12 October 2016

The Syria Swindle and its Dangers

Led by the State Department, elements within the US Establishment are clamouring for greater involvement within the Syria War. Putin and Assad are being accused of war crimes and the media is doing all it can to escalate the tension.
The truth is the US has been behind the Syrian 'uprising' since the beginning. It's been a mostly bogus proxy war and was instigated by the United States and key NATO allies. They have flooded the conflict with weapons, money and fighters.
And yet, it's near collapse. Their Islamist (often al Qaeda affiliated) militias are near collapse. These are the fighters (arranged under multiple structures) that have beheaded children, terrorised and murdered civilians and engaged in other deeds equally worthy of the 'war crimes' label.

Aleppo it would seem is turning into something of a last stand. This is apart from the Kurdish zone located to Aleppo's east. The US-Islamist militias are trapped and near defeat. The majority of them are al Nusra/al Qaeda but the Western media won't acknowledge this even when US officials do.
The colonel later tried to retract his statement but again for those paying attention it wasn't news.
The Syrian government's reassertion of control over Aleppo will more or less end the Salafi quest to overthrow Assad. It will not resolve the Kurdish issue in the Northeast, nor ISIS in the East and South, but it will mean a complete collapse of the US project to oust Assad which began in 2011.
Obama is thinking about his legacy. If the plan fails, and symbolically just as he leaves office, then it's a serious mark against his policy and memory. And yet an intervention at this point is risky and potentially disruptive in terms of US domestic politics. There are indications that the National Security Council (NSC) is preparing to act running the risk of escalating the war and bringing the United States into direct conflict with Russia. They may decide the situation is so dire that it cannot wait for a new Clinton administration to take over.
All parties are to blame for the bloodshed, especially those who started the fighting and yet the US certainly bears a great deal of the blame for the perpetuation of this conflict. In fact a case could be made that most of the blame ultimately lies with the warmongering militarists who guide the ship of American imperialism. They would blame Russia, but Putin was brought in by Assad's government after the fact and certainly after a great deal of blood had already been shed. For the Assad regime, the call to Putin was one of desperation. By 2015, Putin already knew the score with NATO and was happy to help, happy to stick his finger in their eye.
In reality as Seymour Hersh reported in 2007, this US project goes back to the original Neo-Conservative (PNAC) agenda under Bush. In the same year Wesley Clark made us aware that he had knowledge of a larger plan to invade multiple countries. This agenda has been retained and perpetuated by the Obama administration. This adds but another dark element to this larger tale and drives one to question the very nature of Obama's presidency.
It's a confusing war to be sure and in many ways significantly transcends Syria itself. Sadly, a great deal of the mainstream media and even activist media in pushing their audiences to support regime change have failed to take the larger context into account. The conflict is inseparable from the wider geopolitical struggle with Russia, and the US project with regard to the Middle East at large. This is about US goals in a post-9/11 world and to understand that, one needs to revisit the doctrinal discussions and objectives laid out in the 1990s. Only in light of the Soviet Union's fall can you properly understand the lead up and response to 9/11, the state of the world today, as well as US policy vis-à-vis Europe, Russia, the Middle East and China. Brzezinski's metaphor has proven apt, a grand chessboard.
The entire Syrian War has been a swindle. It's a sham that's been perpetrated on Western audience, and of course a barbarous crime committed against the people of Syria. And depending on what happens over the next few weeks it may escalate.
Establishment media is even under good circumstances somewhat deceptive but there are seasons in which the 'spin machine' goes into overdrive. The 18 months between 9/11 and the Iraq invasion was one particularly poignant period that demonstrated both media deception and collusion with the Imperial Establishment.
And right now we are engaged in another. The coverage with regard to the US election, Russia and Syria are enough to leave any reasonably informed person all but gasping and sputtering. The lies and distortions are enough to beggar belief. It's a challenge not to get angry.
Hillary Clinton, the Establishment favourite continues to advocate for no-fly zones in Syria. And yet she also continues to deceive about her level of commitment and involvement in the Syrian conflict. She pretends that her goals will be accomplished without US forces engaged in ground combat. This cannot be.
Even US generals have acknowledged that no-fly zones mean a larger war and one with Russia no less. Clinton herself has acknowledged (privately) that massive numbers of civilians will die. Establishing these 'no fly' and 'safe' zones is not just a tactic to curtail the present battle grind. It's a new strategic phase in the war, essentially a new war that would now bring the US directly into the conflict. It's not just a few airplanes flying around. A no-fly zone involves not just Air Superiority but Air Supremacy a concept which demands a very substantial US commitment. We're talking a large sustained operation involving thousands upon thousands of US troops in support roles. Ultimately if so-called 'Safe Zones' are to be created they will necessarily include troops stationed on the ground. John Kerry indicated they would require 15-30,000 US troops. They would be needed as Syria remains an active battle zone and has already been demonstrated, ISIS is not the type of enemy that can be defeated from the air. The existing militias cannot be utilised. US officials won't say why but the reason is clear. The NATO allied Islamist militias are just as much a terror to the civilian population as ISIS is.
And as far as utilising the KurdishYPG to protect the safe zones, the Turks won't have it.
The people of the West are being subject to a PR or propaganda campaign rooted in the humanitarian lie that has become the favourite 'fall-back' position of the US/NATO alliance when all other arguments seem to fail.
For years US coverage has been dominated by the misinformation and distortion flowing from CIA-NATO proxies and mouthpieces that are manipulating the narrative to fit the PR campaign.
Now that many have come to doubt the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the new and perhaps more effective tool is the so-called White Helmets who are being heaped with accolades and praise even while they are an arm of Western intelligence and defense interests.
Finally, US charges of criminality directed at Russia and Assad are exercises in hypocrisy of the greatest magnitude. The US has fomented and stoked the war and many civilian deaths are the result of their actions and that of the proxy forces they have supported. In many cases it is US backed militias which have prevented civilians escaping the war zone. Essentially the US is using civilians as human shields and then relying on the propaganda mill to exploit their suffering and death.
This article captured my frustration listening to the framing of the question by the CNN moderator during the second presidential 'debate'.
These swindles are nothing new. This was also going on during the 1990s, during both the Bosnian War and the later Kosovo campaign. I remember being exasperated going to church in hearing exhortations and misguided politicised prayers from the pulpit. And yet these were the days before high-speed internet. We had the internet to be sure and that's how I kept abreast of what was going on but it's of a different character today. All of this is happening at a different pace.
During the Gulf War of 1990-1991, I bought into the propaganda. I was a good patriot and swallowed all of it. The same was true with Panama. It's amazing, every single incident is riddled with lies and distortions. The Internet was supposed to liberate us from the deception and I suppose to some degree it has but it's a two-edged sword and the war machine is also using it to great effect.


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