ROI = Return on Investment
The US seems to be uneasy about the loss of human life in the Idlib region of Syrian that is under mainly al-Queda control along with elements of the Free Syrian Army. It is not enough that elements of the US’s deep state lit the fuse on this conflict back in 2011 that has to date claimed the lives of over 500,000 civilians and caused millions of people to become refugees by destroying their means to live peacefully in their communities.
Moon of Alabama (MOA) has noted in this article that the US is determined to create a quagmire that Syria/Russia/Iran will have trouble with, while today’s article from MOA gets real specific as to the agenda the US wants here:
U.S. President Trump added another warning against the Idelb operation:
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump – 22:20 utc – 3 Sep 2018
“President Bashar al-Assad of Syria must not recklessly attack Idlib Province. The Russians and Iranians would be making a grave humanitarian mistake to take part in this potential human tragedy. Hundreds of thousands of people could be killed. Don’t let that happen!”Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dunford, also chipped in:
“We don’t see any way that significant military operations are going to be beneficial to the people of Syria,” Dunford told reporters during a trip to Athens. “If major military operations take place we can expect humanitarian catastrophe and I think we would all want to see that be avoided,” …
…
Pressed about the best course, Dunford said: “More of a discussion between the Turks, the Syrians and the Russians at more precise counterterrorism operations — as opposed to large scale conventional operations — would be the right approach.”The U.S. is not a friend of the people of Syria…
So the last line is the key line of logic that MOA offers and rightly so. Why would anyone listen to an entity that has spent seven years trespassing on Syrian soil, supplying any rebel group hostile to the legitimate Assad government with support both direct and indirect (thanks McCain, Clinton, Obama and Trump) is THE question one must ask!
The “advice” offered by the US administration is NOT helpful to the Syrian people, BUT to the US’s agenda as stated by MOA just a few days ago:
The U.S. is not only spoiling the military operations against the terrorists in Syria. It is trying to hamper any reconstruction and the return of refugees. Reconstruction is made more difficult by the devious sanction regime of the U.S. and EU.
So let us talk about all the lies being thrown at this. OK, we don’t have time for ALL the lies, so let’s just nail down a few:
First, the US asking what the heck is Iran doing in Syria?
The semi-permanent U.S. occupation of north-east Syria will be used in a new (and futile) attempt to achieve the long held U.S. aim of regime change. Secretary of Defense Mattis declared as much in a recent press conference. Asked about Iran in Syria he said:
“What are they doing in Syria in the first place, other than propping up someone who has committed mayhem and murder on his own people?
They have no business there. And our goal is to move the Syria civil war into the Geneva process so the Syrian people can establish a new government that is not led by Assad and give them a chance for a future that Assad has denied them, with — with overt Russian and Iranian support.”If Iran, a treaty ally invited by the legitimate Syrian government, has ‘no business’ in Syria what business does the uninvited U.S. invasion force have?
Exactly, typical of a people group that believe American Exceptionalism allows them multiple levels of hypocrisy, it is laughable that US leaders could even think like this. The US has been the uninvited “guest” for seven years in another country .. what the HELL is the US there for?
Second, when US military leadership starts talking about ISIS again:
Asked about the prospect of U.S. troops in Syria Mattis said:
“[L]et me give three points here. One, we have to destroy ISIS. The president’s been very clear that — that ISIS is to be taken out, so that’s got to happen. We also have to have trained local troops who can take over. We’re doing that training as we speak. As we uncover ground, the chairman’s got people assigned there specifically to train the locals. And third, we need the Geneva process, the U.N.-recognized process to start making traction towards solving this war.
Now, if the locals are able to keep the security, obviously during this time we might be reducing our troops commensurate with their ability to meet — deny ISIS a return, but it really comes down to finding a way to solve this problem of Assad’s making.”The claim that the U.S. is there to fight ISIS is a lie. ISIS is still active in two places in Syria. Both are under U.S. control.
On the east side of the Euphrates, near Al-Bukamal, ISIS holds several villages and the city of Hajin with originally some 40,000 inhabitants. The U.S. and its Kurdish controlled proxy force SDF stopped attacking those ISIS position in November 2017.
How is it that the US military and political leadership just make statements about stuff and they BECOME truth? That is truly exceptional! Epic BS.
On June 6 Mattis announced that the attack on ISIS in Hajin had re-commenced but there was zero news of any fighting. Instead ISIS forces from Hajin crossed the Euphrates and attacked Syrian government positions. Further imminent attacks on ISIS in Hajin were announced by the U.S. proxy forces on July 13 and on August 14. None happened.
Again, the US announces something they want the world to believe, 90% of the American people believe it .. but nothing happens. The people on the ground know the reality, but this is fake news all over again.
For ten month now ISIS sits unmolested in Hajin and the nearby areas. According to (pdf) the UN Sanctions Monitoring Team it is again extracting and selling oil and “earning millions of dollars per month”. ISIS attacks from Hajin on Syrian government forces west of the Euphrates continue.
The other ISIS concentration in Syria is around the al-Tanf border crossing between Syria and Iraq which is also under illegal U.S. control. The nearby Rukban refugee camp, with allegedly 50,000 inhabitants, is housing many ISIS families. Last week the Syrian army prevented an attack from the U.S. controlled area towards Palmyra ..
.. The U.S. is not fighting ISIS in Syria. It is building semi-permanent bases, trains a large proxy force, and controls Syria’s oilfields. Its aim is still regime change, the same aim it had when it launched the war on Syria seven and a half years ago.
Do you doubt that? Try on this quote:
As CIA and Pentagon mouthpiece David Ignatius wrote this week:
“[T]he administration has stopped the dithering and indecision of the past 18 months and signaled that the United States has enduring interests in Syria, beyond killing Islamic State terrorists — and that it isn’t planning to withdraw its Special Operations forces from northeastern Syria anytime soon.
“Right now, our job is to help create quagmires [for Russia and the Syrian regime] until we get what we want,” says one administration official, explaining the effort to resist an Idlib onslaught. This approach involves reassuring the three key U.S. allies on Syria’s border — Israel, Turkey and Jordan — of continued American involvement. …”
It is not nor has it ever been about the Syrian people, “democracy” or about innocent civilians being killed. It is ONLY about the US’s agenda of regime change to continue to destabilize the Middle East until it “gets what it wants” = ROI (a return on the US investment into all the rebel groups in Syria!)
Delaying the Syrian/Russian/Iranian operation in Idlib only continues to expose the civilian population trapped there to this:
[The Idlib] province is ruled by al-Qaeda:
“H.T.S. has controlled much of Idlib since 2015, acting as de facto governmental authority, facilitating trade across the long border with Turkey and organizing aid deliveries.”
The “de-facto governmental authority” HTS is known to publicly execute women accused of adultery. It “facilitates trade” by taxing it to finance its terrorist activities. It “organizing aid deliveries” by talking half of any aid that is brought in. That is the reason why the Inspector General of USAID recently shut down its aid program in Idleb.
What a bully state to say that civilians must endure this MONTHS longer because the US wants something out of this. How can anyone salute that flag (US) or say the pledge after hearing this? The flag is indeed a symbol of the state, not the people. It has been made “holy” by decree of the state as has its military that gets paid to spread the PR before every major sporting event in this country JUST to remind you of its place in your life .. to be your god.
In the meantime:
The U.S. is massively expanding its positions in north-east Syria. More than 1,600 trucks with new equipment arrived over the last month. The U.S. now has 18 bases in north-east Syria, 6 of which have their own landing strips. The media continue to claim the the U.S. has 2,000 soldiers in the north-east. The real number is more than double or triple of that. It is quite obvious that the U.S. is settling in with the intent to split the north-east from the rest of Syria, similar to what it did with the creation of a Kurdish entity in northern Iraq.
Do you feel like you have to puke yet? I do, this is not honorable, none of this is honorable. What happened to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”? (Golden Rule) Or how about this?:
