‘Syria is Awash with Illegality’: UK Hid SAS Involvement in Syria to Avoid Being ‘Allied to US’

A British soldier demonstrates anti-terrorist tactics © AFP / Leila Gorchev

The UK doesn’t want to be seen deploying special forces with the likes of the US, an ex-UN chief told RT, suggesting Syria is awash with “illegality,” after the British MoD admitted its personnel are active in the war-torn nation.

Despite British MPs voting in December 2015 for ‘approved airstrikes only’ in Syria, the Ministry of Defence’s admission came after a freedom of information request relating to the death of SAS soldier, Sergeant Matt Tonroe, who was killed in March last year.

Former UN chief & humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, Hans-Christof von Sponeck, suggested that the UK does not want to give the impression it is “allied to the US” in Syria because of past ventures into Iraq and Afghanistan, which do not play well with the British public.

The Truth Is:

SAS involvement is never made known or, apparently, given approval by Parliament. Nor does it seem to be restricted by Parliament. 

Asked whether the US is essentially driving these decisions to deploy special forces on the ground, and not the UK, von Sponeck replied: “Of course,” but added that the Turks were also highly influential when it came to ground-force deployment.

Special forces serviceman Tonroe was killed along with two US soldiers fighting Islamic State in Syria, the Times reported. In a statement, the Ministry of Defence has ostensibly argued that any British ground forces operating in Syria act as if they were a soldier of the nation they’re embedded with.

“British forces embedded in the armed forces of other nations operate as if they were the host nation’s personnel, under that nation’s chain of command,” the ministry said.

Historian and journalist Mark Curtis has taken to social media to highlight the fact that British military personnel are embedded with US military commands around the world. He argues that not enough is being made public on the matter.

Mark Curtis✔
@markcurtis30
 UK military personnel are embedded in various US military commands. Hardly anything is public on this.  https://bit.ly/2SXFJ2p   https://bit.ly/2Ef2i8O   https://bit.ly/2tDCqOJ 

Former head of the British Joint Forces Command, Sir Richard Barrons, has suggested that numerous countries have been conducting “proxy assistance” in Syria without explicitly declaring direct involvement in military operations.

There are so many different factions and different secret operations groups working is Syria that it is virtually impossible to know who's side anyone is really on. Europe and the USA need to get out of Syria completely, not just the regular troops.

I'm convinced major military commanders are constantly looking for a place to practice their trade. 

Turkey Behind Radical Islam; British Special Forces, al-Shabaab in Libya - King of Jordan

A flag bearing the emblem of the Special Air Services (SAS). © Cathal McNaughton / Reuters

The UK has covertly deployed special forces in Libya, 

Israel is turning a blind eye to Al-Nusra, 

& Turkey wants radical Islamists to prevail in the Middle East, 

are the shocking insights King Abdullah of Jordan confidentially shared with US lawmakers.

The leader of the Middle Eastern state, who has been in power since 1999, gave this frank regional assessment to congressional leaders, including John McCain and Paul Ryan, in a closed-door meeting during his visit to the US back in January. Minutes from the briefing have now been obtained by the Guardian via an unsanctioned leak.

In the most substantive revelation, the royal said that Jordanian special forces operating in Libya had been embedded with a more sizeable British SAS contingent to help them overcome cultural barriers, including understanding “Jordanian slang [which] is similar to Libyan slang.”

U.S. President Barack Obama meets with King Abdullah of Jordan in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington February 24, 2016. © Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

The UK Foreign Office does not comment on the whereabouts of the elite SAS and other special forces as a matter of policy.

The security intelligence agency Stratfor had already alleged the UK’s involvement earlier this month, saying that SAS units had been “escorting MI6 teams to meet with Libyan officials about supplying weapons and training to the Syrian army and to militias against the Islamic State. The British air force bases Sentinel aircraft in Cyprus for surveillance missions around [ISIS-controlled Libyan city of] Sirte as well.”

However, David Cameron has refused to provide any information on this even to closed parliamentary committees, saying earlier this week that the SAS is already “subject to international law as everyone else is in our country but I do not propose to change the arrangements under which these incredibly brave men work.”

Officially, Britain will station 1,000 troops to help train locals in Libya and aid its teetering government in the near future, but so far none have supposedly been sent to the country, which has been in the grip of an ethnic and sectarian war since the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The Prime Minister’s office has refused to answer press calls concerning the latest leaks, The Guardian says.

Other statements made by the 54-year-old King Abdullah are more gossipy, but indicative of deep rifts between the US and Saudi-headed coalitions tasked with eliminating Islamic State and restoring the rule of law to the region.

Abdullah said that Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan “believes in a radical Islamic solution to the problems in the region.” He went on to say that “that terrorists are going to Europe is part of Turkish policy, and Turkey keeps getting a slap on the hand, but they get off the hook.”

The revelation comes just after the announcement of a deal that Turkey struck with the EU earlier this month to aid it in solving its refugee problem in exchange for billions of euros.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. © Umit Bektas / Reuters

Israel is accused of “looking the other way” when it comes to Al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra, which controls large swathes of land in Syria including territory on the Israeli border, because the group is “an opposition to Hezbollah,” the Iranian-funded Lebanese militia fighting for President Bashar Assad in the Syrian conflict. There have previously been accusations in the media claiming that Israel was even giving medical treatment to al-Nusra fighters before sending them back out on the battlefield, and that a direct communication link had been established between the Israeli army and the terrorist group. The IDF has always denied these allegations, however.

Historically, Israel has never turned anyone away from medical treatment, even their worst enemies. As for 'sending them back out' - makes it sound as if they are working for Israel. When Israel releases someone from hospital, it is not responsible where that person goes unless he is a criminal or enemy.

King Abdullah’s biggest warning came regarding al-Shabaab, an east African jihadist group with a lower profile than ISIS, Boko Haram and others, but which has begun to “feed into Libya.”

An Islamist fighter from Al-Shabaab Mujaahidin. © Feisal Omar / Reuters

“Jordan is looking at al-Shabaab because no one was really looking at the issue, and we cannot separate this issue, and the need to look at all the hotspots in the map. We have a rapid deployment force that will stand with the British and Kenya and is ready to go over the border into Somalia,” he told congressmen.

The Jordanian embassies in the US and UK have refused to verify the claims, while one congressman has admitted to the Guardian that the briefing did happen, but would not authenticate its talking points.