Whether Pentagon forces stay or leave Syria, whether some stay, others redeployed cross-border to Iraq or elsewhere, Washington’s regional and overall imperial agenda remains unchanged

In its 18th year, the AfPak war rages endlessly, a forever war, an unwinnable one with no prospect for resolving it any time in the foreseeable future. US strategy is all about waging it endlessly, not winning.

Syria is following the same pattern, war in its 8th year with no end in sight – despite Syrian forces regaining control over most of the country.

The Pentagon has a reported 18 bases in Syria, at least one more being constructed. Its commanders are highly unlikely to abandon them or leave key bases established in neighboring Iraq, including two new ones, an al-Rutbah base around 60 miles from the Syrian border.

US regional bases are used as platforms for warmaking. Pentagon troops are in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries as hostile invaders.

No US plans exist to turn a page for peace in the region or anywhere else. Washington’s agenda features endless wars of aggression, part of its longstanding plan for global hegemony, ignoring the rule of law, mindless of the human toll.

Most of what’s going on is unreported or misreported in the mainstream. Millions of post-9/11 casualties are of no consequences to militarists in charge of Washington’s geopolitical agenda – peace and stability considered abhorrent notions.

Trump is captive to dark forces controlling him, a businessman/TV personality – ignorant about affairs of state.

Nothing he says is credible, time and again saying one thing, then doing something entirely different. Will he U-turn on announced troop withdrawals from Syria and Afghanistan?

Regime hardliners, congressional leaders, and Pentagon commanders strongly oppose the idea. According to Bloomberg News, neocon Senator Lindsey Graham said the following after meeting with Trump privately:

“I feel better about Syria than I felt before (we met). I think the president is taking (his announced troop pullout) seriously, and the trip to Iraq was well timed.”

He spoke to Joint Chiefs chairman General Joseph Dunford. He’s “reconsidering how we do this” – referring to withdrawing US forces from Syria.

Graham, Trump, and everyone else claiming US forces are in Syria and Iraq to combat ISIS have things upside down. Washington created and supports the scourge of ISIS it claims to oppose.

The same goes for al-Qaeda, its al-Nusra offshoot in Syria, and other terrorist groups – used as US proxy forces, supported by Pentagon terror-bombing in Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere.

The cold, hard reality of US warmaking is polar opposite how it’s publicly reported – including by major media, operating as press agents for Washington’s imperial and neoliberal agendas, supporting what demands condemnation.

According to Bloomberg News,

“(t)he White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Trump is considering reversing the decision” on Syria.

He “already has backed away from the notion of an immediate withdrawal, saying a week ago that the pullout of US troops from the area would be “slow & highly coordinated” – after speaking to Turkey’s Erdogan before Christmas.

On CNN’s State of the Union Sunday, Graham said Trump “promised to destroy ISIS. He’s going to keep that promise. We’re not there yet.”

The Big Lie persists. Trump’s knowledge about ISIS consists of rubbish fed him by his handlers, along with Fox News misinformation and disinformation, his favorite TV channel.

Despite being president and commander-in-chief of America’s military, he may not know the truth about ISIS and likeminded terrorist groups – created and used by the Pentagon and CIA as imperial foot soldiers in US war theaters.

Based on Graham’s comments after meeting with Trump, perhaps he’ll U-turn on withdrawing US forces from Syria and Afghanistan – what’s most likely entirely or partially.

The alternative would be to replace US forces with others from NATO countries, France most likely, perhaps Britain as well – and/or agreeing to deploy paramilitary mercenaries in place of Pentagon troops.

What’s coming will likely be clear early in the new year. Whatever unfolds ahead, Washington’s war on humanity remains unchanged.

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Award-winning author Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)

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.