Joaquin Flores: Is The U.S Really ‘Withdrawing’ From Syria? Here’s Why Not
The White House predictably announced a new phase of the military campaign in Syria and the withdrawal of troops from the country. This was unceremoniously announced by the press secretary of the White House, Sarah Sanders on Wednesday, December 19th.
Sanders noted that five years ago, ISIS was a very powerful and dangerous force in the Middle East, but the United States managed to destroy their territorial caliphate. The representative of the White House added that the victory of the international coalition of countries led by the United States over ISIS in Syria
does not mean the end of the coalition or its campaign.
“The United States and our allies stand together to re-engage in the defense of American interests at all levels if necessary, and we will continue to work together to prevent the spread of radical Islamism, its sponsorship, support in any form or its penetration beyond our borders”, read the statement of the press secretary, Sanders.
The US government plans to fully evacuate all State Department employees within 24 hours, as
Reuters reported.
But why this statement now, and how accurate is it?
It would appear on face value that forecasts pointing towards the futility of the American campaign against Syria, regardless of the pretext,
had failed and as such, the announcement of ‘a new phase of the conflict’, or even a ‘Mission Accomplished’, involving the total withdrawal of U.S forces, was eventual.
If we take at face value, the U.S’ ostensible reasons for being in Syria – to fight ISIS, but in such a way that doesn’t buttress Assad or leave him irremovable – the defeat of ISIS would seem to compel a new rationale for the U.S presence. The reality of Syria’s new position, where in some 93% of the lands formerly occupied by ISIS are now controlled by the representative government elected in Damascus,
would seem to mean that an announcement of a U.S withdrawal would be short-coming. Even if numerous countries close to the coalition, including statements from the U.S president, said that Assad did not necessarily have to leave power in Damascus in order to arrive at a political solution to the conflict.
In terms of the news cycle, Putin just spoke words on the present 93% position of Syria, which translates into a ‘good job’ by the Russian military.
Trump rushing in during the same cycle, to claim victory as well, makes sense on numerous levels.
But then using this to announce a total withdrawal?
Still it should be understood that the U.S has approached a phase in its corrosion or in its ‘winning strategy’, that it is ‘non-agreement capable’, in the words of Lavrov.
This is not merely a function of unilateral position changes, made at whim. At issue is the lack of a single faction in control of American activities abroad. The U.S empire is such that the country runs multiple and contradictory foreign policies simultaneously,
and it remains mysterious to many what the real motives and interests of the decision makers indeed are, and in what ways they are at odds with one another.
In short, the U.S will no doubt continue its military operations in Syria. The Pentagon and the CIA each run different sorts of operations, in the interests nominally of national security, but by all accounts in the interests of the power-junta acting locally within this or that vector of American power, be it the military or intelligence services.
That means that Trump’s announcement could amount to very little – can represent his intentions, which may not be realized in reality – and
it can represent simply a bargaining chip that can be re-introduced later, a sort of form of regressive or ‘hard’ bargaining tactic –
which Trump is using in his domestic conflict against the deep state and other vested power interests.
When we read of ISIS units fighting SDF/YPG Kurds, we know we are reading a mixed account, filtrated through the medium of text.
Our understanding of the report has to be measured at the same time with our understanding that elements of the anti-Syria coalition
are in fact fighting each other.
But some battles between these two Western sponsored factions had low casualty rates, even an absence of real fighting, but nevertheless we saw real the transfer of territory. And wherever the SDF went, the U.S could ‘justify’ its presence, within the unjustifiable context of its own self-justified rationale of what constitutes a legitimate ‘intervention’.
So within western media we read of the U.S occupation of Syria, nominally areas that are ‘Kurdish’ and where not, then areas that the suddenly no longer Kurdish-oriented SDF are in control of, and these are Syrians, Arabs, not Kurds.
That all means that White House statements issuing a withdrawal are difficult to read. Do they signify the obvious? Yes, in some way, but not entirely. Nothing is at it appears, there’s always a number of important strategic points – operational plans – that have to be smuggled into the workings of any otherwise obvious concession.
Even when retreating, the fighting continues.
Conclusively, there are various U.S power vectors involved in Syria, all able to fund, even muster their own, fighting force – whether as uniformed personnel, or as mercenaries, and if as mercenaries, whether NATO/American or Arab/Muslim fighters.
That means that official statements mean something, but they do not mean that the U.S is not engaged in some phase or other of this war. That is explicitly the case, even.
The U.S has something of a networked ‘self-awareness’ built into it,
so its apparently chaotic foreign policy in many ways works to its advantage.
Being unable to make agreements is only the flip-side of being unpredictable.
While this means that the U.S is ‘losing’ the conventional conflict, in the more linear and binary sense of the term, this isn’t a win-lose game but one of relative positions. And at any time there is always a relative position to defend, and the imperative is to defend that position – whether on the ascent or descent – at all times.
And add to that, within the U.S there are several player-groups moving things in various directions.
The U.S will be meddling in the Syrian war which it in fact started, as long its able, in whatever way. And this means that so long as there is a conflict, the U.S will be active in it there. At the end of the day, this has very little to do with Trump’s druthers either way.
UK Foreign Office: Daesh Will Remain a Threat in Syria
The international coalitions fighting against the Daesh terror group has made huge progress but the terror organization remains a threat and should be defeated, the UK Foreign Office said, commenting on the US announcement of the withdrawal of the forces from Syria.
"The Global Coalition against Daesh has made huge progress. Since military operations began, the Coalition and its partners in Syria and Iraq have recaptured the vast majority of Daesh territory and important advances have been made in recent days in the last area of eastern Syria which Daesh has occupied.
But much remains to be done and we must not lose sight of the threat they pose. Even without territory, Daesh will remain a threat," the UK Foreign Office said in a statement.
The statement noted that the United States had made clear that these developments in Syria would not result in the end of the operations of the US-led international coalition.
"We will continue to work with members of the Coalition on achieving this.
We remain committed to the Global Coalition and the campaign
to deny Daesh territory and ensure its enduring defeat, working alongside our critical regional partners in Syria and beyond. As the situation on the ground develops, we will continue to discuss how we achieve these aims with our Coalition partners, including the US.
This Government will continue to do what is necessary to protect the British people and our allies and partners," the statement pointed out.
On Wednesday, the US Department of Defense confirmed the pullout of US forces from Syria. On the same day, US President Donald Trump said the Daesh had been defeated in Syria, adding that this was the only reason for the United States to be in the Middle Eastern country during his presidency.
Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia.
HAY’AT TAHRIR AL-SHAM CONTINUES TO GROW IN NORTHWESTERN SYRIA
Fighters of HTS during a previous attack on the SLF in the western Aleppo countryside
Abu al-Khatab al-Shami, a military official in Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), told the Iba’a news network on December 19 that more than 150 fighters from several groups have joined the ranks of the HTS in order to “unify the efforts” against any attack of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) on the opposition-held area in northwestern Syria.
“We call on all of our brothers in the other factions to unify, merge, reinforce our ranks and to abandon disagreements and dispersion and to join the ranks of the real Mujahedeen,” the new fighters of HTS said in an official statement.
HTS was formed by the Al-Nusra Front, the former branch of al-Qaeda in Syria, and several other Turkish and US-backed groups in late 2017.
Today, the radical group controls most of the Syrian governorate of Idlib and several key areas around it, like the Turkman mount in northern Lattakia, the Ghab Plains in northwestern Hama and several districts west of the city of Aleppo.
The group has been taken advantage of
the Russian-Turkish demilitarized zone agreement, which was reached in mid-September, to expand its influence in the opposition-held area. So far, HTS has assassinated several opposition figures, arrested hundreds of civilians who voiced their support for the reconciliation process and attacked areas held by other armed groups.
All of this under the watchful eyes of Turkey.
KURDISH OFFICIAL COMMENTS ON U.S. TROOPS WITHDRAWAL FROM SYRIA: WE NEVER PINNED OUR HOPES ON FOREIGN FORCES
In the first Kurdish respond to the U.S. decision to withdraw its troops from Syria, Aldar Khalil, co-president of the executive body of the Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM), said that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) never pinned their hopes on foreign forces.
“We never said that we will protect ourselves with foreign forces or that we will achieve our revolution with the support of foreign forces, we rely on our own power,” Khalil said commenting on the withdrawal of U.S. forces from northeastern Syria, according to the Syrian-Kurdish Hawar News Agency (ANHA).
The TEV-DEM is a coalition of several Kurdish parties in northeastern Syria, including the Democratic Union Party (PYD). Together these parties lead the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), which is the political wing of the SDF.
Earlier, a US official told the Reuters news agency that the time-frame for U.S. troop pullout from Syria is expected to be between 60 to 100 days.
However, Khalil said that no time-frame for the withdrawal has not been set yet.
“If they stayed we can benefit from their presence, and if they left, the resistance of our people is more important,” Khalil added.
The TEV-DEM co-president also warned from Turkey’s planned attack against the SDF in northeastern Syria and called on the international community to support the group.
“We call upon all democratic forces, the international community and the international countries to stand by the people of northern and eastern Syria,” said Khalil.
An earlier report by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that the SDF’s leadership was “shocked” by the U.S. decision and saw it as “a stab in the back.” The Kurdish-dominated group is yet to release an official statement on the matter.
US fails to achieve own objectives in Syria, Russian lawmaker says
Washington has failed to achieve US own objectives in Syria, which included toppling the incumbent legitimate government, Franz Klintsevich, a member of the Russian Federation Council's (upper house of parliament) defense and security committee, told reporters on Wednesday.
According to Klintsevich, "the process [of the US troops withdrawal] could be protracted for indefinite time." Besides, they "can always say that circumstances have changed."
"In case the United States has really decided to pull all their troops out of Syria, it does not mean that they have accomplished their mission there," he added.
"If anything, they failed to replace the government in Syria by ousting Bashar al-Assad. As for Islamic State (a terrorist group banned in Russia), the Americans initially did not strive to destroy that quasi-state, continuing to play their games with it," Klintsevich said.
Earlier, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders announced that the US started to pull out its troops from Syria. US President Donald Trump stated on Twitter that the United States have defeated ISIS (Islamic State) in Syria, which is the only reason for the US troops being there.
Moscow alarmed by OPCW delay in investigating Aleppo chemical incident
Russia is alarmed that the Technical Secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) drags on investigation into a chemical incident in Aleppo, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.
"We are rather alarmed that regardless of Syria’s repeated official requests, the OPCW Technical Secretariat has not deployed its special mission to investigate the chemical weapons incident in Aleppo on November 24," she said.
The diplomat pointed out that nearly a month has gone by since the incident, but the situation has not changed.
"Time is passing,
so it will be more and more difficult [for the mission] to collect physical evidence at the site with regard to the volatility of chlorine, which was stuffed in the homemade chemical bombs used by militants to shell Aleppo’s districts," Zakharova said. "
The chances are diminishing each day to detect residues of that substance.
"There is a situation when on the one hand, evidence that the crime was committed by militants has already been presented by Syrian officials, but on the other hand, we can hear from high-ranking officials in lots of Western countries that the November 24 incident in Aleppo was organized by Damascus, and what is more, allegedly with Russia’s participation," Zakharova continued.
"It proves once more that the most thorough and comprehensive probe must be carried out immediately, and right at the scene of the chemical incident, but not remotely as it is often done," she stressed.
"One cannot help but have an impression that the probe [into the Aleppo incident] is being deliberately protracted by the OPCW Technical Secretariat, which is a deviation from its duties," she said.
"There is a question if this is being done to appease the Western troika (the United States, the United Kingdom and France - TASS) which pursue their narrow geopolitical interests in Syria and which, prior to the investigation, had used military force more than once against that state, a member of the United Nations and the OPCW," the diplomat said.
"We proceed from the fact that a delay in deployment of the mission to Aleppo contradicts both the Chemical Weapons Convention requirements and common sense."
On November 24, militants operating in the Idlib de-escalation zone fired projectiles stuffed with a toxic agent, presumably chlorine, into Aleppo’s residential areas. After the attack, more than 70 civilians were admitted to hospitals, according to Syrian doctors. The SANA news agency reported about 107 hospitalized civilians.
Russia’s air strikes destroyed the terrorists who had shelled the city. Russia’s Foreign Ministry dismissed as absurd the allegations against Moscow, made by US officials after the incident.
Militants shell Syria's Latakia, Hama, Aleppo over past 24 hours
Militants from Syria’s Idlib de-escalation zone have shelled the regions of Latakia, Hama and outskirts of the city of Aleppo, Lieutenant General Sergei Solomatin, head of the Russian center for reconciliation of the conflicting sides in Syria, told reporters on Wednesday.
"Throughout the day, militants have shelled Akch-Bayer, Durhabu-Asad, Nahshabba, and Bsharfa in the Latakia province; Zalaqiyat, Zor al-Mahruqah and Tall-al-Maktaa in the Hama province; and northwestern outskirts of Aleppo," Solomatin said.
Over the past 24 hours, the Russian center carried out a humanitarian mission in a village in the Rif-Dimashq province, handing out 500 food sets, along with 22 sportswear kits and five footballs from Moscow’s Spartak FC.
According to Solomatin, the Syrian authorities continue working to amnesty those who have evaded military service. As of December 18, as many as 18,115 people have been amnestied under Syrian President Bashar Assad’s decree.
The Russian reconciliation center continues to fulfill assigned tasks after the completion of the military campaign in Syria. The center’s officers regularly travel around the country's liberated areas to assess the humanitarian situation. The main efforts of the Russian military are now focused on assistance to the refugees returning to their homes and evacuation of civilians from de-escalation zones.
Russian cargo ship heads to Syria to deliver weapons (photos)
A Russian cargo ship was spotted transiting the Bosphorus Strait recently as it made its way from the Black Sea waters to the eastern Mediterranean.
According to the Bosphorus Observer’s Yoruk Isik, the Russian BSF Ropoucha class LSTM Tsezar Kunikov was seen transiting the Bosphorus Stait en route to the Syrian port-city of Tartous.
The Russian ship is likely delivering a large quantity of weapons to Syria, as they previously did in past voyages.
The content inside the ship is unknown; however, as of recently, the Russian military has been shipping a large quantity of armored personnel vehicles and tanks to the Syrian Arab Army (SAA).
Developing: Syrian military on high alert as Israeli warplane spotted along Lebanese border
The Syrian military has been placed on high alert this evening after an Israeli warplane was spotted along the Jabal Sheikh-Damascus border.
According to a military source in Damascus, the Israeli warplane entered Lebanese airspace this evening after crossing into the Nabatieh Governorate at the southern border of the country.
Once inside of Lebanese airspace, the Israeli warplane reportedly conducted a low altitude flight along the Jabal Sheikh-Damascus border.
The Jabal Sheikh region, also known as Mount Hermon, is partially occupied by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and constantly used by their air force to attack the Syrian military installations inside of Damascus.
The source added that the Syrian air defenses are reportedly activated and their troops are monitoring the situation closely.
