In a sad irony that comes at the expense of continued killing in Syria, the decision to deploy the Takiri flank to turn the tide after the FSA offensive failed has boomeranged in grand style. The FSA now finds itself confronting the Syrian army and the Jihadi brigades on the offense against them, speeding up their demise.
America once again watches as a government run proxy terrorist operation goes rogue. The FSA recently said they would not attend any peace conference without Assad stepping down, a ridiculous request that exposed their inept leadership to any who might have missed it before.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seems to agree. This past week they captured and executed the Secretary General of the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) Ammar al-Wawi and then seized the FSA’s main arms and ammunition warehouses in the town of Atmeh near the Turkish border.
A UN report tells us that Turkey has sent 47 tons of weapons to FSA militants, for which the ISIL now thanks them very much. American officials had begun mentioning this summer the danger of weapons supplied to Western backed militants falling into the wrong hands. It seems now that we did not have to wait too long to see this happen.
We will eventually know if the Saudis and other Gulf States were asked to front the second flank Jihadi army with assurances of American air power coming in when needed to weaken the Syrian army to a degree where the Syrian army could never mount a major counter offensive without US air power stopping them.
The Saudis have already voiced their intense disappointment, and of course the Israelis were very unhappy they did not get to see US cruise missiles and stealth bomber attacks rain down on key Syrian positions, especially since Israel had already done several attacks on its own.
The Saudis lost their cool, even going to Moscow to use the old fashioned way for changing geo-political events with their offering the Russians a huge pile of cash for dumping Assad. But when rebuffed by Putin the story got even more bizarre when we heard from Moscow that the Saudis had hinted that new Muslim insurgency wars could by funded by the money Putin had turned down.
Many of us in the West looked at the Saudi action as an act of desperation. This was quickly followed by their assuming the Israeli method of dealing with the US, aka…”yes, let them use you a little bit, that is okay, as long as you use them a lot more.
They launched an offensive to gain control over northern Syria so as to be holding plenty of cards when the negotiation time comes, where possession of territory historically conveys a 90% ownership right. And yes, KSA can afford to keep their proxy troops supplied to occupy.
Qatar, for its small population wins the more bang for the buck award. According to Mid East expert and Press TV editor Dr. Ismail Salami the Qataris have spent over $3 billion supporting the attacks against Syria. They have also been running a large recruiting operation for gunmen in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Chechnya. And they have not been shy about what and how they have done things.
Says Dr. Salami: “Informed sources have recently exposed that in the heart of Doha stand centers for training assassins of different nationalities who are dispatched to Syria to fight against the government of Bashar al-Assad.”
A psyops war began with leaks of Pakistani time shared nuclear weapons at the ready for the Saudis. This was ridiculous as who is planning to invade them? Their threats are all obviously internal, the Arab Spring which unleashed the pent up passions of people not wanting to be ruled over by a small army of 300 pounders in an overly promiscuous royal family.
We had reported at VT that the French and the Israelis had been involved in nuclear proliferation with the Saudis for some time, something not a big secret by any means, but the corporate media has chosen to sit on that story because the Israelis are involved.
And when the opening to Iran rolled out quicker than any of us expected, the Saudis reacted accordingly. The French and British had been fighting hard to get desperately needed big defense equipment orders in return for past and future accommodations.
Chuck Hagel was not far behind with his offer of 16,000 anti-tank missiles which I wrote about earlier on the silliness of the Saudis even needing them. Amour attacks are impossible without total air supremacy, either by planes or ground to air missiles which cannot be defeated by the attacking technology.
News stories of the Saudis ‘closer ties’ to Israel were quick to follow and more about their plans to build a bunch of nuclear power plants when they basically have free fuel to supply the plants they already have. The Royals looked like a family looking for a possible second home and preparing a scorched earth exit if they should ever have to leave their desert base. As deposed monarchs in exile they would no longer have diplomatic immunity.
But payback for what they feel was an American betrayal for not attacking Syria looks like it could be expressed by turning the killing of the FSA gangsters into a sport…which it seems to have become. The Syrian National Council, paid by Qatar has been victim of the ‘good cop, bad cop’ hustle. One funds you while the other kills your family.
With game theory warfare, where nothing is what it seems, one must not get too far ahead of the game, doing something silly like predicting outcomes. But trends…they are a different matter. They allow you to place a good bet.
A major sign that we have reached a tipping point was not French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius saying the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) was he said, “The moderate opposition that we support is in serious difficulty.” It was when asked about their participation in a Geneva conference he said, “On Syria, I’m unfortunately rather pessimistic.”
The FSA’s logistics supply network is being systematically destroyed, without which not only offensive actions are not possible but even defensive ones. The Syrian army is now surrounding insurgent groups to finish them off so they don’t have to fight them next week or next month in a different place.
And there is more. The US and UK are reported to have suspended all weapons supplies to the FSA. Was this because they refused to participate in a Geneva conference? Were they asked to consider a truce and refused? We don’t know that yet.
All offensive momentum has shifted to the Al-Nusra and ISIL Jihadi hoodlums. With Gulf State support they could be staying in Northern Syria for a long time. And if the US does not like it, what can they really do?
Is the US going to bomb the Al-Qaeda forces when it have not lifted a finger against the Saudis or Qatar who must have deployed them with our knowledge and consent? I know what you are thinking. I am ending with more questions than I began with. And you are correct. Welcome to the ebbs and flows of geo-politics.
Jim W. Dean, managing editor for VeteranToday.com, producer/host of Heritage TV Atlanta, specially for “New Eastern Outlook”.
