Speaking in Manama, Bahrain on his latest Mideast swing, 70-year-old Secretary of State John Kerry, continued pandering to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, fingering Iran for “destabilizing” the Mideast. “Leave the region and stop supporting terrorists,” said Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan, refuting State Department propaganda, knowing former President George W. Bush toppled Saddam Hussein April 10, 2003, flooding the region with Saudi-backed terrorists. “If John Kerry thought about these subjects, he would no longer utter nonsense and foolish words,” said Dehghan, reminding Kerry of U.S. backing for Saudi-funded rebel groups trying to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. President Barack Obama, Kerry and now Democratic front-runner former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton all blame Iran as the Mideast’s “chief sponsor of terrorism.”
White House officials aligned their Syria policy with Iraq War chief architect, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld who told a Munich Security Conference Feb. 8 that “Iran is the world’s chief sponsor of state terrorism.” Three days before, Hillary repeated the exact same statement at a CNN debate Feb. 5, “Iran was the chief sponsor of Mideast terrorism.” Iran’s Hezbollah militia, while giving Israel fits at times, currently works feverishly with Russia in Syria to oppose Saudi-and-Turkey-backed rebel groups trying to topple al-Assad. When Russian air strikes killed Saudi’s favorite rebel group Jaysh al-Islma’s 44-year-old Zahran Alloush Dec. 25, 2015, the Saudi Foreign Ministry went public. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir lamented Alloush’s death, vowing to kick al-Assad out of Damascus. Hillary mentions nothing about Saudi-Turkey involvement in Syria.
Letting Dehghan call the U.S. out for its unconditional backing of the Saudi proxy war against al-Assad should finally get the word out, especially U.N. Special Syrian peace envoy Staffan de Mistura, resuming peace talks April 13. Making little progress again since aborting the last Geneva peace talks Feb. 5, de Mistura hasn’t confronted Saudi Arabia or Turkey, both insisting al-Assad must go. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhini have provided al-Assad military assistance to stay in power. When Putin announced March 15 a partial withdrawal from Syria, Obama and Kerry hoped for a change of policy on al-Assad. Putin’s repeated clearly that his air campaign worked to preserve al-Assad’s sovereign government. With a ceasefire in place since Feb. 27, Putin saw no strategic purpose to continuing air strikes against Saudi-backed rebel groups.
Spending two years working on the July 24, 2015 Iranian Nuke Deal, you’d think the White House would want to continue improving relations with Tehran. Calling Iran the “chief sponsor of state terrorism” does nothing but push normal diplomatic relations out of reach. Not only are Kerry’s remarks counterproductive they’re disingenuous, when everyone knows Saudi Arabia pushes its Wahhabi brand of radical Islam around the globe. Having backed the Saudi-proxy war since March 11, 2011, killing over 250,000, displacing millions more in the worst refugee crisis since WWII, it’s too late for the White House to admit its failed policy. Faced with an impossible peace mission in Geneva, de Mistura has to deal with the Saudi’s role in the so-called Syrian civil war. Backing the same rebels groups as Saudi Arabia, the White House sets up the Geneva peace talks to fail.
If the U.S. really wants to end the carnage and refugee crisis in Syria, it’s time to stop backing the Saudi-Turkey proxy war. Continuing to point fingers at Tehran, Kerry undermines whatever goodwill was created with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javid Zarif. Kerry sabotages any progress talking about more Iranian sanctions or calling Iran the Mideast’s “chief sponsor of state terrorism.” De Mistura has no chance of succeeding in Geneva unless the U.S. calls Saudi Arabia and Turkey out for backing rebel groups trying to topple al-Assad. No one other than Russia and Iran have questioned the Saudi-funded rebel groups demanding al-Assad must leave Damascus. White House officials have been complicit backing the Saudi proxy war for five years causing over 250,000 deaths, displacing millions more. Russia and Iran have only tried to defend al-Assad’s sovereignty.
Before de Mistura’s April 13 Geneva peace talks resume, Obama and Kerry need to rethink U.S. policy in Syria. Instead of backing the Saudis and Turks, alienating Russia and Iran, the White House should get over its Cold War and anti-Iranian policy, looking to help de Mistura find a lasting peace. Putin made it clear that he backs al-Assad’s sovereignty, pitting Russia against Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Turkey and the U.S. “We call on Iran to constructively join in the efforts to make peace and to help us to resolve Syria rather that to continue to send weapons to Huthis, join in the effort . . to make peace and to work toward cessation of hostilities,” Kerry told the press in Bahrain, Manama. Whatever happens in Yemen with Houthis has nothing to do with Syria. Pandering to the Saudi’s and Gulf States proves that the White House has no intent of helping de Mistura find peace in Syria.
