Sanitized Regime Change Operation: Will It Hold?

Dirty Civil War Causing Much Suffering

In the most unlikely time, the end of the Biden Administration has been one of allowing accelerating war to take hold in Ukraine, and in Palestine-Syria-Lebanon-Yemen-Iran.

Asian Green News previously reported on Syria’s civil war in a two-part series “Syria: Globalists Cold, Wet Dream” in 2015. At that time, the topic appeared to be mostly ignored by the alternative media; there were other wars still ongoing in Afghanistan and even the Green Party / Anti-War grassroots were ambivalent about the issue.

Since the recent fall of President Bashar al-Assad, the mainstream media has had a field day uncovering the variety of atrocities committed during his reign. Undoubtedly since the Baathist Party had ruled Syria for over 60 years, with the Assads ruling since 1966, the nation had gradually transformed from a socialist-autocratic state into a totalitarian police-state.

Even if there was affordable education, health services, access to colleges, and retirement savings plans, those types of reforms were hard to keep up, particularly after the civil war started in 2011. The West stoked the conflict because Syria rejected their attempts to turn the nation into a client-state. While they did enact economic reforms, they relied on their own resources rather than participate in IMF programs. This worked until the West took advantage of the civil war to create or support all kinds of sectarian religious fanatical rebel armies within the nation.

A summary of the gas interest is offered by World Affairs in Context podcast, “Syria: Assad vs Rebranded Terrorists, Qatar-Turkiye Billion-dollar Natural Gas Pipeline to EU.” Of course it may not be the only reason why the Saudis and Qataris did not like Assad. They are also normalizing relations with Israel, and view Lebanon and Syria as hold-outs. The Arab Peninsula (except Yemen) are blood-soaked with US-Petro-dollars and home to many military bases, so no wonder they embrace the Atlanticist worldview. Similarly, Turkiye, a member of NATO, appears to chastise Israel in public, yet in the end, joins hands with it to disembowel the Syrian government, sending their trained and funded rebels to Aleppo.

The extent of the groups of rebel jihadists spreads from ISIS to Al Nusra Front, PKK (Kurds), SFF (Syrian Freedom Fighters), FSA (Free Syrian Army), and including mercenaries joining from refugee camps in Jordan, Turkiye, and Iraq. Furthermore, Arab nations such as Qatar sent Muslim Brotherhood agitators and spent money on opposition groups, while the Saudis most likely also sent arms and weaponry. Meanwhile the United States uses proxies and its own soldiers to help defend its bases in Northeast Syria, where there are also oil fields nearby.

The sanctions against Syria became progressively worse since 2013, including banning all dual-use imports, and especially punitive measures from the “Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019” which banned the participation of trade through second or third parties. Such stringent measures assured that aid groups had to check all their packages carefully for all items of dual-use; meanwhile countries and transnationals were banned from import of any items made with products of Syrian origin, even grain or oil.

If in 2015, there were already 14 million refugees internally displaced or removed from the country, then over the last nine years, it has gotten immeasurably worse, not only from such punitive sanctions which make healthcare difficult, but create job loss and economic suffering from inflation. According to World Bank, up to 50 percent of the population suffers from unemployment; and the Syrian Army was poorly paid at about 36 US dollars equivalent per month. The taxes which should have kept the country solvent were not forthcoming because the U.S. blocked Syria’s access to its own oil fields.

Geo-Economics: Wars are always Dirty

According to international observers, the Assad regime could only stay afloat so long before its inevitable decline into the post-Iraq transformation into a state funded by smuggled goods and blackmarket trade, including the production of drugs, such as Captagon. Nationals became hooked on the stimulants, and even Assad’s brother was reputedly involved. The establishment media has many salacious articles about the “Captagon factory” of the world and it is likely other adulterated pharmaceutical pills were also produced.

But narco-states dealing in drugs, weapons, and human-trafficking can only keep an economy afloat for limited time. Al-Nusra Front, from which HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) leapt onto the world stage, gained popularity among the Sunni Islamist rebels for several reasons. Its leader, Mohammed al-Julani, a youthful but charismatic jihadist, was able to solidify factions particularly in more populated areas of east Syria, with in mind the collective unification of Syria towards regime change. Syria itself is majority Sunni Islam, by about 80% in land area versus 20% Shia Islam, the Alawites mostly concentrated in the Assad stronghold of the Latakia coastal region. The Assad government generally favored Alawites for government positions, which bred resentment among the Sunnis. Moreover the Sunni jihadists viewed the Alawites as a heretic sect of Islam; so the jihadist-Salafists justifies force against them.

In an originally secular-leaning society where women were not obligated to wear the hijab, where a variety of Islamic sects flourish (Damascus being a hub for Islam archives and libraries), but also where the earliest Christian churches were founded and survive until today, religious tolerance was more widespread. However this deteriorated over time as people became embittered from economic stress, war, hunger, displacement, and limited available support. As people become restless and sought change, the Sunni jihadists were conducting rampages in the countryside.

Syria Girl (aka Maram Susli) has posted videos showing the torture of prisoners and captives by jihadists such as HTS in one of her extant channels, Souria2013archives (YT). Her channel on Rumble was emptied of videos, but she still has a channel SyriaGirlPartisan. The videos show jihadists decapitating captives, torturing them while imprisoned, etc. There is no getting around that the sanitized white-washed new head of state, Ahmed al-Sharaa (aka Mohammed al-Julani) led these kinds of activities as part of the initiation in an environment rife with ruthlessness that is commonplace.

“Under al-Sharaa’s leadership, al-Nusra Front carried out the January 2012 al-Midan bombing, which targeted Baathist police buses that were deployed to suppress an anti-Assad protest in Damascus. In 2015, al-Nusra fighters killed Druze villagers during the Qalb Loze massacre [village of Qalb Loze in northwest Idlib Governorate]…Al Nusra was also suspected of carrying out the 10 May 2012 Damascus bombings which targeted a Baathist military intelligence complex and February 2013 Damascus bombings which targeted the headquarters of the Baath party.” — Wikipedia.org, “Ahmed al-Sharaa” (accessed 12 Dec 2024)

The terrorist organization also is reputedly behind other bombings directed against Shia militants, Hezbollah, and Alawites, in Tripoli, and Beirut, Lebanon. Grassroots media, including Middle East Eye, has conducted interviews with former HTS captive, Bilal Abdul Kareem, an African-American journalist from New York City. Breakthrough News also conducted an interview with Theo Padnos, who was captured and held as a hostage of Jabhat Al Nusra (now HTS) for two years. These documentaries are dated from 2021, only three years ago, but their testimonies support the view of arbitrary arrests, long detentions, and torture.

Even in its reign over Idlib, in NW Syria, human rights reports abound that the improvement in life came at a cost: random arrests and imprisonment, beheadings, ransacking, and business ruination if one expresses support for Assad or opposition to HTS or resistance to extremist Islamic edicts or their henchmen. The surcharges collected enriched the pockets of al-Sharaa and HTS, but of course nothing went to the Assad government in the way of taxes. It became a breeding and recruitment area for the future takeover of Aleppo, and Homs.

Wall of Censorship: Women, Sufis, Christians at-Risk

Today, however, much of the mainstream media is busy sanitizing the Al-Sharaa image for public consumption. The U.S. State Department is even considering removing the 10-million dollar bounty offered for his capture. Can anyone change their ways so quickly? It is more likely, as pundits assert, that he must continue to keep his thug-mercenaries happy by allowing them to covertly rob, pillage, ransack, and behead citizens behind the wall of censorship which is being erected throughout Syria, and also in the Western world.

This is evident in the shut-down of previous state-sponsored Syrian media (Syrian Arab News Agency). SanaSyria.org has a date gap between the first week, and the fourth week of December. The media office was reputedly shut down and probably searched and restructured before its new re-opening, now featuring photos of jihadists in suit-and-tie and trimmed beards. Unfortunately SanaNews.online experiences freezing. Its most recent news are showing but the older news leads only to the 503-server-error message page.

On 27 December, SanaSyria published a press circular, “Information Ministry: Circulating of any sectarian media content sowing discord among Syrians banned” stating:

“In order to enhance national unity and preserve the Syrian social fabric, it is strictly forbidden to circulate or publish any media content of a sectarian character aimed at spreading division and discrimination among the components of the Syrian people… We underscore the necessity for all media institutions and activists to commit to spreading the spirit of brotherhood and coexistence…any violation of the provisions of this decision will expose its perpetrators to legal accountability.” —SanaSyria.org, Dec 27, 2024

While SanaSyria is rebranding itself into a version of the Federal News Network here in the United States, the spirit of the censorship was also remarked upon in Shafaq News. “Syria bans sectarian content, warns of legal action” article points out that on the previous day, 14 security personnel were killed and 10 injured. Such clashes have occurred while HTS regime forces try to arrest high-ranking pro-Assad government officials. Will investigative journalism even be allowed inside Syria in the future?

Of course it is foolish to rid the government of so many useful knowledgeable leaders and experts, and the civil servants appear to be trying to make themselves agreeable. The costs of alienating the new men in suits can be high, according to SyrianJihadism.com. In the entry “Road to Caliphate” from this July, in Raqqa Governorate in north-central Syria, citizens accused of being apostates are shown blindfolded and kneeling in front of gunmen. The Salafists also confiscate and burn cigarettes, smoke stores, and hold mandatory “correct-thought” sessions on the Holy Quran and in Sharia Law. The price of rape is death, and for bandits, torture, but for the general following, there are photos shown of proper meals being served.

Gender segregation is also mandatory, and maybe Assad’s special police will now be replaced with “religious police.” Amid all this authoritarianism, however, just as in most such nations, the leaders always manage to somehow make exceptions for themselves and their families. This was evidently very much the case with the Assad family, as exposés from mainstream media to FirstPost have shown, regarding their massive wealth. Meanwhile the concerns of women seeking justice are expressed by Western NGOs.

SyriaDirect.org has an article, “Displaced Syrian Women Grapple with Loss of Real Estate Ownership.” Are widows to be turned out on the streets while their homes are flipped by strangers? According to this exploratory report, Syrian women had long suffered from gender disparity in access to real estate adjudication. This would also include ease in replacing lost legal documents. The price of living in a chauvinistic society also includes difficulty finding retribution if a woman is cheated out of her money; limited work opportunities; and in single-parent households, the children may have to grow up living in displacement camps. All of this leads to more psychological difficulties, in addition to other social stigma.

An obvious fall-out whether for women or religious minorities can include the ability to serve as social and community advocates for the kinds of causes which the West takes for granted. It also allows for corruption to flourish. One obvious case which is known to much of alternative media was when in 2014, Serena Shim came out with a ground-breaking report on the smuggling that was taking place in northeast Syria. She exposed Turkiye’s role in training and smuggling ISIS fighters into Syria using World Food Programme trucks.

Back in 2014, the critical roles which Turkiye (and Jordan) have played in encouraging recruitment and training of Palestians and Syrians for rebel IS factions was not well known. Thanks to Serena Shim’s live reporting and work at MintPress News, she has become known internationally, particularly after she was “martyred” in a mysterious car-crash. According to SyriaSupportMovement.org, this year is the tenth anniversary of her death, and their statement includes:

“Since her death Shim has become a heroine of journalism. The Serena Shim Award for Uncompromised Integrity in Journalism was established in 2019. Her legacy is also celebrated at the Arab American National Museum (AANM), a Smithsonian Institution affiliate, in Dearborn, MI.”

Failed States: What Goes Around Comes Around

Today, most journalists are not aspiring to be Serena Shim, and pardoning the irony of her fame here in the U.S. (which via the deep-state helped establish and continues to support rebel militants in Syria, such as the PKK); at least in alternative media, there are proud recipients of this award, such as The Last American Vagabond, and Vanessa Beeley of UK Column.

In fact, TLAV conducted several interviews with Vanessa Beeley as a long-time Damascus correspondent reporting on the situation in Syria in October, and December, before and following the Assad-government collapse. People in Syria (and Lebanon) knew this was coming, yet they still hoped that Assad would hold out. In her most recent interview, Beeley concedes that some kind of agreement for abdication must have been reached, and that there were a lot of secret talks held on this matter during this year’s Doha Forum. Heads of State including Dr. Jill Biden, Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and President Bashar al-Assad were there, among many others.

What shocked most Syrians was how fast the coup took place, and that there was so little resistance from the Syrian Army. Then what has followed also were extensive aerial bombings of targeted Syrian military facilities. According to the estimates, up to 950 strikes were conducted, obliterating the navy, all the aerial defense systems (which had long operated as a deterrent for Israeli flyover missions), weapons production sites, research centers, and ammunition stores. Thus currently the average Syrian has very little to shield them from hostile takeover forces, and this has encouraged the Israelis to invade and begin permanent occupation operations in South Syria.

At this point so many questions abound regarding the future of Syria that it will take months to sort through. Ordinary Syrians are hopeful if only because maybe now they can reform their constitutional government, create more jobs, and curb the high inflation. Others are not that hopeful, and tribal minorities, such as the Alawites and Christians, are fleeing the country. Syrians from refugee camps in Turkiye, Jordan, and elsewhere are eager to return home. Overseas Syrians in the E.U. are less eager about religious nationalism. One particular concern is whether or not the sectarionism can be quelled, as rogue Salafist rebels have become addicted to armed struggles, and now view al-Sharaa as a success story.

Already, the Qatari government is proposing that talks on the gas-pipeline from Qatar through Syria and Turkiye to Europe can commence, because the globalists have already secretly agreed that cutting off the gas and oil pipeline business with Russia will help cause the Russian economy to implode. Syrian officials hope that they can now persuade the West to lift its punitive trade sanctions, and encourage the U.S. to remove itself from their northeast oil fields, so Syria can once again earn a profit from pumping oil. Another concern is how much land incursion may be expected from the Israelis, who already are anticipating new settlements in newly acquired Golan land and in South Syria.

According to Dr. Sara Hirschhorn, speaking recently to CGTN, such incursions will be to provide Israel additional security as a barrier of protection from the unstable Syrian factions. However according to Dr. Ali Hami, speaking with Farah Atwi on PressTV, the Israelis can gain a lot from this coup in Syria. Mount Hermon is the highest mountain in the region which will provide the Israelis an overlook over Northern Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. As a water source, it can provide security for the 30 percent water it provides down to the Sea of Galilee and into the Jordan River. In the future it will serve as a vantage point for military operations (which have become routine) against Lebanon. Meanwhile, clearing a flight path free of aerial defenses in Syria allows Israel to plot future operations against Iran, the last largest foe remaining to be vanquished in the region.

Other concerns regarding the foreign invaders and fanatical Islamists are that in the general lawlessness, more religious artifacts, libraries, and structures will be stolen, vandalized or destroyed. The general destructiveness and costs in human life have gone underreported, and for instance, Beeley wonders just how many lives have actually been lost while all these bombings are taking place whether in Syria or Lebanon. Certainly it is a matter that the Western media has entirely overlooked.

Many Lebanese are quite worried that they are the next targeted-for-failure state. Farah Atwi, based in Beirut, Lebanon hosts daily shows with Lebanese academians who provide their insight on current events and how this is affecting their livelihoods and security. They were very upset about the lawlessness and extrajudicial overreach of Israel in planning and executing the pager-attacks and walkie-talkie explosions in September, followed by massive repeated bombing raids over Lebanon, all in the interest of crushing Hezbollah. They are disappointed that the West together with the Arab League and the United Nations have placed no limits, no ceiling, no red lines whatsoever against Israel.

Today, it is as if none of the articles mentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights need apply to exceptionalist nations, which in fact encourages more nations to go rogue. If terrorists can be rebranded as respectable people, if defiant exceptionalist nations are never held in contempt or punished, what use is there defining terms such as “human being” or “rights and freedom” or “slavery” or “degrading” or “remedy” or “arbitrary” or “fair hearing” or “arbitrary interference” or “freedom of movement” or “nationality” or “equal rights”?

According to Canadian-Palestinian commentator Laith Marouf, it’s clear that the heavy carpet bombing campaigns in Syria and Lebanon are done with foreign assistance. He calculated that if on the first day, day one of a massive bombing campaign in Lebanon (to eliminate Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and his followers), 2000 strikes were recorded, that would require on the order of 500-1000 fighter jets. The Israeli Air Force officially shows about 280 fighter jets; usually not all in working order at once. In fact, investigative journalist and podcaster Dmitri Lascaris traveled to Cyprus and spent a few days hanging out near Britain’s Akrotiri military base and noted the regularity of military cargo craft and fighter jets flying, making left-bank turns, and heading south to Israel. The country with the greatest allotment of air bases in the Middle East is the United States (CentComm) with nearby bases in northeast Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Qatar. From Cyprus, Turkey, or Jordan, fighter planes take less than an hour to strike Syria or Lebanon.

The secret war against Lebanon is ongoing yet nothing about this is seen in Western media. Craig Murray, retired U.K. diplomat living in Lebanon, reports that Israel recently bombed all 38 branches of the Al-Qard Al-Hasan Association in Lebanon. It is a community savings and loan bank for the people of Lebanon, allowing them to escape the Western big banks run by middle-men who frequently instigate boom-and-bust cycles leveraging with foreign investors who have no interest in making small loans to small businesses. The Al-Qard bank allows microbusinesses to flourish and provides a safe place for people to store their valuables, but Israel (or the globalists) apparently hate small independent banks…

From the militarist perspective, considering the time and expense in training and upkeep of the variety of expensive aircraft and missile defense, all of the neighboring countries are eager to “get their licks in” on the taking down of heterodox Syria and Lebanon. Most likely the jets are from other pro-Atlanticist nations such as U.K., France, Greece, Italy, Canada, even Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. It is like a pack of hyenas licking their chops over wounded prey; what comes next will be the descent of the vultures, the venture capitalists swooping in to bid, auction-style on “free land, free market, free everything.” Real estate brokers, agribusiness corporations, resource speculators, mining companies, etc, all hope to exploit the classless voiceless poor.

While the United Nations issues a few complaints and heaves sighs, for President Erdogan or Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is a contest to see who will be the next Genghis Khan. One hopes to expand his Caliphate eastwards towards Afghanistan, maybe even to Xinjiang; while the other wants to take over all the land between the Euphrates to the Nile; and as for overlap, who knows who will conquer the entire Middle East including Turkiye, the Black Sea, and Iran? Stay tuned.