Trump’s dangerous escalation in Syria

Editor

Shawwal 07, 1438 2017-07-01

Editorials

by Editor (Editorials, Crescent International Vol. 46, No. 5, Shawwal, 1438)

There is broad consensus among academics and political commentators that Donald Trump is extremely arrogant. Even when he blunders badly, far from admitting his mistakes he blames others for his failures. He is also a dangerous demagogue. A number of leading American psychiatrists have stated for the record that Trump suffers from mental illness. To put it in plain language, what they said was, Trump is mad.

If Trump’s policies only affected the American people, the rest of the world would pay scant attention to what he does. That, however, is not the case. American policy not only affects the rest of the world, Washington also deliberately interferes in the affairs of other states. Take Trump’s recent escalation of tensions in Syria. On June 18, an American warplane shot down a Syrian aircraft operating against targets on the outskirts of Raqqa. While claiming to be fighting the takfiri terrorists (aka Da‘ish/ISIS), the Americans are actually protecting them. Under pressure from the Syrian army, the takfiri terrorists have been whisked out of Raqqa in American vehicles.

American forces are in Syria illegally. The Syrian government has not invited them or given them permission to be there. This is a clear violation of Syrian sovereignty. Further, the Americans shot down a Syrian aircraft operating over its own territory against foreign-backed terrorists. Beyond America’s illegal presence in Syria, the situation has led to a dangerous escalation of tension with Russia, which backs the Syrian government.

Following the US shooting of the Syrian plane (the Syrian pilot is still missing), Russia announced that henceforth it would consider any American or allied aircraft operating west of the Euphrates River as a legitimate target. Further, the Russian Defense Ministry said it was terminating with immediate effect a Syrian air safety agreement with the US. Put in place to avoid collisions and dangerous incidents since the aircraft of both countries are operating in Syrian airspace, this new policy could easily spin out of control.

Far from rectifying his forces’ illegal and dangerous conduct, Trump has upped the ante by declaring that his regime had intelligence about Syria planning to use chemical weapons. He has threatened to attack Syria if that were to happen. This is an extremely dangerous development but Trump sees it as a win-win situation for himself. The Syrians have no plans or desire to use chemical weapons; they have none. If no chemical attack occurs, Trump will present that as his “victory” by claiming that he forced the Syrians to eschew using chemical weapons. If the takfiri terrorists use chemical weapons and blame it on Damascus, as they have done in the past, then Trump will use that as a pretext to attack Syrian government forces.

Why would the Syrian government want to use chemical weapons (that it does not even have) at a time when its forces are making steady progress against the takfiri terrorists thereby inviting international condemnation? The chemical weapons charge is a cynical ploy by Trump to launch a direct attack on Syrian government forces.

The reason Trump is so anxious to attack Syrian forces — and indeed those of Syria’s allies such as Iran and Hizbullah is because the Western-backed terrorists are on the run in Syria as well as Iraq. They have been losing territory since last December when they were driven out of Aleppo. The US-Zionist plan is to prevent Syrian forces from liberating territory from the takfiri terrorists and strengthening its hold. The US wants to hand over such territory to the Kurds.

Scattered across five countries — Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Armenia, and Syria — the Kurds have allowed themselves to be used by unsavory characters. They are advancing the imperialists/Zionists’ agenda that is aimed at dividing the region along ethnic lines. This is the West’s Plan B in the event of failure of Plan A that was aimed at bringing down the government of Bashar al-Asad in Syria to install a puppet regime in Damascus (which clearly has failed).

The Kurds have established a de facto independent state in northern Iraq that they call the Provisional Government of Iraqi Kurdistan. They plan to hold a referendum to turn this into an independent state. This plan has the full backing of the Americans and the Zionists. The Kurds in Syria, with American-Israeli help, want to replicate this feat. They are unlikely to succeed since Turkey, for its own reasons, would not allow it. Ankara has an ongoing conflict with the Kurds in southeastern Turkey and any independent or even autonomous Kurdish state on its border with Syria would have a destabilizing effect. While Turkey is part of the US-Zionist-Saudi plot to overthrow al-Asad’s government, when it comes to the question of Kurds, it will pursue its own interests putting it at odds with the US.

The recent Saudi-Qatari spat has added another wrinkle to the already complicated mix. Nothing, however, compares to Trump’s belligerence borne of arrogance amplified by his ignorance. There is serious risk of a US-Russia war breaking out in Syria. Should that happen, the entire region will go up in smoke.