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Wednesday 15 February 2012

SYRIA: NATO's Next "Humanitarian" War?

SYRIA: NATO's Next "Humanitarian" War?
ONLINE INTERACTIVE I-BOOK

By Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

Global Research, February 11, 2012

URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29234

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GLOBAL RESEARCH ONLINE INTERACTIVE READER SERIES

GR I-BOOK No.  3



SYRIA: NATO's Next "Humanitarian" War?


Michel Chossudovsky (Editor)


February 2011



The Global Research's Online Interactive I-Book Reader, brings
together, in the form of chapters, a collection of Global Research
feature articles, including debate and analysis, on a broad theme or
subject matter.  To consult our Online Interactive I-Book Reader
Series, click here.

INTRODUCTION

    “In order to facilitate the action of liberative (sic) forces,
...a special effort should be made to eliminate certain key
individuals. ...[to] be accomplished early in the course of the
uprising and intervention, ...

    Once a political decision has been reached to proceed with
internal disturbances in Syria, CIA is prepared, and SIS (MI6) will
attempt to mount minor sabotage and coup de main (sic) incidents
within Syria, working through contacts with individuals. ...Incidents
should not be concentrated in Damascus ...

    Further : a “necessary degree of fear .. frontier incidents and
(staged) border clashes”, would “provide a pretext for intervention...
the CIA and SIS [MI6] should use ... capabilities in both
psychological and action fields to augment tension.” (Joint US-UK
leaked Intelligence Document, London and Washington, 1957)


In this online interactive I-book, we bring to the attention of our
readers a selection of feature articles on the Syrian crisis.

Our objective is to dispel the tide of media lies and government
propaganda, which presents the events in Syria as a "peaceful protest
movement".

The "protests" did not emanate from internal political cleavages as
described by the mainstream media. From the very outset, they were the
result of  a covert US-NATO intelligence operation geared towards
triggering social chaos, with a view to eventually discrediting the
Syrian government of Bashar Al Assad and destabilizing Syria as a
Nation State.

Since the middle of March 2011, Islamist armed groups --covertly
supported by Western and Israeli intelligence-- have conducted
terrorist attacks directed against government buildings including acts
of arson. Amply documented, trained gunmen and snipers including
mercenaries have targeted the police, armed forces as well as innocent
civilians. There is ample evidence, as outlined in the Arab League
Observer Mission report, that these armed groups of mercenaries are
responsible for killing civilians.

Iit is important to underscore the fact that these terrorist acts
--including the indiscriminate killing of men and women and children--
are part of a US-NATO-Israeli initiative, which consists is
supporting, training and financing  "an armed entity" operating inside
Syria.

The evidence confirms that foreign intelligence operatives, according
to reports, have integrated rebel ranks:

    "As the unrest and killings escalate in the troubled Arab state,
agents from MI6 and the CIA are already in Syria assessing the
situation, a security official has revealed. Special forces are also
talking to Syrian dissident soldiers. They want to know about weapons
and communications kit rebel forces will need if the Government
decides to help.

    “MI6 and the CIA are in Syria to infiltrate and get at the truth,”
said the well-placed source. “We have SAS and SBS not far away who
want to know what is happening and are finding out what kit dissident
soldiers need." " Syria will be bloodiest yet, Daily Star). (emphasis
added)

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) is a creation of the US and NATO. The
objective of this armed insurrection is to trigger the response of the
police and armed forces, including the deployment of tanks and armored
vehicles with a view to eventually justifying a  military
intervention, under NATO's  "responsibility to protect" mandate.

A NATO-led intervention is on the drawing board. It was drafted prior
to the onset of the protest movement in March 2011. According to
military and intelligence sources, NATO, Turkey and Saudi Arabia have
been discussing "the form this intervention would take".

US, British and Turkish operatives are supplying the rebels with
weapons. Britain's Ministry of Defence confirms that it "is drawing up
secret plans for a NATO-sponsored no-fly zone [in coordination with
its allies] "but first it needs backing from the United Nations
Security Council." (Syria will be bloodiest yet, Daily Star).
According to these secret plans: "fighting in Syria could be bigger
and bloodier than the battle against Gaddafi".(Ibid ).

A "humanitarian" military intervention modeled on Libya is
contemplated. NATO Special Forces from Britain, France, Qatar and
Turkey are already on the ground inside Syria in blatant violation of
international law. Reports from British military sources (November
2011) confirm that:

    "British Special forces have met up with members of the Free
Syrian Army (FSA)... The apparent goal of this initial contact was to
establish the rebel forces' strength and to pave the way for any
future training operations. ... More recent reports have stated that
British and French Special Forces have been actively training members
of the FSA, from a base in Turkey. Some reports indicate that training
is also taking place in locations in Libya and Northern Lebanon.
British MI6 operatives and UKSF (SAS/SBS) personnel have reportedly
been training the rebels in urban warfare as well as supplying them
with arms and equipment. US CIA operatives and special forces are
believed to be providing communications assistance to the rebels."
Elite Forces UK, January 5, 2012 (emphasis added)




The Social and Political Context in Syria

There is certainly cause for social unrest and mass protest in Syria:
unemployment has increased in recent years, social conditions have
deteriorated, particularly since the adoption in 2006 of sweeping
economic reforms under IMF guidance. The later include austerity
measures, a freeze on wages, the deregulation of the financial system,
trade reform and privatization. (See IMF Syrian Arab Republic — IMF
Article IV Consultation Mission's Concluding Statement,  2006).

Moreover, there are serious divisions within the government and the
military. The populist policy framework of the Baath party has largely
been eroded. A faction within the ruling political establishment has
embraced the neoliberal agenda. In turn, the adoption of IMF "economic
medicine" has served to enrich the ruling economic elite. Pro-US
factions have also developed within the upper echelons of the Syrian
military and intelligence.

But the "pro-democracy" movement integrated by Islamists and supported
by NATO and the "international community" did not emanate from the
mainstay of Syrian civil society.

The wave of violent protests represents a very small fraction of
Syrian public opinion. They are terrorist acts of a sectarian nature.
They do not in any way address the broader issues of social
inequality, civil rights and unemployment.

The majority of Syria's population (including the opponents of  the Al
Assad government) do not support the "protest movement" which is
characterised by an armed insurgency. In fact quite the opposite.

Ironically, despite its authoritarian nature, there is considerable
popular support for the government of President Bashar Al Assad, which
is confirmed by the large pro-government rallies.

Syria constitutes the only (remaining) independent secular state in
the Arab world. Its populist, anti-Imperialist and secular base is
inherited from the dominant Baath party, which integrates Muslims,
Christians and Druze. It supports the struggle of the Palestinian
people.

The objective of the US-NATO alliance is to ultimately displace and
destroy the Syrian secular State, displace or co-opt the national
economic elites  and eventually replace the Syrian government of
Bashar Al Assad with an Arab sheikdom, a pro-US Islamic republic or a
compliant pro-US "democracy".


Pro-government rally, Damascus, March 2011

The Insurgency: The Libya Model

The insurgency in Syria has similar features to that of Libya: it is
integrated by paramilitary brigades affiliated to Al Qaeda, which are
directly supported by NATO and Turkey.

Reports confirm that NATO and Turkey's High Command are providing the
rebels with weapons and training: "NATO strategists are thinking more
in terms of pouring large quantities of anti-tank and anti-air
rockets, mortars and heavy machine guns into the protest centers for
beating back the government armored forces." (DEBKAfile, NATO to give
rebels anti-tank weapons, August 14, 2011)

Military sources also confirm that Syrian rebels "have been training
in the use of the new weapons with Turkish military officers at
makeshift installations in Turkish bases near the Syrian border."
(DEBKAfile, Ibid).  Recent reports confirm that British and Qatari
Special forces are on the ground in the city of Homs, involved in
training rebel forces as well as organizing the supply of weapons in
liaison with the Turkish military.

As in the case of Libya, financial support is being channelled to the
Syrian rebel forces by Saudi Arabia: "Ankara and Riyadh will provide
the anti-Assad movements with large quantities of weapons and funds to
be smuggled in from outside Syria" (Ibid). The deployment of Saudi and
GCC troops is also contemplated in Southern Syria in coordination with
Turkey (Ibid).

NATO's activities are not limited to training and the delivery of
weapons systems, the recruitment of thousands of "freedom fighters"`
is also envisaged, reminiscent of  the enlistment of  Mujahideen to
wage the CIA's jihad (holy war) in the heyday of the Soviet-Afghan
war:

This recruitment of Mujahideen was part of NATO`s strategy in Libya,
where mercenary forces were dispatched to fight under the helm of
"former" Libya Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) Commander  Abdel Hakim
Belhadj.

The Libyan model of rebel forces integrated by "Islamic brigades"
together with NATO special forces has been applied to Syria, where
"Islamist fighters" supported by Western and Israeli intelligence are
deployed. In this regard,  Abdel Hakim`s LIFG brigade has now been
dispatched to Syria, where it is involved in terrorist acts under the
supervision of  NATO Special Forces.

The Central Role of US Ambassador Robert S. Ford

US Ambassador Robert S. Ford was dispatched to Damascus in late
January 2011 at the height of the protest movement in Egypt. (The
author was in Damascus on January 27, 2011 when Washington's Envoy
presented his credentials to the Al Assad government).

At the outset of my visit to Syria in January 2011,  I reflected on
the significance of this diplomatic appointment and the role it might
play in a covert process of political destabilization. I did not,
however, foresee that this destabilization agenda would be implemented
within less than two months  following the instatement of Robert S.
Ford as US Ambassador to Syria.

The reinstatement of a US ambassador in Damascus, but more
specifically the choice of Robert S. Ford as US ambassador, bears a
direct relationship to the onset of the protest movement in mid-March
against the government of Bashar al Assad.

Robert S. Ford was the man for the job. As "Number Two" at the US
embassy in Baghdad (2004-2005) under the helm of Ambassador John D.
Negroponte, he played a key role in implementing the Pentagon's "Iraq
Salvador Option". The latter consisted in supporting Iraqi death
squadrons and paramilitary forces modelled on the experience of
Central America.

It is worth noting that Obama's newly appointed CIA head, General
David Petraeus played a key role the organization of covert support to
rebel forces and "freedom fighters", the infiltration of Syrian
intelligence and armed forces, etc.  Petraeus led the Multi-National
Security Transition Command (MNSTC)  "Counterinsurgency" program in
Baghdad in 2004 in coordination with John Negroponte and Robert S Ford
at the US Embassy in Baghdad.

Ambassador Ford in Hama in July 2011


The Insidious Role of the Western media

The role of the US-NATO-Israel military alliance in triggering an
armed insurrection is not addressed by the Western media. Moreover,
several "progressive voices" have accepted the "NATO consensus" at
face value. The role of CIA-MI6 covert intelligence operations in
support of armed groups is simply not mentioned. Salafist paramilitary
groups involved in terrorist acts, are, according to reports,
supported covertly by Israeli intelligence (Mossad). The Muslim
Brotherhood has been supported by Turkey, as well as by MI6, Britain's
Secret Service (SIS) since the 1950s

More generally, the Western media has misled public opinion on the
nature of the Arab protest movement by failing to address the support
provided by the US State Department as well as US foundations
(including the National Endowment for Democracy (NED)) to selected
pro-US opposition groups.

Known and documented, the U.S. State Department "has been been funding
opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad, since 2006. (U.S. admits
funding Syrian opposition - World - CBC News April 18, 2011).

The protest movement in Syria was upheld by the media as part of the
"Arab Spring", presented to public opinion as a pro-democracy protest
movement which spread spontaneously from Egypt and the Maghreb to the
Mashriq. There is reason to believe, however,  that events in Syria,
however, were planned well in advance in coordination with the process
of regime change in other Arab countries including Egypt and Tunisia.

The outbreak of the protest movement in the southern border city of
Daraa was carefully timed to follow the events in Tunisia and Egypt.

In chorus they have described recent events in Syria as a "peaceful
protest movement" directed against the government of Bashar Al Assad,
when the evidence amply confirms that Islamic paramilitary groups are
involved in terrorist acts. These same Islamic groups have infiltrated
the protest rallies.

Western media distortions abound. Large "pro-government" rallies
(including photographs) are casually presented as "evidence" of a mass
anti-government protest movement. The reports on casualties are based
on unconfirmed "eye-witness reports" or on Syrian opposition sources
in exile.  The London based Syria Observatory for Human Rights are
profusely quoted by the Western media as a "reliable source" with the
usual disclaimers. Israeli news sources, while avoiding the issue of
an armed insurgency, tacitly acknowledge that Syrian forces are being
confronted by an organized professional paramilitary.

The absence of verifiable data, has not prevented the Western media
from putting forth "authoritative figures" on the number of
casualties. What are the sources of this data? Who is responsible for
the casualties?

Dangerous Crossroads: Towards a Broader Middle East Central Asian War

Escalation is an integral part of the military agenda. Destabilization
of sovereign states through "regime change" is closely coordinated
with military planning. There is a military roadmap characterised by a
sequence of US-NATO war theaters.

War preparations to attack Syria and Iran have been in "an advanced
state of readiness" for several years.

US, NATO and Israeli military planners have outlined the contours of a
"humanitarian" military campaign, in which Turkey (the second largest
military force inside NATO) would play a central role.

We are at dangerous crossroads. Were a US-NATO military operation to
be launched against Syria, the broader Middle East Central Asian
region extending from North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean to
the Afghanistan-Pakistan border with China would be engulfed in the
turmoil of an extended regional war.

There are at present four distinct war theaters: Afghanistan-Pakistan,
Iraq, Palestine and Libya.

An attack on Syria would lead to the integration of these separate war
theaters, eventually leading towards a broader Middle East-Central
Asian war.

In Part I of the online interactive I-Book, an introductory essay is presented.

Part II examines the nature of the US-NATO-Israel sponsored
insurgency, including the recruitment of terrorists and mercenaries.
It also includes an examination of a 1957 Anglo-American covert
intelligence plan to destabilize Syria and implement "regime change".
The 1957 plan envisaged the triggering of "internal disturbances as
well as the mounting of "sabotage and coup de main (sic) incidents" by
the CIA and MI6.  What this essay suggests is continuity, i.e. today's
Intel. Ops, while more sophisticated than those of the Cold War era,
belong to realm of DÉJÀ VU.

Part III examines the complicity of the "international community"
focussing respectively on the role of non-governmental organizations,
the dynamics within the United Nations Security Council and role of
the Arab League, acting on behalf of Washington.

Part IV centers on the insidious role of the corporate media, which
has carefully distorted the facts, providing systematically a biased
understanding of the causes and consequences of the Syrian crisis.

Part V focusses on the broader military agenda and the process of
military escalation in the Middle East.

The road to Tehran goes through Damascus. A US-NATO sponsored war on
Iran would involve, as a first step, a destabilization campaign
("regime change") including covert intelligence operations in support
of rebel forces directed against the Syrian government.

A war on Syria could evolve towards a US-NATO military campaign
directed against Iran, in which Turkey and Israel would be directly
involved. It would also contribute to the ongoing destabilization of
Lebanon.

It is crucial to spread the word and break the channels of media disinformation.

A critical and unbiased understanding of what is happening in Syria is
of crucial importance in reversing the tide of military escalation
towards a broader regional war.

Michel Chossudovsky, Montreal, February 11, 2012


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TABLE OF CONTENTS



PART I

Introduction
    A "Humanitarian War" on Syria? Military Escalation. Towards a Broader
Middle East-Central Asian War?
- by Michel Chossudovsky - 2011-08-09
The road to Tehran goes through Damascus. A US-NATO war on Iran would
involve, as a first step, a destabilization campaign ("regime change")
directed against Syria.

PART II

Covert Operations:

US-NATO-Israel Support to an Armed Insurgency
    SYRIA: CIA-MI6 Intel Ops and Sabotage
- by Felicity Arbuthnot - 2012-02-07
DÉJÀ VU? "The CIA is prepared, and MI6 will attempt to mount minor
sabotage and coup de main (sic) incidents within Syria,... [using]
capabilitites in both psychological and action fields to augment
tension.” (Joint US-UK leaked Intelligence Document, London and
Washington, 1957)
    The Al Qaeda Insurgency in Syria: Recruiting Jihadists to Wage NATO's
"Humanitarian Wars"
- by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky - 2011-09-02
The objective of this armed insurrection is to trigger the response of
the police and armed forces, with a view to justifying a
"humanitarian" military intervention by NATO
    VIDEO: Death Squads in Syria Part of Intelligence Operation
New interview now on GRTV
- by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky - 2011-08-18

    The Pentagon's "Salvador Option": The Deployment of Death Squads in
Iraq and Syria
- by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky - 2011-08-16
Recent developments in Syria point to a full-fledged armed insurgency,
integrated by Islamist "freedom fighters" covertly supported, trained
and equipped by foreign powers.
    NATO and Turkey Support Armed Rebels in Syria. Campaign to Recruit
Muslim "Freedom Fighters"
- by Michel Chossudovsky - 2011-08-15

   
    VIDEO: NATO Recruiting Jihadists to Syria
New interview now on GRTV
- by Michel Chossudovsky - 2011-09-19

PART III

Building a Justification to Wage War. NATO's "Responsibility to Protect"

The Roles of the United Nations, The Arab League and the NGOs
    Libya Déjà Vu in Syria: Using Human Rights Organizations to Launch Wars

- by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya - 2011-11-20
    Syria and the Russia-China Veto: Towards a Break Point at the UN
Security Council?

- by Carla Stea - 2012-02-08
    How the Arab League Has Become a Tool of Western Imperialism

- by Finian Cunningham - 2012-02-09
    VIDEO: Arab League Gives Green Light to US-NATO to Intervene in Syria
- by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky - 2011-11-13

    SYRIA. TEXT OF LEAKED ARAB LEAGUE MISSION REPORT Report Reveals Media
Lies Regarding Syria
Commentary by Michel Chossudovsky
- 2012-02-01
    VIDEO: SYRIA: Armed Opposition Groups Supported by "Foreign Powers"
- by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky - 2012-02-03




PART  IV

The Media Disinformation Campaign
    VIDEO: Skeptical on Syria: 'Media reports framed & manipulated'
Watch now on GRTV
- by James Corbett - 2011-08-31
    Syria Regime Change PR in High Gear: More ‘Newborn Baby Slaughter’ Propaganda

- by Patrick Henningsen - 2012-02-09
    Media Lies Used to Provide a Pretext for Another "Humanitarian War":
Protest in Syria: Who Counts the Dead?
- by Julie Lévesque - 2011-11-25
The reliance of the mainstream media on information emanating from
anonymous groups provides a biased understanding of the Syrian
protests
    Media Lies: Syria's President Bashar Al Assad Sets ABC News Senior
Propagandist Barbra Walters Straight.
- by Tony Cartalucci - 2011-12-12
Most Syrians back President Assad, but you'd never know from western media
Assad's popularity, Arab League observers, US military involvement:
all distorted in the west's propaganda war
- by Jonathan Steele - 2012-01-18
    Media Manipulation and the Drums of War: How Media is used to Whip
the Nation into Wartime Frenzy
Faking It: How the Media Manipulates the World into War
- by James Corbett - 2012-01-03



PART VI

Syria and the Broader War
    The Destabilization of Syria and the Broader Middle East War
- by Michel Chossudovsky - 2011-06-17
If a military operation were to be launched against Syria, Israel
would in all likelihood also be involved, leading to a process of
escalation
    Syria: The West's Strategic Gateway For Global Military Supremacy
- by Rick Rozoff - 2011-11-15
    The March to War: Iran and the Strategic Encirclement of Syria and Lebanon

- by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya - 2011-12-24
    Obama's Secret Letter to Tehran: Is the War against Iran On Hold?
"The Road to Tehran Goes through Damascus"

- by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya - 2012-01-20
    VIDEO: A NATO Intervention in Syria would Engulf the Entire Middle
East Central Asian Region
- by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky - 2011-09-04
    Beating the Drums of a Broader Middle East War
Israel, Syria, and Lebanon Prepare the "Home Fronts"
- by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya - 2008-05-07
Israel, Syria, and Lebanon Prepare the "Home Fronts". The Levant could
be the starting point of a major international conflict, with global
ramifications, which could quickly spin out of control.



Michel Chossudovsky is an award-winning author, Professor of Economics
(Emeritus) at the University of Ottawa. He is the Founder and Director
of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), Montreal and Editor
of the globalresearch.ca  website. He is the author of The
Globalization of Poverty and The New World Order (2003) and America's
"War on Terrorism"(2005). His most recent book is entitled Towards a
World War III Scenario: The Dangers of Nuclear War (2011).

He has taught as Visiting Professor at universities in Western Europe,
South East Asia, Latin America and the Pacific, acted as an adviser to
governments of developing countries and as a consultant for several
international organizations.

Prof. Chossudovsky is a signatory of the Kuala Lumpur declaration to
criminalize war and recipient of the Human Rights Prize of the Society
for the Protection of Civil Rights and Human Dignity (GBM), Berlin. He
is also a contributor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. His writings
have been published in more than twenty languages.



This Online Interactive I-Reader is made available to Global Research
readers with a view to curbing the flow of media disinformation and
war propaganda.

Our ultimate objective is to reverse the tide of war and restore World peace.

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THE GLOBAL RESEARCH ONLINE INTERACTIVE I-BOOKS SERIES

   
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Aggression in the Persian Gulf
- by Finian Cunningham, Michel Chossudovsky - 2012-02-16
GR ONLINE NEWS READER. The region is on a hair-trigger for a
conflagration that would involve nuclear weapons and the collision of
global powers...
    The Globalization of War: The "Military Roadmap" to World War III
- by Michel Chossudovsky, Finian Cunningham - 2012-02-10
The Pentagon’s global military design is one of world conquest. The
military deployment of US-NATO forces is occurring in several regions
of the world simultaneously.
    Fukushima: A Nuclear War without a War: The Unspoken Crisis of
Worldwide Nuclear Radiation
- by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky - 2012-01-25
GR ONLINE READER. The dumping of highly radioactive water into the
Pacific Ocean constitutes a potential trigger to a process of global
radioactive contamination... Eventually all major regions of the World
will be affected.
    Libya and "The Arab Spring": Neoliberalism, "Regime Change" and
NATO's "Humanitarian Wars"
- by Michel Chossudovsky, Finian Cunningham, Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya -
2011-12-25
Washington's agenda for Egypt and Tunisia was to hijack the protest
movement; what prevails in Egypt is the maintenance of a de facto
military regime. In Tunisia, following the October 2011 parliamentary
elections, the neoliberal policy framework remains unscathed.

Forthcoming

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ONLINE INTERACTIVE I-READER 4

MARCH 2012

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