Is Trump Planning Escalated US Aggression in Syria?

VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: 

stephenlendman.org 

(Home – Stephen Lendman). 

Contact at [email protected].

He’s a warrior president, waging phony war on terrorism, opposing diplomatic conflict resolution, flagrantly violating campaign promises made.

America has illegal military bases in northern and southern Syrian territory.

According to Major General James Jarrard, head of US special operations in Syria and Iraq, 4,000 Pentagon troops are in Syria. Trump claimed 500.

It’s an open secret that far more US military personnel are deployed in combat and other theaters, Pentagon commanders suppressing what’s vital to know.

Trump claimed around 5,300 US troops in Iraq. The actual force may be double or triple this number. Their regional presence has nothing to do with combating ISIS, a scourge Washington supports, along with al-Qaeda, its al-Nusra offshoot and other terrorist groups, used to advance America’s imperium.

Russia and Washington submitted separate Security Council resolutions on extending the OPCW/UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), investigating use of CWs in Syria, falsely blamed on Damascus despite no evidence proving it.

Russia wants the JIM extended until May 16, 2018. Washington proposed another 24 months.

The sinister US text includes a provision for invoking the UN Charter’s Chapter VII, authorizing “action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security.”

Russia strongly opposes efforts to escalate conflict in Syria or anywhere else. America’s position appears polar opposite, using the JIM report on last April’s Khan Sheikhoun incident as justification.

Its unacceptable conclusions were distorted and one-sided. OPCW inspectors never visited sites requiring examination.

Russia called its report sloppy and “amateurish,” based on “a layman’s methodology,” lacking credibility. Moscow’s draft SC resolution calls for revising JIM’s conclusions.

Work done failed to conform to international standards, it said. It called for JIM inspectors to visit Kahn Sheikhoun and Shayrat airbase, the alleged site of the alleged CW attack – what they failed to do since last April, drawing conclusions based on phony evidence supplied by anti-Syrian sources, including the al-Qaeda-linked White Helmets.

Moscow called for a credible full-scale investigation, according to Chemical Weapons Convention standards, what hasn’t been done so far, rendering JIM report an attempt to present phony conclusions, lacking credibility.

Washington lied, calling JIM’s findings serious and trustworthy.

On November 2, US permanent representative to the Conference on Disarmament, Robert Wood, falsely accused Syria of CW use in Khan Sheikhoun, saying:

“The international community must squarely confront this reality and hold Syria accountable for its continued use of chemical weapons,” adding:

JIM “findings make clear that Syria has not renounced chemical warfare. These findings further underscore the risks posed by Syria’s failure to declare the true magnitude and scope of its chemical weapons program and arsenals.”

Is the Trump administration seeking a pretext for escalated war on Syria, using the UN Charter’s Article VII to justify what’s unjustifiable?

Washington’s phony accusations of Syrian CW use appear to be how it’ll claim the right to strike government military and other targets at a time of its choosing.

In March 2011, Obama launched war on the country, using terrorist foot soldiers as proxy fighters, aided by US-led terror-bombing since September 2014 – massacring civilians, destroying vital infrastructure, on the phony pretext of combating ISIS, the scourge America supports.

After taking office, Trump escalated US involvement. Hawkish generals run things, wanting endless war and regime change.

They oppose peaceful conflict resolution, Trump co-opted to go along, out-of-the-loop, likely only aware of what he’s told, having delegated warmaking to Mattis, McMaster and Pentagon commanders.

As long as Washington wants war, not peace, resolving it diplomatically will remain unattainable.

Fighting could continue for years, despite significant progress against ISIS and other US-supported terrorists.

VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home – Stephen Lendman). Contact at [email protected].

My newest book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html


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Articles by: Stephen Lendman

About the author:

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III." http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.

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