The Liberation of Aleppo: A Regional Turning Point. Setback for US-Led Aggression
Global Research, December 21, 2016
In late 2016, at the
cost of many young lives, Syrian forces took back the eastern part of
the city of Aleppo, occupied by NATO and Saudi backed terrorists for
more than four years.
The liberation of Aleppo,
Syria’s second city and an ancient marvel, represents the most serious
setback for the 15-year long Washington-led aggression on the entire
region. An effective recolonisation of the region has stretched from
Afghanistan to Libya, under a range of false pretexts. Invasions and
proxy wars have been backed by economic sanctions and wild propaganda.
But this great war of
aggression – called the creation of ‘New Middle East’ by former US
President George W. Bush – has hit a rock in Syria. The massive proxy
armies bought and equipped by Washington and its regional allies the
Saudis, Turkey, Qatar and Israel, have been beaten back by a powerful
regional alliance which supports the Syrian nation.
The endgame in Aleppo
involves a handful of foreign agents – US, Saudi, Israeli and others –
said to remain with the last al Qaeda groups in a tiny part of what was
once their stronghold. The US in particular is keen to secure their
release, because their presence is further evidence of the foreign
command of what was claimed to be a ‘civil war’.
After a storm of western
government and media misinformation (claims of massacres, mass
executions and ‘civilians targeted’) over the evacuation of around
100,000 civilians and many thousands of terrorists, the UN Security
Council authorised some ‘independent observers’ to monitor the process.
However most of that evacuation is now over. Resettlement and
reconstruction is already underway, and army reserves have been called
up to defend the city.
Syrian, Iranian, Russian and independent reporters (including Maytham
al Ashkar, Shadi Halwi, Asser Khatab, Khaled Alkhateb, Ali Musawi,
Lizzie Phelan, Murad Gazdiev, Vanessa Beeley, Eva Bartlett and the late
Mohsen Khazaei) have already told us quite a lot. What they said bore
little resemblance to the western apocalyptic stories. For example,
outgoing UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, a close ally of Washington,
claimed in his last press conference that ‘Aleppo is now a synonym
for hell’. Those claims were based on stories from NATO’s desperate
jihadists.
Reporters on the ground told a different story. As Syrian forces
smashed the al Qaeda lines, the trapped civilians streamed out. They
published video of long lines of people leaving east Aleppo and finding
relief, food and shelter with the Syrian Arab Army. Tired and relieved,
they told their stories to anyone who cared to listen. Russia and Iran
gave many tonnes of food, clothing, blanket and shelter aid. By
contrast, western countries generally gave nothing and the terror groups
rejected all aid from the Syrian alliance.
Civilians were prohibited from leaving the al Qaeda enclave, many
were shot dead when they tried to do so. The armed gangs had food
reserves but kept it for their fighters. Arms factories including toxic
chemicals were found and were being made safe. Some of the armed men
were taken into custody, but most were shipped out to Idlib, where
Damascus has been concentrating the foreign-backed fighters.
When the hell canons fell silent, and no more home-made gas cylinder
mortars landed in the heart of the city, there was elation and dancing
in the streets, shown widely on social media. The US State Department
spokesman claimed he had not seen this.
Al Qaeda in Aleppo was crushed. All the anti-Syrian government armed
groups in Aleppo were either the ‘official’ al Qaeda in Syria (Jabhat al
Nusra aka Jaysh Fateh al Sham) or deeply embedded associates. When the
US pretended to suppress Jabhat al Nusra in 2012 and 2016, all the ‘Free
Syrian Army’ groups protested, saying ‘we are all Jabhat al Nusra’. One
might have thought that the US Government – which once claimed to be
engaged in a global war against terrorism, in the name of 3,000 people
murdered in New York back in September 2001 – would be as elated as
those on the streets of Aleppo. They were not.
Much of the western media, reflecting their governments, solemnly
reported on ‘the fall of Aleppo’. The Syrian victory over the al Qaeda
groups was a great tragedy, they said. On the other hand, the near
simultaneous recapture of Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra, by the
eastern al Qaeda group ISIS, was reported differently. That city was
said to have been ‘retaken’.
All this underlines what should have been an obvious point, admitted
by many US officials, that every single armed group in Syria (whether
‘moderate’ or ‘extremist’) has been armed and financed by the US and its
allies, in an attempt to overthrow the Syrian Government. All the talk
about ‘moderate rebels’, a ‘brutal regime’ and a ‘civil war’ just tries
to hide this.
The final evacuations of Aleppo – which included an exchange of
civilians besieged for 20 months in the Idlib towns of Faoua and Kafraya
for remaining NATO-jihadists in eastern Aleppo – were organised between
Russia and Turkey. There was some serious sabotage of these agreements,
but the understandings have so far stayed on track. Now Iran is engaged
with Russia and Turkey, in three way talks. Practical matters are being
discussed.
It is notable that the
Obama administration is playing no direct constructive role in the
endgame over Aleppo. Its ‘regime change’ proxy war on Syria is failing
and, in its place, the incoming Washington regime promises a new
approach. More importantly, a new regional alliance has formed to reject
any new aggression from the colonial powers.
Many things have changed
during the war on Syria. The Syrian alliance has beaten back powerful
NATO-GCC forces. The Muslim Brotherhood and its patrons in Egypt, Qatar
and Turkey have received another beating. Egypt and Iraq now support
Syria. The Saudis have joined with Israel against Iran and Syria. Russia
has built stronger bonds with Syria and Iran. The Arab League, having
backed the destruction of two Arab states, seems all but dead. Will the
new, enhanced ‘Axis of Resistance’ take its place?
The original source of this article is Global Research
Copyright © Prof. Tim Anderson, Global Research, 2016
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