I've never questioned Senator John McCain's personal coverage, but for quite some time I've questioned his common sense.
Senator McCain crossed over into Syria from the Turkish border today to meet with General Salem Idris, the leader of Syria's Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army (SMC).
The meeting likely took place in the area around Azaz, Syria, which is just south of the Turkish border crossing at Kilis and the only area in the vicinity partially under the control of the Free Syrian Army (FSA).
As I've revealed before,the Free Syrian Army and Al Nusrah, the two main armed factions of the Syrian resistance are jihadist groups run by the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda. Al-Nusrah in particular is nothing more than al-Qaeda's franchise in Syraia, and is actually an officially designated terrorist group by our State Department.The SMC has very little to do with the actual leadership of the Free Syrian Army and General Idris is just a figurehead who has no real power, because almost all of the other members of the council are leaders of radical Islamist rebel groups whose only use for the SMC and General Idris to use them as a front to acquire weapons from the west and western intervention to take out Assad.
I wonder if Senator McCain has the least clue about that?
“What we want from the U.S. government is to take the decision to support the Syrian revolution with weapons and ammunition, anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft weapons,” Idris said. “Of course we want a no-fly zone and we ask for strategic strikes against Hezbollah both inside Lebanon and inside Syria.”
Of course they do. And General Idris and his friends will tell gullible ferenghis like McCain anything he wants to hear to get it.
Remember when Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood were telling President Obama about how they were going to have a democratic regime that would respect religious freedoms for non-Muslims and human rights?
That pledge evaporated as soon as Mubarak was ousted with President Obama's assistance and the Brotherhood had control of the government.
Once we start sending the Syrian rebels arms, there is absolutely no way we can 'vet' who's getting them. General Idris and his front group have few if any boots on the ground and will have to send those arms to the jihadis in the Free Syrian Army and al-Nusrah. Rest assured that we will be arming jihadists who are the enemies of America and the West.
As for Senator McCain...I think it's time he retired.
This does seem like an estremlely ridiculous idea on the part of Mr. McCain. While I can understand and appreciate the need to confront Iran, this does not seem to be a good way to go about it. Also, I understand the need to sometimes work with less than savoury groups at times. After all we did this during WWII. Perhaps that is necessary here.
ReplyDeleteIt would be a much easier sell if elements of Al Qaeda had not attacked the United States. So far the media does not seem ready to support military involvement in Syria. This is good. Maybe some lessons have been leared from our experiences in Aghanistan and Iraq.
Mr. McCain prides himelf as a military man. Perhaps he needs to ask himself thse following questions. 1.)While EVERY respected source would agree that America's conventional forces are far superior to those of Syria and its allies, there seems some doubt as to how America's nuclear arsenal would stack up against Russia's. One source of documentation for this can be found at http://rense.com/general37newsm.htm. How certain is Mr. McCain that the US could counter this potential threat posed by Russia? Are such sources inaccurate can it be proven that they are inaccurate?
2.) Russia is allied with Syria. It has long been assumed the Cold War is long over. Is Syria worth the risk of starting a new Cold War?
3.) Elements of the resistance are linked to Al Qaeda. While not all Al Qaeda are likely the same, some may not pose a threat to America, how can he be ceratin the people we are helping will not turn on us?
4.)The potential mission is generally be sold as "humanitarian" i nature. The resistance has a less than stellar record in this regard. What assurances can be provided that these people will in fact be humane? Humanitarian military actions are bad on so many levels it is hard to know where to begin. For example, they have the potential to set a very bad precedent. For example, somone may decide to intervene in America's soverign affairs because they disapprove of some aspect of our domestic policy. What assurances can Mr. McCain offer to assure that this will not happen?
It seems way to early and to hasty at this point to consider getting involved in Syria. As a general rule, if you don't understand something, the best approach is to stay out of it. We clearly don't seem to understand this. I think a foreign policy with more prudence and thought is in order rather than the current one that involves hasty actions without thinking through the consequences of said actions. Such hasty thoughtless actions simply causes more of our people to be killed and maimed and probably leads to needless deaths on the other side as well.