also worth mentioning of the development of a Russian airbase in Latakia, a port city in its own right.

3.) Strategic Influence

Strategic influence plays a major role in the Russian decision as well. Syria has been in its “sphere of influence” for quite some time, but it has also acted one of the last Russian outposts in the Middle East after the fall of the Soviet Union. Russia does not want to lose this asset, with its pipeline potential, buffering qualities against Western aggression, and, of course, the warm water port. Furthermore, a closer alliance with Syria portends a closer alliance with Iran, the last country on the chessboard to fall before the assault begins on Russia and China proper. Russia’s alliance with Iran is a separate discussion but, suffice it to say that a greater alliance with Iran is to Russia’s distinct advantage and the close alliance with Syria facilitates that needed alliance with Iran. Likewise, with its entrance into the fight against ISIS, Russia has solidified good relationships with Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Hezbollah.

4.) The Domino Theory

As mentioned above, Russia is presumably aware of the strategy being used against it – i.e. the attempt to chip away at all nations that resist the dictates of the NATO power structure and, in particular, areas of Russian alliance and influence before finally turning its sights directly on Russia itself. The creeping moves to gradually surround Russia cannot go unnoticed. If Syria falls, so falls Hezbollah. Iran will be isolated. Once Iran falls, there is little else left beyond Russia itself. Putin will then see the increase of terrorism in Russian territories and a greater push east by NATO in Ukraine. In essence, Russia is attempting to prevent the dominoes from falling.

5.) Fighting Terrorism Abroad

The use of Islamic fundamentalists as proxy fighters in Syria long ago raised the eyebrows of Russian leaders because, if for no other reason, that a number of Chechen fighters were flocking to the Middle East in order to engage in Jihad. The fear was not only that they would return to Russia and begin launching terror attacks but that the networks that control both Middle Easter jihadists and the Chechen variety would begin directing their proxies to attack Russia inside Russia, i.e. Chechnya and even farther inside the country. With the constant threat of Western-backed Chechen fighters in Russia launching attacks inside the country in the forefront, Turkey and the puppet government of Ukraine recently collaborated in the creation of “Muslim brigades” to be used against Russia in Crimea and other areas surrounding or in Russia. Thus, Russia is attempting to “fight ISIS abroad so they don’t have to fight them at home” by destroying an organized structure that may exist in Syria and hopefully reducing the number of dupes, fanatics, and psychopaths in absolute number.

6.) Turkish Expansion

While perhaps not the most extensive threat by any means, Turkey is attempting to spread its influence across the Middle East and Asia, a theatre that includes Russia as a target as well. While Turkey has provided Yeomen’s service in the agenda of NATO and the Anglo-Americans, it is clear that megalomaniacs like Erdoghan have pipe dreams of re-establishing the Ottoman Empire. These dreams are, in reality, delusions. However, these dreams make Turkey dangerous in the meantime, particularly to Russia. The attempt to promote Uyghur terrorism in Asia, in and around Russia’s Asian/Eurasian borders, and Tatar terror in Crimea is reason enough for Russia to attempt to crush Turkey’s plan for Syria.

***

While Russia’s position in Syria is, without a doubt beneficial to the Syrian people, it should not be romanticized that the Russian government is simply sitting at home watching the crisis unfold, overcome with concern for the victims of the war. The truth is that many factors have come into play in this regard. We should not allow ourselves to assume that world leaders are concerned with all of the same issues as the people they “lead.”

Still, it is without question that, in regards to Syria, Ukraine, and virtually the entire geopolitical angle, Russia finds itself on the right side of history. As observers, activists, and people of the world, we must support these efforts where they match up with our own agenda and principles, and be prepared to oppose them when they do not.

Image Credit

Brandon Turbeville – article archive here – is an author out of Florence, South Carolina. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from Francis Marion University and is the author of six books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, Five Sense Solutions and Dispatches From a Dissident, volume 1 and volume 2, The Road to Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault on Syria, and The Difference it Makes: 36 Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Should Never Be President. Turbeville has published over 500 articles dealing on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville’s podcast Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST atUCYTV. He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

CIA Interventions in Syria: A Partial Timeline

By Michael S. Rozeff

October 6, 2015

This partial timeline provides evidence that the U.S. government and Obama in particular bear a significant responsibility for the Syrian war and the results of that war. Obama approved elements of CIA plans that go back over 65 years. The CIA meddling is distinct from the Pentagon’s failed plan to train moderate rebels, not covered in this timeline.

1940s and 1950s “…if you want to understand the origins of authoritarian rule in Syria today, it is important to go back to the 1940s and the 1950s and see the role the CIA played in that land.” See also here, p. 122: “In the late 1940’s, U.S. policymakers grew alarmed when the Syrian government, bowing to public pressure, refused to let a U.S. oil company build a pipeline through its territory. Washington also found the strong anti-Western sentiment and the large Communist party in the country ominous. Concerned that Syria was ‘drifting leftward’, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) laid plans to overthrow its three-year old civilian government.” CIA operatives met with right-wing military leaders in Damascus to discuss installing a “military-supported dictatorship”.

1947-1948 CIA attempts “to influence the 1947-8 elections by backing right-wing figures in the Nationalist Party…”

March, 1949 CIA sponsors Syrian coup d’etat; CIA directly involved.

1957 CIA and MI6 devise plan to assassinate 3 top Syrian leaders and overthrow the government. “…they planned to use agents provocateurs to launch a series of incidents.” “A ‘Free Syria Committee’ should be funded and ‘political factions with paramilitary or other actionist capabilities’ in Syria should be armed.” [Does this sound familiar?] See also here.

2006-2011 Prior to the onset of the Syrian war, the U.S. stirs up opposition to Syrian government (Assad). An April 18, 2011 article reads “Newly released WikiLeaks cables reveal that the US State Department has been secretly financing Syrian opposition groups and other opposition projects for at least five years, The Washington Post reports.”

March 2011 Daraa violence launches Syrian war. “The Daraa ‘protest movement’ on March 17-18 had all the appearances of a staged event involving covert support to Islamic terrorists by Mossad and/or Western intelligence.” “In Daraa, roof top snipers were targeting both police and demonstrators.” [Notice that this technique also occurred in the Kiev, Ukraine violence.] See also here.

August 18, 2011 Obama says Assad must go. “President Obama and European leaders called Thursday for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to resign, after months of his violent crackdown on protesters. The rhetorical escalation was backed by new U.S. sanctions designed to undermine Assad’s ability to finance his military operation.”

August 1, 2012 “Obama authorizes secret support for Syrian rebels”. “The full extent of clandestine support that agencies like the CIA might be providing also is unclear.”

October 2, 2013 “The CIA is expanding a clandestine effort to train opposition fighters in Syria amid concern that moderate, U.S.-backed militias are rapidly losing ground in the country’s civil war, U.S. officials said.” “The pace of the CIA program amounts to a trickle into the ranks of opposition fighters, who total about 100,000. U.S. intelligence officials said that as many as 20,000 of those are considered ‘extremists’ with militant Islamist agendas.”
“Those hard-line factions have drained momentum and support from moderate rebel groups. The most prominent Islamist groups, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Jabhat al-Nusra, include fighters who have extensive experience from the war in Iraq, have ties to al-Qaeda and have carried out high-profile strikes against Assad’s government.”

April 23, 2014 “The U.S. is providing more arms and training to the moderate rebels in Syria, under a growing secret program run by the CIA in Jordan.” “Skeptics doubt the U.S. effort will help much, given the weakened state of the opposition and the inroads made by al-Qaida fighters. The moderate fighters being supported currently have relatively little influence on the ground.”

Oct. 2, 2015 “The CIA has provided the thousands of fighters it has trained at secret bases in Jordan with communications equipment, intelligence support and arms, including antitank missiles. Those CIA-backed fighters reentered Syria across that country’s southern border with Jordan, but many have made their way into units that are now arrayed north and east of Damascus — areas that have been pounded by Russian strikes over the past several days.”
In my opinion, the most serious U.S. meddling is what the Wikileaks cables reveal, which is the State Department’s organization of domestic opposition to its elected government. This provoked the revolution that started in Daraa, and that provided an opening for radical and armed Muslim elements to enter the battle. Next in importance is Obama’s position that Assad must go, because this guides the entry of the CIA and Pentagon into the war while committing the U.S. to a politically untenable and impossible course of attempting to reconstitute a new government among radical and rival forces if and when Assad falls or rebel forces gain control. Undetermined but significant amounts of arms and training have ended up flowing to ISIS and other radical groups that the U.S. cannot control, and these forces can’t be dislodged without bigger military commitments by the U.S. Neither the CIA’s activities nor the Pentagon’s failed training program have resulted in control over the battlefield or those groups, which have expanded control over Syrian territory.

Why did Obama intervene in Syria? There are four main reasons and they are not mutually exclusive. One reason is “democracy promotion”. This appears again and again in his rhetoric and that of the State department, where “democracy” is taken to mean “rights” among other things. Obama viewed Assad as standing in the way of the Syrian people. Obama’s intention to bomb Syria when he accused Assad of using chemical weapons brought out a version of this position in his concern for violations of international law.

Obama has an idea of world order and the U.S. role in enforcing it. Obama’s position on the Arab Spring also showed this democracy promotion concern. The second reason is to thwart Iran in order to maintain U.S. dominance in the region. Related to this is U.S. support for Saudi Arabia and Gulf states who have also supported rebel elements in Syria as well as support for Turkey. The U.S. leads a coalition. The third reason is Israel’s influence in administration circles and on Capitol Hill. The fourth reason is to thwart Russia’s influence in Syria and deny it access to the Mediterranean. This appears to have backfired.

These are all reasons associated with Empire. Maintaining and extending the U.S. Empire is the dominant underlying and unquestioned assumption in all of this and in all of the meddling going on in other countries. It is the idea that American ways are superior and should be extended over the globe to create some kind of world order that’s in some sense vaguely utopian or reaches a kind of ever-progressing ascent to God only knows what. There is no real benefit to us average everyday Americans from any of this government meddling in Syria. We can ascend on our own. We can progress or regress on our own, without such interference. We do not need to bring down Assad and replace him with phantom moderates of the choosing of the State Department, the CIA or a president. We can invent, paint, write and play music, plant and cultivate crops, build dwellings, travel, participate in sports, take recreational drugs, have sex, play computer games, write poetry and do innumerable other activities without notions of empire, foreign meddling, or even progress. Who is to say what anyone is to do but themselves?

Why would I or many sane Americans want to bother with who rules Syria or how they rule it? It’s not my province. It’s none of my business. How in the world can I know whether I’m doing any good if I decide to butt in?

The government doesn’t think this way. It’s composed of people who want to meddle and run for office for that very reason. They are arrogant enough to think that they know what’s good for everyone when they don’t know diddly-squat. Who are they but pompous babbling fools? The CIA attracts smart people who love to work by schemes and subterfuges behind the scenes. These are power freaks who love playing byzantine games and relish manipulations. Why should any sane American want to allow these kinds of people to have access to ungodly amounts of money and power that they waste on their futile and very dangerous schemes that kill, maim and destroy?

The Best of Michael S. Rozeff

Michael S. Rozeff [send him mail] is a retired Professor of Finance living in East Amherst, New York. He is the author of the free e-book Essays on American Empire: Liberty vs. Domination and the free e-book The U.S. Constitution and Money: Corruption and Decline.

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