Thanks to the eight-year-old Saudi proxy war to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, remaining pockets of terrorists exist in Syria’s Northwestern Idlib desert region. Former President Barack Obama and the European Union [EU] was all-in backing rebel groups to topple al-Assad, resulting in 370,000 deaths and 12 million Syrian displaced in neighboring countries and Europe. When Russian President Vladimir Putin joined the fight to defend al-Assad Sept. 30, 2015, the war turned to Damascus, driving Saudi, U.S. and Turkey funded rebel groups into the vast Syrian desert. Al-Assad vowed that he would not rest until every rebel-or-terrorist group was evicted from Syrian territory. London-based Syrian Observatory for Human rights said regime and Russian air strikes hit a hospital, killing four civilians, at least two children. Idlib was supposed be a protected buffer zone.
When you consider the proxy war to topple al-Assad has been going for eight-years, you’d think rebel-or-terrorist groups would move on. But with the help of the U.N., creating a buffer region to house rebels-and-terrorists is entirely unrealistic. Syria’s Russian, Iranian and Hezbollah allies do not accept ceding one inch of Syrian territory in Idlib or anywhere else to rebels-and-terrorists. Yet the U.N. believes it’s acceptable to protect rebels-and-terrorists, arbitrarily ceding sovereign territory in Northwest Syria. If you listen to the communiqués from the Syrian Observatory you’d think that the rebels- and-terrorists own the territory. When the regime or its allies bomb rebel-or-terrorists’ strongholds, you’d think the international press would not take the rebel-or-terrorists’ side. Saudi officials, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin-Salman, continue their proxy war against al-Assad.
Since 73-year-oldk President Donald Trump took office Jan. 20, 2019, he stopped backing the Saudi proxy war, refusing to give, like Obama, arms-and-cash to Syrian rebel-and-terrorist groups. Part of the problem with Obama’s strategy was he never knew in whose hands U.S. arms-and-cash would fall, often ending up in terrorists’ hands, like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syra [ISIS] and al-Qaeda. Putin made a commitment to rid Syria of all rebel and terrorist groups, no matter what their origin. News organizations sympathetic to the EU and U.N. continue to back rebel groups claiming that they have a right to defy Syria’s sovereignty. “Regime warplanes again targeted three hospitals south of Idlib,” said the Observatory. Instead of blaming rebel-or-terrorist groups, the Observatory blames Damascus to trying to defend sovereign territory to clear rebels-or-terrorist groups.
Syria’s Observatory for Human Rights doesn’t tell you that al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahir al-Sham control much of Idlib province together with other rebel-and-terrorist groups. Amnesty International, also sympathetic to terrorist-and-rebel groups claims al-Assad’s regime “deliberately and systematically” bombed hospitals or clinics in Northwest Idlib province. U.N. also reports that at least 25 hospitals-or-clinics have been bombed or destroyed since the end of April. Yet those same reports don’t talk about rebels-and-terrorist using hospitals and clinics as refuges from which to attack Syrian regime forces. Amnesty mentions nothing about the size-or-nature of the hospitals-or-clinics bombed by regime or Russian forces, not admitting that they were no more than personal homes extending care to the wounded. Why does the Observatory and Amnesty have sympathy for terrorists-and-rebels?
Backing the Saudi proxy war against al-Assad was one of the worst foreign policy blunders by the EU and U.S. in recent memory. Displacing millions of Syrians to Europe practically destroyed the EU, with several countries flat out telling Brussels they would not accept any Syrian refugees. German Chancellor Angela Merkel wrecked her political future taking in nearly one million Syrians, without vetting refugees for possible terrorist ties. When ISIS inspired attacks struck Berlin Dec. 12, 2016 at an open-air Christmas market, killing 12, injuring 56, Merkel’s open border refugee policy backfired. EU countries like Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland were ready to leave the EU if Brussels kept pushing for refugee quotas. EU officials like to blame Trump for xenophobia when, in fact, he was simply asking the EU to be more careful in vetting incoming refugees.
Human rights groups have to stop defending terrorist and insurgent group because they match their political agenda, in this case to get rid of al-Assad. Putin told the U.N. Geenral Assembly Sept. 28, 2015 that ousting al-Assad would create more chaos than the Iraq War, essentially giving rise to ISIS. Instead of blaming al-Assad for defending his sovereign territory, the Observatory, Amnesty and U.N. human rights groups should help terror-and-rebel group relocate to other countries willing to take them. Reporting that Russian air strikes near Al-Basra village killed a little girl does nothing to deal with terrorist-and-rebel group illegally occupying Syrian sovereign territory. If rebel-or-terror groups want to stop the bombing, they need to get out of Syrian territory where they imbed themselves in civilian populations. Human rights groups hurt their cause defending terror-and-rebel groups.
