Obama Trying to Marginalize the Intransigent Anti-Syrians

In asking Congress to pass an “Authorization for the use of armed force” (AUMF), President Obama has decided, finally, to clarify US policy in the Levant.

According to his bill, the Pentagon would be allowed to hunt Daesh without limitation in space (that is to say, in both Iraq and Syria, and anywhere), using the men on the ground for intelligence and support for air strikes, but not for land combat, and for a renewable period of 3 years [1]; a mission definition corresponding to all the requirements of the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey. [2]

In recent years, only 2 “permissions for the use of armed force” have been passed. The first, September 14, 2001, authorized attacks on nations, organizations or persons linked to the attacks of Sept. 11, as well as those related to other terrorist groups whatsoever, without time limitation. [3]

The second, on October 2, 2002, authorized the invasion of Iraq. [4] It was unnecessary, since Washington had accused Saddam Hussein of supporting al Qaeda for years, including the organization of attacks in France, Britain, Spain, Italy, Germany and Russia (sic ) [5]. But it proved necessary when this grotesque accusation was abandoned and General Powell presented his personal, pitiful apologies. [6]

Thirteen years later, the Obama proposal does not seek to legalize the operation of the anti-Daesh International Coalition because the 2001 text was more than enough, but in reality it should legally deny operations against the Syrian Arab Republic. This is exactly what the Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel had demanded in writing in late October [7], which led to his being sacked under pressure from the Israeli Likud and US neo-conservatives [8].

The balance of power has shifted in favor of the White House. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in trouble during his election campaign. His arrival in Congress was postponed, despite the invitation he had sent to himself through the President of the House of Representatives. Of course, US neoconservatives will do anything to delay the vote on the bill in hopes of the re-election of their champion in Tel Aviv.

From this point on in Washington, Senator John McCain, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, is beating the drum to defeat the Obama proposal. While affirming a wish to destroy Daesh, the man who denied our revelations that he met “Caliph” Ibrahim al-Baghdadi, in [9] May 2013, finally admitted, September 16, 2014 on Fox News, being in permanent contact with the chief of staff of the “Islamic Emirate” [10]. Drawing on his experience in Vietnam, he explained that the United States had to ally itself with the devil to overthrow the Syrian Arab Republic; a now useless and dangerous goal for Washington, but still essential for the Likudnik project for a Zionist state spreading from the Nile to the Euphrates.

The vote on the Obama proposal should take weeks or months. If passed, it will mean both an end to US engagement against the Syrian people and the project for “remodeling the broader Middle East,” thus an end to creating a pro-Israel “Kurdistan” and a terrorist “Sunnistan”, straddling Syria and Iraq. [11]

Obama’s logic seems to have been taken up by Ban Ki-moon. His special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, should make a report affirming that one cannot effectively fight Daesh or end the Syrian conflict without the support of President Bashar al-Assad.