US Exploited Assad's Fight Against Al-Qaeda
By Daniel McAdams
September 26, 2015 "Information
Clearing House" - "RPI"-
The US government has been relying on its
standard narrative that the Syria crisis emerged spontaneously after
an "Arab Spring" inspired protest was violently suppressed by the
Syrian government. The entire US intervention was justified on these
grounds. Thus the Obama Administration, as it did in Ukraine, has
attempted to disavow any role in fomenting the uprising and thus any
responsibility for the violence that ensued.
But like much else in US foreign policy the narrative is wholly
false, constructed to propagandize the American people in favor of
US intervention and shield the US government from any fallout.
In fact the US government had long had its sights on regime change
in Syria, starting at least with the Project for a New American
Century's
plan peddled to George W. Bush to overthrow five countries in
five years and remake the entire Middle East. The neocons always
like to think big, but like any slimy salesman they never deliver as
promised. Their Iraq "cakewalk" proved a deathwalk.
In 2006, according to a secret State Department cable made public by
Wikileaks, US Embassy Damascus drafted an
extensive memo outlining nine "vulnerabilities" of the Syrian
government with corresponding "possible actions" on how the US can
exploit these "vulnerabilities" to destabilize the government of
Syria.
The State Department cable was authored by William V. Roebuck, who
was at the time the Political Counselor at the US Embassy in
Damascus. Roebuck has since been rewarded for his "good work" on
destabilizing Syria and now serves as US Ambassador to Bahrain,
where one presumes his role is rather the opposite of what it was in
Syria.
Roebuck's bio
suggests he has been somewhat of a regime change rock star: He
managed the fallout from US regime change operations in Egypt,
Libya, and Iraq, with a stint at the US Embassy in Israel as well.
What did Roebuck advise the US to do to Syria in 2006? Exploit the
Syrian government's fight against Islamist extremists in attempt to
undermine Assad's position in the region.
That's right: use Syria's fight against al-Qaeda against it.
Perhaps it's best to let Roebuck speak for himself. The Syrian
government's "vulnerability" is:
Extremist elements increasingly use Syria as a
base, while the SARG (ed: Syrian government) has taken some
actions against groups stating links to Al-Qaeda. With the
killing of the al-Qaida leader on the border with Lebanon in
early December and the increasing terrorist attacks inside Syria
culminating in the September 12 attack against the US embassy,
the SARG,s policies in Iraq and support for terrorists elsewhere
as well can be seen to be coming home to roost.
How to exploit that vulnerability? In Roebuck's own
words:
Possible Actions: -- Publicize presence of
transiting (or externally focused) extremist groups in Syria,
not limited to mention of Hamas and PIJ. Publicize
Syrian efforts against extremist groups in a way that suggests
weakness, signs of instability, and uncontrolled blowback.
The SARG,s argument (usually used after terror attacks in Syria)
that it too is a victim of terrorism should be used against it
to give greater prominence to increasing signs of instability
within Syria. (emphasis added).
The US had long planned to overthrow Assad well
before 2011 and had obviously spent a great deal of time, effort,
and money cooking up plans to exploit whatever "vulnerabilities" he
may have had to help make that overthrow happen. Roebuck captures
that essence in the summary of his 2006 US Embassy Damascus secret
cable:
The bottom line is that Bashar is entering the
new year in a stronger position than he has been in several
years, but those strengths also carry with them -- or sometimes
mask ) vulnerabilities. If we are ready to capitalize, they will
offer us opportunities to disrupt his decision-making, keep him
off-balance, and make him pay a premium for his mistakes.
"If we are ready to capitalize..."
Yes, they were ready to capitalize. And more than 200,000 people
have been killed as the US "capitalized" on vulnerabilities produced
by Assad's fight against terrorists unleashed on his country by the
US attack on Iraq. At this point, US foreign policy toward Syria has
become too grotesque to even contemplate. In another time there
would be a Nuremberg readying the dock for Roebuck and anyone else
associated with this mass murder. These days the media just keeps
churning out a steady diet of US regime propaganda.
Copyright © 2015 by RonPaul Institute.
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