Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

The Imperialists and the Jihadis: The Evil Alliance Against Syria
30 May 2012
🖨️ Print Article

 

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

Americans are now programmed to lust for Syrian blood, just as they lusted for Libyan blood, Iraqi blood, Afghan blood – whatever the demonized blood-of-the-day. It is easy for such voracious consumers of gore to project bloodlust on others, even when, as with the Syrian regime, there is no motive for the crime. “It makes absolutely no sense for the Syrian regime to allow the slitting of children’s throats while United Nations observers are stationed throughout the country.” The modus operandi and motive for the crime point to al Qaida and other jihadis – and their various U.S., European and rich Arab backers.

 

The Imperialists and the Jihadis: The Evil Alliance Against Syria

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

“In Syria, as in Libya, the United States has allied itself with al Qaida and forces that are politically very much like al Qaida.”

The afternoon airhead on CNN snarled her revulsion at the very idea that a commentary on Russia’s Pravda newspaper would conclude that Syrian rebels, or even American or British special forces, might be behind the killing of over 100 Syrian civilians, about half of them children, in the town of Houla. Her country and its Free Syrian Army allies would never do such a thing! But, of course, it goes without saying – and without the necessity of any proof whatsoever – that the Syrian government slits babies’ throats for breakfast. For CNN, the inherent goodness of the U.S. and whoever its allies of the moment might be, is a matter of faith.

Like her broadcast colleagues, the high-priced talking head had spent most of last year spreading fantastic lies about “imminent” massacres of civilians by Moamar Qaddafi’s government in Libya – massacres that never happened – and covering up the actual slaughter of black Libyan civilians at the hands of U.S.-backed forces. She and her fellow well-paid prevaricators reported as fact that Colonel Qaddafi’s soldiers used rape as a weapon of war, fueled by vast quantities of Viagra – a total fabrication. These same corporate media psychopaths pretended to believe, and tried to convince the whole world, that NATO’s 7-month bombing campaign against Libya had killed not a single civilian – or, well, maybe just a few.

Now CNN’s heroes are the so-called Free Syrian Army – who are obviously the good guys, because the U.S. State Department and the Pentagon say so. But, the Russian commentary in Pravda is much closer to the truth.

“It is in the interest of Sunni jihadis to make the conflict in Syria into a war against the Alawites.”

In Syria, as in Libya, the United States has allied itself with al Qaida and forces that are politically very much like al Qaida. Hundreds, if not thousands, of U.S.-armed Libyan jihadis have relocated to Syria. The Saudis and Qataris have sent many thousands more Sunni religious fighters into Syria, where they wage holy war against the secular government. The terror bombings that have claimed hundreds of lives in Syrian cities over the past few months are classic al Qaida, as even U.S. officials have been forced to admit. And so are the killings of children in Houla.

The logic of the Houla massacre is the logic of al Qaida. In Iraq, al Qaida dedicated all its energies to provoking war between Sunnis and Shi’ites, whom al Qaida considers heretics. In Syria, the Alawite minority to which President Bashar Assad belongs is a branch of Shia. It is in the interest of Sunni jihadis to make the conflict in Syria into a war against the Alawites, who are over-represented in the secular government and the army. These jihadis hate both Muslim heretics and secularists. But, it is fundamentally against the Syrian regime’s interest for the conflict to devolve into sectarianism. And it makes absolutely no sense for the Syrian regime to allow the slitting of children’s throats while United Nations observers are stationed throughout the country. However, it does serve the interests of the rebels and their American and European backers – and, of course, the interests of Israel, which has long sought the dismantling of the Syria state.

Terrified at the onset of the Arab Spring, the U.S. and Europe, along with the royal thugs of the Persian Gulf, decided to unleash chaos in the region, using the most militant foot soldiers at their disposal: jihadis. Ultimately, this diabolical strategy will not make U.S. imperialism stronger – but it will make the world a lot bloodier, and far more dangerous.

For Black Agenda Radio, I’m Glen Ford. On the web, go to BlackAgendaReport.com.

BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.



Your browser does not support the audio element.

listen
http://traffic.libsyn.com/blackagendareport/20120530_gf_USJihadis.mp3

More Stories


  •  BAR Book Forum: Allan E.S. Lumba’s Book, “Monetary Authorities”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Allan E.S. Lumba’s Book, “Monetary Authorities”
    10 May 2023
    This week’s featured author is Allan E.S. Lumba.
  • Human Rights Watch and Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Confirm What Masses Have Condemned: Peruvian State Carried Out Extrajudicial Killings and Other Abuses
    Clau O'Brien Moscoso
    Human Rights Watch and Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Confirm What Masses Have Condemned: Peruvian State Carried Out Extrajudicial Killings and Other Abuses
    10 May 2023
    Human Rights Watch and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights confirm what was already clear to BAR's reporter and others on the ground in Peru. The coup government has…
  • Exclusive: How Haiti’s Assassination Plot Unraveled, Minute by Minute and Text by Text
    David Adams , Jake Johnston
    Exclusive: How Haiti’s Assassination Plot Unraveled, Minute by Minute and Text by Text
    10 May 2023
    Messages and texts from those suspected of the plot to assassinate Haitian president Jovenel Moise make for fascinating reading. One of them communicated with Ariel Henry, who was named Prime…
  • ‘Anti-Black’ Claim Raised About Cuba As Solidarity Activists Stopped at U.S. Border & Black Socialists Arraigned in United States for Collaborating with Russia
    Julie Varughese
    ‘Anti-Black’ Claim Raised About Cuba As Solidarity Activists Stopped at U.S. Border & Black Socialists Arraigned in United States for Collaborating with Russia
    10 May 2023
    Claims of anti-Black racism in revolutionary countries should be treated with great skepticism. This trope is used as a tool to target countries for regime change plots and other attacks. While in…
  • Witnessing Afro Cubans and Social Change
    Austin Cole
    Witnessing Afro Cubans and Social Change
    10 May 2023
    There cannot be any discussion of Cuban politics that does not include perspectives from the African descended population. There is much to learn from people who are living in a revolutionary process…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us