Regime Change in Syria Remains Hard-Wired US Policy

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

US imperial policy is uncompromising, the rule of law ignored in pursuit of its hostile agenda.

All countries free from its control are targeted for regime change, wanting puppet rule replacing their legitimate governments.

US war in Syria directly and through jihadist proxies has been ongoing since March 2011.

There's no end of it in prospect because hardliners controlling both right wings of the US war party reject conflict resolution.

Trump regime envoy for regime change in Syria James Jeffrey's days earlier remarks rang hollow, saying:

"We are not demanding total victory (sic). We are not saying that Assad has to go (sic)," adding:

The Trump regime seeks "a dramatic shift in (Syria's) behavior (sic)."

"That's the kind of reform we need to see (sic), whether that can happen under this leader and the people around him we don't know."

Bashar al-Assad is overwhelmingly popular. If he seeks another term as president, he'll like to be overwhelmingly reelected, repeating his June 2014 landslide triumph — a process judged open, free, and fair by independent international monitors.

From day one of Obama regime aggression on Syria to the present day, now Trump's war, Washington's uncompromising objective was and remains regime change — wanting the country transformed into a US vassal state, an Israel rival eliminated.

The same policy holds in all US war theaters, preemptively launched against nonbelligerent states threatening no one — what the scourge of imperialism is all about.

The so-called Caesar Syria Civilian Protection legislation (Caesar Act) was the latest shoe to drop in Washington's long war against the country's sovereign independence and its 17 million people.

The hostile act is all about wanting them starved into submission, along with threatening unlawful sanctions on other nations and entities engaged in legitimate economic, financial, and trade relations with the country.

At the same time, unending US aggression by direct and proxy means continues.

Over the past few days, Pentagon/CIA armed, funded, trained, and directed ISIS jihadists stepped up attacks on government forces.

Dozens of casualties were reported on both sides.

The US continues to support thousands of other jihadists in the country and elsewhere — their fighters comprising a Pentagon/CIA proxy force against targeted countries.

According to Southfront on Saturday, government forces repelled attacks by ISIS fighters "in central Syria," adding:

"The most recent attack took place in eastern Homs early on July 2 and became the largest one so far."

According to Syria's military, large numbers of ISIS jihadists remain in the country.

Trained and heavily by the Pentagon and CIA on illegally established bases, they're used as launching pads for these elements to wage endless war on the Syrian Arab Republic for regime change.

On July 2, AMN News reported that government forces "launche(d) heavy attacks on jihadist strongholds in Latakia" province and surrounding areas, adding:

Despite joint Russian/Turkish patrols along northwestern Syria's strategic M-4 highway, conditions in the area remain "very dangerous as all parties continue to exchange hostilities" daily.

On Friday, Turkish forces illegally occupying northern Syrian territory shelled government troops, casualties occurring on both sides.

Turkey's Erdogan breached the ceasefire he and Russia agreed to time and again, one of many reasons why he can never be trusted.

Government forces are on high alert in response to Turkish aggression — directly and through proxy jihadists it supports in Syria's northeast.

According to Syrian media, Ankara established a training camp for jihadist proxies near Tell Tamr in the country's northwest.

While full-scale war between Turkish and Syrian forces is unlikely, Erdogan's aim to unlawfully annex northern Syrian territory is why he's illegally occupying its territory and continuing sporadic clashes with government forces.

Since late last week, large numbers of Turkish and Syrian forces were built up in Idlib province's Jabal al-Zawiya area, risking clashes between both sides.

On Sunday, AMN reported that Syrian forces inflicted "heavy losses" on ISIS jihadists in Homs province, adding:

"ISIS has repeatedly conducted raids in the Badiya Al-Sham region that stretches across the Damascus, Homs, Al-Sweida, and Deir Ezzor governorates." 

"(H)owever, since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the terrorist group has attempted to take advantage of the crisis to increase their attacks against" Syrian and Iraqi forces.

US forces came to Syria to stay, the same true for all its war theaters, including Iraq where US-supported ISIS jihadists continue to operate in parts of the country.

Since the Bush/Cheney regime preemptively launched war on Afghanistan in early October 2001, based on Big Lies and deception, followed weeks later by war on Yemen, then other countries, conflicts continue endlessly in all nations it attacked without just cause — causing millions of casualties.

VISIT MY WEBSITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

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