FILE IMAGE: Staff Sgt. Aaron Allmon, US Air Force
By Rep. Ron Paul; Originally appeared at Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity
Now that the defeat of ISIS in Syria appears imminent, with the Syrian army clearing out some of the last ISIS strongholds in the east, Washington’s interventionists are searching for new excuses to maintain the illegal US military presence in the country. Their original rationale for intervention has long been exposed as another lie.
Remember that President Obama initially involved the US military in Iraq and Syria to “prevent genocide” of the Yazidis and promised the operation would not drift into US “boots on the ground.” That was three years ago and the US military became steadily more involved while Congress continued to dodge its Constitutional obligations. The US even built military bases in Syria despite having no permission to do so! Imagine if Syria started building military bases here in the US against our wishes.
After six years of war the Syrian government has nearly defeated ISIS and al-Qaeda and the US-backed “moderates” turned out to be either Islamist extremists or Kurdish soldiers for hire. According to a recent report, the US has shipped two billion dollars worth of weapons to fighters in Syria via eastern Europe. Much of these weapons ended up in the hands of ISIS directly, or indirectly through “moderates” taking their weapons with them while joining ISIS or al-Qaeda.
“Assad must go,” proclaimed President Obama back in 2011, as he claimed that the Syrian leader was committing genocide against his own people and that regime change was the only way to save Syrians. Then earlier this year, when eastern Aleppo was about to be liberated by the Syrian government, the neocons warned that Assad would move in and kill all the inhabitants. They warned that the population of eastern Aleppo would flee from the Syrian army. But something very different happened. According to the UN’s International Organization for Migration, 600,000 refugees returned to Syria by August. Half of the returnees went back to Aleppo, where we were told Assad was waiting to kill them.
What happened? The neocons and “humanitarian interventionists” lied. Just as they lied about Libya, Iraq, and so on.
While it was mostly ignored by the mainstream media, just this week a Christian was elected speaker of the Syrian parliament. The new speaker is a 58-year-old Orthodox Christian law graduate and member of President Assad’s Baath party.
How many Christians does our “ally” Saudi Arabia have in its parliament? Oh I forgot, Saudi Arabia has no elected parliament.
Why does it seem that US policy in the Middle East always hurts Christians the most? In Iraq, Christians suffered disproportionately from the 2003 US invasion. In fact there are hardly any Christians left. Why aren’t more US Christian groups demanding that the US get out of the Middle East?
The US is not about to leave on its own. With ISIS all but defeated in Syria, many in Washington are calling for the US military to continue its illegal occupation of parts of the country to protect against Iranian influence! Of course before the US military actions in Iraq and Syria there was far less Iranian influence in the region! So US foreign interventionism is producing new problems that can only be solved by more US interventionism? The military industrial complex could not have dreamed of a better scheme to rob the American people while enriching themselves!
What have we achieved in Syria? Nothing good.
Interesting point of view. While it’s good to include the original reasons the US is involved in Syria, (most people, including me, have long forgot what President Obama gave as his reason(s)), I found it most interesting that Senator Paul pitches the Christian angle for his ending.
When was the last time the US government truthfully talked to the American people? A government that continuously lies to its people will lose it legitimacy over time in this day and age of the Internet.
Satanic, pro-ISIS, Anti-Christ, Hollywoodized, Rogue State U$A has NO desire to fight ISIS or other Takfiri jihadist groups in Syria and elsewhere. In fact, Evil, Greedy, materialistic, immoral and unspiritual U$A established all of those terrorist groups to further its Evil, liberal, Hollywoodized imperialist diabolical agenda around the globe! Huge victories to the SAA, Hezbollah, Iran, Russia
and allied righteous militia who are all fighting a JUST war against EVIL U$A and its head-chopping jihadist allies! Long Live President Assad! Long Live Holy Russia! Long Live President V.V. Putin!
Your hateful rhetoric is as anti-christian as the the things you are bashing. Nation-worshiping is idolatry. Church-wed mother of Putin’s two daughters divorced him. You are rallying with filth as your banner instead of Christ, don’t expect to find allies between orthodox christians.
MURDER/OIL THEFT/Paying/training and arming terrorist; De stabilise ME on behalf of the LYING/ THEIVING/ JEWISH CROOKS+ wallstreeter plus the Washingsetiners! No thought for the lives of Syrians ever crossed these criminals minds!
“While it was mostly ignored by the mainstream media, just this week a Christian was elected speaker of the Syrian parliament. The new speaker is a 58-year-old Orthodox Christian law graduate and member of President Assad’s Baath party”
Assad is a very great leader. He doesn’t care about a person’s religion. He himself saved many Assyrian Christians in Syria from Syrian rebels (AKA moderate beheaders, jihadists, etc) and Kurdish forces.
Many Assyrian Christians have now returned to Syria.
Furthermore, one of his most important quote about religion is this:-
https://orig00.deviantart.net/a1e1/f/2014/010/e/b/bashar_al_assad_by_formothersyria-d71n5uw.png
This just shows that Syria itself is a very secular nation since even the president of Syria doesn’t favor one group over other just because of their religion, ethnicity, etc.
God bless Syrians for electing such a brave and wonderful leader.
No wonder US, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, etc wanted to destroy this beautiful country.
I believe after the war Syria will once again rise like a phoenix from ashes.
They achieved killing hundreds of thousands of Syrians, if that counts?
It counts.
http://www.voltairenet.org/article197541.html
Bombing civilians,training terrorist evacuate terrorist, destroying national infrastructures. Create hatred and division among Middle East people.Stealing Syrian oil and gas and shamelessly continuing pretending fighting ISIS.Currently busy with Kurdistan state creations in Iraq, Syria and Iran just to please Jesus crucifixion and killer Israelis.
Well written piece by Rand Paul but he never misses to push an angle which is least talked about and everyone forgets it’s been the Christians that have always been affected the most. The Kurds have pushed them out or tried to kill them or destroy them as they were there before everyone else, why they see them as enemies to be driven out. The Christians have greater claim to many of the lands their ancestors lived upon and much of those have been usurped by Kurds recently.
Like his understanding of economics, his understanding of foreign policy is somewhat limited.
Syria and Iraq have the misfortune of being located between Regional Powers Saudi Arabia, Iran & Turkey. And they are using Syria and Iraq as a generational proxy war.
Both The US & Russia have an interest in not having the region turn into a major war.
Once you understand that basic context, then it clears up a lot of issues.
The Turks were the ones funding, arming & training the rebels and jihadis over the past 6 years. Now the Turks have physically invaded N Aleppo and are colonizing it with Central Asians just like they did in Hatay Province which was stolen from Syria on 1939.
KSA & Iran are pitted in an existential battle dating back centuries, but both had Islamic Events in 1979 which turned them into real antagonists.
USA-Israel-NATO-ISIS achieved the destruction of Syria, as planned by Israel. However, there will be a boomerang since Syria will finish better armed than ever.
No, there won’t. Syria do not have the economic power for a reconstruction process. And they won’t have this economic power in the future as well. Main oil and gas fields are captured by US-backed SDF/YPG/PKK-ASDJASDHADSAJKSD whatever their name is, country’s main agricultre lands are too under SDFYPGPYPKKKaskd control.
On top of that, if Assad stays in power, sanctions will stay and prevent the Syrian companies doing any business, similiar to Russia or North Korea.
‘The onset of the rebellion against Bashar Assad in January 2011 interrupted intense negotiations between the Syrian president and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during which the latter agreed to a full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights in exchange for a peace agreement, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Friday.
In the spring of 2010, Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak launched secret indirect negotiations with Assad through American mediator Frederick Hoff, a former commander in the Marines and an expert on border demarcation in disputed areas.’
What Did Washington Achieve in Its Six Year War on Syria? Kurdistan and permanent military presence in the heart of ME including the richest fossil fuel fields of Syria and Iraq. You reckon that’s not a success? I do. For Kurdistan to be created first Saddam had to go and immediately after that Kurdish autonomous region was created with its own local government. Even before Iraqi war II a no fly zone was imposed by US and NATO over Kurdish region. Then Syria had to be dealt with in order to append Syrian Rojava to the Kurdistan project. You see things are not happening over night but rather slowly and gradually. So Rojava will not immediately become independent state. First they will get autonomy just like in Iraq and later on they will secede via binding referendum which will be enforced by US NATO presence in Syria. And there it comes the last faze of the project. Tackling Turkey and dwarfing its power as a regional player by wresting a significant portion of its territory from it and appending it to already created and well established Kurdistan. Bingo! Since Iran has a sizable Kurdish minority population they will be dealt with too.
Am afraid you are correct. However, pushing for that final outcome will result in a war that frankly, the U.S public does not have the stomach for. But then again, the Deep state actors will always try to find a way for the next war. Except this time they will have to face Iran,Iraq, Turkey, Russia. Why do you think Turkey is aligning it self with Russia, buying defence system incompatible with Nato… Systems… They all see what’s coming and are preparing for it..
It seems like Israhell has managed to shift focus of the conflict further away from itself to Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria around Kurdish project. They know what’s waiting in for them and they are buying time.
Lacking article i must say.