The Al Qaeda Insurgency in Syria: Recruiting Jihadists to Wage NATO's "Humanitarian Wars": PART III
by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky
September 2, 2011
****-****
Part I
A "Humanitarian War" on Syria? Military Escalation. Towards a Broader Middle East-Central Asian War?
- by Michel Chossudovsky - 2011-08-09
The road to Tehran goes through Damascus. A US-NATO war on Iran would involve, as a first step, a
destabilization campaign ("regime change") directed against Syria.
Part II
- by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky - 2011-08-16
Recent developments in Syria point to a full-fledged armed insurgency, integrated by Islamist "freedom fighters"
covertly supported, trained and equipped by foreign powers.
****-****
What triggered the crisis in Syria?
It was not the result of internal political cleavages, but rather the consequence of a deliberate plan by the US-NATO
alliance to trigger social chaos, to discredit the Syrian government of Bashar Al Assad and ultimately destabilize Syria
as a Nation State.
Since the middle of March 2011, Islamist armed groups covertly supported by Western and Israeli intelligence have
conducted terrorist attacks on government buildings and acts of arson.
Amply documented, trained gunmen and snipers have targeted the police, the armed forces as well as unarmed civilians.
The objective of this armed insurrection is to trigger the response of the police and armed forces, including the
deployment of tanks and armored vehicles with a view to eventually justifying a "humanitarian" military intervention,
under NATO's "responsibility to protect" mandate.
The Nature of the Syrian Political System
There is certainly cause for social unrest and mass protest in Syria: unemployment has increased in recent years, social
conditions have deteriorated, particularly since the adoption in 2006 of sweeping economic reforms under IMF guidance.
The later include austerity measures, a freeze on wages, the deregulation of the financial system, trade reform and
privatization. (See IMF Syrian Arab Republic — IMF Article IV Consultation Mission's Concluding Statement, http://www.imf.org/external/np/ms/2006/051406.htm, 2006).
Moreover, there are serious divisions within the government and the military. The populist policy framework of the Baath
party has largely been eroded. A faction within the ruling political establishment has embraced the neoliberal agenda.
In turn, the adoption of IMF "economic medicine" has served to enrich the ruling economic elite. Pro-US factions have
also developed within the upper echelons of the Syrian military and intelligence.
But the "pro-democracy" movement integrated by Islamists and supported by NATO and the "international community" did not
emanate from the mainstay of Syrian civil society.
The protests largely dominated by Islamists represent a very small fraction of Syrian public opinion. They are of a
sectarian nature. They do no address the broader issues of social inequality, civil rights and unemployment.
The majority of Syria's population (including the opponents of the Al Assad government) do not support the "protest
movement" which is characterised by an armed insurgency. In fact quite the opposite.
Ironically, despite its authoritarian nature, there is considerable popular support for the government of President
Bashar Al Assad, which is confirmed by the large pro-government rallies.
Syria constitutes the only (remaining) independent secular state in the Arab world. Its populist, anti-Imperialist and
secular base is inherited from the dominant Baath party, which integrates Muslims, Christians and Druze. It supports the
struggle of the Palestinian people.
The objective of the US-NATO alliance is to ultimately displace and destroy the Syrian secular State, displace or co-opt
the national economic elites and eventually replace the Syrian government of Bashar Al Assad with an Arab sheikdom, a
pro-US Islamic republic or a compliant pro-US "democracy".
The role of the US-NATO- Israel military alliance in triggering an armed insurrection is not addressed by the Western
media. Moreover, several "progressive voices" have accepted the "NATO consensus" at face value: "a peaceful protest"
which is being "violently repressed by the Syrian police and armed forces".
The Insurgency is integrated by Terrorists
Al Jazeera, the Israeli and Lebanese press confirm that "the protesters" had burned the headquarters of the Baath Party
and the court house in Daraa in mid-March, while at the same time claiming that the demonstrations were "peaceful".
Terrorists have infiltrated the civilian protest movement. Similar acts of arson were carried out in late July in Hama.
Public buildings including the Court House and the Agricultural Bank were set on fire.
This insurgency is directed against the secular State. Its ultimate object is political destabilization and regime
change. The hit squads of armed gunmen are involved in terrorist acts directed against both Syrian forces and civilians.
Civilians who support the government are the object of threats and intimidation. Pro-government civilians are also the
object of targetted assassination by armed gunmen:
In Karak, a village near Dara’a, Salafis forced villagers to join anti-government protests and remove photos of
President Assad from their homes. Witnesses reported that a young Muslim man who refused to remove a photo was found hanged on his front porch the next
morning.
“People want to go out and peacefully ask for certain changes, but Muslim Salafi groups are sneaking in with their goal,
which is not to make changes for the betterment of Syria, but to take over the country with their agenda,”
(International Christian Concern (ICC), May 4, 2011, emphasis added)
In late July, terrorists attacked a train travelling between Aleppo and Damascus:
"The train was carrying 480 passengers... The terrorists dismantled the rails which caused the accident... The leading
carriage was burnt... Other carriages were derailed and turned over onto their sides... (quoted in Terrorists attacked a train traveling from Aleppo to Damascus - YouTube, Truth Syria). Most of the passengers on the train "were children, women and patients who were traveling to undergo
surgeries."( Saboteurs Target a Train Traveling from Aleppo to Damascus, Driver Martyred - Local - jpnews-sy.com, July 24, 2011)
The Recruitment of Mujahideen: NATO and Turkey
This insurgency in Syria has similar features to that of Libya: it is integrated by paramilitary brigades affiliated to
Al Qaeda. Recent developments point to a full-fledged armed insurgency, integrated by Islamist "freedom fighters"
supported, trained and equipped by NATO and Turkey's High Command.
According to Israeli intelligence sources:
NATO headquarters in Brussels and the Turkish high command are meanwhile drawing up plans for their first military step
in Syria, which is to arm the rebels with weapons for combating the tanks and helicopters spearheading the Assad regime's crackdown on dissent. Instead of repeating the Libyan model of air strikes, NATO strategists are thinking more in terms of pouring large quantities of anti-tank and anti-air rockets, mortars and
heavy machine guns into the protest centers for beating back the government armored forces. (DEBKAfile, NATO to give rebels anti-tank weapons, August 14, 2011)
A NATO-led intervention is on the drawing board. According to military and intelligence sources, NATO, Turkey and Saudi
Arabia have been discussing "the form this intervention would take".
Shift in Turkey's Military Command Structure
In late July, the Commander in Chief of the Army and head of Turkey's Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Isik Kosaner,
resigned together with the commanders of the Navy and Air Force. General Kosaner represented a broadly secular stance
within the Armed Forces. General Necdet Ozel has been appointed as his replacement as commander of the Army and head of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
These developments are of crucial importance. They point to a shift within Turkey's military high command in favor of
the Muslim Brotherhood including enhanced support to the armed insurrection in Northern Syria.
Military sources also confirm that Syrian rebels "have been training in the use of the new weapons with Turkish military officers at makeshift installations in Turkish bases near the Syrian border." (DEBKAfile, NATO to give rebels anti-tank weapons, August 14, 2011)
The delivery of weapons to the rebels is to be implemented "overland, namely through Turkey and under Turkish army
protection....Alternatively, the arms would be trucked into Syria under Turkish military guard and transferred to rebel leaders at pre-arranged rendez-vous." (Ibid, emphasis added)
These various developments point towards the possibility of the direct involvement of Turkish troops in the conflict,
which could potentially lead to a broader process of military confrontation between Syria and Turkey, as well as the
direct involvement of Turkish troops inside Syria.
A ground war involving Turkish troops would involve sending troops into Northern Syria and "carving out a military
pocket from which Syria's rebels would be supplied with military, logistic and medical aid." (Assad may opt for war to
escape Russian, Arab, European ultimatums, http://www.debka.com/article/21255/ Debkafile, August 31, 2011).
As in the case of Libya, financial support is being channelled to the Syrian rebel forces by Saudi Arabia. "Ankara and
Riyadh will provide the anti-Assad movements with large quantities of weapons and funds to be smuggled in from outside
Syria" (Ibid).
The deployment of Saudi and GCC troops is also contemplated in Southern Syria in coordination with Turkey (Ibid):
Recruiting Thousands of Jihadists
NATO and the Turkish High command, also contemplate the development of a jihad involving the recruitment of thousands of
"freedom fighters", reminiscent of the enlistment of Mujahideen to wage the CIA's jihad (holy war) in the heyday of the
Soviet-Afghan war:
Also discussed in Brussels and Ankara, our sources report, is a campaign to enlist thousands of Muslim volunteers in Middle East countries and the Muslim world to fight alongside the
Syrian rebels. The Turkish army would house these volunteers, train them and secure their passage into Syria. (Ibid, emphasis added)
This recruitment of Mujahideen to fight NATO's humanitarian wars (including Libay and Syria) is well underway. Some 1500
jihadists from Afghanistan trained by the CIA were dispatched to fight with the "pro-democracy" rebels under the helm of
"former" Libya Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) Commander Abdel Hakim Belhadj:
“Most of the men have been recruited from Afghanistan. They are Uzbeks, Persians and Hazaras. According to the footage,
these men attired in the Uzbek-style of shalwar and Hazara-Uzbek Kurta were found fighting in Libyan cities.” (The
Nation, Pakistan,
The Libyan model of rebel forces integrated by the Islamic brigades together with NATO special forces is slated to be
applied in Syria, where Islamist fighters supported by Western and Israeli intelligence have already been deployed.
The Triggering of Factional Divisions within Syrian Society
Syria is a secular state where Muslims and Christian have shared a common heritage from the early Christian period and
have lived together for centuries.
Covert support is channelled to the jihadist fighters, who in turn are responsible for acts of sectarian violence
directed against Alawite, Christians and Druze. In early May, as part of the anti-government "protest movement", armed
gunmen were reported to have attacked Christian homes in Daraa in Southern Syria:
In a Christian village outside of Dara’a, in southern Syria, eye witnesses reported that twenty masked men on motorcycles opened fire on a Christian home while shouting malicious remarks against Christians in the street. According to another ICC source in Syria, churches
received threatening letters during the Easter holidays telling them to join Salafi protestors or leave.
Last week in Duma, a suburb of Damascus, Salafis chanted, “Alawites to the grave and Christians to Beirut!” according to an ICC source and Tayyar.org, a Lebanese news agency. Christians in Syria are concerned that the agenda of
many hard-line Islamists in Syria, including the Salafis, is to take over the government and kick Christians out of the
country. “If Muslim Salafis gain political influence, they will make sure that there will be no trace of Christianity in
Syria,” a Syrian Christian leader told ICC.
“We want to improve life and rights in Syria under this president, but we do not want terrorism. Christians will be
first to pay the price of terrorism. ... What Christians are asking for is the realization that when changes are
happening, it should happen not under certain agendas or for certain people, but for the people of Syria in a peaceful
way under the current government.” Aidan Clay, ICC Regional Manager for the Middle East, said, “Unlike in Egypt, where
Christians predominantly supported the revolution that removed President Hosni Mubarak from power, Syrian Christians
have desired peace while demanding greater freedoms under the current government. Christians anticipate that only chaos
and bloodshed will follow if Salafi demands are met. We urge the U.S. government to act wisely and carefully when
developing policies that have deep political ramifications for Syria’s minorities by not indirectly supporting a
foothold to be used by Salafis to carry out their radical agenda.”
(Syrian Christians Threatened by Salafi Protestors, Persecution News, International Christian Concern (ICC), May 4, 2011)
The attacks on Christians in Syria are reminiscent of the death squadron killings directed against Chaldean Christians
in Iraq.
Towards a Syrian Government in Exile. The Formation of a National Salvation Council (NSC) Modelled on Libya's
Transitional Council (TC)
A first step towards establishing a provisional government in exile was envisaged at a so-called National Salvation
Conference in Istanbul (July 16, 2011) integrated by some 300 Syrians in exile. This conference venue led to the
formation of a National Salvation Council (NSC), composed of 25 members, modelled on Libya's Transitional Council.
"Those present finally agreed on an initiative that will select 25 from 300 present in Istanbul and 50 more from inside
Syria, resulting in a 75 member council to represent the current uprising. This 75 member council will also work towards
forming a national unity government that can guide Syria in a transitory period, should the regime fall. This transitory
period will seek to administer a road-map that re-structures the Syrian state from a dictatorship, dismantling a police
state, to a representative democracy. However, those present have refused the idea of forming a shadow government at
this moment...." Syrian opposition conference in Istanbul and the formation of a joint council Syria Revolts, July 18, 2011)
The NSC envisaged the formation of an 11 member "Cabinet", which could act as a de facto provisional government in the
case of a "regime collapse". The NSC is dominated by the outlawed Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and Liberals from the Syrian
exile community. Syrian exiles vote for 'transitional government', Sidney Morning Herald, July 19, 2011)
The Central Role of General David Petraeus: President Obama's New Head of the CIA
Obama's newly appointed CIA head, David Petraeus who led the MNSTC "Counterinsurgency" program in Baghdad in 2004 in
coordination with Ambassador John Negroponte, is slated to play a key intelligence role in relation to Syria --including
covert support to opposition forces and "freedom fighters", the infiltration of Syrian intelligence and armed forces,
etc. These tasks would be carried out in liaison with Ambassador Robert S. Ford. Both men worked together in Iraq; they
were part of Negroponte's extended team in Baghdad in 2004-2005.
According to reports, General Petraeus, travelled to Turkey in mid July to meet members of the National Salvation
Council. The meeting organized by Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu took place immediately following the
National Salvation Conference (July 16-18, 2011): "[T]he source noted that Petraeous stressed his support during the
meeting for the idea of establishing an exile-government, a government which is led by the Muslim Brotherhood and their
allies and assisted by American military officials..." (See The Syrian Opposition and the CIA - Another Evidence of Treason - YouTube).
While Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's official visit to Turkey coincided with the holding of the National Salvation
Conference, there was no confirmation that Clinton had met up with members of the NSC. Officially, Hillary Clinton met
members of the Syrian opposition "for the first time" on August 2nd. (Syria Opposition Meets With Clinton - WSJ.com, August 3, 2011).
The Role of the Western media
The Western media has played a central role in obfuscating the nature of foreign interference in Syria including outside
support to armed insurgents. In chorus they have described recent events in Syria as a "peaceful protest movement"
directed against the government of Bashar Al Assad, when the evidence amply confirms that Islamic paramilitary groups
are involved in terrorist acts. These same Islamic groups have infiltrated the protest rallies.
Western media distortions abound. Large "pro-government" rallies (including photographs) are casually presented as
"evidence" of a mass anti-government protest movement. The reports on casualties are based on unconfirmed "eye-witness
reports" or on Syrian opposition sources in exile.
Sham News and the London based Syria Observatory for Human Rights are profusely quoted by the Western media as a
"reliable source" with the usual disclaimers.
Israel's Debka Intelligence news, while avoiding the issue of an armed insurgency, tacitly acknowledges that Syrian
forces are being confronted by an organized paramilitary:
"[Syrian forces] are now running into heavy resistance: Awaiting them are anti-tank traps and fortified barriers manned by protesters armed with heavy machine guns." DEBKAfile,
Since when are peaceful civilian protesters armed with "heavy machine guns" and "anti-tank traps"? What we are dealing
with is a trained paramilitary.
While Shaam News is quoted as the source of Associated Press reports and photos, Sham News (SNN) is not a recognised
news agency. SNN describes itself as "a group of patriotic Syrian youth activists demanding the freedom and dignity for
the Syrian people ..." with pages on Facebook and Twitter. See Shaam News Network
An Associated Press photo of a mass rally in Hama indicates the following disclaimer
The Associated Press is unable to independently verify the authenticity, Content, location or date of this handout
Photo. Photo: HO / Shaam News Network.
Yet these same unconfirmed photos are used profusely in the mainstream media.
The absence of verifiable data, however, has not prevented the Western media from putting forth "authoritative figures"
on the number of casualties: "Over 1,600 dead, 2,000 wounded (Al Jazeera, July 27) and nearly 3,000 disappearances (CNN,
July 28)."
What are the sources of this data? Who is responsible for the casualties?
The US Ambassador Robert S. Ford candidly stated to a Senate Committee hearing that: "The most dangerous weapon I saw
was a sling-shot".
And that sling-shot catch phrase, which is an outright lie, has been quoted profusely to uphold the non-violent
character of the protest movement as well provide a "humanitarian face" to Ambassador Robert S. Ford, lest we forget,
who was part of Negroponte's plan to set up death squadrons in Iraq modelled on El Salvador and Honduras.
The Lie becomes the Truth.
Responsibility of the Syrian Government
The Syrian government, its military and police force, bear a burden of responsibility in the way they have responded to
the insurgency which has resulted in deaths of civilians and police. But this issue, which is the object of open
discussion in Syria, cannot be meaningfully addressed without analyzing how the US and its allies have supported and
financed an insurrection integrated by Islamist paramilitary groups and death squads.
The primary responsibility for the civilian deaths rests with Washington, Brussels and Ankara, which have supported the
formation and incursion of Islamist "Freedom Fighters". They have also facilitated the financing and delivery of weapons
to the insurgents.
Since the existence of an armed insurgency (supported by foreign powers) is not acknowledged by NATO governments and the
Estern media, pari passu these deaths are attributed without further explanation solely to government forces "shooting on defenseless civilians"
or government forces shooting at police defectors...
Dangerous Crossroads: Towards a Broader Middle East Central Asian War
Escalation is an integral part of the military agenda. Destabilization of sovereign states through "regime change" is
closely coordinated with military planning. There is a military roadmap characterised by a sequence of US-NATO war
theaters.
War preparations to attack Syria and Iran have been in "an advanced state of readiness" for several years.
US, NATO and Israeli military planners have outlined the contours of a "humanitarian" military campaign, in which Turkey
(the second largest military force inside NATO) would play a central role.
In recent developments, Turkey has intimated that Ankara is considering military action against Syria if the Al Assad
government doesn't cease "immediately and unconditionally" its actions against "protesters". In a bitter irony, the
Islamist fighters operating inside Syria who are terrorizing the civilian population, are trained and financed by the
Turkish Erdogan government.
These veiled threats point towards the possible involvement of Turkish troops inside Syria, which could evolve towards a
full-fledged "humanitarian" military intervention by NATO.
We are at dangerous crossroads. Were a US-NATO military operation to be launched against Syria, the broader Middle East
Central Asian region extending from North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border with
China would be engulfed in the turmoil of an extended regional war.
There are at present four distinct war theaters: Afghanistan-Pakistan, Iraq, Palestine and Libya.
An attack on Syria would lead to the integration of these separate war theaters, eventually leading towards a broader
Middle East-Central Asian war.
The road to Tehran goes through Damascus. A US-NATO sponsored war on Iran would involve, as a first step, a
destabilization campaign ("regime change") including covert intelligence operations in support of rebel forces directed
against the Syrian government.
A war on Syria could evolve towards a US-NATO military campaign directed against Iran, in which Turkey and Israel would
be directly involved. It would also contribute to the ongoing destabilization of Lebanon.
It is crucial to spread the word and break the channels of media disinformation.
A critical and unbiased understanding of what is happening in Syria is of crucial importance in reversing the tide of
military escalation towards a broader regional war.
*************
Michel Chossudovsky is an award-winning author, Professor of Economics (Emeritus) at the University of Ottawa and
Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). He is the author of The Globalization of Poverty and The New
World Order (2003) and America’s “War on Terrorism” (2005). His latest book is entitled Towards a World War Three Scenario, The Dangers of Nuclear War (2011). Michel Chossudovsky spent over a month in Syria in January-February 2011.