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BREAKING:
US Occupation of Syria
August
21, 2015 - Fort Russ News -
-
FR Editorial Team -
21
August, 2016
"This is a historic and dangerous development which only increases the chances of total war."
Over
the last 24 hours, the United States has made clear its status as a
hostile occupational force in Syria. Yesterday, the US issued
a communique to the legitimate Syrian government and the
Russian anti-terrorist coalition assisting the Syrians. The
United States has indicated that it has carved out a swath of Syria
with boots on the ground fulfilling the roles of active duty
personnel, such as special ops forces, advisors, trainers, mechanics,
and supporting units. The US has declared a no fly zone and
threatened to target and shoot down Syrian and Russian planes within
Syrian airspace.
As
RT reports, US Commander of American forces in Iraq and Syria Lt.
General Stephen Townshend stated:
"“We’ve informed the Russians where we’re at ... (they)
tell us they’ve informed the Syrians, and I’d just say that we
will defend ourselves if we feel threatened." Since, as
Reuters reports, clashes between Kurdish and Syrian forces have
intensified.
A
number of analysts previously forecasted that the US would take this
route given the success of the Syrian and allied Russian campaign in
general and in particular in light of souring US-Turkish relations,
the possibility of the US losing access to the Turkish Incirlik base,
and the dire situation of Takfiri forces holed up in Aleppo.
Different international news agencies have already run a version of
the story which presents the US forces' communique as a "warning
for Russia and Syria" (CNN) or a"defensive
threat" (IBT), but they have failed to distinguish the
de facto meaning of this development. Nor have they included that the
US military's official statement is in stark violation of
international law, constituting an illegal occupation of a sovereign
state.
It
has long been assessed that the reason that the US
had simultaneously backed ISIS and Kurdish forces was for
the purpose of using ISIS as a "place holder" to be
defeated, either virtually or in actuality, only to then carve out a
US occupation zone under the pretext of forming an independent
Kurdish state. Previously last year, representatives of the Kurdish
autonomous region made an unconstitutional and unilateral
announcement of federalization. This turn was used to create a
seemingly legal ambiguity, or 'gray area', to confuse public
discourse at the media level. However, the anti-terrorist coalition's
foreign ministers as well as international legal experts are under no
illusions that the unilateral declaration of federalization is just
as much a violation of Syrian sovereignty as would be a breakaway
republic made possible only thanks to a war of US occupation. Under
the international legal norms of the Geneva convention as well as
subsequent parallel agreements, a foreign occupying country does not
have the right to divide, separate, occupy, or carve out a section of
a country regardless of what the occupying army terms such as.
Moreover,
the most recent communique from the US Lt. General
Townshend in Northern Syria laid out plans to increase the area of
what the US considers "Kurdistan." Under the present Syrian
Constitution, Kurds are represented both in the government in
Damascus and have a semi-autonomous status within the central Syrian
state.
A
major collision course
The
brazen and illegal warnings issued by the US commander pose the real
possibility of creating a direct confrontation between Syrian,
Iranian, Russian, and other independent forces on the one hand, and
the US military and their Kurdish puppet outfits on the other. This
dramatic increase in hostilities would deal a major blow to hopes for
a diplomatic resolution to the crisis.
In
2011, the US, alongside its Israeli, Turkish, Qatari, and Saudi
allies and with assistance from Jordan, organized,
sponsored, and financed the launch of an illegal invasion by
non-uniformed regular soldiers, mercenaries, child soldiers, and
armed religious fanatics (many of whom themselves were shipped into
the region from Europe where they have legal residence). A 2011
protest movement which had blossomed out of the efforts of the US
National Endowment for Democracy and UN-sanctioned NGO's financed by
the House of Saud and Qatari monarchy took advantage of Syria's
liberal and open society, infiltrating civic organizations and
manipulating Syria's secular pluralism against itself. This
created the possibility for a media simulacrum in which international
observers and media, both intentionally and unintentionally,
conflated a protest movement comprised mainly of Syrians with a
military operation which very quickly became nothing more than a
foreign invasion.
Russian
involvement upon the invitation of the legitimate government of Syria
was the source of a serious setback to US aims in the region. Now
what remains to be seen is what the US is actually prepared to do.
Syrian and Russian military planners no doubt long ago gamed out
multiple scenarios and developed some kind of responsive contingency
plans. It is only natural that, while such responsive plans exist,
they would not be a matter of public disclosure. At issue is the
capacity of the US, a once global hegemon which geostrategic analysts
around the world have assessed to now be in a waning phase,
to maintain an occupational foothold in the Kurdish region of Syria.
Both Syria and Turkey may find that they have a common interest in
opposing a US puppet Kurdish state.
Prior
to the outbreak of the present conflict, Syria and Turkey maintained
a treaty which allowed Turkish security forces to pursue Kurdish
separatist terrorists who would at times flee to Syria from
operations in Turkey. After the conflict began, both Syria, and
Turkey and the United States (to the extent to which the latter two
can be considered to have divergent interests) all engaged in the
game of playing the Kurdish card. Each side in the conflict hoped to
be able to use the support of armed Kurdish groups to their own ends.
While there is much information that suggests that Turkey is in the
process of reorienting itself away from Euro-Atlanticism and
NATO, especially in light of Turkey's moves during and after the
failed coup attempt, there is always the possibility that
recent Turkish moves are actually part of a long term plan to cast a
specter of uncertainty over Turkey's future plans in concert with the
US. Such would not at all be unprecedented in the history of
geopolitical alliances.
In
conclusion, the US' announcement marks a turning point in this
conflict. If before there had been any ambiguity about the US'
intentions in Syria - a plan to divide Syria which had been publicly
elaborated in numerous pro-Atlanticist think tank publications such
as those of the Brookings Institute or Council on Foreign Relations -
then now the US has revealed its hand. This is a historic and
dangerous development which only increases the chances of total war.
Counter
measures will be taken by US troops in case they “feel threatened”
by Syrian or Russian air forces, according to a senior US military
official. The warning comes in the wake of a recent incident with
Syrian warplanes attacking areas close to US Special Forces.
“We’ve
informed the Russians where we’re at ... (they) tell us they’ve
informed the Syrians, and I’d just say that we will defend
ourselves if we feel threatened,” recently appointed US commander
of American forces in Iraq and Syria Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend said
in a telephone interview with CNN on Saturday.
The
US-led coalition had to order up its planes stationed near the
northeastern Syrian city of Hasakah after two Syrian Su-24 jets
dropped bombs “dangerously near” the US forces positions on
Thursday, Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters
shortly after the incident.
The
US-led coalition on the ground tried reaching the Syrian warplanes on
a common radio frequency, but there was no response. They had to
contact the Russian command that confirmed that their plane wasn’t
involved.
By
the time the US planes arrived, the Syrian jets had already left. The
bombing caused no casualties, Pentagon reported. The US Special
Forces were ordered to change location as a precaution while US jet
patrols over the region were beefed up.
The
US would “take whatever action is necessary” to defend their
troops, Davis also said.
Earlier
in July, the chief of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB)
Alexander Bortnikov reported that Russia and the US are exchanging
information on “most sensitive issues.” He admitted “despite
the problems that exist,” the secret services “are in a constant
contact.”
“With
regard to anti-terror issues, both we and they [Americans] understand
the need for concrete cooperation, information exchange, and working
together,” Bortnikov said.
Next
week Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US State Secretary
John Kerry are to meet in Geneva to discuss the Syrian settlement
and, among other issues, the Russia-US cooperation and more active
exchange of intelligence, media reports suggest, citing unnamed US
officials.
Ankara-backed
Islamist units have reportedly mobilized on the Turkish side of the
Syrian border to launch an assault on Jarablus, aiming to prevent the
US-backed Kurdish-dominant SDF from capturing the town from Islamic
State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorists.
“The
factions are gathering in an area near the border (inside Turkey),”
one of the Free Syrian Army fighters told Reuters. Another rebel
source confirmed a buildup of forces, loosely organized under the FSA
umbrella, inside Turkey at a military camp near the town of Qarqamish
just across the border with Jarablus.
“Every
day there are groups of fighters entering from inside Syria across a
secret crossing to a Turkish base where they are gathering in
preparation of the assault on Jarablus,” the source told the news
agency.
RT’s
Arabic crew is reporting that some 600 to 700 fighters are ready to
launch an assault on Jarablus. Lebanese-based Al Mayadeen channel
reports that dozens of military vehicles already have crossed from
Turkey into Syria.
According
to Reuters the forces are made up of Failaq al Sham, Sultan Murad,
Ahrar al-Sham and Jabha al Shamiya units. The assault is expected to
begin in the next few days before Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) can
retake the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) -held town.
A
US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters are also making a
push towards the border town after taking full control of Manbij by
driving IS militants from the strategically important town, used by
terrorists to smuggle weapons and goods. The SDF already controls the
eastern bank of the Euphrates opposite Jarablus.
Ankara
has long been worried about the autonomy of Kurds in Syria as Kurdish
People’s Protection Units (YPG) of the Democratic Union Party of
Syria (PYD) with the help of American-led airstrikes, continue to
capture vast amount of territory in Northern Syria, which borders
Kurdish-dominant southeastern Turkey, where Ankara has engaged the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in a brutal military campaign for over
a year.
Turkey
has repeatedly said that it would not tolerate Kurds staying west of
the Euphrates River, with YPG-PYD advances in northern Syria
remaining the key security issue for Ankara. The two groups are
designated terrorist organizations by Turkey but not the US. Turkey
fears that Kurds are trying to link up Afrin canton with its cantons
in the east, Kobane and Cizre.
On
Saturday the Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim vowed that Ankara
will play a “more active” role in Syria in the next six months.
“We
say the bloodshed needs to stop. Babies, children, innocent people
should not die. That’s why Turkey will be more active in trying to
stop the danger getting worse in the next six months, compared with
before,” Yildirim told reporters in Istanbul.
A
source from the radical jihadist Ahrar al-Sham brigade told Reuters
that Turkish artillery has already engaged in shelling IS positions
at the border next to Jarablus since Friday in preparation for the
assault on the town.
The
main goal of the Turkey-backed forces prior to capturing Jarablus is
to regain control of Tal Rifaat and Marea towns in northern Aleppo
province, now controlled by YPG militia.
قناة TRT العربية
المعارضة السورية تستعد لشنّ عملية لتحرير مدينة "جرابلس" المتاخمة للحدود التركية بريف حلب الشمالي، من داعش الإرهابي.
IS
has meanwhile started pulling its followers from Jarablus, and
another city nearby, al-Bab, to the terrorist stronghold of Raqqa
“There
will certainly be resistance. They will have mined it heavily,” the
source said. “The operation of entering Jarablus will not be easy.”
Arabic
news outlets report that IS plans to use its long-standing strategy
of using human shields in the fight for Jarablus.
Near-silence from western.corporate media.
From
Britain’s the independent
American
special forces have been training Kurdish groups regarded as
'terrorists' by the regime
American
fighter jets have been scrambled to stop Bashar al-Assad's air force
bombing US special forces and anti-Isis allies on the ground as the
Syrian conflict intensifies.
Defence
officials said the Syrian planes were leaving as the coalition
aircraft arrived, meaning they did not engage in combat, but that the
US would not hesitate to defend its forces...[ }
After
months of preparation and 10 weeks of fierce fighting, a US-backed
alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, the Syrian Democratic Forces
(SDF), took full control of Manbij on Friday after driving Islamic
State (IS) militants from the strategic town.
An opinion from Mimi Laham, Syrian Girl from 2 months ago
An opinion from Mimi Laham, Syrian Girl from 2 months ago
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