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<h1><big><big><big>Official Washington’s Syrian ‘Fantasy’ </big></big></big></h1>
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<div class="cat-date-line"><big><big><big><span
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<span class="cat-date-line3"> <a
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<span class="cat-date-line4">By Robert Parry, <a
href="http://consortiumnews.com/2014/10/01/official-washingtons-syrian-fantasy/"
target="_blank">www.consortiumnews.com</a><br>
October 3rd, 2014</span><br>
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<p><big><big><big><em>Left: A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle
aircraft flies over northern Iraq after conducting
airstrikes in Syria, September 23, 2014. Right:
President Obama at the UN Climate Summit, September 23,
2014. (Photo: Senior Airman Matthew Bruch / U.S. Air
Force, John Gillespie / United Nations)</em></big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>What does it say when the capital of the world’s
most powerful nation anchors a major decision about war in
what every thinking person acknowledges is a “fantasy” –
even the principal policymaker and a top advocate for
foreign interventions?</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>It might suggest that the U.S. government has
completely lost its bearings or that political opportunism
now so overwhelms rationality that shortsighted expediency
determines life-or-death military strategies. Either way,
it is hard to see how the current U.S. policy toward Iraq,
Syria and the larger Middle East can serve American
national interests or translate into anything but more
misery for the people of the region.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big><a class="image-anchor"
href="http://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/davidignatius.jpg"><img
scale="0" class="size-medium wp-image-5965"
src="cid:part18.04080103.05060602@comcast.net"
alt="Washington Post columnist David Ignatius. (Photo
credit: Aude)" height="300" width="267"></a></big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>Official Washington’s most treasured “fantasy”
today is the notion that a viable “moderate opposition”
exists in Syria or could somehow be created. That
wish-upon-a-star belief was the centerpiece of
congressional action last month on a $500 million plan by
President Barack Obama to train and arm these “moderate”
rebels to combat Islamic State terrorists who have been
plundering large swaths of Syria and Iraq — and also take
on the Syrian army.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>Yet, as recently as August, President Barack
Obama publicly <a
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/09/opinion/president-obama-thomas-l-friedman-iraq-and-world-affairs.html">declared</a>
that trust in these “moderates” was a “fantasy” that was
“never in the cards” as a workable strategy. Then, on
Wednesday, David Ignatius, national security columnist for
the neoconservative Washington Post and a prominent
booster of U.S. interventionism, <a
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/david-ignatius-unifying-the-moderate-opposition-is-the-biggest-challenge-in-syria/2014/09/30/b93426f0-48c7-11e4-b72e-d60a9229cc10_story.html">reported</a>
from a rebel staging area in Reyhanli, Turkey, the same
reality in nearly the same language.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>“The problem is that the ‘moderate opposition’
that the United States is backing is still largely a
fantasy,” Ignatius wrote, noting that the greatest
challenge would be to coordinate “the ragtag brigades of
the Free Syrian Army into a coherent force that can fill
the vacuum once the extremists are driven out.”</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>Ignatius quoted Syrian rebel commander Hamza
al-Shamali, a top recipient of American support
including anti-tank missiles, as saying, “At some point,
the Syrian street lost trust in the Free Syrian Army,” the
U.S.-backed rebel force that was the armed wing of the
supposedly “moderate opposition” to President Bashar
al-Assad. Ignatius added:</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>“Shamali explains that many rebel commanders
aren’t disciplined, their fighters aren’t well-trained and
the loose umbrella organization of the FSA lacks command
and control. The extremists of the Islamic State and
Jabhat al-Nusra have filled the vacuum. Now, he says, ‘the
question every Syrian has for the opposition is: Are you
going to bring chaos or order?’”</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>According to Ignatius, Shamali said he rejected
a proposal to merge the FSA’s disparate brigades because
“we refuse to repeat failed experiments.” He argued that
an entirely new “Syrian national army” would be needed to
fight both the Islamist radicals and Assad’s military.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>But even the sympathetic Ignatius recognized
that “the FSA’s biggest problem has been internecine
feuding. Over the past two years, I’ve interviewed various
people who tried to become leaders, such as: Abdul-Jabbar
Akaidi, Salim Idriss and Jamal Maarouf. They all talked
about unifying the opposition but none succeeded.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>“An Arab intelligence source explains: ‘Until
now, the FSA is a kind of mafia. … People inside Syria are
tired of this mafia. There is no structure. It’s nothing.’
And this from one of the people who have struggled the
past three years to organize the resistance.”</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>In other words, the “moderate” rebels – to the
degree that they do exist – are viewed by many Syrians as
part of the problem, not part of any solution.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big><b>Favoring Al-Qaeda </b></big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>Another flaw in Obama’s strategy is that the
Syrian “moderates” are much more opposed to Assad’s harsh
but secular regime than they are to the Sunni jihadists
who have emerged as the most effective fighting force
against him.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>“If U.S. airstrikes and other support are seen
to be hitting Muslim fighters only, and strengthening the
despised Assad, this strategy for creating a ‘moderate
opposition’ will likely fail,” Ignatius concluded.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>That complaint has given new hope to
Washington’s influential neoconservatives that they can
ultimately redirect Obama’s intervention in Syria from
bombing the Islamic State terrorists to a full-scale
“regime change” war against Assad, much like the neocons
helped convince President George W. Bush to invade Iraq in
2003. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “<a
href="http://consortiumnews.com/2014/09/29/neocons-noses-into-the-syrian-tent/">Neocons’
Noses Into the Syrian Tent.</a>”]</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>In this regard, Obama appears to be the
proverbial deer in the headlights. He’s afraid of being
called “weak” if he doesn’t go after the Islamic State for
its hyper-violent attacks inside Iraq and its brutal
executions of American hostages in Syria. Yet, Obama’s
also can’t escape his earlier tough talk that “Assad must
go.”</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>Obama’s core contradiction has been that by
providing “covert” assistance to Syrian rebels, he has
indirectly strengthened the Sunni extremists who have
seized the Free Syrian Army’s weapons depots and won
converts from the “moderate” rebels, some of whom were
trained, armed and financed by the CIA. Meanwhile, other
U.S. allies, including Saudi Arabia and Turkey, have been
helping more extreme Syrian rebels, including al-Qaeda’s
Nusra Front.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>A year ago, many of the “moderate” rebels
publicly <a
href="http://consortiumnews.com/2013/09/26/syrian-rebels-embrace-al-qaeda/">repudiated
the Syrian political front</a> that the Obama
administration had put together and instead endorsed
al-Nusra. According to one source with access to Western
intelligence information, some “moderate” rebels –
recruited from Muslim communities in Great Britain and
other Western countries – have now taken their military
skills (and passports) to the Islamic State.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>Yet, instead of acknowledging that this strategy
of relying on an unreliable “moderate opposition” is
indeed a “fantasy,” President Obama and a majority in
Congress have chosen to pursue this geopolitical unicorn
with another $500 million and much political
chest-thumping.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big><b>An Alternative Approach</b></big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>At this late stage, the only practical strategy
would be to press the non-extremist Sunni opposition to
work out some form of unity government with Assad who
retains strong support among Syria’s Alawite, Shiite and
Christian minorities. By enlisting Russia and Iran, Obama
might be able to secure concessions from Assad, including
the possibility of a gradual transition to a post-Assad
era.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>With such a political settlement in hand, the
focus could then be on defeating the Islamic State and
al-Qaeda’s Nusra affiliate and restoring some order to
Syria. But the problem is that Official Washington’s
neocons and their “liberal interventionist” allies are so
fixated on “regime change” in Syria and are so hostile to
Russia and Iran that any pragmatic strategy is effectively
ruled out.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>Though Obama may be a closet “realist” who would
favor such a compromise approach, he has consistently
lacked the political courage or the geopolitical foresight
to impose this kind of solution on the powers-that-be in
Washington. Any suggestion of collaboration with Russia
and Iran or acquiescence to continued rule by Assad would
touch off a firestorm of outrage in Congress and the
mainstream U.S. media.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>So, Obama instead has charted a course into what
he knows to be a fantasyland, a costly pursuit of the
chimerical Syrian “moderates” who – once located – are
supposed to defeat both the Sunni extremists and the army
of the secularist Assad. This journey is not simply a
march of folly but a meandering into illusion.</big></big></big></p>
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