Good and Bad News on Syria

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

First the bad. US forces continue occupying northern and southern Syrian territory illegally.

They intend staying indefinitely, hardening their positions, supporting ISIS and other terrorist groups, not combating them.

They're not leaving "very soon," as Trump falsely said last Thursday. Nor are they "knocking the hell out of ISIS (or) there for one reason: to get ISIS and get rid of ISIS and to go home" - another flagrant perversion of truth.

A Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)-cited UN report on the world body's "Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the occupied Syrian Golan confirmed Israel's support for armed terrorist organizations in Syria, including (ISIS and) Jabhat al-Nusra…"

SANA obtained a copy of the report, saying UNDOF observed "Israeli occupation forces' support and delivery of aid to armed terrorist groups in the area of disengagement, as well as direct communication and coordination with them."

Israeli facilities in occupied Golan aid them, SANA adding: "According to the report, the United Nations has monitored 90 Israeli violations of the disengagement agreement inside the occupied territories."

NYT disinformation in two same day reports claimed Syrians are "trapped between Assad and extremists" - ignoring US aggression in the country, using terrorists as imperial foot soldiers. 

No "revolution" exists, one of many Big Lies about years of war on a sovereign independent nation.

Sticking with the official narrative, the Times claims largely imported cutthroat killers committing gruesome atrocities are "rebels" or "fighters" opposing Assad.

It turned truth on its head, accusing Vladimir Putin of "aggression" in Ukraine, Syria, cyberspace, and Britain for the (false flag) Skripal incident - claiming "(d)iplomacy won't (change America's) adversarial relationship with" Russia.

Kremlin ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov maintains the illusion of one day stabilizing and improving US/Russian relations, saying:

"The US authorities have expelled American friends. They are not the US enemies."

"Our diplomats were developing cooperation between Russia and the US in different areas, among which are business, science, culture, space exploration and joint search for prisoners of war and missing in action," adding:

"We want everybody to understand that we are destined to become friends again. (O)nly close interaction between our countries can help maintain international strategic stability and find mutually beneficial solutions to global and regional challenges."

Washington hasn't been "friends" with Soviet Russia or the Russian Federation for over a century, wanting the country transformed into a US vassal state, its resources plundered, its formidable military might neutralized.

Believing things can change is foolhardy and dangerous. Washington maintains adversarial relations with Russia, a nation it considers a mortal enemy - things likely to worsen ahead, not improve.

Escalating US/UK-led NATO hostility toward Moscow risks unthinkable nuclear war. Given Trump's hardened war cabinet, responsibly stepping back from the brink was eliminated as an option in bilateral relations.

Potential East/West confrontation is frighteningly real. Neocon lunatics running Washington's foreign policy make the unthinkable possible.

Bad news overwhelms what's positive. Syrian army chief of staff General Ali Mayhoub announced good news, saying:

Government and allied forces "obliterated hundreds of terrorists and destroyed their headquarters, gatherings, fortifications, weapons and machines, including factories of cannons, missiles, and different projectiles, while other units are carrying on their combating mission around Douma to save it from terrorism."

Overnight Saturday, US-supported terrorists in Douma announced a preliminary agreement with Russia to allow their wounded fighters to be transported to northern Syria.

According to an unnamed Syrian military source, a full agreement on evacuating terrorists from Douma is expected within 48 hours - East Ghouta liberation to be successfully completed if the report is accurate.

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