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 West’s War Against Syria: Out of Control
17 Feb 2016
🖨️ Print Article

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by executive editor Glen Ford

What began as a U.S. scheme for regime-change in Syria now threatens to ignite global war. Turkey is poised to come to blows with Russia, as the U.S. revs up its “Plan B” to dismember Syria under the guise of attacking the Islamic State. “The Turks could block the Bosphorus Straits, closing off access to and from the Black Sea, bottling up Russian naval forces and provoking a world war.”

The West’s War Against Syria: Out of Control

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by executive editor Glen Ford

“The American “coalition” never tried to militarily defeat ISIS in Syria or Iraq.”

The five year-long U.S.-led proxy war against Syria is about to spiral out of control, with possibly fatal consequences for the human race. The Obama administration’s web of lies, intrigue, and relentless aggression has turned Syria into the world’s most insane field of battle, where both the United States and Russia provide air cover to Kurdish forces that are being shelled by America’s NATO ally, Turkey. Turkey has also been shelling units of the Syrian army, operating under Russia’s protection. With 18,000 Turkish soldiers poised at the border, a Turkish invasion of Syria is considered imminent, and will likely include Saudi Arabian troops and aircraft – all of which would become targets for Russian air defense systems the second they violate Syrian land and air space. Should Turkey and Russia come to blows, which is entirely possible within the next few days, the Turks could block the Bosphorus Straits, closing off access to and from the Black Sea, bottling up Russian naval forces and provoking a world war. The Turks temporally blocked the door to the Black Sea back in December, after they shot down a Russian plane.

Meanwhile, western governments, their royal Arab allies, and the global corporate media scream for some kind of so-called “humanitarian” intervention in northern Syria – a transparent call for the United States to activate its so-called “Plan B” – an all-out U.S. military offensive against...who?

The United States will claim it’s against the Islamic State. These days, the U.S. claims everything it does in Syria and in Iraq is part of the fight against the Islamic State. But, of course, there never was a U.S. war against the Islamic State, which spread like wildfire until the Russian air force intervened in late September. The U.S., the Brits, the French, Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf kleptocracies financed and armed all of the jihadist gangs that descended on Syria after 2011, and although the Islamic State decided that it had plans of its own, the American “coalition” never tried to militarily defeat ISIS in Syria or Iraq. ISIS was still useful, to wear down the Syrian army and keep the Iraqi government off balance and dependent on the United States.

“A Turkish invasion of Syria is considered imminent.”

The success of the Russian intervention changed all that. Under Plan B, the United States and its allies will move militarily to absorb the Islamic State and take over the Syrian territory the jihadists now occupy, de facto dismembering Syria. The surviving ISIS fighters would fight on under U.S. protection, distributed among other jihadist groups and under new political labels. At least, that appears to be the plan.

However, the Turks have their own agenda. Turkish President Recep Erdogan has staked his political life on defeating and humiliating the Kurds, in his own country and in Syria. But, the United States has made a huge investment in acting as the “protector” of the Iraqi Kurds, in order to dismember and control Iraq, and the Americans are trying to play the same game with the Syrian Kurds. That’s why the U.S. is providing air cover to some Syrian Kurdish units, while the Turks are shelling other Kurds who operate under Russian air cover, 60 miles away. The Turks don’t like the game the Americans are playing, and are threatening to invade Syria, confront the Russians, and force the U.S. to choose between Turkey, or the Kurds, or World War Three. This is a very dangerous moment for the planet.

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/20160217_gf_CrazySyriaWar.mp3

More Stories


  • BAR Book Forum: Camilla A. Hawthorne’s Book, “Contesting Race and Citizenship”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Camilla A. Hawthorne’s Book, “Contesting Race and Citizenship”
    12 Apr 2023
    This week’s featured author is Camilla A. Hawthorne. Hawthorne is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at UC Santa Cruz. Her book is Contesting Race and Citizenship: Youth Politics in…
  • The Response To Twitter Labeling NPR "State-Affiliated Media" Exposes The True Purpose Of The Labels All Along
    Jacqueline Luqman
    The Response To Twitter Labeling NPR "State-Affiliated Media" Exposes The True Purpose Of The Labels All Along
    12 Apr 2023
    Twitter CEO Elon Musk recently became the broken clock that is right twice a day when he correctly pointed out the NPR and the BBC are state affiliated outlets. Corporate media work hand in hand with…
  • Misleadership in the Bronx: AOC, the Fraud Squad, Military Recruiters and U.S. Imperialism
    Richie Merino , Danny Shaw
    Misleadership in the Bronx: AOC, the Fraud Squad, Military Recruiters and U.S. Imperialism
    12 Apr 2023
    Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the best known of the so-called progressives. Her leftist image is a pose which intentionally creates political confusion.
  • The “Powell Memo” and the Supreme Court: A Counteroffensive Against the Many
    Derek Ford
    The “Powell Memo” and the Supreme Court: A Counteroffensive Against the Many
    12 Apr 2023
    Written in 1971 by Lewis Powell before he joined the U.S. Supreme Court, the Powell Memo was a call to the U.S. capitalist class to construct a more intentional, coherent and focused…
  • ‘Zone of Peace’ Campaign Launched In 3 Countries to Build ‘People(s)-Centered Movement’ in the Americas
    Julie Varughese
    ‘Zone of Peace’ Campaign Launched In 3 Countries to Build ‘People(s)-Centered Movement’ in the Americas
    12 Apr 2023
    The Zone of Peace campaign is a "people(s) centered" grassroots effort to end imperialist domination throughout the Americas.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us