The Obama administration has reportedly “reversed” itself on providing assistance to the Syrian rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Under the now-abandoned Pentagon’s “train and equip” program, which saw U.S. Special Operations forces and Central Intelligence Agency personnel train Syrian rebels at secret bases in Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, a number of so-called Syrian “moderates” defected to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as soon as the American-trained mercenaries were offered more money by the radical jihadists. ISIL was able to lure defectors from the “Free Syrian Army” and other U.S.-supported groups with large sums of cash looted from banks in seized Syrian and Iraqi territory; money provided by Saudi, Qatari, and Kuwaiti benefactors; and revenues from the sale of oil on the international spot market. The U.S. took no action to halt ISIl’s financial dealings because it would irritate the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which are fighting a proxy war for the United States in Yemen.
It is also estimated that 80 percent of U.S. weapons destined for the “Free Syrian Army” instead ended up in the hands of ISIL and their radical jihadist allies. Moreover, air drops of U.S. weapons to Iraqi and Syrian Kurds, and other Sunni “moderates” were dropped in areas of northern Syria and Iraq held by ISIL and its allies.
Under the new framework of U.S. support for Syrian rebels, members of existing guerrilla groups will be required to be “capable, indigenous forces” in Syria. Determining who is an indigenous Syrian with the Syrian borders now completely porous will be an impossible undertaking. Once identified as indigenous and capable, the Syrian guerrillas will be asked to sign a pledge that they will fight ISIL, agree to some basic human rights training, review the Geneva Conventions on the law of armed warfare, and be instructed on how to use U.S.-supplied radios to call in airstrikes. In return, the guerrillas will receive U.S. weapons and ammunition. Some neocons are calling for the guerrillas to be given shoulder-launched missiles in order to shoot down Russian aircraft now pummeling ISIL forces throughout Syria. Advanced weapons were already provided to the rebels and some of these, including BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles, fell into the hands of ISIL.
The Pentagon plans to supply its Syrian guerrilla allies with small arms and ammunition by air drops. In the past, these drops in Syria and Iraq were made into territory occupied by ISIL and were witnessed by officials of the Iraqi government, the Kurdish Regional Government in Erbil, and Syrian government and Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG) observers in Syria.
It is expected that the Syrian Kurdish forces will be offered U.S. weapons in return for signed pledges to fight only ISIL, in this case not train their weapons on America’s NATO ally Turkey, and respect human rights and the law of warfare. The Syrian Kurds would be foolish to make such a deal with the United States. Not only has the United States reneged on support deals it made with the Iraqi Kurdish cousins of the Syrian Kurds during the Nixon administration but this American double dealing was repeated after Desert Storm when George H.W. Bush failed to provide the Iraqi Kurds with promised military support to topple Saddam Hussein. In the 1970s, the United States abandoned the Iraqi Kurds after Saddam Hussein and the Shah of Iran made a deal to stop supporting insurgents in each others’ country. The Iranians abandoned the Kurds in Iraq and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger cut off all U.S. aid to the Kurds as a consequence.
The United States under Barack Obama repeated its abandoning of the Kurds, in this case the Syrian Kurds, when it stood by as Turkish forces allied with ISIL laid siege to the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, near the Turkish border. This month marks the first anniversary of the death of U.S. journalist Serena Shim who was killed by Turkish forces near Kobani after she discovered ISIL and Turkish forces working together against the Syrian Kurds.
Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and nationally-distributed columnist. He is the editor and publisher of the Wayne Madsen Report (subscription required).
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Syrian Kurds should beware an alliance with the CIA
Posted on October 15, 2015 by Wayne Madsen
The Obama administration has reportedly “reversed” itself on providing assistance to the Syrian rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Under the now-abandoned Pentagon’s “train and equip” program, which saw U.S. Special Operations forces and Central Intelligence Agency personnel train Syrian rebels at secret bases in Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, a number of so-called Syrian “moderates” defected to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as soon as the American-trained mercenaries were offered more money by the radical jihadists. ISIL was able to lure defectors from the “Free Syrian Army” and other U.S.-supported groups with large sums of cash looted from banks in seized Syrian and Iraqi territory; money provided by Saudi, Qatari, and Kuwaiti benefactors; and revenues from the sale of oil on the international spot market. The U.S. took no action to halt ISIl’s financial dealings because it would irritate the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which are fighting a proxy war for the United States in Yemen.
It is also estimated that 80 percent of U.S. weapons destined for the “Free Syrian Army” instead ended up in the hands of ISIL and their radical jihadist allies. Moreover, air drops of U.S. weapons to Iraqi and Syrian Kurds, and other Sunni “moderates” were dropped in areas of northern Syria and Iraq held by ISIL and its allies.
Under the new framework of U.S. support for Syrian rebels, members of existing guerrilla groups will be required to be “capable, indigenous forces” in Syria. Determining who is an indigenous Syrian with the Syrian borders now completely porous will be an impossible undertaking. Once identified as indigenous and capable, the Syrian guerrillas will be asked to sign a pledge that they will fight ISIL, agree to some basic human rights training, review the Geneva Conventions on the law of armed warfare, and be instructed on how to use U.S.-supplied radios to call in airstrikes. In return, the guerrillas will receive U.S. weapons and ammunition. Some neocons are calling for the guerrillas to be given shoulder-launched missiles in order to shoot down Russian aircraft now pummeling ISIL forces throughout Syria. Advanced weapons were already provided to the rebels and some of these, including BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles, fell into the hands of ISIL.
The Pentagon plans to supply its Syrian guerrilla allies with small arms and ammunition by air drops. In the past, these drops in Syria and Iraq were made into territory occupied by ISIL and were witnessed by officials of the Iraqi government, the Kurdish Regional Government in Erbil, and Syrian government and Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG) observers in Syria.
It is expected that the Syrian Kurdish forces will be offered U.S. weapons in return for signed pledges to fight only ISIL, in this case not train their weapons on America’s NATO ally Turkey, and respect human rights and the law of warfare. The Syrian Kurds would be foolish to make such a deal with the United States. Not only has the United States reneged on support deals it made with the Iraqi Kurdish cousins of the Syrian Kurds during the Nixon administration but this American double dealing was repeated after Desert Storm when George H.W. Bush failed to provide the Iraqi Kurds with promised military support to topple Saddam Hussein. In the 1970s, the United States abandoned the Iraqi Kurds after Saddam Hussein and the Shah of Iran made a deal to stop supporting insurgents in each others’ country. The Iranians abandoned the Kurds in Iraq and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger cut off all U.S. aid to the Kurds as a consequence.
The United States under Barack Obama repeated its abandoning of the Kurds, in this case the Syrian Kurds, when it stood by as Turkish forces allied with ISIL laid siege to the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, near the Turkish border. This month marks the first anniversary of the death of U.S. journalist Serena Shim who was killed by Turkish forces near Kobani after she discovered ISIL and Turkish forces working together against the Syrian Kurds.
Previously published in the Wayne Madsen Report.
Copyright © 2015 WayneMadenReport.com
Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and nationally-distributed columnist. He is the editor and publisher of the Wayne Madsen Report (subscription required).