Freedom Rider: World war dangers in Syria

Israel has bombed Syria at will, apparently with Russian permission, but that may change after the downing of a Russian plane.

President Bashar al-Assad has reconquered most of Syria from the United States-backed al Qaeda and Isis terrorists. But the war that should be over isn’t because the U.S., Israel, Turkey and Saudi Arabia refuse to walk away from their regime change scheme. Their goals haven’t changed and they are determined to carve up as much of Syria as they can and prevent their venture from being a total loss. Their plots may yet create an even wider conflagration after a Russian plane was shot down as a result of Israeli skullduggery.

The average American is unaware of the dangers because the corporate media collude with Democrats and Republicans to make the case for endless war. Russia has been so thoroughly demonized that only a handful of people would question an attack on that country which is in fact operating within the framework of international law.

Like clockwork, the true evildoers prevent Syria and its Russian and Iranian allies from finishing off the terrorists embedded in Idlib Province. They even placed some of their Chinese Muslim allies, the Uigurs, in Idlib and forced Chinese involvement. The British and French never pass up a chance to return to their colonialist past. They gladly sign on to the Project for a New American Century and do away with the last standing secular Arab state that isn’t allied with them.

This intervention was a bipartisan affair from the beginning with Democrat Barack Obama screaming that “Assad must go.” The late John McCain and his ilk only complained that the president was less committed to a blood bath than they were.

Donald Trump presents his own unique contradictions. He famously said on the campaign trail that the U.S. should never have intervened in Syria. That is one of the reasons he was so mistrusted and was spied on by the deep state forces who work to maintain a permanent state of war. But they need not have worried. Whether he is a true believer or not, Trump is now all-in with the same strategy.

Meanwhile the corporate media in this country spin lies for public consumption. They work with the political duopoly to create the worst kind of fake news. It is nothing but war propaganda which paints Syria and its allies as villains. They say nothing about America’s actions which killed and displaced millions of people and set the stage for a much wider conflict.

Only a handful of U.S. politicians have spoken in opposition to regime change interventionist policies. Republican Ron Paul and Democrat Tulsi Gabbard raise questions to varying degrees. The most outspoken critic is a Virginia State Senator Richard Black, a right winger who despite holding only local office has traveled to Syria and returned advising an end to American involvement. As Black Agenda Report has pointed out, even most “progressive” congressional candidates don’t mention foreign policyissues in their campaigns for office.

The result is a public being force-fed dangerous lies while useful information that counters the prevailing narrative is deliberately withheld from them. The parallels to other wars are eerie and ever present as yellow journalism and dirty deals bring the world closer to a conflict between nuclear powers.

All of the parties involved are playing dangerous games. It is not a coincidence that Turkish president Erdogan and Vladimir Putin agreed to stand down in Idlib and just hours later Israel created the circumstances which led to a Russian plane being shot down accidentally by Syria. Within days a Saudi backed terrorist group attacked a military parade in Iran and killed 25 people. These events are not coincidental.

It remains to be seen if Russia will finally tell Israel that it can no longer bomb Syria at will. The announcement of a new missile sale from Russia to Syria is welcome news but who knows if it will be cancelled as has happened in the past. The anger over the Israeli provocation may force a change in strategy, but in the end Russia doesn’t want to go to war with Israel or its American patron.

While Putin is demonized and clueless Americans curse his name, he has in fact played the role of peacemaker. But he is dealing with dishonest forces who want a lot more than to conquer Syria. They want to neuter Russia and its strategic partner China but those two nations are equally determined to avoid that fate.

Trump’s trade war, recent war games between Russia and China, and new sanctions directed against Russia are all connected. Americans are dangerously ignorant at this most complicated moment. They have no idea that the world teeters on the brink due to a U.S. instigated conflict. The so-called resistance doesn’t resist anything in world affairs. They don’t hate Donald Trump very much when he asks for a defense spending increase. If phony chemical weapons attacks are again used as a pretext for war the ordinarily vilified Trump will emerge as a hero to Democratic partners in crime.

As the November mid-term elections approach voters must not be fooled into supporting the war makers. The Democrats have run a slate of militarists and intelligence operatives who will go along with imperialist business as usual. The people must say no to this madness. If not they will go down in history as appeasers and enablers of the worst state sponsor of terror in the world.

Margaret Kimberley’s Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted elsewhere. She maintains a frequently updated blog as well as at freedomrider.blogspot.com. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgendaReport.com.

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