Joseph Lieberman following MEA Visit: Toppling Syria By Any Means Possible
Only a week to the visit of US senator Joseph Lieberman to the Middle East region, which included Northern Lebanese borders with Syria, the official asserts that the US should provide the so-called "Syrian Free Army" and the opposition with weapons, tactical intelligence and other lethal aid.
In an article the Washington Post published on Friday, the Senator writes that the [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad regime should be toppled by any means possible, be it foreign intervention or even "airstrikes".
Lieberman says he drew a conclusion after two visits in the past month to the Middle East, after meeting with leaders of the opposition Syrian National Council and Free Syrian Army, Syrian refugees who recently fled to Turkey and Lebanon, also leaders of key countries in the region.
His conclusion is mainly that "...A more [US] comprehensive and coordinated effort [on Syria] is needed, together with the US regional partners, to support the anti al-Assad fighters with weapons, tactical intelligence and other lethal aid."
Lieberman says any "such efforts would be a welcome development, and it deserves strong support from Congress."
He further elaborates that "A US-coordinated train-and-equip mission would provide the leverage to better unify and broaden the opposition, incorporate all of the key stakeholders in Syrian society, and influence their conduct."
Additionally, describing Bashar al-Assad as a "dictator" and a "devil", the official reiterates the US and its allies should dislodge him by any means possible.
Lieberman talks about another Libya, with regional and international interference. Yet, he said the US would provide leadership, organization and strategy while its allies would execute the "on ground" intervention.
Declaring the US should "dramatically step up efforts to support the Syrian opposition, he explains the aim to is to reach a point where it becomes clear al-Assad cannot win on the battlefield and must seek a negotiated exit.
He compares the situation in Syria to the US intervention in Libya; Lieberman wrote "As in Libya, no US troops should be put in Syria, nor should the United States act there alone. Our partners in the region have the funding, weapons and territory necessary for a full-scale effort to train, equip and sustain a more capable, professionalized and inclusive resistance against al-Assad - and they seem ready to do so."
The most urgent priority should be "strengthening and unifying the armed Syrian opposition," the Senator explains, nevertheless, he stresses that might not be enough to topple the Assad regime quickly.
"The United States should begin discussions with our partners about a campaign of airstrikes to disrupt al-Assad's command over his forces and to establish safe zones along Syria's borders so the opposition can organize inside their country," he elucidates.
Quickly changing what he described as "the military balance inside Syria to change is a must, which according to Lieberman will be under US leadership.
Commenting on this article, Anis Nakkash, Political Analyst and Coordinator of Aman Network for Strategic Studies and Research, told moqawama.org that "Some US officials, one of which is Lieberman, have not realized yet that the situation in the Middle East has changed; a new equation exists and they no longer can meddle freely in the region."
According to Nakkash, the article proves that Lieberman's visit was to inspect the Lebanese-Syrian borders, which they consider their new battlefield, unlike what he had claimed about checking on the distressed Syrian refugees in North Lebanon.
"Such a visit not only comes in context of political intervention, but also to create military hotspots in the region," he iterated.
This is "paltry and worthless" political rhetoric the US launches through its congressman. Their calculations are incorrect.
"Syria remains steadfast in face of such conspiracies; we warn of such intervention, the peoples of the region will not stand still and watch people like Lieberman intrude in their affairs."
Lieberman's visit was on the 2nd of May, and was defended as a "visit to the Lebanese-Syrian borders solely made in order to meet with the Syrian refugees and examine their humanitarian situation," Future bloc MP Khaled Daher had described it in remarks to As-Seyassah newspaper.
On this note, Nakkash said Daher's stance either ‘stemmed out of ignorance', but most probably implies he knows about the scheme targeting Syria and tried to serve as a cover to the US official and his delegation who came to sow strife and ignite tension.
During his visit, Lieberman blatantly called on Lebanon to offer further assistance to the Syrian opposition.
Lieberman and a US delegation were flown by helicopter to the north Akkar town of Andaqit. Under Lebanese Army escort, the delegation then went to the Bqayaa border crossing of Wadi Khaled, where talks with local officials centered on ways for allowing in convoys carrying UN monitors to Homs, western Syria.
Earlier in March, the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had admitted that al-Qaeda and other groups on the State Department's terror list are on the same side as the United States in Syria and that they are aiding opposition rebels.
Clinton's admission that al-Qaeda is supporting the armed insurrection in Syria dovetails with reports that the same al-Qaeda terrorists who helped overthrow Colonel Moamar Gaddafi in Libya were airlifted into Syria by NATO forces.
Also, the US support to the Syrian rebels is not fresh. Media reports have been revealing stances of Syrian opposition rebels, also US officials that the US and its allies -among which there are Arab countries- provided the rebels with arms.
In a February report, a general in the so-called "Free Syria Army", the opposition militia, has told journalists that the rebels are being armed with anti-aircraft missiles by the United States and France.
Source: Moqawama.org
