Threatening to “suspend engagement” with Russia, Secretary of State John Kerry made another feeble attempt to reinstate the Sept. 10 Syrian ceasefire agreement. Kerry won’t admit that U.S. bombing of Syrian troops Sept. 17 sabotaged the fragile ceasefire pact, designed to give Saudi-Turkey-U.S.-backed Syrian rebels time to regroup. Spinning the ceasefire as a chance to get humanitarian aid to Aleppo’s besieged population, Kerry blew his cover after attacking Syrian troops, pushing Syrian, Russian and Iranian forces to finally finish off Saudi-Turkey-U.S. backed rebels seeking to topple the Shiite regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Calling the Syrian-Russian-Iranian assault on Aleppo “war crimes,” retiring U.N. Secretary-Genera Ban Ki-moon mentions nothing about Saudi-Turkey-U.S.-backed Syrian rebel groups seizing sovereign Syrian territory since 2012.
Once the U.S. breached the ceasefire, Syria, Russia and Iran decided it was time to finally evict Syrian rebel groups from Aleppo. Two prior failed truces allowed rebel groups to re-arm, buying more time in the area for Saudi’s High Negotiation Commission to convince Geneva-based U.N. Special Syria peace envoy Staffan de Mistura that al-Assad must leave Damascus. Not one U.S. official has explained, including President Barack Obama, the legal rationale for toppling a U.N.-member state. Democratic nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton 100% backs the Saudi-Turkey-U.S.-backed proxy war to topple al-Assad. Aside from saying al-Assad’s a bad guy, she can’t explain why it’s in the U.S. national interest to back a six-year-old proxy war to topple another Mideast dictator. Hillary knows what happened in Iraq, Egypt, Libya and now Syria.
Warning Russia about “suspending” U.S. cooperation with Russia at this point exposes Obama’s failed Syrian strategy. Backing the Saudi proxy war over nearly six years has killed over 300,000 Syrians, displaced 12 million more to neighboring countries and Europe, causing, as London-based Human Rights Watch observed, the worst humanitarian crisis since WWII. Pressure on the European Union to take more Syrian refugees prompted the June 23 Brexit vote, ending the U.K’s relationship with the EU. Kerry straddled the fence between Russia and Saudi Arabia and fell on his head. Backing the Saudi proxy war against al-Assad, Obama tossed out 60 years of diplomacy with Russia, driving U.S.-Russian relations to new lows. More threats about ending “engagement” only make a bad situation worse. Instead rethinking a failed strategy backing the Saudi proxy war, Obama stays the course.
With the end in sight of his presidency Jan. 20, 2017, Obama didn’t want to rock the boat with the Saudis. When Barack vetoed the first piece of truly bipartisan legislation called the “Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act” Sept. 23, it took only five days for the House [348-76] and Senate [97-1] to overwhelmingly override his veto. Known as a political animal, Obama knew Congress would hand him an embarrassing defeat but chose to do it anyway. There are dots to connect between Obama’s Sept. 23 veto and his and Hillary’s backing of the Saudi-Turkey-U.S. Syrian proxy War. Obama vetoed the JASTA to preserve his relationship with Saudi Arabia following his presidency. With an ambitious $2 billion fund-raising drive for his presidential library, Obama counts heavily on Saudi Arabia and Gulf States. Signing the bipartisan bill would have antagonized Riyadh.
When you look at the self-destructive U.S. backing of the Saudi proxy in Syria, it makes you wonder why the U.S. would act so recklessly. Pitting the U.S. against Russia hurts U.S. national security by destroying the linkage needed to maintain global diplomacy, especially in hot spots around the planet. Eleven generations of presidents since Dwight D. Eisenhower have tried to work with Russians on global economic and security issues. Obama’s ties to Saudi Arabia’s Syrian proxy war superseded U.S.-Russian relations. Now Hillary wants to carry on the Obama legacy of pushing the U.S. into a potential confrontation with Russia. Her anti-Kremlin rhetoric telegraphs that she intends to follow in Obama’s path. With Hillary’s strong financial ties to the Saudis and Gulf State through the Clinton Foundation, it points to continued deteriorated U.S.-Russian relations.
Calling the ceasefire “no longer viable” in Aleppo, coalition vice-president Muwaffaq Nyrabia said Saudi-Turkey-U.S. rebels were “considering all options to defend the Syrian people against the Russian aggression on Syria,” showing the kind of twisted disinformation that keeps the war going. Instead of asking rebel forces to leave Aleppo to stop the war, Nyrabia acts like Saudi-Turkey-U.S.-armed rebels have a right to Syrian sovereign territory. “Those using ever more destructive weapons know exactly what they are doing. They know the are committing war crimes,” said U.N. Chief Ban Ki-moon, continuing the Saudi propaganda. Syrian rebel forces have no legal right—like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS]—to steal sovereign Syrian land. Instead of threatening Russia, it’s time for Obama to get over his fund-raising plans and do what’s right for U.S. national security in Syria.
