The too-little-too-late Syrian policy of Mr. Obama is producing interesting comments from Syrians fighting on the ground in anticipation of US air power to “manage” ISIL. Some comments reflect the warnings I published in my Blogs, others reflect the deep distrust and concerns the opposition, be it ISIL fighters or the more moderate FSA are expressing. Either way, it is an insight of what the Syrians fighting Assad are thinking.
Warning: Most of these comments are by extremists (NY Times, of course), which are the ones we should fear the most. The moderates backed by Saudi Arabia will tow the Saudi line and hail the US coming to their aid, the same way the Iraqi Government tows the line of the Iranian regime and have hailed Iran coming to their aid against ISIL.
Below are some of the comments reflected in what happens when we elect an ignorant president.
- “Our war is with Bashar,” he added (He being Matar w/Ahrar al-Sham an MB outfit), complaining that America had not responded to Mr. Assad’s indiscriminate use of shrapnel-filledbarrel bombs. “Why did the Americans wait until now to strike?”
- Now, framing the attack on ISIS as driven by American national security concerns, Mr. Obama faces mistrust from both sides. Many insurgents consider his action too little too late, and say his declaration that America stands with “people who fight for their own freedom” rings hollow (Written by the reporter)
The paragraph below also written by the same NY Times reporter demonstrates why more Sunnis are joining ISIL
- At the same time, a Hezbollah member familiar with the group’s deliberations said that while coordination with the Syrian government would be better, Hezbollah welcomed any attacks against ISIS and believed that they would help the Syrian government.
The message below deals with why the US did not strike the terror of Assad, which is exactly the message ISIL is spreading on the Social Media to recruit. Raqqa is ISIL stronghold and this paragraph is by one of their fighters.
- A lawyer from Raqqa, speaking on the condition of anonymity for his safety, said he opposed the American strikes, saying they reflected “double standards” from the West. “Why are not Hezbollah, the Syrian regime and its militias also considered terrorists and destabilizing the security of the region?” he said.
- “The priority is the regime,” Ziad Obeid, who heads a small rebel faction in Aleppo, said through Skype. “But it is ISIS that is preventing any progress on the ground, so we have to get rid of it, too.” Still, he added, he would not pull fighters from battles with the government to fight ISIS. “People on the fronts with the regime can’t leave to fight ISIS,” he said. “That won’t work.”
The statements below are by Aron Lund, Syria in Crisis Blog of The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. It points the finger at Obama’s failures in Syria.
- “The United States can probably work with them (Them being CIA vetted moderates) to some extent, but they haven’t been hugely effective so far, which is why the Islamic State is there in the first place,” said Mr. Lund, the Syria analyst.
Mr. Lund’s other statement shows the necessity of battles (As the US allied herself with Stalin in WWII), but it also shows that the concern over US weapons falling in the wrong hands is a legitimate one.
- “Even the groups that the U.S. has trained tend to show up in the same trenches as the Nusra Front eventually, because they need them and they are fighting the same battles,” Mr. Lund said.
The statement below is the result of Mr. Obama spending too much time on the Golf course instead of protecting US interests overseas.
- Current and former American officials acknowledge the government’s lack of deep knowledge about the rebels. “We need to do everything we can to figure out who the non-ISIS opposition is,” said Ryan C. Crocker, a former United States ambassador to Iraq and Syria. “Frankly, we don’t have a clue.”
Finally, the statement below expresses the same concept I have been preaching. Strike ISIL and strike Assad.
- Some rebels appear ready to join the fight against ISIS. Avideo posted online this week showed Jamal Maarouf, a rebel commander in northern Syria, addressing a gathering of hundreds of fighters. “God willing, we will fight two states: the state of Bashar al-Assad, the unjust tyrant, and the state of Baghdadi, the aggressor tyrant,” he said, referring to the head of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
How potent is ISIL?
ABC news said on September 8 that over 12,000 ISIS fighters are engaged in Syria. On September 12, right after Mr. Obama’s speech, the CIA issued a new assessment pegging the number at up to 31,500. This may be an effort to get the public behind the ISIL campaign, but it also could mean how little we know about ISIL recruitment prowess. If we know so little, then the Mullahs are leading the US into a trap.
When we elect an ignorant president, not only are we forced eventually to interfere to extinguish deadly fires as we are doing now, but the costs are much higher as a result. In Syria, the hardcore Islamists and terrorists control the landscape because Obama was on the Golf course pretending to protect us from evil.
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