[Author]Attempt to topple Damascus before ISIS vanishes from US geopolitical toolbox

by Tony Cartalucci[/Author]

US policy paper reveals desire for construction of full-scale extraterritorial army to invade Syria. Such an army is being built in Iraq and Turkey and it’s called “ISIS.”

The corporate-financier funded and directed policy think tank, the Brookings Institution, has served as one of several prominent forums documenting and disseminating US foreign policy. It would host in part the architects of the so-called “surge” during the nearly decade-spanning US occupation of Iraq, as well as battle plans for waging a covert war against Iran now well under way.

Part of this covert war against Iran involved the arming and backing of listed terrorist groups, and in particular, the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK) which has killed US servicemen, American civilians, as well as countless innocent Iranians over the decades. Among those signing their name to this plan found within Brookings’ “Which Path to Persia?” report, was Kenneth Pollack. Now, in efforts to overthrow the government of Syria, also a stated and integral part of undermining, isolating, and destroying Iran, Pollack has revealed another element of the plan – to create a full-scale proxy military force outside of Syria, then subsequently invading and occupying Syria with it.

In the report titled, “Building a Better Syrian Opposition Army: How and Why,” Pollack cites the so-called “Islamic State” or “ISIS” as the ultimate impetus for expanded US intervention. However, upon looking at Pollack’s proposal, it merely looks as if the US is using ISIS as a pretext to more overtly intervene in order to overthrow the government of Syria – not in fact neutralize ISIS.

After a considerable preamble assuring readers that the aim of creating a “better Syrian opposition army” would exclude sectarian extremists and result in the same “success” the US had in training the Iraqi army, the document explains:

…building a new Syrian army is best not done in Syria itself. At least not at first. The program would need the time and sanctuary to perform the necessary training, reorganization, sorting  and  socialization  into  a  new  Syrian  army  without the distractions and pressures of Syria itself.  The  Saudi  offer  to  provide  facilities  to  train 10,000 Syrian opposition fighters is one of reasonable possibility, although one of Syria’s neighbors would probably be preferable. Jordan already serves as  training  ground  for  America’s  current  training program and it would be an ideal locale to build a real Syrian army. However, Turkey could also conceivably serve that purpose if the Turks were willing.

Clearly, not only is this already being done as admitted by Pollack himself, it is being done on a scale already eclipsing Pollack’s alleged plan – the only difference is it is being done through the use of sectarian extremists – not the imaginary, nonexistent secular professionals Pollack uses as a marketing gimmick to sell this scheme.

More tellingly, Pollack’s plan continues by stating (emphasis added):

In addition to being armed, trained and officered like a conventional military, a new Syrian army would also have to be equipped like one. That would mean not just small arms and crew-served weapons, such as the United States and its allies are already providing, but heavy weapons and logistical support. Like the Croats and Bosniaks, a new Syrian army will need the wherewithal to defeat both the regime and the Islamist extremists. That will require tanks, armored personnel carriers, artillery, surface-to-air missiles and the like to match the regime’s own heavy weapons—and so eliminate the firepower imbalance that the regime’s forces have employed to such advantage so far.

Surely, Pollack’s plan will never materialize in any practical dimension – however it may be possible to use such a marketing ploy to pour more resources into both the ongoing proxy war against Syria and Iran in general, and more specifically into the terrorist battalions already being armed, funded, trained, equipped, and sent off from Jordan and Turkey into Syrian territory. Handing advanced weapon systems into the hands of front groups consisting of intentionally ineffectual, immensely corrupt, incompetent US proxies is as good as handing the weapons directly to ISIS – and of course – this is precisely how the US is building its actual “new opposition army” – namely, in the form of ISIS itself.

ISIS Has Tanks, Missiles, and Aircraft – Everything America’s Dream “Opposition Army” Needs Removing Pollack’s rhetoric about secular professionals, and inserting “ISIS” reveals Pollack’s paper as the actual already ongoing plan to overrun not only Syria, but pro-Iranian factions in Iraq, and perhaps even Iran itself. ISIS is a massive mercenary army trained and funded abroad by the US with its support laundered via Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, and Turkey, staged along Syria’s borders in both Jordan and Turkey, and acquiring an impressive arsenal just as what is required in Pollack’s plan to enter into and overthrow the government of Syria – minus eradicating extremists of course.

Even a cursory look at ISIS’ holdings across the region reveal ratlines leading into NATO-member Turkey’s territory and all along the Turkish-Syrian border where news outlets like the New York Times and Washington Post have reported for years the CIA had been operating – unloading billions in aid, gear, weapons, and even vehicles to militants fighting within Syria.

Headlines over the past 3-4 years including, “C.I.A. Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition,” “First Syria rebels armed and trained by CIA ‘on way to battlefield’,” “Arms Airlift to Syria Rebels Expands, With Aid From C.I.A.,” and “Official says CIA-funded weapons have begun to reach Syrian rebels; rebels deny receipt,” reveal precisely how ISIS acquired its vast resources.

ISIS is organized on a professional level precisely as described by Pollack, most likely the result of US military advisers and their counterparts in Saudi and Qatari special operations. ISIS is also heavily armed precisely as was required by Pollack’s plan. They now possess an impressive and ever growing arsenal of weapons including tanks, missiles of all kinds, artillery, and even a small collection of aircraft including Russian warplanes and American helicopters.

The New York Times, after years of reporting on the CIA’s delivery of weapon systems to “moderate” militants, now laments of ISIS’ possession of advanced anti-air missiles. In its article, “Missiles of ISIS May Pose Peril for Aircrews in Iraq,” it reports:

Syrian rebels have amassed multiple Manpad models since 2012, and the Islamic State has generally had little trouble acquiring any weapon used by Syrian rebels either through purchase or capture, military analysts say.

Unprepared Iraqi troops – the result of what Pollack claims as an American “success” – have also augmented ISIS with precisely the weapons needed for Pollack’s dream “opposition army.” No less than 30 M1 Abrams main battle tanks have fallen into ISIS’ hands.

Prolific Neo-Conservative propagandist Michael Weiss in the Wall Street Journal attempts to downplay the implications of such weapons falling into ISIS’ hands by stating in his op-ed titled, “Exploiting the ISIS Vulnerabilities in Iraq – The terrorists’ heavy military equipment is hard to maintain, easy to target from the air,” that:

Today, we estimate that ISIS has less than a total of 30 working M1 Abrams tanks and howitzers that are either self-propelled or towed behind trucks (based on our knowledge of how the Iraqi army is equipped and what divisions were in the north). These are the weapons that gave the Islamic State the advantage over the Peshmerga in recent firefights. Yet ISIS does not have the highly trained maintenance crews that are necessary to keep these weapons in good working order. The same problem exists for its armored Humvees and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected personnel carriers. Without maintenance, these captured U.S. vehicles and weapons will break down.

Only, ISIS’ Saudi, Qatari, and Jordanian sponsors most definitely do possess the highly trained maintenance crews necessary to keep these weapons in good working order – since these despotic regimes each in turn possess a large number of exactly these weapon systems purchased from the United States itself. If the Saudis in particular, can fund, train, and arm ISIS with small arms and missiles, how difficult would it be to supply them with spare parts and properly trained maintenance crews? Turkey also maintains a number of US weapon systems, and possesses the ability to maintain modern battle tanks if not the M1 specifically – and is already harboring, supplying, and backing ISIS – another inconvenient truth challenging Weiss’ attempts to mislead readers.

In fact, Pollack’s “proposal” appears more like an after-action report. ISIS is the “better Syrian opposition army” the West has sought all along. That is probably why attempts by the US to “fight” ISIS appear half-hearted and why those the US is supposedly “saving” from ISIS see Western intervention as more of a threat than ISIS itself believing it is designed simply to prolong ISIS’ existence in the face of growing and increasingly more formidable indigenous opposition.

Any provisions to build Pollack’s “army” will undoubtedly end up only bolstering ISIS and its affiliates – just as military aid policymakers like Pollack at Brookings advocated for the arming of “moderates” resulted in the creation of ISIS in the first place. While the US desperately attempts to disown responsibility for ISIS’ creation and perpetuation through an unconvincing propaganda campaign, false flag terror strikes against the “homeland,” and a series of increasingly ludicrous, orchestrated strawman victories in Iraq and Syria – Damascus, Baghdad, and Tehran are leading the real fight against ISIS.

The US apparently plans on protecting ISIS for as long as possible under the guise of being the sole force “fighting it,” while ISIS consolidates and moves on Western designated targets. In the process of “fighting” ISIS, the US is managing to destroy Syrian infrastructure and defenses. The US, however, has failed in attempts to exclude Syrian, Iraqi, and Iranian forces from countering the ISIS threat and now the region is witnessing a race between ISIS’ inevitable destruction and America’s attempts to topple Damascus before ISIS vanishes from its geopolitical toolbox. Infowars.com

[Author]NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:

Due to the lack of space and the length of this article, it will be published in two parts. This is Part 1.

by Jens Gluesing[/Author]

PART ONE – Wearing orange overalls and sun hats, the Chinese arrived in Río Brito by helicopter before being escorted by soldiers to the river bank — right to the spot where José Enot Solís always throws out his fishing net. The Chinese drilled a hole into the ground, then another and another. “They punched holes all over the shore,” the fisherman says. He points to a grapefruit-sized opening in the mud, over one meter deep. Next to it lie bits of paper bearing Chinese writing. Aside from that, though, there isn’t much else to see of the monumental and controversial project that is to be built here: The Interoceanic Grand Canal, a second shipping channel between the Atlantic and Pacific.

ANZEIGE

The waterway is to stretch from Río Brito on the Pacific coast to the mouth of the Punta Gorda river on the Caribbean coast. Beyond that, though, curiously little is known about the details of the project. Only Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and his closest advisors know how much money has already been invested, what will happen with the people living along the route and when the first construction workers from China arrive. Studies regarding the environmental and social impact of the undertaking don’t exist.

The timeline is tight. The first ship is scheduled to sail into Río Brito, which will become part of the canal, in just five years. When completed, the waterway will be 278 kilometers (173 miles) long, 230 meters (755 feet) wide and up to 30 meters (100 feet) deep, much larger than the Panama Canal to the south. A 500-meter wide security zone is planned for both sides of the waterway. And it will be able to handle enormous vessels belonging to the post-panamax category, some of which can carry more than 18,000 containers.

Thus far, only a few dozen Chinese experts are in Nicaragua and have been carrying out test drilling at the mouth of the river since the end of last year. They are measuring the speed at which the river flows, groundwater levels and soil properties. Not long ago, police established a checkpoint at the site and it is possible that the entire area will ultimately be closed off.

For now, though, the region remains a paradise for natural scientists and surfers. Sea turtles lay their eggs on the beach and a tropical dry forest stretches out behind it to the south, reaching far beyond the border into Costa Rica. But if the river here is dredged and straightened out as planned, the village on Río Brito will cease to exist.

No Answers

The project has created massive uncertainty for those who live here and ever since the arrival of the Chinese workers, they have been wondering when they will be resettled and how much the government will provide as compensation. Thus far, they haven’t received any answers. And they aren’t alone: A total of 30,000 people live close enough to the planned canal route that they will likely have to be resettled, but an exact number has yet to be announced.

Employees of a Chinese company are currently going door-to-door to collect details on residents and property. But with opposition to the project rising, they are accompanied by police and soldiers armed with Kalashnikovs. Thousands of locals along the route have begun protesting against their impending expropriations with several demonstrations having taken place in just the last few weeks. Many of the signs they carry read: “No Chinos!” The anger has become so intense that police have begun patrolling outside of the Chinese engineers’ headquarters in the provincial city of Tola.

But disdain for the project is not universal, leading to a growing split in the country. Many Nicaraguans welcome the Chinese investment and hope that the canal will bring in jobs and prosperity. Others fear a flood of Chinese immigrants.

Making matters worse is the raft of questions surrounding the project. At first glance, the geography looks ideal for the canal. Lake Nicaragua provides a natural waterway in the country’s interior, with just 20 kilometers separating the lake from the mouth of Río Brito. But breaking through to the Caribbean on the other side promises to be difficult. The area is swampy, hardly developed and populated by indigenous peoples. Thousands of square kilometers of forestland would have to be cleared.

It is also unclear if the undertaking will ever be profitable. The Panama Canal is currently being expanded and several other Central American countries are planning “dry canals” consisting of train lines connecting the two oceans across the isthmus. In order to be competitive against the others, the Nicaragua canal would have to transport a vast amount of freight. Furthermore, the small country has neither the money nor the know-how for a project of this magnitude.

Stranglehold on Power

None of these problems, however, seem to be of much concern for the president, hoping as he is that the canal will cement his legacy. But Ortega is far from the first to dream of such a thing. For 200 years now, the idea of a waterway connecting the two oceans has been one pursued by both Nicaraguan leaders and the country’s US occupiers. The Sandinista revolutionaries likewise expressed interest in the project for a time.

Ortega was one of the comandantes who led the 1979 Sandinista revolt against the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza. In 1990, the Sandinistas were voted out of office, but Daniel Ortega returned to power in elections seven years ago. Since then, he and his family have established a stranglehold on power in the country. The opposition is divided and he faces little resistance in the country’s parliament. At the beginning of the year, Ortega pushed through a constitutional amendment allowing him to stand for re-election indefinitely. Critics accuse him of ruling the country like Somoza did, just without the torture.

The erstwhile socialist Ortega has cemented his power by making peace with the church and with the country’s business leaders. Furthermore, his Sandinistas have firm control of the Judiciary, Parliament and the Executive while Ortega’s children own several television channels. He is fond of presenting himself as a kind of Christian savior.

Ortega’s wife, Rosario Murillo, is the government spokeswoman, but in reality she has much more power than that. People in the country refer to the esoteric First Lady as “La Bruja,” the witch. In the capital Managua, she has installed gigantic steel trees covered with thousands of lights on important arterials. They are lit up throughout the year as though it were eternally Christmas — many of them are decorated with glowing stars, reindeer and Santas. She has also had several public buildings painted pink, her favorite color.

Because Nicaragua is unable to build the canal on its own, Ortega brought the Chinese on board as a partner. Ever since the revolution, the Sandinistas have had close relations with the Communist Party of China. Two years ago, the president sent his son Laureano to Beijing to explore the possibilities for economic cooperation.

NEXT WEEK: PART TWO, MAKING CONTACT WITH CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY