THE SORE LOSERS OF THE SYRIAN CRISIS
By Thierry Meyssan
November 02, 2012 "Information Clearing House" - During a recent
Round Table in Ankara, Admiral James Winnfeld, Vice-Chairman of the
U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced that Washington would reveal
its intentions toward Syria once the 6 November presidential
elections were over. He made it plainly understood to his Turkish
counterparts that a peace plan had already been negotiated with
Moscow, that Bashar al-Assad would remain in power and that the
Security Council would not authorize the creation of buffer zones.
For his part, Herve Ladsous, the U.N. Assistant Secretary General for
Peacekeeping Operations, announced that he was studying the possible
deployment of peacekeepers ("blue helmets") in Syria.
All regional actors are preparing for the cease-fire which will be
overseen by a U.N. force composed principally by troops of the
Collective Security Treaty Organization (Armenia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikstan). These events signify that
the United States is effectively continuing a process, begun in Iraq,
of retreat from the region and has accepted to share its influence
with Russian.
At the same time, the New York Times revealed that direct
negotiations between Washington and Iran are slated to restart even
as the United States continues its attack on Iranian monetary values.
It is becoming clear that, after 33 years of containment, Washington
is acknowledging that Teheran is an established regional power, all
the while continuing to sabotage its economy.
This new situation comes at the expense of Saudi Arabia, France,
Israel, Qatar and Turkey all of whom had placed their bets on regime
change in Damascus. This diverse coalition is now suffering divisions
between those demanding a consolation prize and those trying to
sabotage outright the process underway.
Ankara has already changed its tune. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, previously
ready for the worst, is now actively seeking reconciliation with
Teheran and Moscow. Several days after insulting the Iranians and
harrassing the Russian diplomats in his country, he is now all
smiles. He took advantage of the Organization of Economic Cooperation
in Baku to approach President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He proposed a
complex framework for discussing the Syrian crisis which would allow
Turkey and Saudi Arabia not to be left by the wayside. Careful not to
humilate the losers in the conflict, the Iranian president indicated
he was open to such an initiative.
As for Qatar, it is already seeking new horizons for its ambitions.
Emir Hamad took off on a trip to Gaza, posing as the self-appointed
protector of Hamas. He advocates the overthrow of the King of Jordan,
the transformation of the Hashemite monarchy into a Palestinian
republic and the installation in power of his proteges from the
Muslim Brotherhood.
Only Israel and France remain in the opposition camp. The new scheme
would offer a guarantee of protection to the state of Israel but it
would also alter its special status on the international scene and
end its expansionist dreams. Tel-Aviv would be relegated to being a
secondary power. France, also, would lose influence in the region,
particularly in Lebanon. Accordingly, the intelligence services of
both states have concocted an operation to collapse the
U.S.-Russia-Iran agreement which, even if it fails, would allow them
to erase the traces of their involvement in the Syrian crisis.
France started by circulating the rumor that President Bashar
al-Assad sponsored a Hezbollah plan to assassinate five Lebanese
leaders: the head of the security forces, the head commander of the
Ministry of the Interior, the Grand Mufti, the Maronite Patriarch and
former prime minister, Fouad Siniora. Then, Paris took out Michel
Samaha, who had served as liaison to the Syrian armed forces but who,
having been disgraced in Damascus, was no longer of use. This
brilliant and adept politician fell into the trap set for him by
General Wassam el-Hassan, head of the Free Syrian Army and himself a
liaison with the Salafists. Next, Paris eliminated General Wassam
el-Hassan himself, who had not only become useless in the eventual
advent of peace in Syria but also dangerous because of what he knew.
The French rumor became reality : the number one name on the list of
targets is dead and a pro-Syrian figure was arrested as he was
preparing an attack on another name on the list.
At the core of these machinations is General Puga. The former
Commander of Special Operations and Director of French Military
Intelligence was the head of the personal general staff of President
Nicolas Sarkozy and has been retained in that post by Francois
Hollande. Linked by his unconditional support for the Jewish colonial
occupation of Palestine [1] and having close connections to American
neoconservatives, he carried forward French colonial policies in the
Ivory Coast, Libya and Syria. Bypassing democratic institutions, he
determined on his own the direction of French policy in the Middle
East, despite his having no official appointment.
[1] "Gaza: France oversees the extension of the Separation
Wall,"Voltaire Network, 26 December 2009.
Translated from French by Michele Stoddard
By Thierry Meyssan
November 02, 2012 "Information Clearing House" - During a recent
Round Table in Ankara, Admiral James Winnfeld, Vice-Chairman of the
U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced that Washington would reveal
its intentions toward Syria once the 6 November presidential
elections were over. He made it plainly understood to his Turkish
counterparts that a peace plan had already been negotiated with
Moscow, that Bashar al-Assad would remain in power and that the
Security Council would not authorize the creation of buffer zones.
For his part, Herve Ladsous, the U.N. Assistant Secretary General for
Peacekeeping Operations, announced that he was studying the possible
deployment of peacekeepers ("blue helmets") in Syria.
All regional actors are preparing for the cease-fire which will be
overseen by a U.N. force composed principally by troops of the
Collective Security Treaty Organization (Armenia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikstan). These events signify that
the United States is effectively continuing a process, begun in Iraq,
of retreat from the region and has accepted to share its influence
with Russian.
At the same time, the New York Times revealed that direct
negotiations between Washington and Iran are slated to restart even
as the United States continues its attack on Iranian monetary values.
It is becoming clear that, after 33 years of containment, Washington
is acknowledging that Teheran is an established regional power, all
the while continuing to sabotage its economy.
This new situation comes at the expense of Saudi Arabia, France,
Israel, Qatar and Turkey all of whom had placed their bets on regime
change in Damascus. This diverse coalition is now suffering divisions
between those demanding a consolation prize and those trying to
sabotage outright the process underway.
Ankara has already changed its tune. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, previously
ready for the worst, is now actively seeking reconciliation with
Teheran and Moscow. Several days after insulting the Iranians and
harrassing the Russian diplomats in his country, he is now all
smiles. He took advantage of the Organization of Economic Cooperation
in Baku to approach President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He proposed a
complex framework for discussing the Syrian crisis which would allow
Turkey and Saudi Arabia not to be left by the wayside. Careful not to
humilate the losers in the conflict, the Iranian president indicated
he was open to such an initiative.
As for Qatar, it is already seeking new horizons for its ambitions.
Emir Hamad took off on a trip to Gaza, posing as the self-appointed
protector of Hamas. He advocates the overthrow of the King of Jordan,
the transformation of the Hashemite monarchy into a Palestinian
republic and the installation in power of his proteges from the
Muslim Brotherhood.
Only Israel and France remain in the opposition camp. The new scheme
would offer a guarantee of protection to the state of Israel but it
would also alter its special status on the international scene and
end its expansionist dreams. Tel-Aviv would be relegated to being a
secondary power. France, also, would lose influence in the region,
particularly in Lebanon. Accordingly, the intelligence services of
both states have concocted an operation to collapse the
U.S.-Russia-Iran agreement which, even if it fails, would allow them
to erase the traces of their involvement in the Syrian crisis.
France started by circulating the rumor that President Bashar
al-Assad sponsored a Hezbollah plan to assassinate five Lebanese
leaders: the head of the security forces, the head commander of the
Ministry of the Interior, the Grand Mufti, the Maronite Patriarch and
former prime minister, Fouad Siniora. Then, Paris took out Michel
Samaha, who had served as liaison to the Syrian armed forces but who,
having been disgraced in Damascus, was no longer of use. This
brilliant and adept politician fell into the trap set for him by
General Wassam el-Hassan, head of the Free Syrian Army and himself a
liaison with the Salafists. Next, Paris eliminated General Wassam
el-Hassan himself, who had not only become useless in the eventual
advent of peace in Syria but also dangerous because of what he knew.
The French rumor became reality : the number one name on the list of
targets is dead and a pro-Syrian figure was arrested as he was
preparing an attack on another name on the list.
At the core of these machinations is General Puga. The former
Commander of Special Operations and Director of French Military
Intelligence was the head of the personal general staff of President
Nicolas Sarkozy and has been retained in that post by Francois
Hollande. Linked by his unconditional support for the Jewish colonial
occupation of Palestine [1] and having close connections to American
neoconservatives, he carried forward French colonial policies in the
Ivory Coast, Libya and Syria. Bypassing democratic institutions, he
determined on his own the direction of French policy in the Middle
East, despite his having no official appointment.
[1] "Gaza: France oversees the extension of the Separation
Wall,"Voltaire Network, 26 December 2009.
Translated from French by Michele Stoddard