RNA - As has been the case with Afghanistan and Iraq, the US occupying troops will not leave Syria. It’s good for the Military-Industrial Complex business and it helps the Trump White House to milk Saudi Arabia and others on the pretext of ‘protection’.
Trump’s Thursday comments reflect his view that the US war on Syria is about ISIL, and with ISIL effectively defeated, it’s time to start bringing the troops home. However, this was never about defeating ISIL and Trump has never provided a specific timeline of leaving Syria, while other US officials suggest no decision has been made. Trump’s advisers say the open-ended war needs to keep going, trying to sell it to him and NATO-Arab allies as being about other non-specific terrorists, or regime change, or just fighting Iran.
The warmongers on the Capitol Hill apparently believe they can still win this open-ended war, which is why Pentagon officials have been publicly presenting it as such. Despite thinking this, the signs are that the US and its allies lost the regime-change campaign, and if Trump keeps bringing up the idea of leaving Syria, it’s just a change in tactic to see how Iran, Russia and Syria – the true winners of this conflict - might react from now on:
1- For the start, the United States and its allies failed to regime change Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Thanks to the efforts put in place by the allied forces of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Russia, Hezbollah and the Popular Mobilisation Units, the death cult of ISIL no longer holds any substantial territory in the Levant. Iran and Russia have made clear they will stay to dislodge the remnants of terrorist groups under International Law and upon official requests, and then help post-war Iraq and Syria to rebuild themselves. Now, analysts in Washington are free to say the US may have a chance to retain a stake in Syria, but this seems to be a dream that seems to be impossible to come true given the US six-year-long record in Syria.
2- Even if the US did try to capitalize on sectarian tensions to recruit tribal fighters and Kurds, Damascus and its allies have beaten Washington to it. The US has been dramatically outpaced by Tehran and Damascus in terms of outreach to local tribes. They have already established pro-government and pro-peace networks in Deir Ezzur. US, terror proxy forces' efforts pale in comparison.
3- Before winning the presidential race Trump talked up the idea of leaving Afghanistan. Now as president, he has opened the door to an increase in troops in Afghanistan as part of a retooled strategy for the region, overcoming his own doubts about America's longest war and vowing "a fight to win". He even says safe havens for terrorists in Pakistan to become a focus with his Defence Secretary planning to send about 4,000 more troops to Afghanistan. The Trump regime may also find excuses to occupy Syria, prevent Syria from becoming a unitary state again, and use the chaos there to further its regional designs, as has been the case so far.
4- Trump has refused to set a deadline for pulling out of Syria, saying a detailed timeline gives too much information to America's enemies. Perhaps conditions on the ground, not arbitrary timetables, will guide US strategy from now on. Perhaps, from now on they might even display to the media a graph that shows the rise and fall in numbers of US troops stationed in Syria. Lest we forget, in the heat of the election campaign Trump demanded a "speedy withdrawal" from Afghanistan, only later learning it is hard to turn pledges into concrete action, if he really meant what he said during the election campaign at all. There is no reason to think this time it will be any different. The last one-and-a-half years have proved that if there is anything worth considering when thinking of possible future senarios, it is definitely not Trump's statements as his words have proved to carry no weight and indicate no established policy or plan. It should be clear enough that after consultation with the Pentagon regime, NATO commanders, and regional allies, including Saudi Arabia and Israel - several of which have also committed to increasing their troop numbers – Trump will simply agree to increase the train, advise and assist mission of terror proxies in Syria, where US forces have already built new military bases.
5- Hundreds of pages of secret documents leaked to the Western media give an unprecedented insight into the clandestine operations of America’s NATO allies in Syria as well. While Trump suggests that the US could soon begin withdrawing troops from Syria, Col Thomas Veale announced later that the US has actually sent more special forces into the country, to be deployed around the Northern city of Manbij. The deployments come amid threats by Iranian and Russian officials that they will not take this lightly, as this could only further the escalation of the unnecessary conflict to the advantage of terror groups – and disadvantage of unarmed civilians.
Before jumping into any conclusion, however, consider the following developments as well:
- The end of US-led war on Syria will immediately bring back the world’s attention toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. After Trump’s Syria announcement on Thursday, at least 16 Palestinians were killed and hundreds wounded by Israeli forces in Gaza, as protesters kicked off a planned six-week demonstration demanding the right of return for Palestinian refugees. On Friday night, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, also called for an independent investigation into deadly clashes. This is not what Israel wants. This year's Land Day demonstrations appear especially combustible as Palestinian anger is already high over President Trump's decision in December to recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel's "capital." The bloodshed in Syria keeps the world’s attention away from all that’s happening in Gaza and elsewhere in occupied Palestine. If you think Israel and its lobby in Washington would simply sit on their hands and allow Trump to withdraw US troops from Syria, you are in for a big disappointment.
- Just like Israel, the autocratic regime of Saudi Arabia wants none of this international attention and heat at the United Nations either. Together with the United States, Britain, Israel, and junior partners, the Saudis have been bombing Yemen indiscriminately for the past three years. Beyond the direct devastation the failed regime-change campaign has caused, the war of aggression and deceit in Yemen has achieved nothing and will still continue apace – just like in Syria. To that end, the US has just allocated a massive military budget that far surpasses any other country on the planet - $700 billion this year. The US has also finalized a new deal to sell its chief client Saudi Arabia arms worth over $100 billion. The Saudis didn’t buy these arms for show. They are now actively using these American weapons to slaughter Yemeni civilians. Part of those weapons have also gone to arm America’s favourite terrorists in Syria. Simply put, the American-Israeli-Saudi war-on-terror show must go on.
The manifold hazards and complexities of this war and Trump’s recent leaving-Syria announcement make it all the more important that the United Nations and the international civil society get some honest answers out of the US administration as to just what they are doing in Syria, how their military occupation contributes to the destabilization of that country and the wider region.
Source: Fars News Agency
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