RNA - They have expressed support for Trump’s idea of a safe zone, insisting they are still waiting for the US to take action, after years of being disappointed expecting US measures in their favor. Trump insists the US will “absolutely do safe zones in Syria for the people.”
Per usual, Russian officials are critical of the idea, saying it would “exacerbate the situation,” and that the US needs to weigh all the potential consequences before taking such actions. The Russians are not alone. British Prime Minister Theresa May also says the United Kingdom and the United States must not intervene in other sovereign countries’ affairs in an attempt to “remake the world in our own image.”
In her words, “The days of Britain and America intervening in sovereign countries in an attempt to remake the world in our own image are over. The two powers should still take on new global challenges, including the Syrian crisis and the fight against the ISIL terrorist group. This cannot mean a return to the failed policies of the past.”
Tell that to Trump. Because a return to the failed policies of the past is exactly what his new executive order is all about – under the guise of humanitarianism of course. The story has rather got lost in the midst of Trump’s statements this week about his fabled Mexican wall, the merits of torture and waterboarding, and all the other stuff that has underlined the frightening nature of his arrival in power – but on Wednesday, he signed something he should have never done.
As always happens with a change in administrations, Trump is seeking a series of new options from the Pentagon for how to change America’s strategy in the ongoing war on ISIL – with an eye toward outright regime changing Syria.
The Pentagon options, unsurprisingly, are centered on significant escalation of US involvement, particularly with the idea of establishing safe zones for proxy forces, sending more US ground troops into Syria, with one plan involving a whole battalion being deployed around Raqqa – to make it the future capital of “moderate” rebels.
The safe-zone plan is said to focus on troops and also loosening restrictions on airstrikes , along with allowing ground troops more freedom of operation. On top of that, the plan seeks an increase in US military aid to the Kurdish YPG and “moderates.”
Put simply, Trump and his people want to eat the allied forces’ lunch – especially after the Syrian Army backed by Iranian, Russian and Hezbollah forces liberated the strategic city of Aleppo. At the same time, they intend to shred the allied forces’ ingrained belief in the ongoing peace talks and ceasefire agreement with rebels that is still holding.
The ultimate goal is to reset regime-change campaign, a failed policy that British PM May has urged the Trump administration not to return to. To her chagrin, Trump has put this in his customary way, with a familiar sense that he hasn’t fully thought things through: “We are going to put a lot of people back to work (the Military-Industrial Complex). We are going to do it the way it is supposed to be done (safe zones and thereby a de-facto no-fly zone over northern Syria for US occupying troops and proxy forces).
If this seems like a delusion, it is. It applies just as much to the Democrats (who started the failed war) as to the new Trumpite Republicans (who want to escalate it). A more war-fit politics built around the declining importance of American presence in Syria, and the need to rebuild regime-change policy accordingly, has yet to take shape. For the moment though, the war-party establishment in Washington is awkwardly united not just in their disdain for peace talks and ceasefire, but also in their belief that America can still “remake Syria in its own image.”
Trump says he is about to test that failed idea all over again. Watch this space. This dangerous man will test it to total destruction.
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