RNA - As we speak, the terrorist groups are battling for their survival in and around the northern city of Aleppo, while Russian airstrikes and Iranian military advisers help government forces and loyalists sever a vital supply route and send a new surge of opposition forces trying to flee toward Raqqa and the border with Turkey.
The onslaught coincides with the election victory of President-Elect Donald Trump as well as the failure of numerous peace and ceasefire talks. That this has helped the Syrian government and its allies to reinforce their control over the besieged city and secure a military victory is not news here. The real news is this:
Without offering any explanation, outgoing President Barack Obama has ordered the Pentagon to begin conducting military strikes against Nusra Front, an official branch of Al-Qaeda in Syria. This is absurd, as the loss of Aleppo would represent a potentially decisive blow to the five-year-old US-backed regime change campaign.
As we all know, the terrorist group is trained and armed by the CIA and is closely aligned with several US-armed rebel factions. We also know that until yesterday, the US had refused attacking these very unseemly groups, passing them off as “moderates.” The question is why the Obama administration has decided to reverse this policy at the eleventh hour? It couldn't be more obvious:
1- The Al-Qaeda-linked rebels are no longer able to maintain control of Aleppo, prompting US intelligence assessments that they cannot topple the government in Damascus. The intervention by the Russian Air Force and Iranian military advisers has tilted the military balance in favour of Syria, enabling the government’s spurt of gains in recent months. It has also forced Washington to consider Raqqa as the new de facto capital for its “moderates.”
2- The days of “moderates” are numbered. Largely unreported in the West, the Syrian government has an active reconciliation program which allows former gunmen to move to a different area or return to society. This has been successfully used to clear the last remnant of terrorists from Al Waer near Homs and Darraya near Damascus. Many thousands of Syrian fighters who were coerced or bribed into joining the opposition have laid down their arms, signed an agreement and rejoined society.
3- In contrast with the frenzy and alarm in Western media and political circles, there is a growing optimism and hope among the vast majority of people in Aleppo. According to many Western journalists there, Aleppo soon will be freed from the jihadis that invaded and destroyed it. After five years of hell its people are looking forward to the final defeat or expulsion of the terrorists.
4- The guy who entered the Oval Office pledging to work toward peace and a nuclear-free world, and was even awarded the Nobel Prize for what he hasn't done yet, will soon leave the Oval Office. War-happy Obama wants to go down in history as a peace president. The problem is, it's too late for that.
5- Trump is going to reverse Obama’s war policy in Syria. He maintains that he will end the US support of “moderate” rebel groups, saying that “we have no idea who these people are.” While it is difficult to say whether he will stick to his position, it is still obvious that under his presidency the failed war on Syria will not continue in its current form. It has long been established by human rights groups and aid agencies that even the groups that have managed to remain in America’s pocket are war criminals.
All this increasingly bizarre American landscape of war and peace reflects why the Obama administration wants to stop subsidising the Al-Qaeda-linked rebels, get out of the quagmire, and save face.
If accurate, the war president has also come to the conclusion that “moderate” armed factions are scarcer than hen’s teeth, and that international backlash is inevitable if victory – if any - is heavily Al-Qaeda influenced. Obama knows that a disastrous legacy as such could lead to something even worse next year - a fight with Syria, Iran and Russia. Trump won't hesitate to blame him for that.
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