Raqqa (Syria): Start Of A New Nightmare

               Source Press TV Video Footage

Four hundred US marines have rolled into Raqqa in heavily armored vehicles to "fight"  Daesh.   The assault is expected to be launched within the next fortnight and quite certainly, hundreds more will arrive. 

Both US marines and ISIL will be fighting each other with US weapons.  The political irony is unbeatable!

Ken Stone, a member of the Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War, stated to Press TV,  “President Assad is absolutely correct in calling the US troops in Syria invaders because under international law foreign governments can’t station troops or build airfields in sovereign countries, they can’t overfly sovereign countries, they can’t level economic sanctions on their own without the approval of the UN Security Council, and they certainly can’t insert proxy armies to destabilize sovereign countries and try an effect regime changes.”   That's how much the "World's Policeman" respects international law. 

                             Above image Video Footage Youtube        

As Trump's plan of Syria begins to materialize, Tayyip Erdogan is getting sidelined as he neither gets along with the Kurds nor the SDF who are playing a vital role in helping the US coalition.  SDF has already said "no" to Turkish presence in Raqqa.  Yet there are no bright lights flashing at the end of the dark tunnel.  None of those occupied territories within Syria taken from Daesh by Kurdish forces or SDF (with the assistance of US coalition) will ever be returned to the Syrian Government.   Each of these ambitious entities have their own dreams they wish to realize.  Unity and independence of Syria under a single government isn't a priority.  Even Manjib wasn't returned to the Syrian Government.  Contrary to the rumors that the Kurds negotiated a deal with Russia agreeing to give back Manjib to Bashar al-Assad, senior Kurdish commander Shevran Derwish told the media on March 6 that they made no such promises.

It's no difficult guess that in the absence of the US coalition anytime in future, a multi-party war involving numerous AlQaeda groups, Kurds and SDF will be a long haul.  The nuisance value of Turkey will never diminish as long as AlQaeda remains in Syria.  The trail of mess looks endless and ugly.  This is the rosy side of the picture in this grim setting.  Worst case scenario could be potentially more scary.  It's the US coalition that will eventually call the shots.  If ISIL is defeated in Raqqa, its fleeing foot soldiers will neither be captured nor tried as terrorists and criminals.  They will smoothly and silently move out and join the ranks of "moderate rebels" elsewhere in Syria.  Chances are that the US coalition will not want the Kurds nor the SDF to retain Raqqa.  It will prefer handing it over to the "moderates."  If one is given a choice between the devil they know and the devil they know lesser, they will almost certainly pick the former.   Needless to say, that would be Erdogan's day;  a marvelous redress after a brief and low key pariah status. 

Vladimir Putin is in no hurry to play the advocate at the Oval Office for his Turkish counterpart and is quite unruffled over the recent developments in Syria.  His goal of confronting ISIL, but not all of AlQaeda, fits comfortably with Trump's plan.  In any case, the Russian leader is too powerless to disagree with Washington.

CNN is bubbling with deception.  According to US officials 50,000 ISIL fighters have been defeated, killed and their ranks reduced to 12,000.  This balderdash is intended to make the world believe that once Syria is purged of ISIL, AlQaeda is history.    ISIL is only a slice of AlQaeda.   During the past few months, most have fled, winnowed in different directions inside Syria without a care in the world. They have plenty of close friends who would love to hire them.   Even if ISIL was truthfully annihilated would make no difference.  Al-Qaeda network will remain in the Levant.  That's the cornerstone of the policy which Trump must continue after his predecessor.  As the new chapter unfolds, another 'brand name' has been released.  The term 'AlQaeda' has more or less vanished.  It has been replaced by "Sunni Arab rebels."

                                             Source of above image Press TV

The once free, progressive and peaceful Syrian Republic is now a carcass nibbled by scavengers - wild dogs, hyenas, coyotes, feral cats, vultures - all converging from different routes.

Many needless, unprovoked and heart-rending wars have been fought throughout the annals of history.  But there have been some where injustice and tyranny have prevailed in unforgettable and unforgivable proportions!  After the Battle of Karbala in the first millennium, you feel similarly lost for words to describe the acute tragic nature of the ones inflicted on Syria and Yemen in the third millennium.