Sunday, January 26, 2014

The Chickens From Syria Are Coming Home to Roost

The scum of the earth has descended on Syria. These evil Jihadists are Western allies. Some countries are having regrets. How are they going to handle this policy U turn of sleeping with the devil? 



The West is now realizing it has made a colossal mistake in supporting the Sunni Jihadists. 

In the US criticism is mounting against Obama's inconsistent policies. The news that Western intelligence agencies have been in touch with the Syrian regime is an embarrassment. But what was even more embarrassing, but has hardly been noted, was a report in the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai. It quoted well informed sources close to Assad and reported that Germany, Switzerland, the UK, Italy, Austria and Spain have begun rapprochement talks with the regime in Syria that go further than just security and the re-opening of embassies in Damascus.

The article mentions that Saudi Arabia and France want no part of it, and that during the coming weeks the regime's victories will increase, because fighters of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) increasingly return to Assad's army with valuable information. There are enormous divisions between the rebel groups; they surpass each other in cruelty. Al Qaeda for example is trying to demoralize FSA fighters by burying their children alive.

The reasons for the division are manifold. Quarrels about the spoils of war, that vary from iPads to flat screen televisions and women. The Koran is unclear about the rights of the Sabaya, Arabic for women taken in war -  literally women without an owner. There is an ideological split between the extremist states - Saudi Arabia versus Qatar - that support the radical rebel groups - ISIS versus Al Nusra. Questions are, in how far the Sharia should be enforced? About relationships with prisoners. Is the status of Christian prisoners equal to that of Alevites? 

And there are quarrels over the status of the Jihadists from Europe: should they do just menial work as torturing and kidnapping, or also suicide missions? Despite the split their eyes are firmly on the ball, the war against the West. In a new video message the leader of ISIS, Al Bhagdadi declares that the war against Damascus in no way replaces the Jihad against the West: "Your time will come". The question is, how will Western leaders react when the chickens are coming home to roost? 

American policy makers have admitted they are having sleepless nights. Sources close to the Obama administration have admitted mistakes. One error was underestimating the attraction of Syria for Jihadists. It is estimated there are some 1400 to 2000 rebel groups active in Syria from as many as 50 different countries; they are committing atrocities that defy our imagination. 

Kidnapped citizens of Aleppo are being forced to weigh the severed heads of activists, soldiers, journalists, women, Christians and Alevites: the game is, to guess how much one head weighs as compared to another.

As has been commented often, the war in Syria between Al Qaeda and Iran (in casu Hezbollah) serves Western interests; while Sunnies and Shia are pitted against each other the West remains in relative peace. But in this equation the expansion of Al Qaeda in Iraq is omitted. Let alone the 1200 or so European combatants that are about to return to the countries they owe their passports.

The Arabic broadcaster Al-Mayadeen reported on December 5, 2013 that the founder of the Free Syrian Army, Riad Al Assad, has requested asylum in the Netherlands, whereas another rebel leader, Mustafa Al Sheikh, has already been granted asylum in Sweden. If the story is correct, Riad's presence in the Netherlands will be an embarrassment. This man is responsible for strangling and kidnapping UN personnel, journalists and citizens but also for numerous terror attacks.  His presence will expose the Netherlands to major security risks. But it will be interesting to watch how the Dutch government is going to handle the matter of a 'friendly' fighter who in 2012 was recognized as an official representative of the Syrian people. 

The position of the Obama administration is getting more strenuous by the day. The West had no strategy and like in Libya, it leaves anarchy behind. American government officials freely admit it. Obama announced in August 2011 that Assad's days were numbered. Now, negotiating in Geneva Obama is forced to parley with a man he said would be gone. The White House still believes that, but privately they accept that Assad will be there in the foreseeable future.

Obama's advisors criticized the attitude of Saudi Arabia. The country was furious when Obama omitted to revenge the chemical attack in Damascus. 'The White House had no obligation to come to the rescue when they picked a fight they couldn't win.' What is implied here is that the Saudis are not going to win that fight, no matter how many oil dollars, man power and weapons they throw into the battle. 

In the US criticism is growing over the selective proof the White House offered the world when it accused Bashar Assad of being a chemical weapons fiend. Seymour Hersch said Obama had 'cherry-picked intelligence', much like Bush when he attacked Iraq. Hersh was applauded by the MIT. Two experts, a former UN weapons inspector and an MIT lecturer investigated the origin of the rockets that delivered the gas and said the American premises are wrong. The rockets cannot have been fired on the east of Ghouta, from the area under government control, like the White House said on August 30, 2013. Another investigator declared that rebels do have the capacity to produce chemical weapons. 


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