Is Deep State Running Illegal American Policy in Syria

US taking over from IS & Al-Nusra Front by seizing Syrian oil

at behest of 'money lobbies' – Assad

It's very curious that America's Mainstream Media (MSM) is not the least bit interested in reporting this. With their determination to demonize Donald Trump, you would think they would be spreading this illegal action most gleefully. Why aren't they? Could it be because they are run by the same Deep State that is stealing the oil and selling it to the Turks?

FILE PHOTO © Global Look Press / Carol Guzy / Source: ZUMAPRESS.com

Powerful lobbies are behind the US rush for Syria's natural resources, and the Americans are carrying on where Islamist groups left off by "stealing and selling" them, President Bashar Assad has said.

In October, Donald Trump made headlines by ordering all US troops out of Syria, leaving the devastated country to anyone who wants "to come in and fight." But weeks later he backtracked on that decision, bluntly stating that troops would remain to "protect" Syrian oil fields east of the Euphrates.

In a comprehensive interview with China's Phoenix, Assad commented on Trump's swift transition from the mild non-interventionism that he championed before the troop withdrawal, to the outright oil-driven expansionism that resembled the 2003 Iraq War.

Donald Trump is not Deep State, but he has to choose wisely where he takes them on.

'Lobbies in charge of US policies'

It's not the government in the classical sense that drives US endeavors in Syria but "the money lobbies, whether in the form of oil, weapons, banks, or others," Assad explained.

American lobbies are "in charge of the policies" of the country, which "is not governed by principles, but rather by the interests of those companies," he said.

If they have an interest in occupying the oil wells, stealing and selling them one way or another, then this state and this regime will act in favor of these companies, regardless of international law and regardless of American law.

Those in the White House and on Capitol Hill aren't shy about breaching the US' own laws for the sake of these corporations "because if they don't make them happy, the president might be impeached," Assad said, referring to the previous historical experience of his country.

Therefore, it doesn't matter for Syria who is in charge in the White House since the US president's hands are cuffed by corporate, not state, interests.

There're 'thousands,' not hundreds, of US troops on Syrian soil

The Pentagon has retained around 800 troops to "guard" Syrian oil facilities, along with Kurdish-led forces, but the figure has artificially been decreased and did not include "individuals fighting with the American army," Assad believes.

The American regime relies significantly in its wars on private firms like Blackwater in Iraq and others. So, even if they had a few hundred American soldiers in Syria, they still also have thousands – maybe tens of thousands – of civilians working for such companies and fighting in Syria.

Who is paying them, and is the money accounted for? Who is getting the money from the oil? Is it being accounted for?

Regardless of how many US troops are present in Syria, they seem to be setting up for a long-haul deployment. Previously, it was reported that they were building two new military bases in Deir ez-Zor, the province where the majority of Syrian oil assets are concentrated.

Such compounds are situated near the border with Turkey, and Syria's northern neighbor plays a role in the affair, Assad suggested.  

Crude smuggled from Syria is sold to Turkey

The oil trade has always been a mainstay of the Syrian economy, although their crude reserves pale in comparison to those of the Gulf monarchies. In 2018, Syria had an estimated 2.5 billion barrels of oil reserves, compared with Saudi Arabia's 297 billion, Iran's 155 billion, and Iraq's 147 billion barrels, according to OPEC. 

Still, they were of great utility to anyone controlling them. Syrian oil wells were used by Jabhat Al-Nusra and Islamic State, Assad noted. As IS was largely defeated in most parts of Syria, the US is obviously filling the blank space left by the retreating terrorists that capitalized on selling Syrian crude.

Before the Americans, in the early days Jabhat Al-Nusra used these wells; after Daesh came and drove out Al-Nusra – or rather when it merged with Al-Nusra and they all became Daesh – it also stole and sold oil. Where? It used to sell it through Turkey. Now America is the one stealing oil and selling it to Turkey.

It's like when the mafia is driven out of a certain city, another criminal organization quickly rushes in to claim the area. Why is the media silent on this?

Carla Del Ponte: The Netherlands is Possibly Complicit in War Crimes in Syria

Article is from trouw.nl and translated from Dutch by Google

It nicely complements the previous article on this blog 

Ghassan Dahhan and Milena Holdert 

The Swiss lawyer Carla Del Ponte. She was a member of the UN Commission of Inquiry for Syria until last year. © ANP

Carla Del Ponte is 'shocked' that the Netherlands provided support to combat groups known to violate human rights. 

The Swiss is former chief prosecutor of the Yugoslavia Tribunal and until last year was a member of the UN Commission of Inquiry for Syria. "All parties in the conflict commit crimes. The Netherlands knows that the opposition is committing war crimes. "

"All parties in the conflict commit crimes.

The Netherlands knows that the opposition is committing war crimes. "

Carla Del Ponte, UN Commission of Inquiry for Syria

Del Ponte responds to the results of research by Trouw and Nieuwsuur about  the support to the Syrian armed opposition. She reported from 2012 to 2017 on behalf of the United Nations on war crimes and human rights violations in Syria, not only by the regime of President Assad, but also by armed opposition groups. "We wrote in our reports from 2013 that all conflict groups in the Syrian conflict were guilty of war crimes," said Del Ponte.

The Netherlands had a seat in the UN Human Rights Council from 2015 to 2017, which included the Del Ponte committee. Del Ponte remembers the Dutch ambassador Karel van Oosterom. "He knew exactly what was in our reports, he even knew the details of the research," said Del Ponte. And, she adds: "The Netherlands had enough people, and information from the intelligence services. And certainly the Netherlands, and the other European countries, because they exchange all this information. So they know exactly what happened in Syria! "

The decision of the Netherlands in 2015 to provide support surprises Del Ponte. "Why did the Netherlands do this? The Netherlands could have done enough to send humanitarian aid through the United Nations? "She pleads for an international tribunal that investigates war crimes in Syria and also needs to examine the interference of countries such as the Netherlands. "Thorough research is needed. Not only the Netherlands, but also other states have supported the Syrian war. They could be complicit in committing war crimes. "

In reports that Del Ponte's commission drew up, the Sultan Murad Brigade is explicitly mentioned. That is  one of the groups of  which research by Trouw and Nieuwsuur shows that they have had help from the Netherlands. According to Del Ponte's research, this group would suppress the inhabitants of Aleppo. The Netherlands supported the Sultan Murad brigade from 2016, and continued the support until the beginning of 2018. Even after the publication of Del Ponte's alarming report.

Great doubts

Both the EU and the UN always had serious doubts about support for Syrian rebel groups. Other EU countries decided not to provide this support, including Austria. The then Austrian foreign minister, Michael Spindelegger (OVP), vetoed when France and Britain wanted to supply weapons and logistics equipment to the Syrian armed opposition from an EU perspective. He had strong doubts about the so-called 'moderate armed opposition', which according to him regularly changed leadership and had no clear structure. And besides, he says to Trouw and Nieuwsuur: 'We as Austria felt that you should not simply join forces in one side of the conflict. We did not want to send weapons and equipment to the Syrian opposition while we did not know exactly who these people were."

A good and moral decision by Austria. Unfortunately, their moral character seems to be out of place among the western powers that seem willing to support anyone who will fight against Assad.

Spindleegger already questioned the 'moderate' nature of the insurgents at the time, which included support from the US. 'It was quite possible that the weapons and equipment that you sent to these groups could ultimately be used against Europeans themselves.' Spindelegger calls the qualification 'non-lethal material' a 'gray area'. Pick-up trucks that are used to transport weapons or even to assemble are difficult to separate from weapons themselves in practice.

Tulsi Gabbard Calls Out Trump’s Troubling Double Standard on Al-Qaeda

As I have mentioned before, Tulsi Gabbard is one of the few Representatives

for whom I have great respect, although I'm not sure Trump is the right target here

Members of al Qaeda's Nusra Front in Idlib province May 28, 2015. © Ammar Abdullah / Reuters

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard marked 9/11 by pointing out that Donald Trump paid tribute to the victims of Al-Qaeda even while protecting the terrorist group's last stronghold in Syria – sparking a range of responses online.

In a tweet written on the seventeenth anniversary of the tragic terrorist attacks, Gabbard noted that “while President Trump & VP Pence give 9/11 speeches about how much they care about the victims of al-Qaeda’s attack on our country, they are simultaneously acting as protectors of AQ in Syria/Idlib, threatening Russia and Syria that if they attack al-Qaeda, we will punish them.”

Tulsi Gabbard✔

@TulsiGabbard

 US House candidate, HI-2

 While President Trump & VP Pence give 9/11 speeches about how much they care about the victims of al-Qaeda’s attack on our country, they are simultaneously acting as protectors of AQ in Syria/Idlib, threatening Russia and Syria that if they attack al-Qaeda, we will punish them.

The tweet sparked a dizzying range of responses, with some praising the Democratic congresswoman and others resorting to all-caps-lock condemnations.

“At least one person in Congress gets it. I am a libertarian and wouldn't mind seeing @TulsiGabbard run for the White House in 2020. A refreshing breath of fresh air,” one Twitter user wrote. “Thank you Tulsi. You are a genuine beacon of hope and change in Washington,” said another.

“Hello Americans, hello, did you understand this? Reread it and think on it. Get it yet?” one seemingly impatient Twitter user asked.

But the congresswoman was also peppered with accusations of whitewashing the “real” bad guys in Syria.

Understand this - there are no 'good guys' in Syria! Assad is a 'bad guy' but he is the legitimate ruler of the country and any and all western and eastern powers trying to remove him are responsible for the horror that Syria has become. As hard as it is to believe, Russia is the closest thing to a 'good guy' as they have come in and outed IS bringing the end to this disgraceful war within sight, if the west doesn't fabricate an excuse to continue the conflict or even escalate it.

But Gabbard is right, here. America has sided with its very enemy for the sake of keeping the conflict and the inventory of weapons flowing. And I don't think it is Trump or Pence's fault. I believe if either had their way they would pull out of Syria as they morally should. But Deep State is most likely running the show in Washington these days.

Gabbard may have been the only lawmaker to draw attention to the troubling contradiction, but similar observations found fertile ground across social media.

“I’ll never reconcile how the biggest post-9/11 hawks turned into the biggest boosters of the jihad in Syria,” professor Max Abrahms noted in his own tweet marking the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.

Max Abrahms✔

@MaxAbrahms

 I’ll never reconcile how the biggest post-9/11 hawks turned into the biggest boosters of the jihad in Syria.

It's easy, Max, America will sponsor more than one side of a war, as long as it's on foreign soil; it matters not. It's all about moving the inventory.

Others highlighted how western media outlets, following the example of the US government, had rebranded Al-Qaeda as “rebels” under siege in Syria. The New York Times went so far as to praise the terrorist group as "a de facto governmental authority, facilitating trade across the long border with Turkey and organizing aid deliveries."

Idlib Province, Syria

Syria - U.S. Reveals Underpants Plan For Indefinite Occupation

Moon of Alabama 

Today (7 Sept) the United States officially announced a new policy in its war on Syria. It is an equivalent to the three step business plan (vid) of the underpants gnomes:

The new U.S. plan is to: 1. keep north-east Syria indefinitely occupied, 2. ???, 3. Iran leaves Syria and the 'regime' in Damascus falls:

President Trump, who just five months ago said he wanted “to get out” of Syria and bring U.S. troops home soon, has agreed to a new strategy that indefinitely extends the military effort there and launches a major diplomatic push to achieve American objectives, according to senior State Department officials.

Although the military campaign against the Islamic State has been nearly completed, the administration has redefined its goals to include the exit of all Iranian military and proxy forces from Syria, and establishment of a stable, nonthreatening government acceptable to all Syrians and the international community.

The first major step of the "diplomatic push" is to prevent the imminent Syrian army operation against al-Qaeda aligned groups in Idleb province:

While the United States agrees that those forces must be wiped out, it rejects “the idea that we have to go in there . . . to clean out the terrorists, most of the people fighting . . . they’re not terrorists, but people fighting a civil war against a brutal dictator,” as well as millions of civilians, [U.S. special representative for Syria James] Jeffrey said. Instead, the United States has called for a cooperative approach with other outside actors (read: Deep State).

“We’ve started using new language,” Jeffrey said, referring to previous warnings against the use of chemical weapons. Now, he said, the United States will not tolerate “an attack. Period.”

Jeffrey just visited Turkey. The intent was to stiffen Turkey's objection to the upcoming Idleb attack. The result was a plan that the Turkish president Erdogan presented today at the Tehran summit with President Putin of Russian and President Rohani of Iran. It included:

Prolongation of the deescalation ceasefire

12 armed groups, including Hayat Tahrir al Sham to be disbanded

Turkey will train a new rebel force to control Idleb under Turkish command

Groups who resist will be targeted in counter terrorism operations

...

The plan is nonsense. It is a copy of the task list Erdogan was given when the deescalation zone in Idleb was established at an earlier summit in the Astana format. Erdogan failed to implement it. HTS still rules Idelb province. HTS still rejects to dissolve. The observation posts Turkey established around Idleb still depend on the goodwill and protection of HTS fighters.

Erdogan has no way to implement his plan. Accordingly today's summit in Tehran ended with a mealymouthed statement. It failed to come up with a common way forward for Idleb.

Syria and its allies Russia and Iran should proceed with their plans to cleanse Idleb of terrorist. The U.S. is bluffing. It has no realistic means to prevent the operation. Any U.S. attack on Syrian and Russian forces involved in it would likely escalate into a conflict between nuclear powers. That is a risk the U.S. military is unwilling to take. It knows that the forces it planted into Syria are vulnerable to attacks.

The U.S. is now screaming of imminent chemical attacks by the Syrian army on "civilians" in Idleb:

“If they want to continue to go the route of taking over Syria, they can do that,” said Nikki Haley at a UN press conference today, without explaining how a nation’s only recognized government can ‘take over’ the country it governs. “But they cannot do it with chemical weapons. They can’t do it assaulting their people. And we’re not gonna fall for it. If there are chemical weapons that are used, we know exactly who’s gonna use them.”

If a chemical incident occurs the U.S. will know who did it because it provided the chemicals to the terrorist. The Syrian army will of course not use any such weapons. Sun Tzu never gave this advice:

Chemical warfare is ineffective. That is why everyone agreed to ban it. Like in east-Ghouta the U.S. obviously plans to again fake such a "chemical attack on civilians" to have a propaganda pretext to attack Syrian forces.

Tomorrow the Russian fleet will finish its ongoing maneuver in the eastern Mediterranean. All Syrian army units have taken up their launching positions for the Idleb operation and are ready to go. The shaping operations by artillery and air forces have been ongoing for a while. Any hold off now would only deteriorate the readiness of the troops and give the U.S. more time to implement counter measures.

The Russian President Putin seems to understand that. At the press conference at the Tehran summit he said:

"Regarding a ceasefire, we consider it unacceptable when, under pretext of protecting the civilian population, they want to withdraw terrorists from being under attack, as well as inflict damage on Syrian government troops."

Russia is not in the mood to compromise. It warned the U.S. military that it would soon launch an operation against ISIS forces under protection of the small U.S. garrison in al-Tanf. Those forces recently launched another attempt to recapture Palmyra but were caught and defeated before they could achieve their aim:

Russian complaints about the presence of potential Al Qaeda or ISIS fighters in the buffer zone are not new, the US officials point out. But with an imminent Russian-backed assault by Syrian regime forces in the Idlib area in the north, there is concern Moscow could see this as an optimum time to conduct multiple offensive operations.

And there is the problem of the new U.S. strategy in Syria. The position in al-Tanf is untenable. The U.S could put a full brigade there, including anti-air assets, and it would still be too vulnerable. That is why today the U.S. launched a rescue and exfiltration exercise in al-Tanf. The place is too far away from other U.S. assets to withstand a committed attack.

In the north-east of Syria the U.S. positions is likewise endangered. Since early August 1,900 trucks brought in weapons and equipment for its Kurdish proxy forces, the SDF. The Saudis have committed to pay some money for reconstruction and the U.S. surely hopes to use the oil fields there to finance a future occupation. It will soon start to announce some 'independent' regional government that will be under its complete control.

But Turkey is against such empowerment of Kurds. The supply lines through Iraq are vulnerable. The population is diverse with many Syrian Arab tribes unwilling to live under Kurdish/U.S. control. They will resist the sectarian and ethnic cleansing the Kurds have planned. That makes it easy to instigate a guerilla war against the U.S. occupiers and their proxy forces. What happens when the U.S. forces start to take serious casualties?

The U.S. presence in Syria is costly heap of underpants with no chance to ever turn it into a profit. It was a mistake by Trump to fall for the siren songs of the neo-conservatives and Zionists who pressed for this plan. It is he who will have to pay the political price.

Idlib Province, Syria

British Intelligence Planning Fake Chemical Attack in Syria - US Senator

So, it appears Senator Black got his information from Assad, and therefore has questionable validity.

On the other hand, it makes no sense for Russia or Syria to warn the world in advance if it was they who were going to perpetrate a chemical attack. 

Remember, Douma was a false-flag operation and Ghouta was most likely as well.

U.S. Senator Richard Black walks with Syrian government negotiator Bashar Ja'afari (C), Damascus, Syria April 28, 2016. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

Virginia State Senator Richard Black has claimed UK intelligence was planning a chemical attack in Syria, which they would then blame on the Syrian government. Black made the claim after a meeting with President Bashar Assad.

“Around four weeks ago, we knew that British intelligence was working towards a chemical attack in order to blame the Syrian government, to hold Syria responsible,” Black said on the Beirut-based Al Mayadeen news channel.

Black later clarified that he meant the British were not planning to carry out the attack themselves, rather they intended to direct rebel forces to do so or stage a fake attack, with actors playing victims.

Russia, for over a month, has been warning that the surrounded rebels in Idlib province are preparing a false-flag attack to frame Damascus and trigger a US led-coalition intervention.

In turn, US Marine General Joseph Dunford says he's involved in “routine dialogue” with Donald Trump to keep him informed about “military options” for retaliation in case “chemical weapons are used.” In April, the US led a series of strikes against the Syrian government, avowedly in response to the Douma chemical attack which they blamed on Assad.

According to Black, previous alleged chemical attacks on the Syrian rebel-held area were also fakes concocted by the UK alongside the so-called ‘White Helmets,’ a group of first-responders who face numerous accusations of being linked to Syria’s Jihadist opposition.

There is a good probability that the White Helmets involved in the false-flag chemical attacks were actually impostors. On the other hand, they clearly are anti-Assad.

“From what I can tell, they have been planning a fake attack, not a genuine one, but one where they actually move people out of a town and they have trained people to portray victims of a gas attack,” Black told The Washington Post.

“And the plan is to use the White Helmets who have always been involved in these notorious deceptions, to portray an attack.”

Black’s assertion of British plotting, flies in the face of both the Obama and Trump administration’s claims that Assad has used chemical weapons against the Syrian people.

Respective claims from Russia and the US about planned chemical attacks, the latter accusing Assad of planning to use chlorine, come as Syrian forces are preparing to retake Idlib province, the last rebel-held stronghold. Three million people are thought to live in the area, which is controlled by various rebel groups, including Al-Qaeda linked Jabhat Al-Nusra, and remnants of Islamic State cells.

Despite Russia's warnings for more than a month, no Mainstream Media outlet has run the story. Nor are they interested in covering the Douma false-flag operation. MSM is clearly aligned with the war-mongers of the west.

The comments came after Black’s second visit to Syria. Explaining his visit in 2016, Black praised Assad for protecting Syria against Islamic fundamentalists.

As bad as Assad is, he is a thousand times better than IS, al-Nusra, or al-Qaeda. The west doesn't seem to realize this and appears determined to turn Syria into another Libya. 

On his recent visit, Black said of Assad: “There was sort of a spring in his step and a sense of joy and optimism, and looking out to the future and bringing the nation together.”

Political Unrest in West Means Idlib Will Provoke Serious Escalation

The UK, USA & France are all in political trouble, and what do

western governments do when they are in trouble - go to war!

Western threats against Syria using chemical weapons have started preparing their electorates for an escalation in the civil war in Syria. They claim that chemical weapons are being prepared. Big news - Russia made that announcement two weeks ago. If Russia-Syria were involved in preparing chemical weapons, do you think they would announce it to the world two weeks ahead of time?

There was no chemical attack in Douma, and yet western governments and Mainstream Media (MSM) have never reported that, even though the OPCW admitted it. If there is a chemical attack in Idlib, it will be at the hands of those rebels supported by western countries, and yet, the west will go ballistic and attack Damascus in an effort to be rid of Assad, and they will do it before the OPCW has had a chance to investigate. Then Syria will join the list of failed states like Libya who's leaders were assassinated by the west. This is one of the few ways the situation in Syria could possibly get worse.

Western countries need to remove their forces and those rebels whom they are supporting from Idlib. Of course, they will have great difficulty finding a place to move them to, but Libya could handle a few thousand more Islamic lunatics, I'm sure.

U.S. official: Syrian forces could be preparing chemical weapons for attack on Idlib

ByNicholas Sakelaris

James Jeffrey, U.S. special representative for Syria, warns that pro-government forces in Syria are preparing

to use chemical weapons against Ibib. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

(UPI) -- Syrian forces are closing in on the last rebel stronghold in Idlib, raising concerns that millions of civilians could be caught in the crossfire.

James Jeffrey, U.S. special representative for Syria, said Thursday, "there's lots of evidence that chemical weapons are being prepared". Jeffrey added that the attack would be a "reckless escalation."

Pro-government forces backed by Russia and Iran have been shelling the rebel enclave for two straight days. Russia, Iran and Turkey are meeting in Tehran Friday to discuss what could happen in the next few weeks. Russia has called Idlib a "nest of terrorists" and a "festering abscess."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he's concerned about a bloodbath in Idilb, which could send a stream of refugees into Turkey.

"If we can ensure a ceasefire here, this will be one of the most important steps of the summit, it will seriously put civilians at ease," Erdogan said. "We need to find a rational solution in Idlib that will address everyone's concerns."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the terrorist fighters that have taken shelter in that region haven't been part of peace talks. He added that Syria should retake all of its territory.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government is legitimate and should be respected.

"To fight terrorism in Idlib is inevitable and part of a mission to bring about peace and stability to Syria," Rouhani said. "We are fighting for peace. Our final goal whether in Syria or in the region is peace but in order to have sustainable peace we have to fight terror decisively."

Politically, Jeffrey said Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad "has no future as a ruler" but it's not up to U.S. forces to remove him.

Amnesty International warns that the residents of Idlib, many of them already refugees from elsewhere in Syria, cannot bear another offensive using starvation and indiscriminate bombardment.

"The shocking civilian death tolls and war crimes witnessed recently in other parts of Syrian such as eastern Aleppo city, Eastern Ghouta and Daraa must not be repeated in Idlib," Samah Hadid, Middle East director of Amnesty International, said. "It is essential that all parties to the conflict do not attack civilians, grant safe passage to civilians wishing to flee the fighting and attacks, and ensure unimpeded access to humanitarian relief for all civilians in need in Idlib."

One recent air strike targeted rebel forces, but human rights organizations claim 13 civilians, including children were killed in the attack. There were no militants killed, the organization claims.

Elsewhere, Russia has warned that it will attack At Tanf, a key U.S. stronghold near the border of Syria, Jordan and Iraq, to root out militant troops in the area.

U.S. officials have said they will defend themselves if attacked.

"We have absolutely advised them to stay out of At Tanf," one U.S. official told CNN. "We are postured to respond."

Idlib province, Syria

U.N. Syria Envoy Warns of 'Perfect Storm' in Idlib

By Daniel Uria

United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura warned of a "perfect storm" facing the Syrian province of Idlib, where government forces, backed by Russia seek to eliminate terrorist groups. Photo by Olivier Hoslet/EPA

(UPI) -- U.N. Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura warned of a "perfect storm" facing the country's Idlib province Thursday.

De Mistra expressed concern for the residents of Idlib as President Bashar al-Assad's government forces, which are backed by Russia, are expected to launch an offensive to clear militants from the al-Qaida and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham -- also known as the al-Nusra Front -- militant groups from the area.

"While we are talking, there are some discussions taking place, and we hope that they will be fruitful but that doesn't mean that we should be not worried, on the contrary, we are worried about any hurried escalation," he said.

The Russian military amassed a fleet of at least 10 warships and two submarines off Syria's northwest coast in preparation for an assault on the Idlib militants on Tuesday.

Russia said the buildup was in response to possible airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition against Syrian government forces and that rebels in Idlib were planning to stage chemical weapon attacks on civilians and blame Assad's regime.

On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Russia's state-run Tass news agency that militants in Idlib were trying to hold civilians hostage to be used as human shields after talks with Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir.

"Idlib is the last major stronghold of terrorists who are trying to gamble on the status of the de-escalation zone and hold civilians as human shields and bring the armed formations ready for negotiations with the Syrian government to their knees," Lavrov said. "So, from all standpoints, this 'abscess' has to be liquidated."

De Mistra agreed the militant groups must be eliminated from the area, but called for more time to establish a method to keep the 2.9 million civilians in the province safe.

"There are ways to save people but we need the government to actually cooperate and provide guarantees for their own well-being with humanitarian presence," he said.

He expressed particular concern for about 1.4 million people living in Idlib who have already been displaced at least once amid similar assaults in Aleppo and Eastern Ghouta and would have nowhere else to go.

"So far, every time there was a crisis and there was a conclusion of that one crisis, there was a place where many could opt to go, there is no other Idlib," he said "It would be a tragic irony frankly, if at almost the end of what we consider at the moment in front of our eyes, a territorial war inside Syria, we would be witnessing the most horrific tragedy to the largest number of civilians."

It would be even more tragic if western powers get involved and run a false flag chemical attack and use it as an excuse to escalate the war. 

US Takes Away $230mn of Syria Stabilization Funding

People walk through debris in the ruins of Afrin, Syria © Khalil Ashawi / Reuters

The US has ended funding for stabilization projects in Syria, as President Trump looks to withdraw from the long-running conflict. The move comes as allies step up their contributions.

The US State Department said on Friday that some $230 million in funding for stabilizing Syria have been redirected elsewhere. The funding had been promised by former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in February, but had been placed under review and frozen since then.

State Department Press Secretary Heather Nauert said that the withdrawal of funding comes on the back of military successes against the terrorist group Islamic State (ISIS), and as America’s coalition allies have increased their contributions.

Following US intervention, and later Russian intervention in 2015, ISIS has lost roughly 98 percent of its territory throughout Syria and Iraq, and is now estimated to control only 400 square miles of desert.

America’s coalition allies in the Syrian conflict contribute $300 million to stabilization efforts. Saudi Arabia announced on Thursday that it would chip in $100 million to support the stabilization of the war torn country. Brett McGurk, an envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS, told reporters that this funding “not only offsets what the US Government was going to spend but actually increases the amount.”

As the US takes away its own contribution, Nauert said that “stabilization and early recovery programming is critical to ensure ISIS cannot reemerge and use Syria as a base to threaten the people of the region or plot attacks against the international community.”

‘Final phase’ and ‘strategic goals’

The withdrawal of stabilization money does not mean a reduction of American presence in Syria. On the contrary, McGurk said preparations are under way for a “final phase” of the offensive against ISIS.

Trump has often stated a desire to extricate the US from the Syrian conflict. While he has ordered airstrikes on Syrian government targets, he promised in March that the US would “be coming out of Syria, like very soon,” and that the US would “let other people take care of it.”

Trump campaigned on ending the US’ role as the ‘world’s policeman,’ and had repeatedly warned his predecessor, Barack Obama, against intervention in Syria. He warned that intervention would be costly and had “no upside and tremendous downside.”

But in April, Defense Secretary James Mattis said the US would be deepening its involvement in Syria.

As the Trump administration continues to flirt with the idea of leaving Syria, Nauert told reporters that "This decision does not represent any lessening of US commitment to our strategic goals in Syria," which remain the military defeat of ISIS, and now involve ensuring the withdrawal of Iranian-sponsored, pro-Assad forces.

Nauert also said that Friday’s decision would not affect humanitarian assistance to Syria, or US support for the White Helmets, an ostensibly humanitarian civil-defense group that has been accused of working with extremist groups.

Enter Russia

In the US, the decision to pull stabilization support was met with criticism from some Democrats, who predictably deployed the Russian boogeyman to make their point.

Senator Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey) accused Trump of “rolling out the red carpet for Russia and Iran, who will seize the vacuum of US presence and assistance to double down on their support of the Assad regime.”

Russian forces have been providing military support to the Assad government, and have contributed to the fight against ISIS in Syria. After a bilateral summit in July, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to work together to resolve the Syrian conflict.

Beginning in 2011 when the Assad government quashed protests calling for his removal from power, the Syrian Civil War has grown into a multi-sided conflict that has pitted Assad and his allies against a hydra-headed gaggle of anti-government forces and extremist groups, some of whom are sponsored by the US. The US’ mission in Syria primarily involves carrying out airstrikes against ISIS targets, and providing support to Kurdish and anti-Assad fighters.

Islamic State still active in US controlled areas

Islamic State managed to regain access to Syrian oil fields and make profits from selling oil, a new UN report reveals. While the UN did not point fingers, the IS reemergence seems to occur in areas held by the US-backed forces.

“Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, having been defeated militarily in Iraq and most of the Syrian Arab Republic during 2017, rallied in early 2018. This was the result of a loss of momentum by forces fighting it in the east of the Syrian Arab Republic,” the recent report from the UN Security Council’s Sanctions Monitoring Team reads. The document is dated July 27, but was only released to the public this week.

The slow-down gave IS “breathing space to prepare for the next phase of its evolution into a global covert network.” As of June 2018, the terrorist group has been controlling “small pockets of territory in the Syrian Arab Republic on the Iraqi border,” effectively carrying on with its quasi-state ways.

“[IS] was able to extract and sell some oil, and to mount attacks, including across the border into Iraq,” the reports stated, adding that the terrorist group regained “access to some oil fields in northeastern” Syria.

While the report did not specify which forces exactly were having troubles with “momentum,” northeastern Syria is located on the left bank of the Euphrates river, controlled by the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia backed by the US-led coalition.

The softening of resolve to annihilate ISIS is most unfortunate for the thousands of Yazidi women and girls still in the hands of ISIS. Nor will the withdrawal of funds from the stabilization fund do anything for the 350,000 displaced Yazidis in desperate need of help rebuilding Sinjar City, Iraq.

White Helmets are Helping Syrian Militants Prepare ‘False Flag’ Chemical Attack – Idlib Residents

Yes, this is a Russian report so proceed with caution.

I am convinced, however, that the White Helmets are complicit in false flag operations that facilitate western militaries with excuses to bomb Syria. See any of several reports on this blog involving White Helmets. Also, when rebels were evacuated from Douma, the White Helmets left with them.

What I don't understand is why Europe is so determined to continue the war on Assad when it has already lost? Their insanity is preventing the war from ending completely and delaying Syria rebuilding. If the west expedited the end of fighting in Syria, many a Syrian migrant would return from Europe easing the craziness that the migration of 2015-16 began.

FILE PHOTO © Hosam Katan / Reuters

The notorious White Helmets have brought chemicals, protective gear and cameras to militant-controlled Idlib in Syria, in an apparent preparation of yet another false-flag attack, locals told the Russian Reconciliation Center.

A convoy of six vehicles, bearing the emblems of the White Helmets, reportedly arrived in the capital of Idlib province over the weekend, the head of the Russian Reconciliation Center, major general Aleksey Tsygankov, told journalists on Wednesday.

One of the trucks was loaded with missiles and canisters containing unknown substances, as well as protective gear and filming equipment. Local residents reported seeing four persons, wearing hazmat protection gear, filling the warheads with this liquid and some unknown powder. The convoy then reportedly left for the small town of Maarat al-Numaan, south of the city of Idlib, and, coincidentally, just north of Khan Shaykhun.

White Helmets have on several occasions become the first to provide footage of alleged chemical attack sites in Syria and the aftermath scenes, including the Khan Shaykhun and Douma incidents. Their photos and videos served as solid-enough proof for the US and its allies to immediately conduct ‘retaliatory’ strikes against the Syrian government forces in April 2017 and in April 2018.

The self-styled volunteer first-responders have also been mired in controversy by their links to al-Qaeda terrorists and other extremist groups in Syria. The group operates exclusively in militant-held areas of Syria, and its members have repeatedly been photographed and filmed fraternizing with jihadists.

Despite all the controversy, the group is praised as heroic by the mainstream media and receives funding from Western governments. While Washington briefly stopped financing the group, it apparently soon realized their usefulness and released $6.6 million for the “vital, life-saving operations” of the so-called Syrian Civil Defense activists. London also vowed to keep financing the group, while the British Prime Minister Theresa May even pledged to increase their funding.

It's probably just me, but I can't help but think that Theresa May always does exactly the wrong thing. I despised her as Home Secretary and I think she's even worse as PM.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry repeatedly warned that it had credible intelligence that militants in Syria are involved in orchestrating false flag chemical attacks to justify Western airstrikes on Syrian government forces – and even accused US Special Forces of helping to stage such provocations.

‘We don’t need the West’: Assad to Ban Foreign Money from Syria Reconstruction

"The West is not honest at all, they don’t give, they only take."

Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks to Russian NTV channel © Reuters

Syria will not allow Western investors to step into the rebuilding of war-damaged country as they only come to “take” from foreign economies, Syria’s Bashar Assad told Russian media, adding he will seek friendly aid instead.

Friendly aid would mean Iran and Russia, for the most part, and possibly a small Gulf State or two. They are going to need a ton of money as most of the country is completely destroyed and may regret closing the door, especially if the west tightens the screws on Iran again.

And Assad surely knows that if Iran is spending kazillions of dollars in Syria it is going to want stuff in return. It has already opened schools in Syria and are teaching children Iran's toxic version of Islam.

The US and its Western allies have been actively engaged in the seven-year long war in Syria, including the illegal stationing of troops in the country and backing anti-government militants such as Free Syrian Army (FSA) and “moderate” Islamist groups. The war has dealt billions in damage to the country, but President Assad is determined to rebuild without a single penny from the “dishonest” West. 

“They [the West] won’t be part of reconstruction in Syria, because very simply we won’t allow them to be part of it… we don’t need the West. The West is not honest at all, they don’t give, they only take,” the Syrian leader told Russian NTV channel on Sunday. 

The country was historically built without external help, the Syrian president stressed, adding that any loans would be allowed only from “friends.” On the other hand, European investors, who have been privately contacting the Syrian authorities on the matter, will be banned from Syrian markets. Assad says that Europe has eyes for Syria just to save its own “dire” economies.

“They need this market, they are in a very dire situation economically since 2008, most of the European countries. They need many markets, Syria is one of them, and we are not going to allow them to be part of this market, very simply,” he said.

During the interview, Assad lashed out at Western powers, which he believes are controlled by Washington and only have “the substitute of statesmen” and “fake politics.” He said this approach needed “fake stories,” including the alleged use of chemical weapons, which Assad was repeatedly accused of despite Damascus destroying the stockpile in 2013.

The Syrian leader also said that negotiating with US President Donald Trump would be fruitless as Washington always comes up short on its promises and things only get worse when it’s involved.

“The problem with the American presidents is that they are hostages to their lobbies, to the mainstream media, to the huge corporations, financial, oil, armaments, etc.,” Assad said. He described President Trump as a “very stark example” of American approach in politics – always saying “what you want to hear,” but doing the opposite, get things “worse and worse.”

“So, talking and discussing with the Americans now for no reason, without achieving anything, is just a waste of time,” the Syrian leader said, adding that Damascus is ready for productive dialogue, but it is unlikely to have it with Washington “in the foreseeable future.”

So, it would seem, the door is closed, but not necessarily locked.

Labour's Shadow Foreign Secretary Gets it Part-Right, At Least

Emily Thornberry cites popularity of

Syria's Assad in interview

Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
The Guardian

In the interview, Thornberry also suggested that the UK should follow the Syrian peace process outlined by Russia. Photograph: Matthew Chattle/Barcroft Images

The Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has a greater “depth and breadth of support than is recognised in the west”, the shadow foreign secretary has said.

Emily Thornberry’s remarks to the magazine Prospect are likely to be controversial among those who regard Assad as a brutal dictator who has killed tens of thousands of his citizens and driven millions of refugees over the border. Thornberry is likely to argue that she was merely saying a segment of public opinion do not recognise that Assad has greater popular following inside Syria than the opposition forces suggest.

Thornberry is quoted as saying: “There is an argument that if [Assad] had been as overwhelmingly unpopular as the rebels told the west at the outset, then he wouldn’t be there. I think there has been a depth and a breadth of support for Assad that has been underestimated.”

In the interview, Thornberry, who has been accused of taking a lenient approach towards Assad before, called for political talks to end the civil war, and said Russia could bring Assad to the negotiating table in Geneva. She urged all foreign troops to leave Syria.

Thornberry also suggested that the UK should support the peace process backed by Russia in Astana, or Sochi, as well as the one conducted through the UN in Geneva. She said: “I think we should be working with whatever works, for the sake of the Syrian kids. None of this is revolutionary.”

Remarkably common sense for a politician. Of course, none of this can ever happen because NATO and the West in general has made up its mind that Assad and Russia are bad and nothing good can come out of negotiating with either one. There is little room for truth in western media these days.

To give Russia the opportunity to broker peace is not in the cards. NATO would rather keep Syria in a war-time posture for another ten years than see that happen. No, they can't have Russia be seen as anything but monstrous, otherwise their plan to NATO-ize every state near the Russian border and sell them trillions of dollars of weapons, just might not work.

Thornberry refused to condemn Russia in the interview for repeatedly vetoing UN security council resolutions aimed at ending the civil war in Syria, or investigating the responsibility for chemical weapons attacks. She said: “People will always block resolutions. If you look at the number of resolutions America has blocked, I mean that’s the way of politics.”

She could have been more honest here. She could have said that the UN was overreacting and responding prematurely to accusations by the UK and USA re: chemical weapons, when it is extremely unlikely that Assad has used them in at least the last 5 years.

Thornberry has previously denied that she in any way defends the Assad regime, but sees it as her role to challenge the government to explain its thinking given the reality that Assad is winning a military war and is unlikely to be dislodged.

The shadow foreign secretary in the interview also refused to say whether the Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, currently members of NATO, should have joined. Asked whether it was right for the alliance to expand, she said: “There is a feeling in Russia that they don’t like the current status quo.” 

Gosh, I wonder why? When Gorbachev was promised by the west that NATO would not expand into Russia's neighbours as a condition of rending the Iron Curtain. It is good for the Baltic States to be protected from any future expansion by Russia, and Putin is certainly not above empire building, but NATO's credibility was flushed down the drain with the Baltic States enlistment. 

She adds: “Putin is taking advantage of that by his bellicose language and his behaviour.” Prospect says she declined to back NATO’s dispatching of troops, 800 of them British, to protect the Baltic states from any future Russian attack. There are, she says, “more pressing current issues”, citing cyber-attacks on Estonia.

Thornberry has said she is a supporter of the former Labour foreign secretary Robin Cook’s foreign policy. She has also said that she backed the military interventions in Kosovo and in Libya.

Thornberry told Prospect that she questions the future of the so-called doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect, the legal basis to intervene in other countries for humanitarian purposes. She said: “I think the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect is … well, I don’t want to say it’s dead, because I want it to be alive.” She then says it is “on life support”.

Libya, Thornberry says, helped to finish it off. She said military intervention in Libya “has been such a disaster. Responsibility to Protect is not [supposed to be] a cover for ‘Those people are being treated badly, let’s go and bomb, everything will be fine.’ It didn’t work – look at Libya now.”

Indeed! Or Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Kosovo, etc.

BTW, I am slightly horrified that I am finding Labour MPs to be more honest and truthful than Conservative. I would hate to see a Labour government in the UK, or a left-wing government anywhere for that matter. But I am thoroughly disgusted with the lack of truth and integrity in right-wing governments and shadow governments in many countries.

Lies, Hypocrisy, Intrigue, and 'Whataboutism' Surround Douma CW Investigation

Twitterati challenge journalist who bemoaned Douma testimony

as ‘bizarre & underwhelming’

© Bart Maat / AFP

Witnesses giving public testimony about the alleged chemical attack in Douma – what can be uncomfortable about that? A lot, according to one journalist, as the event was organized by Russia. Readers were not convinced.

© Michael KoorenNo attack, no victims, no chem weapons: Douma witnesses speak at OPCW briefing at The Hague (VIDEO)

The Intercept's Robert Mackey took issue with Russia's decision to allow an 11-year-old "victim" of the alleged attack to speak at The Hague about his experience, claiming that the boy's testimony was an affront to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ (OPCW) ongoing investigation and included nothing to support the theory that the gas attack was staged.

"Rather than wait for @OPCW to verify its claim that there was no chemical attack in Syria, Russia staged its own event at OPCW headquarters in The Hague and flew in an 11-year-old witness who said nothing to support the theory that he acted in a hoax video," Mackey wrote on Twitter, linking to his Intercept piece.

In his article, Mackey cites an OPCW statement which recommended that the boy, Hassan Diab, and sixteen other witnesses be interviewed by the fact-finding mission, and that the briefing should be postponed until after the investigation is completed.

However, Mackey's report failed to mention that according to Russia's envoy to the OPCW, Alexander Shulgin, the participants in The Hague event were ready to be interviewed – but were turned down by the OPCW investigators. "The experts are sticking to their own guidelines," Shulgin said during the briefing. "They've picked six people, talked to them, and said they were 'completely satisfied' with their account and did not have any further questions."

The OPCW statement cited by Mackey stated that "the team also interviewed some people related to the Douma incident, who were brought to Damascus."

It would seem that the Russian's concern, though they haven't actually stated it, is that the OPCW is gearing to whitewash the whole thing so that the USA, UK and France can continue to pretend they were justified in bombing Syria. It makes them complicit, intentionally, in a false flag operation. 

Dismissing the testimony as “bizarre” and “underwhelming,” Mackey soon discovered that his readers saw things a bit differently. “Actually, the case of Russia and the Syrians who appeared in the ‘White Helmets’ video, who testified there was no chemical attack, is overwhelmingly convincing. It is a far out conspiracy theory to suggest the Douma hospital workers were not telling the truth. This Intercept article is absolutely insane,” one commenter wrote.

The article’s comments section is inundated with criticisms of Mackey’s dismissive attitude towards the witnesses – and Mackey didn’t fare much better on Twitter.

"Rather than wait for the @OPCW to verify claims of a chemical attack in #Douma, the US, UK and France BOMBED Syria. Did you object to that, Robert?" Sharmine Narwani, a Middle East analyst and former senior associate at St. Anthony's College, Oxford, tweeted back at Mackey.

Narwani's objections to Mackey's line of reasoning appeared to resonate with many on Twitter. "You must have missed those new and smart missiles that were fired before verification," one user wrote in response to Mackey's tweet.

"Did the US, UK & #France wait for the #OPCW's conclusion before firing 100+ missiles into #Syria?" asked another.

Mackey responded to Narwani by claiming that he never said he supported the US-led missile attack against Syria, but that making such comparisons amounted to "whataboutism."

"You are the only one who compared the uncomfortable spectacle of bringing an 11-year-old to a press conference to airstrikes," Mackey wrote in reply to Narwani's comment. "Whataboutism is a tired, simplistic rhetorical strategy," he added.

Narwani shot back: "Please. You're gatekeeping now. Western media and politicians paraded around Bana, Omran, and Alan Kurdi's body to score cheap points. There was one child on a panel of half a dozen witnesses from Douma. Why was this one suddenly 'uncomfortable' for you?"

In a separate Twitter thread, Mackey hurled accusations of “whataboutism” at users who objected to the idea that Russia had “pre-empted” the OPCW investigation by allowing witnesses to speak at The Hague.

“If we accuse someone of gross hypocrisy [sp], the best answer they can give is, ‘that's whataboutism’?” one user wrote.

The OPCW fact-finding mission was initially delayed by the US-led missile strike against Syria in the early hours of April 14 – the same day that the team was scheduled to arrive in Damascus to begin its investigation.

There was also pushback against Mackey's claim that Diab's testimony did not raise questions about the authenticity of the widely-cited video that claims to show the chaotic aftermath of a gas attack.

"He is alive and well, as you can see, that supports the theory," one Twitter user noted.

The Twitterati were quick to point out the glaring hypocrisy of completely discounting testimony from Diab, while fawning over (and offering book deals to) Bana al-Abed, the Aleppo child who allegedly used her pristine English to tweet passionate calls for Western military intervention in Syria. Numerous video interviews have since shown that Bana struggles with the most basic English phrases. It has also been revealed that her father was a militant in the former jihadist-controlled city.

Wow! Is that a big surprise? NO!

One thing is for sure; there is a huge difference between reports from reporters who actually went to Douma and those who did not!

UK Reporter Astounded By What He Found in Douma

German Reporter Says Douma was Completely Staged - MSM Won't Report It