What’s left of the Saudi-U.S.-backed Syrian rebels trying to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are surrounded by Syrian and Iranian-backed forces near the Lebanon-Israeli border. Having fled from strongholds in East Aleppo Dec. 20, 2016, the Free Syrian Army [FSA] has all but collapsed, pretending in Geneva peace talks with U.N. Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura that they call the shots. Backed by former President Barack Obama for six-years, Syrian rebels wreaked havoc in Syria from March 15, 2011. During the height of the Saudi-backed Arab Spring, dictators like Egypt President Hosni Mubarak and Libyan strongman Col. Muammar Gaddafi dropped like flies—but not Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Relentlessly defending his country with Russian and Iranian help, al-Assad outlasted the Saudi-U.S.-backed rebels, now threatened near the Lebanon border.
Meeting in Geneva for nearly two years, de Mistura didn’t have the guts to confront Saudi, U.S. and rebel leaders. For better or worse, al-Assad is staying in Damascus for the foreseeable future. Yet de Mistura plays egregious games in Geneva pretending he can oust al-Assad.. With more that 400,000 Syrians dead, 12 million displaced to neighboring countries and Europe, the Syria War was called the worst humanitarian crisis since WW II. Yet the U.S., and European Union continued to supply arms-and-cash to Syrian rebels trying to topple al-Assad. “They were given 72-hours to surrender with fighters to go to Idlib or those who went to stay have to reach a settlement,” said Ibrahim al-Jebawi, a Free Syrian Army [FSA] on the ground near the Lebanon-Israeli border. Defeated without any more backing from the U.S., the FSA has no options left.
Saudi-U.S.-backed Syrian rebels have lost the war in Syria. Al-Assad with Russian and Iranian help has beat back the Saudi’s seven-year proxy war that has turned Syria into a rock pile. In all Obama’s wisdom, the joined the wrong fight seeking regime change in Damascus. “Surrender or a military solution,” said an unnamed rebel commander realizing that all the Saudi claptrap about defeating al-Assad has been put to rest. Encircled in Beit Jin, the main rebel stronghold, what’s left of the FSA now faces either disbanding or extinction. Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia, fighting for al-Assad, told rebels to negotiate surrender and evacuation terms. Making a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, 71-year-old President Donald Trump has pulled the plug on supporting the FSA. De Mistura must admit failure in Geneva, telling the Saudis and rebel proxies to go home.
Syria’s March 15, 2011 civil war was about the Saudis trying to topple dictatorships around the Middle East. While they enjoyed some success early on, the Saudi proxy war has only created more anarchy-and-chaos in the Middle East. When Putin decided to give al-Assad air support Sept. 30, 2015, the war gradually turned to al-Assad’s favor. Putin made clear that regime change in Damascus would create the same power vacuum that created the mayhem in Iraq and Libya, giving rise to more Islamic terrorism. Yet Obama decided to placate his Saudi benefactors, supplying arms-and-cash to Syrian rebels seeking to topple al-Assad. Israel expressed concern that Hezbollah plans to keep a permanent force near the strategic Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. Israel wants the U.S. and European Union to push back at Hezbollah’s foothold soo close to the Israeli border.
Anti-al-Assad Sryian rebels have no choice other than to evacuate and return to their home countries. Like so many other terror groups, there’s simply nowhere to go for the mercenary fighters, really no different than the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS]. Once ISIS captured Syrian and Iraqi oil fields, they were able to make millions from Turkey in illicit oil sales. Now that ISIS has been evicted from oil-rich Mosul and Kirkuk, they’re bankrupt, trafficking only in heroin and the sex-slave trade. Saudi-U.S.-backed Syria rebels face the same situation driven out of Syrian safe-havens. Trump officials recognize the futility of throwing U.S. cash down a rat hole in Syria. Pentagon officials see only more chaos from continuing a failed Saudi proxy war to topple al-Assad. With neutralizing North Korean nukes and ballistic missiles on Trump’s top priority, there’s no place for Syria.
Saudi Arabia’s seven-year-old proxy war in Syria has cost the EU $2.66 trillion in nominal Gross Domestic Product, when British citizens voted June 23, 2016 to leave the European Union. Shaking the EU to its core, the seven-year-old Saudi-U.S. proxy war created the worst humanitarian crisis since WW II. While Western powers like to blame al-Assad, he was defending his sovereignty against a determined proxy war designed to topple his regime. Unlike Obama, Trump saw the big picture, pulling the plug on Syrian rebels now facing extinction in their last stronghold from the Syrian army and Hezbollah militia. Looking at the big picture, Trump realized that there’s value to finding common ground with Russia. Trump’s decision to end U.S. involvement in Saudi’s proxy war has opened the door to improved U.S.-Russian cooperation on pressing global issues, including North Korea.
