All of these are done to maintain West's (not just American) imperialist hegemony in the middle-east for a number of reasons...
America’s Fake War on ISIS Grinds On
Global Research, March 22, 2016
New Eastern Outlook 21 March 2016
A recent US Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing considering
the nominations of General Joseph Votel and Lieutenant General Raymond
Thomas for command of US Central Command and US Special Operations
Command respectively, exposed the absurdity of America’s war on the
so-called “Islamic State” (ISIS).
While the Syrian Arab Army backed by
Russian airpower successfully cuts off entire armies of terrorists from
their supplies abroad, while encircling and eradicating them within
Syrian territory, the US appears instead to be attempting to stretch out
ISIS’ existence while maintaining the illusion of fighting the
terrorist organization for as long as possible.
During the hearing, several times US
senators including US Senator John McCain (R-AZ) would credit US
operations for the recent setbacks faced by ISIS, including pressure
recently placed directly on Al Raqqa – the defacto capital of ISIS in
eastern Syria.
In reality, all of these setbacks are
instead a result of Syrian and Russian efforts to interdict supplies
flowing into Syria primarily from NATO-member Turkey, US-ally Jordan,
and back and forth from Iraq. Beyond allegedly high-profile targeted
killings, little to nothing has been done by the US to actually degrade
ISIS’ fighting capacity.
Russian warplanes have in particular,
mercilessly bombed ISIS and Al Qaeda logistical networks to the point of
drawing out from the geopolitical shadows their foreign sponsors,
including Turkey which went as far as downing a Russian jet as it operated along the Syrian-Turkish border.
As Syrian and Russian forces choke off
supplies crossing Syria’s borders bound for ISIS and Al Qaeda positions,
the West and its regional partners have become increasingly desperate
and transparent in their efforts to reverse what is the inevitable end
of the conflict.
Senators and Generals Show No Interest in Stopping ISIS
The SASC hearing was particularly
telling, because while ISIS was regularly brought up, it was clear from
listening to the senators and the two generals providing testimony, that
the real goal was still overthrowing the Syrian government and rolling
back the influence of Russia and Iran in order to maintain American
hegemony in the region and around the world. ISIS is merely an excuse to
remain in the region to continue pursuing these goals.
Despite US participation in the recent
Syrian ceasefire and upcoming peace talks, both the senators and the
generals talked about removing Syrian President Bashar al Assad, as well
as the next iteration of America’s train and equip program for fighters
being sent into Syria to perpetuate the violence.
And even as the entire committee plotted
the overthrow of the Syrian government, they continuously acknowledged
not only ISIS’ presence in the country, but its expansion into other
nations, including Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya – three nations the US
has destroyed – with Libya being the latest and regarded several times
during the hearing as “ungovernable.”
Libya’s “ungovernable” present state was
cited as the primary reason for ISIS’ “sudden” appearance in the North
African nation. None of the senators nor the two generals, however,
mentioned just how Libya became ungovernable in the first place – not
even Senator McCain who literally walked, hand-in-hand, with the future
rank and file of ISIS in Libya as they took over the country after the
overthrow of the government in Tripoli.
The failure of the US military for 16
months to target and destroy ISIS’ oil infrastructure in Syria was also
mentioned, though the rest of their logistical network in Syria or
beyond, or their foreign sponsors, were never brought up.
What the hearing illustrated once again
was that it is the US plowing the fields – turning nations into
failed-states – and then sowing the seeds of perpetual chaos with
heavily armed, well-funded, and well backed mercenary forces to
transform entire regions of the world into divided, weak, and
perpetually fighting, perpetually shifting conflict zones from which the
West’s enemies can be removed, and regimes more to their liking can be
installed.
In the one hour plus hearing, nothing resembling a tangible strategy for confronting and defeating ISIS was discussed.
Generals who have spent their lives in
the military, from military families talked about the impotence of
airstrikes alone in Syria to degrade ISIS’ fighting capacity – never
once mentioning the fact that they have standing armies both in Turkey
and Jordan more than capable of strangling completely ISIS’ logistical
lifelines and preventing the torrent of foreign fighters repeatedly
referenced during the hearing from reinforcing ISIS positions in Syria.
Instead of holding accountable US’
allies who are clearly underwriting ISIS’ continued and formidable
fighting capacity as well as its expansion beyond Syria’s borders,
several times the committee agreed to work even closer with these allies
in what is clearly a disingenuous war on ISIS.
It
is unlikely General Votel or Lieutenant General Thomas do not know how
to identify the source of an enemy’s fighting capacity or how to
effectively cut it off. Indeed, they know precisely how to defeat ISIS,
but anyone can still watch the hearing – archived online on the US
government’s own website for all to see – and understand that the goal
is not to fight and defeat ISIS – it is to reorder the region in such a
manner as to maintain US influence and protect US “interests” across it.
Fighting ISIS is but a pretext to remain
involved in Syria, Iraq, and now Libya and Afghanistan. Both the
senators of the committee and the two generals present all agreed that
Nigeria, Somalia, and perhaps nations beyond would also see ISIS gaining
footholds within their borders giving the US a free hand to pursue them
in what they called “transregional” operations.
While nations like Russia and China are
building economic relationships with the nations of the Middle East and
North Africa region (MENA), giving them footholds and influence
throughout it, the US seems to be predicating their continued presence
in MENA upon addressing perpetual chaos.
However, it is becoming increasingly
clear that this chaos they are “addressing,” is chaos of their own
intentional creation. It is difficult to imagine that this sort of
foreign policy is sustainable, and in a way, the committee acknowledged
that too. When asked by the committee if they also believed that it
looked like Russia was going to achieve its goals in Syria, both
generals without hesitation agreed.
Tony Cartalucci is a Bangkok-based geopolitical researcher and writer, especially for the online magazine“New Eastern Outlook”.
The original source of this article is New Eastern Outlook
Copyright © Tony Cartalucci, New Eastern Outlook, 2016
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