Ten Years Ago, I Predicted and Continue to Insist that Dr. Bashar Assad Stays in Syria!
The U.S. would not win the Unnecessary War and topple Assad. However, half a million innocent Syrian refugees were displaced and a few hundred thousand were killed in a war that should never had to happen.
Bashar defeated the ill conceived American intervention initiated by the CIA/military at the behest of the inept DCI’s Panetta/Brennan/Petraeus [Stratfor, Oct.25, 2017]. Neither one of these stooges could have imagined a scenario where a besieged Bashar could have vanquished an ersatz alliance consisting of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Israel.
Some years ago, I traveled throughout Syria. Next, I went to Israel to give the elite Intel Officers, generals a message: come to terms with Bashar Assad, he stays in the picture. The elite Mossad,IDF, and other intelligence units were completely taken aback that someone like me could simply walk into Syria unattended by a phalanx of guards or sporting some nonsensical identity other than who I really was. No one wanted to take Bashar’s efforts for peace seriously. I told them that was a serious mistake.
Before I left on my own to Syria, I remembered that the highly effective SOF General Jerry Boykin had asked me whether I wanted or needed a new identity before I ventured into ‘dangerous Syria’. Nope! I went to the beautiful city of Damascus, Syria where I was purposefully escorted into the offices of Syrian intelligence. It was in the office of the Interior Minister that I was subjected to a few hours of questioning where several Syrian officials had accused me of being a ‘spy’ for America.
I deflected the question by explaining to them that whatever I might or might not be, I wanted to see Syria in its entirety. In effect, I explained to my interrogators that I had spent close to $20,000 USD to fly over there and stay at their finest hotel in order to visit their beautiful country. They all laughed. I understood that I established a meaningful relation with two of their finest spies—a Muslim, Mohammed as well as another one who happened to be a Christian Palestinian.
Over the next few weeks, the three of us travelled comfortably in a car covering thousands of miles from Aleppo [blossoming markets] to Latakia [home of the Alawites] and eventually to Palmyra [once formidable ancient ruins]. We talked about all sorts of topics concentrating on American movies, songs, and cultures. Both men were eager to learn what kept America united in a seemingly peaceful entity. I explained that it was our traditions that were rooted in both the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
I came back to the states and reported what I had seen and done. That information was immediately classified, “Secret”. So secret that I couldn’t even read my own words which I had dictated to the de-briefing officer. I left the Pentagon smiling at the latest paradox.
However, I did not receive such an open, grateful acceptance when I attended my last meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations. There I encountered the completely opposite reaction by CIA spooks who had hidden their brazen identities behind some nonsensical State Dept. cover.
When I left the CFR headquarters, I realized that they were ignorant, arrogant operatives who wanted to stir up a fake war in Syria with completely misconceived assumptions. During the Obama/Clinton administration, I watched in horror as our senior civilian/intelligence/military leaders would create a complete morass in and around Syria.
I understood that Iran and Russia would enter that war in order to counteract the forces that America/Israel/Saudi Arabia/Turkey had needlessly embedded in that region.One tragedy ensued after another, resulting in the strengthening of the Assad regime with its new allies Russia and Iran.
America had created one of those unnecessary wars bereft of possible gain or victory. Since that time, America had inserted itself needlessly into Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Niger, and Iraq—all in the name of some bullshit terrorist group which we or Saudi Arabia/Israel had created.
Recently, I listened to Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs, Marine General J.F. Dunford Jr. espouse a faux strategy for the reason we send untrained ground troops to Africa [Niger]. “We are there to prevent the ‘connective tissue’ of terrorist groups’ from coming into America!” He forgot to mention the massive oil, diamond, and precious metal resources which our erstwhile allies, the French, British, Belgium, had long ago eviscerated from those corrupt non-states in Africa.
Once again, we do not bother to learn from our past mistakes. We continue to rush pall-mall into Harm’s Way with some nonsensical rationale which eventually makes cannon fodder of our completely untrained troops. Yet, we continue to scurry around the world looking for irrelevant trouble.
Let me end with Plato’s statement:
“Only the dead have seen the end of wars!”