In the modern era, regime change has become something of an American pastime. It’s an activity that both Democrats and Republicans alike are guilty of, with Obama and Clinton throwing Libya into a state of terror and chaos by overthrowing Muammar Gaddafi and Bush dragging the United States into a war that helped tank the American economy by attempting regime change in Iraq.
Now, we’re on the verge of doing it again – at least we will be if warhawks such as John Bolton and Mike Pompeo have their way. This time, the target is Syria and their controversial dictator Bashar al-Assad.
First, let’s make one thing clear – Assad is no saint. Like every other dictator, Assad believes that his government and his people exist to ensure his wealth and power, and there’s no denying that he’s committed unspeakable crimes to ensure his position as the leader of Syria. The problem is that the “rebels” that the United States are supporting in Syria are no better than the dictator they are trying to overthrow. In fact, they’re arguably much worse.
Currently, the Syrian government and its allies are preparing to take back Idlib – the final Syrian providence still under “rebel” control. On August 31, though, Mike Pompeo warned that “The three million Syrians, who have already been forced out of their homes and are now in Idlib, will suffer from this aggression. Not good. The world is watching.”
The problem is that Idlib is far from the peaceful sanctuary that Pompeo portrays it as. In fact, just last year Brett McGurk – President Trump’s Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS – said that, “Idlib province is the largest al-Qaida safe-haven since 9/11, tied directly to Ayman al Zawahiri, this is a huge problem.”
The so-called “rebels” that the United States are supporting in Syria are far from innocent citizens determined to take back their country and establish a fair, utopian democracy. These “rebels” are by-and-large al-Qaida and ISIS fighters who have tried to take Syria for their own gain – and they’ve enjoyed US support every step of the way.
Our intervention in Syria has only prolonged a bloody, six-year war that has led to the death of hundreds of thousands of people. Now, the Syrian government is on the verge of finally winning that war. That might not be ideal for both American interests and the Syrian people, but is handing over Syria to al-Qaida and ISIS really a better alternative?
The Syrian people certainly don’t seem to think so. When Aleppo was taken back by the Syrian government, hundreds of thousands of Syrians moved back into the city. These are the same people that fled from Aleppo when it was under the control of al-Qaida and ISIS.
Today, the Syrian government is rebuilding Aleppo, and Christian Syrians were able to openly celebrate Easter in the city for the first time in years. The mainstream media warned that if Assad was able to take back Aleppo it would result in the mass slaughter of the citizens who lived there, yet this was clearly a lie. Now, neocons and the mainstream media are issuing the same, unfounded warning about the city of Idlib.
To make matters even worse, the United State’s sponsorship of Syrian “rebels” has put the US in a proxy war with Russia, who is backing Assad. There have been plenty of instances where our interference in Syria has resulted in Russian deaths, the destruction of Russian aircraft, and more. While the odds of Russia directly retaliating against the US in response to these casualties remains slim, why are we taking the chance when our mission in Syria is so questionable in the first place?
President Putin has been very outspoken about the senselessness of the United States supporting al-Qaida and ISIS fighters in Syria, yet the US media has declared that Putin is only supporting his own self-interests by backing Assad. That may be true, but Putin’s question as to why we are supporting groups in Syria that we are fighting so hard against everywhere else in the world is valid nonetheless.
Without major US intervention, Assad is going to win the war in Syria. The country he creates when he does win may be far from perfect, but it’ll be much better than the war-torn state that currently exists and much better than the country that al-Qaida and ISIS would create if they were the ones in control.
It’s time for US leaders to recognize this reality, pull our troops out of Syria, and avoid the type of large-scale intervention that would drag this war on for no-telling how many more years.
~ American Liberty Report
