So with ISIS on the scene (Islamic State of Iraq and SYRIA) why is no one talking of Syria? Is Syria not also under attack by ISIS extremists?
Yes, I know Bashir el-Assad is a villain right up there with Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo. Torturer. Killer. A user of poison gas. Friend of Hezbollah, the Ayatollahs and Vladimir Putin. Implacable enemy of Israel.
We are so worried about Iraq we even trotted out the likes of Wolfowitz and Cheney this week – the whore media conveniently forgetting how they got us into Iraq in the first place. Like they might have a solution. Jeez.
Syria is also under attack. Ask those million or so refugees living in U.N. sponsored camps in Jordan. Maybe we’re not talking of Syria because we and our Western European lackey allies supported and funded the “regime change” against Syria, much as we did against Ghadaffi. I guess we thought Jeffersonian democracy was going to rise out of the ashes of Ghadaffi’s regime in full flower. Right.
What we got in Libya is a powerless central government with vast swathes of the country run by armed militias who don’t like each other.
What makes us think that if Assad falls we would get anything else but ISIS? We can’t seem to find any “moderates” among the Syrian “insurgents” to support anyway. No one else can either. And we knew it. That’s why we didn’t send outright military aid.
We do not speak of Syria because we have so demonized Assad that a complete flip flop will make us look bad. On the other hand he is now clearly the lesser of two evils.
And he’s a London trained ophthalmologist, speaks fluent English and French, is married to an intelligent humorous British born woman and is a doting father to his children. While himself an Alawite (an offshoot of Shia Islam) he has protected in a limited way the tiny Jewiish community in Syria and the much larger Christian community. His government is essentially secular and many minorities have thrived under Assad’s rule. It would certainly be better for Syria (and us) if Assad continued to rule as the alternative to ISIS. See? We can rehabilitate Assad in the MSM!
Assad has met privately with John Kerry half a dozen times. They even had a dinner together along with their wives in a posh Washington restaurant. Kerry knows Assad. Maybe it’s time for another meeting.
And let’s start calling the ISIS “insurgency” what it is – yes they are Sunni – but more specifically they are Wahabists – supported and funded by our good friends and allies the Saudis, Qataris and Kuwaitis, all Wahabists. Let’s point the finger where it belongs. Of course we knew all along they were supporting the Syrian “insurgency” and only started to worry when the “insurgency” spilled over the now non-existent border with Iraq.
The dismemberment of Iraq is becoming more and more likely. Just yesterday Turkey announced it would now support an independent state for Iraqi Kurds –
after decades of firm opposition to any sort of “Kurdistan”.
Today the headlines read that we have withdrawn our support from al-Maliki in Iraq and are now seeking to support someone “more inclusive”. I guess his days are numbered.
What a mess.
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photo: http://egyptianstreets.com/2013/08/27/syrian-crisis-stories-not-learned-from-iraq/
There are a lot of theories being advanced for Obama’s real motivation in allowing the US-backed ISIS (a lot of them have US passports, for god’s sake: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27844749) to take control of northern Iraq.
Storm Clouds Gathering advances the theory that Obama would use drone strikes against ISIS as a backdoor way of using drones in Syria (which Congress has refused to authorize): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey9tExYbjm8
In Syria, they would more likely be directed against Assad’s forces.
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Hi Doc – I guess we will see. Interesting that I had to approve your comment before it got posted. Tsk tsk. 🙂 Regards
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