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The corporate media is talking about sudden gains from “opposition forces” in Syria as though this just happened spontaneously and doesn’t have Western fingerprints all over it.
The US and its allies have been arming and training so-called “moderate rebels” in Syria since 2011, spending hundreds of millions of dollars, but are now acting like this latest round of violence is nothing to do with us.
First things first, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group that was formed from the “moderate rebels” and is now attacking Aleppo, is anything but moderate. HTS is designated as a terror group by the US, UK and UN. Its leader, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, founded the Syrian branch of Al-Qaida in 2010 and is the former deputy to ISIS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The US admits it has concerns about HTS, but said it won’t cry about the fact the terror group is fighting against Assad. That sounds like an admission they’re rooting for the terrorists while pretending to care about Syrians. The US has seized the wheat and oil-producing regions of Syria, plunging the civilian population into poverty. Needless to say, you don’t impoverish people that you care about.
Given Assad can count on the military support of Russia and Iran, his government is unlikely to collapse any time soon. Russia is currently bombing HTS positions in Syria and Iran is sending large numbers of fighters. All this latest round of fighting is likely to achieve is more bloodshed and instability, but our leaders know this, of course.
Abu Mohammed al-Golani officially renounced Al-Qaida in 2016, presumably to appease his Western backers, but the man is clearly everything the West is supposed to be against. He once ran a religious police force that imposed a modest dress code for women, something that is apparently only bad when Iran does it. Remember this, the next time neoliberals tell you the “moderate rebels” are fighting for freedom and democracy.
Turkey has been accused of reconstituting various terror groups in Syria into an army, essentially rebranding al-Qaida, ISIS, and al-Nusra as HTS. This is an allegation Turkey strenuously denies, with the Turkish foreign minister placing the blame on the US.
The US deserves a huge amount of the blame, given it has backed 21 of the 28 “anti-government militias” in Syria, according to Turkish thinktank SETA. Many of these “moderate rebels” went on to behead Kurdish captives and threaten civilians to convert to a Wahhabi strain of Sunni Islam.
Hillary Clinton blamed President Trump for the atrocities, even though she pushed for the arming and training of the militias, along with then-Prime Minister (and now President) Erdogan.
Turkey’s role in this conflict has been inconsistent, at times claiming to fight ISIS, and at other times supporting al-Nusra and the Free Syrian Army. The Turkish government has even criticised the designation of al-Nusra as a terrorist organisation.
Turkey has reportedly given free healthcare to ISIS and al-Qaida militants, including the terror groups’ leadership. 68% of Turks oppose their government’s policies in Syria and 47% see the Free Syrian Army (ex-Syrian soldiers linked to terrorism) as the enemy.
Arab media claims Turkey brought thousands of Uyghurs from Xinjiang to help al-Nusra fight Assad, another claim Turkey denies. Fighters from across central Asia have passed through Turkey into Syria via the so-called Jihadi highway. This route enabled 30,000 jihadists to join the fight against Assad in 2014 alone.
The US and Israel have been working with ISIS and al-Qaida for years, meaning a rebrand of the terror groups is most convenient for them. HTS have been quite open about the fact that Israelis have nothing to fear from them, with one fighter telling Kan News: “Brother, you should be afraid of Bashar al-Assad, Iran and Hezbollah.”
HTS has promised to deal with Hezbollah and this makes perfect sense when you consider the following:
Let’s be honest, it’s rather embarrassing to admit you’re on the side of the people you once said were so evil, you had no choice but to carpet-bomb the entire Middle East. Honestly, I’m struggling to keep up here…
The Zionists are accusing Syria of bombing its own hospitals because bombing hospitals is only good when Israel does it. They are even suggesting the Islamist terrorists might be okay now. The truth is the violence in Aleppo plays into the hands of Israel as it tries to isolate Hezbollah and weaken the so-called axis of resistance.
One stupid take Zionists are putting forward is, “Oh, you oppose the moderate rebels? You must be an Assad lover!” It brings back heart warming memories of being called a Saddam sympathiser back in the early 2000s.
Disappointingly, some liberals with watermelon emojis are cheering for the “resistance”, and others are placing emphasis on their dislike for Assad, the implication being that HTS is preferable. Now I’m fine with people disliking Assad, but thinking HTS would be better for Syrians is frankly batshit.
Even Middle East Eye appeared to get in on the resistance BS with tweets such as this one:
The sudden wave of support for HTS poses an interesting dilemma for British police who have been arresting anyone they perceive as supporting a proscribed organisation. Both Al Qaida and ISIS are proscribed organisations in the UK, and the government considers HTS to be an alternative name for al-Qaida. Does this mean Zionists will be arrested if they support these groups in the UK? Or will they get a free pass now that the terrorists are on our side?
Anyone who thinks overthrowing Assad would turn Syria into a stable and harmonious democracy is frankly delusional. The fact is this insurgency wouldn’t have lasted 30 seconds without Western support - we are the terrorists here. I’ve seen grotesque takes from neoliberals about how we should do regime change and carve up Syria. When has regime change ever worked out well?
Our interventions in the Middle East gave birth to ISIS and allowed the terror group to sweep through Iraq in 2014. Wikileaks published documents that showed US national security advisor Jake Sullivan telling Hillary Clinton that al-Qaida is on our side in Syria - and who could forget this classic headline?
The “moderate rebels” on our side in Syria are hoping to create an Islamic state in the vein of the Zionist ethnostate. I’ve made this point many times, but Islamism and Zionism are two sides of the same coin. The last thing anyone should want for Syrians is an Islamic state, or the more likely scenario of a never-ending war which is the real goal of the West.