Real US goal in Syria remains the same despite massive gains made by Syrian government against ISIS and Al Nusra

Submitted by CB on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 11:04am

This goal is the destruction of Syria as a viable state and installation of leaders that are compliant to the western power structure. Anything short of this will result in the continuing and escalating destabilization of the country as we are currently witnessing.

Just how far will the US go this time in mounting a direct military attack against Syria? This brinkmanship being played against a nation backed by nuclear armed Russia is arguably the greatest threat to world peace since the worst days of the Cold War. It is obvious the neocons have taken over the Executive Office and are using the uniformed and weak minded Trump as a tool to directly affect foreign policies they have been working towards for the last several decades. Are there any voices of reason left within the government that can push back against these ill-advised actions?

Moon of Alabama has reported on yesterday's strange and unexpected warning from the President's office.

White House Says It Will Fake "Chemical Weapon Attack" In Syria
The White House claims that the Syrian government is preparing "chemical weapon attacks". This is clearly not the case. Syria is winning the war against the country. Any such attack would clearly be to its disadvantage. The White House announcement must thereby be understood as preparation for another U.S. attack on Syria in "retaliation" for an upcoming staged "chemical weapon attack" which will be blamed on the Syrian government.
...
Such an escalation is now happening. The White House claims to have information that the Syrian government is preparing a chemical weapon attack to kill "innocent children":

In an ominous statement issued with no supporting evidence or further explanation, Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the U.S. had “identified potential preparations for another chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime that would likely result in the mass murder of civilians, including innocent children.”

He said the activities were similar to preparations taken before an April 2017 attack that killed dozens of men, women and children, and warned that if “Mr. Assad conducts another mass murder attack using chemical weapons, he and his military will pay a heavy price.”

Several State Department officials typically involved in coordinating such announcements said they were caught completely off guard by the warning, which didn’t appear to be discussed in advance with other national security agencies. Typically, the State Department, the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies would all be consulted before the White House issued a declaration sure to ricochet across foreign capitals.

The White House claim is of course nonsense and not supported by any evidence or logic at all. No one but the White House, not the State Department nor the Defense Department, seems to be informed about this (though that could be a ruse):

Five US defense officials said they did not know where the potential chemical attack would come from and were unaware the White House was planning a statement.

...
Trump has to make a deal (or war) with Russia and the announced fake "chemical attack" will be the pressure point against Putin. The neoconservatives in his administration want to break up Syria and Trump is tasked to get the Russian agreement for that (... or else.)

Syria insists that its has no chemical weapons nor any intention to use any indiscriminate weapon. Russia warns of any further military aggression and calls such U.S. threats unacceptable.

There are many links backing up this report at MoA. I suggest you peruse them

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Comments

Submitted by earthling1 on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 11:51am

This country is completely out of control

With multiple "leaders".
I expect an immediate statement from Putin; If American forces or their proxies stage another unholy gas attack upon the people of Syria they and their military will pay a heavy price.

—

Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Submitted by CB on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 12:25pm

Putin never responds immediately.

@earthling1

Especially in matters of great concern to his country. He will wait until he has sufficient information to make a reasoned and intelligent response. He also never responds emotionally. Shooting from the hip is the trademark of a rash and foolish leader like Trump and other fools within the US legislature.

Submitted by native on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 12:35pm

I think (& hope) this is just more hot air

from the Gasbag-In-Chief. Making preposterous threats and irrational accusations has long been his modus operandi, but I doubt that he is stupid enough to directly challenge Putin/Assad for control of Syrian air space. The war is essentially over, and any further attempts to destroy the Syrian State are destined to fail. If Trump thinks that yet another false flag "gas attack" could change the fundamental dynamics of the situation, he is out of his mind. Not even the neocons are crazy enough to believe that.

—

native

Submitted by CB on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 12:56pm

The Deep State has the means and wherewithal

@native
to keep the situation in Syria on a low boil for decades.

Looks like regime change Iran is getting more focus.

Cotton: US policy should be regime change in Iran

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said the U.S. foreign policy toward Iran should be to push for a regime change, according to a Sunday Politico report.

“The policy of the United States should be regime change in Iran,” said Cotton, who reportedly briefs the White House on foreign policy on a regular basis.

Cotton expressed safety concerns with the Tehran government in its current state.

“I don’t see how anyone can say America can be safe as long as you have in power a theocratic despotism,” continued Cotton, a member of the Senate Armed Services committee.

In order to pressure Iran, the Arkansas senator pointed to the use of diplomatic, economic and covert actions, Politico reported.

He also told the newspaper that the U.S. should “support internal domestic dissent” within the country in order to get their desired outcome, noting that there are multiple minority ethnic groups in Iran who “aren’t enthusiastic about living in a Persian Shiite despotism.”

Cotton is a fucking ignorant asshole. Iran has a history of being one of the most internally peaceful countries in the ME despite having the largest number of ethnic groups. The majority of any strife within the country has been fomented by outside powers - the US/UK being chief among them.

Submitted by detroitmechworks on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 1:02pm

A theocratic despotism

@CB what an apt description foe Washington.

Church of mammon, Ronald Reagan, savior, with saint Barack and the immaculate Hillary.

—

I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Submitted by native on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 2:10pm

Senator Cotton is a dolt who doesn't know

@CB
the first thing about Iran, or much about anything else either. He doesn't talk, he blathers. He and his ilk can shake their fists at Iran all they like and it won't make a damn bit of difference, because Iran doesn't need Senator Cotton's approval. Of course Senator Cotton is too stupid to understand this, so he continues to howl at the moon and garner applause from the folks in Arkansas for his bravura performances. Whoop-de-do. Does he expect Iranians to be impressed by any of this?

OK, so the neocon-Zionists hate Iran... what else is new? There's little they can actually do about it from a practical standpoint, other than complain and make empty threats, which is exactly what they've been doing for years, to no avail. The USA will never go to war with Iran, because it cannot afford to go to war with Iran. Sure it would if it could, but it can't -- and that is that.

—

native

Submitted by CB on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 2:28pm

The US rarely does war now.

@native
They've become specialists in sanctions, color revolutions and supporting religious extremists to destabilize countries on their shit list.

If it weren't for the cohesiveness of the Iranian people, Iran would now be a hell hole. But, the US will continue to try. Don't forget that Iran is the last and the true prize of the Seven Country's list - then it's fait accompli.

Submitted by native on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 2:48pm

It may be the last and the true prize,

@CB
but it is also the strongest... by far. The neocons may be psychopathic, but I don't believe they are suicidal.

—

native

Submitted by The Wizard on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 5:54pm

They are psychotic and crazy

@native
Paul Craig Roberts just reminded me in one of his interviews how Reagan would not put up with the Neocons, considered them crazy and put a few in jail, only to be released by Bush. Roberts claimed that the neocons were pushing global thermonuclear war with the Soviet Union believing that we can win.
It seems that they now have Trump's ear, through Kushner and his wife. "Oh those poor children gassed by that butcher Assad". Now they are setting Trump up to prepare him for the ultimate false flag and a massive retaliation. Prepare to watch US ships sunk by Russia and the world on the brink. This is the scenario that leads to global thermonuclear war. An emotional idiot President in the thrall of neocons. There is no stopping Trump, since he researches nothing and never outreaches.
Roberts also reminded me of an interesting analysis. Western Europe could moderate the US but chooses not to. Why? The US ABM missiles stationed in Eastern Europe will do no good whatsoever to Western Europe as all of their big cities are accessible by Russian nuclear cruise missiles. ABMs are useless. They might be able to stop a few ICBMs in the launch phase, but that is only protection for the US, and not much. Meanwhile, Europe will take the brunt of Russian response. Within 1/2 hour there will be no major European city left standing. Why does Europe run this risk, just to please their US masters? They have to know that the US jihad against Russia is bogus.

—

Capitalism has always been the rule of the people by the oligarchs. You only have two choices, eliminate them or restrict their power.

Submitted by native on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 7:20pm

I am aware that the situation is precarious

@The Wizard
and very unstable. Also agree that there are sociopathic criminals and idiots controlling significant levers of US power -- so that the danger of a thermonuclear war is imminent, and very real indeed. I'm not wishing to downplay this danger. I would shout it from the rooftops if I thought that would do any good.

War with Russia is entirely possible. In a sane world it would not be possible, but America's leaders are not actually sane. If they were entirely sane, they would not have allowed the situation to deteriorate to the point it has -- to where a nuclear war is not only possible, but to where there is a very strong possibility of it. As for how likely it is, that I do not know.

—

native

Submitted by snoopydawg on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 4:11pm

Let's fix this statement

@CB

“I don’t see how anyone can say that the world can be safe as long as you have in power a hegemonic American government in control of world events.” continued Cotton, a member of the Senate Armed Services committee.

I think this fits the narrative much better.
As MLK stated in 1967,

"The US is the greatest purveyor of violence."

—

Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.

Submitted by Big Al on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 12:40pm

We need to overthrow our government.

I'll be in prison if anyone needs me.

Submitted by detroitmechworks on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 12:59pm

Pity dhs has me on a watch list

@Big Al I'll probably see ya there.

—

I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Submitted by earthling1 on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 1:00pm

I think you meant regime change, Mr. Cellmate.

@Big Al

—

Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Submitted by detroitmechworks on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 1:06pm

Hail, Cascadia, land that I choose

@earthling1 won't fight for the us, ever again.

But I like the idea of a smaller, better country. Which is why the msm is eager to ignore real concerns in favour of pushing -ist narratives whenever possible.

—

I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Submitted by Big Al on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 1:07pm

Ya, except we better handle this one

@earthling1 ourselves.

Submitted by CB on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 1:35pm

The final push for Dier ez-Zor is on.

The SAA has been pushing in from the south along the Iraq border and are within 100 km of the Euphrates valley over open desert. This may be why the WH is trying to throw a wrench into the works.

Meanwhile Raqqa has been completely surrounded by US backed SDF. The US has escalated air bombing in city. They have also bombed Mayadeenin which is south east of Dier ez-Zor towards the Syrian forces.

42 people killed in air strike carried out by US coalition on ISIS held town of Mayadeenin, eastern Syria: Syrian Observatory

Edit: Mayadeenin is half way between Deir ez-Zor and the Iraq border. The US may want to use this area to stop the Syrian forces.

Submitted by CB on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 1:55pm

Lavrov makes an interesting statement. US up to its old games

More proof that the US is not sincere about stopping terrorism in Syria. Their 'game' is to keep it contained within Syria as a proxy force against Assad. We all know how these kinds of 'games' have played out in the past. It is painfully evident that the US government has no humanitarian concerns about the Syrian people.

"We Have Evidence US and its Allies Are Secretly Providing Cover for Al Nusra/Tahrir Al Sham Terrorists" - Lavrov
June 26th, 2017

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed hope that the next round of Astana talks on settlement of the Syrian crisis will succeed in clarifying the joint vision as regards de-escalation zones, while also noting that some of the players on the Syrian geostrategic chessboard are playing a dishonest and dangerous type of game.
...
“The impression, based on the experience of fighting terrorism in Syria so far, is that the US-led “anti-ISIS” coalition and its allies are secretly providing cover the Al Nusra Front/Tahrir Al Sham terrorists, or whatever they are called now. We have evidence they are being shielded during our strikes”, Lavrov said.

“We consider this a very dangerous kind of game that has to be stopped immediately, no matter the interests in the background. We are dealing with a serious threat here”, he further added.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 2:03pm

ToP finally has noticed that there is a war going on in Syria

The Seymour Hersh article finally got some play over there. Hersh's article that states that the Trump administration ignored the findings that no sarin gas was used on civilians, especially children in the attack in April, and bombed the airport anyway.

A few comments from it.

Hersh has been wrong almost entirely the last several decades.

But Trumps’ lies are personal, not some misguided desire to rule the world to benefit America, just protecting his ego. It may be all bad, but this is irrational. I’d rather face thinking evil than Trump.

Rule 1, Trump lies. So between something posted on this site, and something Trump said, Trump loses the credibility test. I think more than one source has said it wasn’t sarin. The chlorine gas cloud, which could have been deliberate, or could have been a probable outcome if the Syrians knew what was stored in the building, and the risk was ignored rather than planned.

The real issue remains, we shouldn’t be bombing things in Syria, we shouldn’t have troops in Syria, and we can’t fix Syria, but Trump uses these situations as ways to feed his ego and his poll numbers. He’ll blow something up because the press and his fan base like it when things blow up.

I’m going to add my voice to those saying “this smells like Russian propaganda.”

And the stinkiest smell of all is this belief that Russia is outraged at Trump’s actions. If I ever witnessed a false flag operation (meaning the missile strikes, not the chemical attack or whatever it was, this is it.
Pure bullshit, designed only to make Trump look like he’s no Russian puppet, which he most certainly is, as is evidenced by his continual efforts to undermine sanctions against Russia and to weaken NATO.

Sigh

—

Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.

Submitted by CB on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 2:41pm

ToP threw Hersh under the bus when Obama was the one

@snoopydawg
doing the nasty in other countries. Every single reporter who have had a history of informing the people about what shit their government has been doing have also been degraded and dismissed. Obama served his masters well. There no longer exists an anti-war movement in the US.

Submitted by detroitmechworks on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 3:11pm

Sad but true

@CB and the fbi infiltrates every peace vigil they can. Anybody who publicly stands for the people will have moles, because money talks.

Hence why if there is a peace movement, it's probably using the cell system. Time to bone up on Guevara and Mao.

—

I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 4:05pm

You are right

@CB
there were a few that said they had questioned the 2013 attack, but they were shot down. The person who was throwing Hersh under the bus made sure that everyone saw that. He/she wrote that at least 10 times in the diary.
Many people wanted to connect Trump to Putin and tagged him with wagging the dawg.
There has been an 8 year gap of selective amnesia on that site, because they remembered that they were against wars when Bush did them and now that Trump is doing it again.
If anyone mentioned Obama and Hillary's grand adventures in Libya, they were told to quit spreading right wing talking points, or they were being a racist and a misogynists.

The good news is that there was an article on how Syria is getting ready to use sarin gas again, but quite a few people on my local red-leaning website are saying that this is a false flag event.
Most people on this site are so pro-military they can't think for themselves.

—

Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.

Submitted by Alligator Ed on Wed, 06/28/2017 - 4:30am

By "this site" I presume you mean GOS, not c99

@snoopydawg

Most people on this site are so pro-military they can't think for themselves.

Submitted by Ellen North on Wed, 06/28/2017 - 11:37am

@snoopydawg

@snoopydawg

Looks like employment levels may have improved in the 'Correct The Record' field?

—

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Submitted by native on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 3:07pm

TOP: a veritable Ship of Fools

@snoopydawg

—

native

Submitted by snoopydawg on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 6:39pm

Look at what is being promoted over there

@native

Funny, I remember that Putin had a part in this decision.

—

Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.

Submitted by native on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 7:34pm

Yeah, nice folks over there.

@snoopydawg
First they take credit for something Putin did, then they shove a gun in his face and call him a criminal.

—

native

Submitted by detroitmechworks on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 7:41pm

That's an American hobby

@native Iraq, libya, panama, the Phillipines...

We like our cash cows... until it's time to slaughter them.

—

I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Submitted by CB on Wed, 06/28/2017 - 12:10am

We should drop this on them

@native

Submitted by native on Wed, 06/28/2017 - 9:53am

Good stuff.

@CB
Jon Bonfield was being awfully indiscrete there.

—

native

Submitted by CB on Wed, 06/28/2017 - 12:56am

Ivanka and Nikki have taken over Trump's computer

It was this pair who tweeted about Assad going to kill helpless little babies by gassing them in their incubators.

Pentagon, State Dept ‘Clueless’ on Trump’s Assad Allegation
...
Pentagon officials say they were totally unaware if this putative evidence of a chemical attack until the moment the White House issued the statement, something they completely didn’t see coming. The State Department, which would normally be involved in coordinating such an important press release, also wasn’t consulted.

Indeed, such an announcement would normally involve myriad security agencies, including the Pentagon, State Department, and intelligence agencies, particularly whoever was the source of the allegation about Syria in the first place. All signs, however, are that this wasn’t the case with anyone, and they’re not even sure where Trump got the idea that a chemical attack might be imminent.

The White House has since offered a secondary comment insisting that all of the officials who are quoted in the media saying they didn’t know about the announcement are lying, and that the White House did, somehow, consult with everybody without anybody knowing about it.
...

Submitted by Alligator Ed on Wed, 06/28/2017 - 4:37am

Trump doesn't need any moles in the WH

@CB

The White House has since offered a secondary comment insisting that all of the officials who are quoted in the media saying they didn’t know about the announcement are lying, and that the White House did, somehow, consult with everybody without anybody knowing about it.

He does a fine job undermining himself. Recent example: "I fired Comey because of Russia". Fortunately for the Orangutang, the Russia-Trump story has collapsed.

Once Assad and Putin clear Syria of the "moderate rebels", whatever Orangeface does will standout like a Skyscraper in the desert for all to see.

Submitted by Ellen North on Wed, 06/28/2017 - 12:57pm

@CB

@CB

Thanks for another in the succession of great links!

That page linked to these illustrative further examples of exactly how blind greed is and how incredibly stupid is evil in thinking that lies can cover everything and that nothing they destroy - including the global life-support system - can possibly affect them personally:

http://news.antiwar.com/2017/06/27/us-attacks-isis-prison-killing-dozens...

US Attacks ISIS Prison, Killing Dozens of Civilians
Pentagon Says Site Was a 'Command and Control Facility'
Jason Ditz Posted on June 27, 2017Categories NewsTags ISIS, Pentagon, Syria

Officially it was a “command and control facility” but it would be more correct to call it a prison full of detained civilians. Either way, US warplanes attacked the site, in the ISIS-held city of Mayadin, killing 57 people, at least 42 of them prisoners.

The identities of the prisoners aren’t known, obviously, because ISIS doesn’t make public who they’re detaining. Generally speaking, however, it’s people they view as not religious enough, or not loyal enough, or occasionally a rival rebel they captured and didn’t summarily execute. ...

http://news.antiwar.com/2017/06/27/new-cyberattack-using-nsa-exploit-spr...

New Cyberattack Using NSA Exploit Spreads Across the World
Russia, Ukraine Hardest Hit by "NotPetya" Ransomware
Jason Ditz Posted on June 27, 2017Categories NewsTags cyber stuff, NSA, Russia, Ukraine

A massive cyberattack has broken out worldwide, with computer networks in Ukraine and Russia the hardest hit, and the rest of Europe and North America quickly following. This attack, like most recent attacks, is based on an NSA-developed exploit called EternalBlue.

The attack is in the form of ransomware which encrypts the computer’s hard drive, and then offers to unlock the computers for approximately $300 in bitcoins. The contact email for the ransomware has already been shut down by the email provider, however, meaning there is no way for people to actually pay the ransom. ...

Something about having clones of the Three Stooges (times whatever) provided the ability to determine the potential of the survival of life on the planet seems off...

The multiple PTB-targeted countries can't be expected to tolerate this forever, at which point all hell consumes the planet. All for greed and the world well lost.

—

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.