The hypocrisy is outstanding

Dear Editor

Re: In Syria’s Ghouta, shelters are tombs for the living

No one is asking the obvious question: “How is it that American troops have simply materialised in Syria?” 

They have no legal authority to be there. 

They were certainly not invited by the government. But there they are, thousands of American troops stationed in the oil-rich north-east region.

They claim to be fighting I.S.I.S, though they recently bombed pro-government forces, with boastful reports of repelling an unprovoked attack. 

But can an army illegally occupying another country legitimately claim ‘self-defence?’ More to the point, is ‘fighting I.S.I.S.’ a valid pretext for occupying another country in the first place?

If so, America is henceforth free to send troops into any country in which I.S.I.S. is believed to be present. Let’s not even consider the prospect of anyone occupying America itself for the same reason - then firing on pro-Washington forces who challenge their presence. 

The hypocrisy is astounding.

Former U.S. president Barack Obama conceded his government had provided weapons to the rebels which had ended up in the terrorists’ hands. This is no civil war. The Arab Spring protesters did not morph into machine gun-wielding, head-chopping psychopaths. It has been a proxy war against president Bashar al-Assad from the outset.

Of course, the standard rhetoric has been applied. We are told the Syrian leader is an oppressive tyrant who imprisons and tortures his subjects mercilessly and sprays civilians with chemical weapons for fun. Sound familiar? It should do, for anyone who remembers the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the 2011 destruction of Libya.

With Syria the US has been forced to exercise a little more subtlety. Damascus has been allied to Moscow since the C.I.A. attempted to orchestrate a coup there in the late 1940s - just a few years before it succeeded in Iran, The Russians have a naval base at Tartus; one of just three military bases they maintain outside the boundaries of the former Soviet Union. 

They have been largely instrumental in thwarting the US-backed proxy war on Assad - and the Americans are clearly smarting.

So the U.S. has dropped all pretense now and simply occupied Syria directly, as if by right. But what is America’s objective in Syria? 

Obviously they want regime change and the installment of a leadership more amenable to their geopolitical designs in the region. 

This means another puppet government. And at what cost? American invasions across the Middle East have claimed millions of lives and left several nations in ruins. They have also led to a refugee tidal wave and ongoing humanitarian crisis.

Moreover, we have seen that these conflicts never actually end. 

The U.S. has maintained a military presence in Afghanistan for 17 years, Iraq for 15 and Libya for seven. 

They are not only occupying these countries but also effectively colonizing them. Meanwhile the carnage continues unabated with no end in sight, and that seems to be the only realistic plan Washington has for Syria.

 

Istanbul W.

Samoa Observer

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