Striving for clarity in Syria (np)(261 words)

[Raphael Saltwood]

Zooming out for clarity -

US overt and covert military activity worldwide since a long time
(ugh, zoom in)

Fabrication of WMD data to support 2nd Iraq War
Depleted uranium, cluster bombs, white phosphorus, profiteering, civil unrest, rise of ISIL
(Deeply ashamed as an American)
(Zoom in)

Syria - militarized ISIL sweeps into Syria, challenging Assad, who is already unpopular.
Desperately trying to retain power, his forces torture and kill detainees, starve besieged towns and use cluster bombs. (Says Wikipedia)
In his favor, he still did make some admirable moves such as opening elections.
Also, Douma was one of 3 contested areas. In the other 2, rebels were not slaughtered, but evacuated to the north - this is a surprisingly humane move.


(Shift focus to rebels)
Beheading journalists and others
Other nasty practices

(Zoom in)
In Douma the rebels refused to leave.
After the gas attack, Syrian Army didn’t slaughter, but exiled the rebels and civilians to northern Syria.

If the chemical assaults were faked by the rebels, it was a truly desperate act that bespeaks a lack of strategic thinking, wasn’t it? Since the rebels still lost the territory?

If the chemical assaults were faked by unknown parties (French Intelligence, Mossad, MI-6, CIA) ostensibly on behalf of the rebels (if the rebels participated) or simply on spec -

Who? Why? How?


And finally, the aftermath -
Did American bombs (and the threat of more) faze Assad enough to avert a slaughter?

Or were they a half-measure from a confused America with a vitiated State Department and no better understanding of the situation than I have?