Slapping President Barack Obama in the face June 16, a confidential State Department memo called for air strikes against the Shiite regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. What’s so striking about the secret memo is how off-the-wall the suggestion to bomb the Syrian regime. Already backing the five-plus-year Saudi proxy war against al-Assad, Obama’s Syrian policy pits the U.S. against Russia, putting the U.S. squarely on the same side as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS] and al-Qaeda’s al-Nusra Front. When GOP presumptive nominee real estate tycoon Donald Trump hinted about Obama’s possible support for terrorism, the press, Democrats and Republicans went wild. When you look at the current Syrian policy, the U.S. rubber stamps the Saudi proxy war against al-Assad, joining forces with ISIS and al-Qaeda to bring about regime change in Damascus.
Whatever’s wrong with Obama’s Syrian policy, it pales in comparison to the asinine suggestion to start bombing al-Assad’s forces with Russia and Iran backing Damascus. Instead of changing his policy, Obama ceded U.S. foreign policy to the Saudis to fund, equip and direct the five-year-old proxy war responsible for over 250,000 deaths, 11 million displaced to neighboring countries and Europe. Today’s threat to the European Union, posed by the biggest refugee crisis since WWII, directly relates to U.S. support of the Saudi proxy war. Signed by 51 State Department analysts, the secret State Department memo urges Obama to start bombing al-Assad. State Department officials haven’t come to grips with the disastrous March 20, 2003 Iraq War, opening the floodgates of Islamic terrorism and destabilizing the Middle East. Now those same people want to topple another Mideast dictator.
State Department officials, led by 70-year-old Secretary of State John Kerry, continue to plead the Saudi’s case that al-Assad must go, despite repeated warnings from Russian President Vladimir Putin that such action would send the Mideast into more chaos. Putin made his position known at the U.N. General Assembly Sept. 28, 2015, urging world powers to let al-Assad stay in place. Two days later, Putin started targeted air strikes to bolster al-Assad’s regime. Calling for “targeted air strikes,” 51 State Department employees are oblivious to the geopolitical consequences to pitting the U.S. militarily against Moscow. Whether admitted to or not, House and Senate Republicans’ Syria policy is just as off-the-wall. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also backs toppling al-Assad, despite the obvious fallout from such actions.
However confused Obama’s Syrian policy, Barack doesn’t want to confront Russia on the Syrian battlefield. “The president has been unwilling to listen to the people’s elected representatives, may be he’ll be willing to listen to his own professional diplomats,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) spokesman Doug Andres. House and Senate foreign policy leaders have been equally off-base on Syria as Obama, judging by Andres’ admission. “This just confirms what House Republicans have been saying for years: We do not have a strategy for victory over ISIS,” said Andres, linking toppling al-Assad with victory over ISIS. House and Senate Republicans and Democrats know that ISIS and al-Qaeda’s al-Nusra front seek to topple al-Assad. Putting the U.S. military on the same side of ISIS and al-Qaead goes beyond anyone’s definition of insanity, proving, if nothing else, Putin’s right.
Concerned about how the covert State Department memo would affect Obama’s policy, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged the White House to resist going in the wrong direction. Putin met with al-Assad in 2015, receiving commitments to draft a new constitution, incorporate peaceful opposition groups into the government and hold free-and-fair election whenever possible. “There is nothing more democratic than elections,” Putin said, sticking it to his American partners. Putin’s known to hold “free” elections as long as he’s the only viable candidate. Whatever problems al-Assad’s government faces in the future, it’s far less than turning Damascus over the a Wahhabi group with little or no tolerance for Shiites. “Who would bear responsibility for that?” asked Peskov, about the prospects of toppling al-Assad. “Or shall we see the same Hollywood-style smile as it happened already in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya?’
Putin’s been clear as day saying he opposes toppling al-Assad. “Calls for the violent overthrow of authorities in another country are unlikely to be accepted in Moscow,” said Peskov, repeating Putin’s opposition to the Saudi proxy war but any U.S. policy seeking regime in Damascus. Neither the White House nor members of Congress have come to grips with Obama’s insane Syrian policy. Giving the Saudis the green light to battle al-Assad and put the U.S. military on the same side as ISIS and al-Qaeda makes no sense. Whatever Cold War antipathy exists toward Putin, he’s 100% right that toppling al-Assad, like it did in Iraq, Egypt and Libya, would further radicalize the region, leading to more chaos and instability. Blaming al-Assad for defending his sovereignty against as Saudi-funded proxy war isn’t logical. Escalating the battle against al-Assad is the last way to end the Syrian War.
