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Cole begins correctly condemning the US air strike that massacred dozens of Syrian villagers as aprt of its alleged 'war on ISIS" in Syria. He then goes on with some essentially illiterate writing that demonstates just how uninformed about Syria "informed comment" has become: "But in Syria, the US has no moderate fighters to support, since almost all rebels have joined Daesh, al-Qaeda (Jabhat al-Nusra or the Support Front), or other Salafi Jihadi groups .... "In Syria, moreover, there is a danger that if Daesh were weakened, the Syrian Arab Army of Bashar al-Assad would be able to take advantage of that development. The US wants to see Bashar, by now a notorious war criminal, overthrown." (It does? So let's get this straight - the US bombs ISIS, and Nusra, and sometimes the Islamic Front, but never, even by accident, Assadist forces, but the fact that it doesn't bomb ISIS and others as much as Cole would like shows the US wants to overthrow Assad!!) "The US says it wants to train 15,000 moderate fighters in conjunction with Turkey. But it would take years for such a force to be deployed and become effective. Moreover, there were more than that number of moderate fighters two and a half years ago, and they've all by now scattered or joined al-Qaeda affiliates. What is to stop the same thing from happening to the new crew? And wouldn't they deliver their training and weaponry to Daesh (as already has often happened)?" Liar. Informed Comment US Airstrike in Syria kills 53 Civilians, 6 Children By Juan Cole | May. 3, 2015 | As Mariam Karouny reports for Reuters, the US air strike on Friday that inadvertently hit a village of non-combatants, killing members of six families, raises new questions about the Obama administration's approach to fighting Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) in Syria. Despite months of bombing raids, Daesh has lost no territory in Syria. The strike, according to the Syria Observatory, landed on a village on the east bank of the Euphrates River rather hitting its fundamentalist target. US air strikes in Syria are estimated to have killed 2000 Daesh fighters, out of an estimated 25,000 in Syria and Iraq. However, thousands more volunteers are said to have gone to join up once they hear that the US was targeting Daesh. Some of "radicalism" in the Middle East is just anti-imperialism, something that Washington interventionists are congenitally unable to understand. The major accomplishment of the bombing that began last September was to keep Daesh from taking the Kurdish enclave of Kobane in the north of Raqqa Province. But the Kobane area, which had some 300,000 Kurds, is still a ghost town. In contrast, in Iraq the bombing has been done as close air support for Kurdish Peshmerga fighters or for Iraqi and Iran-backed forces. With those fighters on the ground the US helped allies take Mt. Sinjar and Tikrit from Daesh, reducing the territory it holds in Iraq by 25% compared to last summer. But in Syria, the US has no moderate fighters to support, since almost all rebels have joined Daesh, al-Qaeda (Jabhat al-Nusra or the Support Front), or other Salafi Jihadi groups that reject democracy and want to reduce religious minorities like Christians to barely tolerated non-citizens who have to pay a poll tax to avoid being attacked. In Syria, moreover, there is a danger that if Daesh were weakened, the Syrian Arab Army of Bashar al-Assad would be able to take advantage of that development. The US wants to see Bashar, by now a notorious war criminal, overthrown. What comes along with not having a ground force to support is lack of good intelligence on the ground in Syria. Hence the bombing of innocent non-combatants, including children. The US says it wants to train 15,000 moderate fighters in conjunction with Turkey. But it would take years for such a force to be deployed and become effective. Moreover, there were more than that number of moderate fighters two and a half years ago, and they've all by now scattered or joined al-Qaeda affiliates. What is to stop the same thing from happening to the new crew? And wouldn't they deliver their training and weaponry to Daesh (as already has often happened)? This revolving door of US-trained fighters has been a key problem in Afghanistan, but no one ever brings it up. The bombing of the civilians actually helps Daesh propaganda enormously. This policy in Syria needs reconsideration. ==== Related video added by Juan Cole: CCTV News: "Activists: 52 killed in U.S.-led airstrike in Syria" Posted in Barack Obama,Counter-Terrorism,Featured,Islamic State of Iraq and Syria,Militarization,National Security State,Syria,US Foreign Policy | 8 Responses | Print | You might also like Why is no one asking? Did GOP & Israel Lobbies write Iran Letter for the good of America? Why is no one asking? Did GOP & Israel Lobbies write Iran Letter for the good of America? Obama to GOP: More Iran sanctions will lead to War (and 7 other Foreign Policy points in SOTU) Obama to GOP: More Iran sanctions lead to War (& 7 other Foreign Policy points in SOTU) President Obama's Biggest Mideast Policy Challenges, 2015 President Obama's Biggest Mideast Policy Challenges, 2015 Top 5 Reasons Obama is Seeking Congressional Approval for War on ISIL Top 5 Reasons Obama is Seeking Congressional Approval for War on ISIL 8 Responses Mark Koroi 2015.05.03 02:51 Reply More horrific stories have come out of Syria. Deadly chemical attacks on civilian population: link to worldbulletin.net ISIS conducting executions by crucifixion. Analysts believe that the Assad regime is going to collapse and it being only a matter of time; further U.S. "allies" Israel and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would relish seeing this happen as a blow to the "Shia Crescent" - even if al-Qaeda-linked rebels in Syria and ISIS would take over: link to consortiumnews.com It was the U.S. State Department during the Bush Administration that began implementing an agenda of regime change in Syria due to alleged Syrian involvement in the assassination of Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri. The State Department, Pentagon and CIA proceeded to provide assistance to anti-Assad exile groups around the globe - with civil war breaking out in 2011 when Syrian army units began rebelling against the Baathists. By 2013, the Assad regime was close to collapse under pressure of the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army when a series of foreign policy blunders by the Obama administration resulted in a fragmenting of those rebel forces and the introduction of ISIS and al-Qaeda-affiliated armed groups as the most powerful anti-Assad organizations operating within Syria. Former U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford has been one of the most vocal critics of the U.S. State Department policy toward Syria during the Obama administration. rbtl 2015.05.03 12:05 Reply What 'policy blunders' are u referring to in 2013. I think the policy blunders began in late summer, 2011. The exile groups were demanding intervention. The Local Coordinating Commities in Syria were opposed to arming the civilian demonstrators and foreign intervention because it would 'change the nature of the war'. Indeed it did. Obama kept the US out of Syria, but turned a blind eye towards 'allies' in the region arming their favorite factions. At the same time, the State Deparment mantra of "Assad must go" mainly kept Russia from helping to formulate a UN resolution against violence and calling for that ever-promised 'negotiated solutions'. Clinton argued as principle that a UN resolutions should call for Assad to go, when the only objective at the time should have been stopping the violence or some type of truce. The FSA was splintered and untrained. As I understand it, the Local Coordinating Committees were grassroots networks that carried information from one point of the protests to others. Some day some enterprising journalist may research in depth the divisions between the exile Syrians and the locals and the dynamics of pushing the resistance forward towards a slaughter. In August, 2011, the world was decrying the deaths of 2200 Syria civilians. Look at the number today. I think the State Deparment erred in how it dealt with Russia and partnered with them for a mimimalist UN resolution that could have put Russia on the spot to oppose Assad's destruction. Do you have any more information about this time? Or 2013 in relation to this prior time? steve levine 2015.05.03 04:16 Reply THIS. HAS. GOT. TO. STOP. Joe Tedesky 2015.05.03 09:43 Reply So let me see, one U.S. missile takes money away from an American entitlement (the government's word, not mine), and this single missile also ensures another Middle Eastern youth will grow up hating America. That is some kind of twofer! This kind of methodology will only make the missile manufacturers rich. I guess if the missile maker pays a capital gains tax that could help support the entitlement, but then I am sure the bomb was either subsidized, or possibly paid no taxes at all. I swear the U.S. is trying to work against the American citizens interest. Seriously, why vote, why live with regret, why even try to understand. Matt 2015.05.03 09:53 Reply when will america murder inc pay for its terror torture and war crimes on the populations of the world along with mossad cia saudi terror psychotic inc ? not anytime soon im sure when it comes to the dummied down public believing anything that is Donations Thank you to all of my supporters for your generosity and your encouragement of an independent press! 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