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The Redirection, Is the Strategic Shift in US Policy Benefitting Our Enemies by Seymour Hersh
(The New Yorker) March 5, 2007 – To undermine Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, the Bush Administration has decided, in effect, to reconfigure its priorities in the Middle East. In Lebanon, the Administration has coöperated with Saudi Arabia’s government, which is Sunni, in clandestine operations [Hariri assassination? – Oui] that are intended to weaken Hezbollah, the Shiite organization that is backed by Iran. The U.S. has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria. A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda.
One contradictory aspect of the new strategy is that, in Iraq, most of the insurgent violence directed at the American military has come from Sunni forces, and not from Shiites. But, from the Administration’s perspective, the most profound–and unintended–strategic consequence of the Iraq war is the empowerment of Iran.
Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the United States Are Behind Syria’s Violence [also Turkey and GCC states– Oui]
In retrospect we see just how devastatingly accurate Hersh’s reporting was. It is clear now, with the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and the sectarian-extremist dominated, foreign-funded destabilization ravaging Syria, that this policy created during the Bush administration, has transcended presidencies and is being brought to its premeditated conclusion under Obama – yet another example of “continuity of agenda.”
The evidence trickling out of the corporate-media regarding who the armed Syrian opposition is, reveals that it is predominately an extremist sectarian-movement, not only including Syrian extremists, but militants crossing the border from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and even from as far as Libya. An alliance of Gulf States led by Saudi Arabia have pledged funds for Syria’s militants and has repeatedly called for openly arming them. The US is likewise openly equipping Syrian militants.
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GCC Lashes Out at Iran, Calls for Transition in Syria
(INN) Dec. 26, 2012 – Concluding a two-day summit in Manama, the Gulf Cooperation Council members voiced support for Bahrain’s Sunni minority regime while lashing out at Tehran, which they accuse of fueling a Shiite-led uprising in the host country last year. In a joint statement, the GCC countries said they “reject and denounce” Iran’s “continued interference” in their internal affairs.
Continued below the fold with speeches Obama administration (VIDEO) …
(New Yorker) Feb. 3, 2010 – I [Seymour Hersh] spoke to Bashar Assad, the president of Syria, this winter in Damascus. Assad assumed the presidency after his father’s death, in 2000, when he was thirty-four years old, and he expressed some empathy for President Barack Obama, who, like Assad, was confronted with a steep learning curve.
A senior Syrian official had told me that, last year, Syria, which is on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, had renewed its sharing of intelligence on terrorism with the C.I.A. and with Britain’s MI6, after a request from Obama that was relayed by George Mitchell, the President’s envoy for the Middle East.
Hillary Clinton:
The press conference of Hillary with [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu [in which she appeared to walk away from the Administration’s call for a freeze on settlements] was very bad, even for the image of the United States.
Israel and the United States:
To be biased and side with the Israelis, this is traditional for the United States; we do not expect them to be in the middle soon. So we can deal with this issue, and we can find a way if you want to talk about the peace process. But the vision does not seem to be clear on the U.S. side as to what they really want to happen in the Middle East.
Israel’s continued settlement expansion (April 2009)
Obama:”Time To Move Forward” With Israeli-Palestinian Peace (Sept. 22, 2009)
Statements by Secretary Clinton and PM Netanyahu (Oct. 31, 2009)
Clinton faces Arab backlash after praising Israeli settlement ‘restraint’
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Not being upfront about her illness will lead to wild speculation. Did Hillary Rodham-Clinton suffer a concussion or is she hiding in secrecy? Three weeks absence is more than a mild concussion would indicate!
Hugh Rodham Dies After Stroke, Father of Hillary Clinton Was 82 (April 1993)
U.S. promotion of ME peace? When did THAT happen?
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You understood what I’m trying to convey in many words and pictures. Four years of “diplomacy” and no tangible results on the world stage. See the sequence of videos. I’ve been the only one here @Booman writing about the Syrian catastrophy. The Benghazi attack has turned the Obama arrogance upside down, I hope with Kerry some forward thinking and reality on the Arab Winter gets a foothold in the White House.
In the follow-up of unsuspected events, both Obama and Clinton were correct in their opinions of one another:
Hillary Clinton is still “testing waters”.
Arab Spring, Israeli Isolation
Yes, I got it, Oui. Just couldn’t say so without sarcasm. 🙂
Regarding the Syria catastrophe, I followed in great detail, and became an expert on the destruction of my Iraq. I cannot watch another loved country be destroyed, so I have tried not to look, and so have not joined you, but it is forcing itself into my consciousness anyway. Maybe I should try to join you in the effort, but right now I can’t.
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Juan Cole has remained silent on the developments in Syria. I read shock and surprise how events are unfolding, an ugly civil war with no end in sight to massacres and war crimes from both sides. The Al Qaeda jihadists hve become a major factor in the rebellion, soon the FSA will have to choose sides as the jihadist have a chant “Christians to Lebanon, Alevis to the coffin.” Hundreds of innocent civilians have died at the hands of the Sunni jihadists and terror car bombings. The death toll of 14,000 Syrians includes 6,000 policemen, security- and armed forces of the Assad regime. Yes, the Obama administration is fully responsible for the outcome of this civil war because it gave support to a non-existent, poorly organized opposition calling themselves Syrian National Council. In the Iraq comparison read: Chalabi. Nevertheless, to attain a greater good of getting rid of an Iranian ally Hillary Clinton gave support to all sorts of foreign power brokers in the Sunni-Shia religious battle of the Greater Middle-East or oil rich nations and partners. There is no democracy or religious freedom in Jordan, Qatar, Libya, Bahrain, Oman, UAE and Saudi Arabia. The Western powers were hoping for the Libyan option, this failed because the opposition fighters were weak and the Syrian government forces were much better equipped. Most likely the Syrian civil war will become a regional war with involvement of Turkey, Kurds, Iraq, Jordan, Israel and Lebanon. Worst case, Aleppo will be obliterated like Grozny. The AQ jihadists from Chechnya must be well aware of the outcome.
See earlier diary – Condi’s Fairy Tale – Neocons and A Democratic Syria Fri Jul 27th, 2012.