Chaos and Lies: The Destruction of Syria

US managed savagery continues to destroy lives, wreck governments and control trade

[Temple of Bel, an historic site in Syria. Image from The Daily Mail.]

Published: 2024-12-12

Updated 2025-01-14: Added the 2025-01-06 interview with Peter Ford to sources.

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Another Regime Change

This newsletter named what it sees as the actors behind the jihadist takeover of Syria as 5 national foreign/military intelligence organisations (FMIOs): CIA, MI-6, Mossad, (Turkish) MIT, and Ukrainian (GUR). Perhaps France's DGSE should also be added to the board.

[Since this publication, Ben Norton informed that the US military was directly involved. Alastair Crooke has documented the Turkish orchestration.]

The events of the surrender of the Syrian Arab Army and President Assad's fleeing with instruction to the Syrian Prime Minister to peacefully hand over power to the jihadists are mostly agreed, though some details are still emerging.

… the predominant scenario [is] of a carefully calculated CIA/MI6/Mossad controlled demolition, complete with a non-stop weaponizing flow, Ukrainian training of takfiris on the use of FPV kamikaze drones, and Samsonites full of cash bribing high-ranking Syrian officials.

[Pepe Escobar]

Why this happened, why so suddenly, and what the consequences are likely to be for the region are topics being discussed in alternative media. On these topics, some ideas are presented, with articles and videos provided in sources, as usual. Before getting into the details, the prime cause was Syrian President al Assad himself. His dithering and intransigence proved fatal. The impoverished state was infested with paid informants. Corruption had moved from morally questionable to the only way to support one’s family.

Context

We are reminded by Crooke in his interview with Hedges of the long connection between the CIA and religious Wahhabi Saudi militias. That story begins in the "forgotten war" against the secular, Soviet supported government in Afghanistan from 1979 onwards. This was directly coordinated by US national security adviser Brzezinski, and marked an extended, "successful" use of Islamist religious militias by the US to bring down a government.

This most recent successful use of extremist, mercenary Islamist paramilitaries is perhaps a potential new chapter for Max Blumenthal's book "Management of Savagery". The leader of the main militia, al Jolani, has a $10 million dollar bounty on his head from the US State Department. Nonetheless, the CIA and its collaborating FMIOs were essentially contracting his militia's services.

The Official Plan

Many commentators also reminded us of the famous statement by US General Wesley Clarke of the post-9/11 regime change agenda of "7 nations in 5 years" ending with Iran. That list of states is almost complete. Every one of them served the interests of the Zionists. So can their origin be identified.

An important point in the ouster of al Assad was stressed by Scott Ritter. The "success" of the jihadist operation caught everyone by surprise, including the jihadists. This triggered "contingency" operations from the FMIOs. A good example of this is Israel's annexation of Syrian territory beyond the demarcation of their 1967 Syrian land grab, and the bombing of weapons depots in Syria. Both serve the "Greater Israel" project. The first is a pure land grab. The second limits weapons caches falling into the hands of the Takfiri jihadists. Israel well understands that these fanatical mercenaries cannot be entirely controlled. Preventing them obtaining excessive weaponry is prudent, irrespective of the morality of using them.

The Zionists are the main short term beneficiary of the regime change in Syria. They are still attacking Lebanon and running their crime-of-crimes genocide in Palestine while they are annexing Syria. The other short term beneficiary is Erdogan’s Turkey.

Eric Striker deftly examines the diverse national and block interests at play, positioning Turkey as the leader in this change. Given Assad’s recalcitrance and Syria’s weakness, Iran and Russia were forced to let Turkey, Israel, the US, the Kurds and the fanatics fight over the carcass of Syria while they prepare for the aftermath. In the north, the communist Kurds have, on occassion, been instructed by the capitalist US military to fall back and give towns to Turkish militias. There are many vultures preying on Syria.

Another of the land grabs was by the US military, which provided air support for their Kurdish proxy force in northeastern Syria. One could argue whether this was a contingency or planned all along. It may have been planned to compliment the Israeli destruction of routes from Lebanon to Syria the day before the attack from Idlib began. Both limited potential military support to Syria, one from Hezbollah from the south and the other by Iraqi PMUs (Popular Mobilization Units) from the east.

Border Control

The US bases in northeastern and southeastern Syria left one important transport route between Iraq (and thus Iran) and Syria via Dier Ez'zor. It is this which the US helped the Kurds to take. It completes the blockade of logistics support for Hezbollah in Lebanon to the advantage of the Zionists and whichever fanatics the US approves to rule Syria. It also gives the US military the role of "Customs" in controlling all trade between Syria and its eastern and southern neighbours, with Turkey given license to control the north. The US Caesar Act unilateral, financial coercive measures have been extended by physical control.

The next question for analysts was, what does this mean for the future of the region? The essential elements of the short term seem fairly obvious.

Given that Syria is bankrupt and the militias which executed the regime change are mercenaries, their robbing of banks was predictable. It also indicates that this theft of valuables will continue. During the Syrian Dirty War, the sale of antiquities was one of the funding mechanisms used by the jihadists. This will almost certainly happen again in parallel with the destruction or defacing of archaeological sites like Christian churches and Roman amphitheaters. This is a minor disaster. Much more significant will be the creation of millions of refugees fleeing from the persecution and blood letting which will undoubtedly be allowed, if not run by, the jihadists.

Given that it is known that the FMIOs are immoral servants of power, the human misery which their contracted forces will create should be expected. However, the lack of morality exhibited by “journalists” from Western propaganda organisations, who whitewashed the fanatics as "rebels", deserves to be painted on their foreheads. They claim a morality and patently have none. Whitewashing murderous, extremists mercenaries who will murder people and create millions of refugees is despicable.

Financial Control

Whichever group attempts to rule Syria will be entirely under the financial control of US agencies. It does not seem unreasonable to predict loans to be issued to Syria to fund whichever group emerges to govern. This will solidify the debt entrapment of the nation. Syria is now totally dominated. Its territory is already being stolen.

The US via its Kurdish proxies will be able to extend pressure into northern Iraq, which in turn will threaten Iran. Due to the Zionists' influence over the US (the “Israel Lobby”), developments in this direction seem likely. This pressure may allow the US to recover some of Iran's influence over Iraq which it developed during the US fomented, funded and armed Syrian Dirty War.

The Turkish managed jihadists and the 3+ million Syrian refugees in Turkey pose interesting questions. What was Turkey to do with the tens of thousands of foreign jihadist in Idlib? Turkey was "punished" with containing them there in the 2020 Astana agreement. Erdogan chose to "solve" that problem by training, arming and releasing them on Syria, with the obvious approval of the CIA. As former US Ambassador Chas Freeman noted, they were well trained and armed with modern weapons, including drones from Ukraine and tanks. They are not guerrilla forces, but paramilitaries.

A New Threat Matrix

Turkey had previously "solved" some of its Syrian refugee problem by "releasing" them as refugee flows into Europe. Given that Erdogan has just assisted the powers behind the US and Israel, he may be forgiven for restarting refugee flows. How about north to Georgia, or east via the Balkans to Hungary and Slovakia?

Mentioned by several commentators, one of the most dangerous outcomes may be Iran establishing a nuclear weapons program. The threat from Israel is increased as the strength of Hamas and Hezbollah, elements of the Axis of Resistance, are reduced. This may provide the pressure to force Iran's religious leadership to remove their prohibition (fatwa) on nuclear weapons.

There are other moves available to Iran, one of which was presented by Col. Wilkerson. If Russia loses its naval port (Tartus) and air field (Khmeimim) in Syria, Iran could offer to host one or both.

These are just some of the military strategic responses to the NATO + Israel led campaign to regime change Syria. Many commentators also noted that, if you would like to gauge the future of Syria, look at Libya.

Trade Flows and Gas

With Syria in turmoil and a major objective achieved for the Zionists, old plans and those to counter new threats may receive renewed attention.

The north-south trade corridor is operating in components and growing. It, like the rest of China's BRI mega-project, is an investment in trade connectivity. With it, the wealth from trade will introduce new income sources to nations along its route, the carriers which move the goods and businesses trading in them. These represent shifts in financial influence away from existing structures which are more influenced by the Western block (G7/NATO).

[The INST and CPEC trade routes.]

A second important trade route is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Both Pakistan and India are members of the SCO and play different roles in different parts of the trade infrastructure network, a split forced by the enmity between them. The US has run coups on India's east (Bangladesh) and west (Pakistan) recently. Continuing disruption and destabilization will slow the stabilization of these trading networks. A continuation of this established US behaviour should also be expected.

[Alternate pipeline routes for gas from the Pars field.]

The old bugbear of the the world’s richest natural gas repository, the South Pars/North Dome gas field under the Persian Gulf split between Iran and Qatar, may resurface. There is money to be made selling piped gas to Europe, which needs the energy, especially given the US destruction of NordStream. There is also delicacy, for US fracked gas is currently being sold as LNG in Europe to the profit of US energy companies.

Chaos and Lies

The unexpected, dramatic "success" of the mercenary jihadists removing Syria's government will lead to years of instability during which the surrounding region will be destabilized by refugee flows while the jihadist bloodletting is allowed.

The US empire has been labeled the Empire of Chaos for its consistent regime change operations. It is also known as the Empire of Lies due to the subservience of its media to narratives which are not only misleading, but self contradictory.

In the media narratives around the jihadist overthrow of Syria, and the events themselves, the US has reasserted its claim as The Empire of Chaos and Lies.

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Sources

US, Israel and Turkey Launch Airstrikes in Syria After Cheering Regime Change, Jason Ditz, Antiwar, 2024-12-09

US Backs Israel's Land Grab in Syria, Dave DeCamp, Antiwar, 2024-12-09

Report: US Gave Kurds an Ultimatum To Withdraw from Manbij in North Syria, Dave DeCamp, Antiwar, 2024-12-11

Syria's Post-mortem: Terror, Occupation, and Palestine, Pepe Escobar, The Unz Review, 2024-12-10

Jeffrey Sachs: How the US and Israel Destroyed Syria and Called It Peace, Jeffrey D. Sachs, Scheerpost, 2024-12-12

The day the media decided militant jihadism was respectable, Johnathan Cook, Jonathan Cook, 2024-12-10

How the West Destroyed Syria, Peter Ford, Antiwar, 2025-01-12

US Military Supported Syrian Rebel Offensive That Toppled Assad Government, Ben Norton, Scheerpost (originally from Geopolitical Economy), 2024-12-24

The "King-makers" Pull the Rug from Syria, Yet Again | A "Greek Tragedy" Begins, Alastair Crooke, The Unz Review, 2024-12-23

The Kremlin's Oprichniki Versus The General Staff's Prigozhnikiâ  In The New Time Of Troubles, John Helmer, Dances with Bears, 2024-12-11

Syria - Winners And Losers Or Both, b., Moon of Alabama, 2024-12-09

Winners and losers in Syria, M. K. Bhadrakumar, Indian Punchline, 2024-12-08

Turkish Opportunism and Multipolarity In Syria, Eric Striker, The Unz Review, 2024-12-09

The Syrian Rebellion: Who Are the Big Losers?, Ted Snider, Antiwar, 2024-12-10

Black Flag Over Damascus, Mike Whitney, The Unz Review, 2024-12-08

The International North-South Transport Corridor: Shifting Gears in Eurasian Connectivity, Grace Cheema, moderndiplomacy, 2020-09-24

Türkiye and Ukraine in Syria: Upscaling the Proxy Wars, YesXorNo, substack, 2024-12-05

Prof. Jeffrey Sachs : The Geopolitics Of Syria’s Civil War, Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 2024-12-09

The Fall of Assad & What it Means for The Middle East (w/ Alastair Crooke) | The Chris Hedges Report , Chris Hedges, Scheerpost, 2024-12-09

• Note that Crooke's audio is not good, but he is given the space to present his understand, the historical context, behind current events.

Alastair Crooke: Turkey Turns on Russia., Napolitano interviews Crooke, Judging Freedom, 2024-12-09

Col. Larry Wilkerson: Are Iran and Russia Being Deceived by Türkiye in Syria?, Dialogue Works, Dialogue Works, 2024-12-10

Syria Collapse: Israel Wins, Russia Setback, Iran Isolated & Closer to Bomb | Amb. Chas Freeman, Neutrality Studies, Neutrality Studies, 2024-12-09

Pepe Escobar: Syria in Ultimate Chaos, Dialogue Works, Dialogue Works, 2024-12-11

Scott Ritter: How Syria Fell., Napolitano interviews Ritter, Judging Freedom, 2024-12-09

“It’s TREASON” Scott Horton vs General Wesley Clark On Syria, Putin & Trump War Strategy, Piers Morgan Uncensored, Piers Morgan Uncensored, 2024-12-10

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