The West Stays Mum About Aleppo Chemical Attack
Alex Gorka, Strategic Culture, Nov 28 2018
More than 100 people were injured as a result of a chemical attack in Aleppo on Nov 24. The Syrian government asked the OPCW to send a fact-finding mission to the city. Evidently the rebels were responsible. The West’s reaction has been surprising. Unlike in previous instances, the West has stayed mum instead of creating an uproar after the attacks and blaming Syria without any sort of thorough investigation to prove its guilt. When rebel-controlled areas came under chemical attacks, Western leaders raised a hue and cry, but they more or less shrugged it off when civilians living in Aleppo’s government-controlled areas became the targets, shot by 120 mm mortars firing chlorine-filled rounds. The shelling came from Idlib, the province where the remaining rebels are based. There is no way the Syrian government troops could have been the perpetrators. Nobody would believe a story claiming that they attacked their own forces so deep behind their own lines. Russia and Syria are proud of the fact they have established peace in Aleppo, and they have no interest in disturbing it. FUKUS is not launching missile and air attacks to strike rebel-held positions in Idlib. And no-one is rushing toward international podiums to do any finger-pointing. No statements have been issued from either Faschingstein or Brussels as of Nov 27. The silence is deafening.
Pres Macron has announced that his country is condemning the use of CW in general and in the Syrian city of Aleppo in particular. Some time ago, Paris was vigorously advocating for the West’s intervention in Syria. It joined the Pindo military actions against Syrian government forces. French special forces operate side-by-side with their Pindo counterparts there. Macron has always expressed his indignation and condemnation of the Syrian government for the things it has not done. This time he failed to castigate the radicals in Idlib for the crime they really did commit. It was Russian forces who attacked the terrorist positions from where mortars were firing CW rounds, according to intelligence sources. The Russian Air Force prevented another CW attack in order to protect civilians. Russian and Syrian medical personnel saved human lives by rapidly coming to their aid. Syria and Russia joined efforts in an investigation to produce proof that it was HTS/Nusra who perpetrated this war crime. Russia had warned that the White Helmets were preparing to stage such an attack while freely operating in the terrorist-controlled areas. They had been painted in the West as human-rights defenders until their group was exposed as terrorist collaborators. Interestingly, the group had always operated in areas controlled by the extremists, never in zones held by the so-called “moderate opposition.”
But the question is, why were the Russian warnings ignored? Another question is, what will the OPCW do after it has acquired new powers to hand down verdicts about who is to blame? Russian experts are already there investigating and producing tangible results, while that global watchdog is not sure if it is safe enough for a team to be sent to Aleppo! Even if it goes in, it’ll have lost too much time to be able to conduct an effective investigation. The way to do it is to arrive on the scene quickly and gather evidence. It has not done this. Will it cooperate with the Russian military as it should? Russia has hard evidence it can produce, otherwise it would not have attacked Idlib and breached the ceasefire accord. It protected the civilians in Aleppo, knowing perfectly it would have to justify its actions. In any event, the CW attack in Aleppo is an acid test that will demonstrate the OPCW’s ability to beef up its credibility as an international body empowered with the authority to assign blame. The inspectors did not travel to Syria’s Shayrat air base to conduct an inspection after the Khan Sheikhoun CW attack last year, nor did they go to see with their own eyes what really happened in Douma, where a chemical attack took place in April. It’ll have to behave more responsibly this time, even if its own safety is not guaranteed. The idea behind the attack was to provoke a clash between Turkey, which is responsible for the situation in Idlib, and the Russian-backed Syrian government that is defending Aleppo. But those plans fell apart when they were exposed by Russian intelligence. The attack was not unexpected. And there was one other thing that was exposed as a result: the duplicity of the West.
Pindostan Gathers Huge Military Force in and Around Syria
Arkady Savitsky, Strategic Culture, Nov 28 2018
While the world attention is riveted to the situation in the Azov Sea and the relationship between Russia and Ukraine, Pindo forces are getting prepared for a large-scale military operation in Syria. Pres Trump announced this past March that the military personnel would be leaving Syria “very soon.” Looks like he has changed his mind since then. The five-ship Truman Strike Group has recently entered the Mediterranean Sea. Pindo, British, French and Israeli aircraft are conducting round the clock flights across the Syria’s airspace under the pretext of holding an exercise. The Pindo-led anti-Daesh coalition aircraft are constantly on patrol. A French intelligence-gathering vessel is also there, coordinating its activities with the Pindo ships. The Pindo Army has rushed another 500 Marines to the at-Tanf base, straddling the borders of Syria, Jordan and Iraq. 1,700 members of the SDF, which operates under Pindo command, have also moved to reinforce the garrison. There are over a dozen Pindo military locations in north-eastern Syria, including at least four airstrips stretched from Manbij near the Turkish border to al-Hasakeh, the hub of the SDF force in northern Syria. Pindo soldiers started to patrol the Syrian-Turkish border earlier this month. The move is seen as offering a kind of protection to Kurdish forces from Turkey, probably because their support would be crucial if shooting starts. Russia warned Pindostan twice in September about possible consequences if Syria starts an operation to free its territory from foreign troops, but the warning fell on deaf ears. According to the WaPo, Pindostan is preparing to strike Iran in Syria under the pretext of being a target of unprovoked attack. There are other signs an operation is a possibility. James Jeffrey said in early November:
Russia has been permissive, in consultation with the Israelis, about Israeli strikes against Iranian targets inside Syria. We certainly hope that that permissive approach will continue.
He noted that forcing Iran to leave Syria was an objective of Trump’s economic pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic. With Daesh reduced to insignificance and holding no territory to control, it would be a large order to find a legal pretext for a military action but the administration appears to be unfazed. With no threat to national security or strategic interests to justify getting embroiled in a conflict, it is adamant to stay. The Arab nations which are candidates for the “Arab NATO” membership held a joint large-scale military exercise dubbed Arab Shield 1. It ended on Nov 16. The training event was seen as a preparation for a joint military operation. Tamer al-Shahawi, a member of the parliamentary National Defense and Security Committee and a former Egyptian military intelligence officer, said:
There is close cooperation between the Gulf states, Egypt and Israel against Tehran. Arab countries are trying to benefit from any possible support against the Iranian influence.
To increase the effect of sanctions, Iran should be separated from the Mediterranean Sea. The route across Iraq, Syria and Iran-friendly Lebanon should be made inaccessible. If Israel decides to strike what it calls Iranian targets, it would badly need Pindo backing. Another reason to stay in Syria is making sure the nation would be divided if the reconciliation and restoration process starts to gain momentum. Separating the SDF-controlled areas from the rest of the country is the only way to achieve it. Rebuilding rebel forces and controlling a vast chunk of land is the way to deny Pres Assad the legitimacy he strives for. The ongoing Pindo presence in at-Tanf and elsewhere shows that Faschingstein has no intention of leaving the Middle East, as Trump promised it would do. Neither will it pull out of Syria until the security situation in the region meets its goals. The concentration of Pindo military in the region is a worrying sign. This huge force has gathered for something much more serious than just training. With the events in Europe grabbing public attention, the situational creep in Syria is staying under the radar. It shouldn’t be allowed to do so. Something is definitely being cooked up.
Niqnaq 