US President Barack Obama has given the green light to military support for the Syrian opposition after his administration concluded that Assad’s regime had used chemical weapons against rebels numerous times over the last year. Allegations which are still unsubstantiated.
However, Horne, from the University of Houston, does not believe that the US will be able to produce evidence of the use of chemical agent sarin by regime troops, saying that he doubts such evidence exists.
Gerald Horne said they are under enormous pressure. Former US President Bill Clinton has released a statement criticizing the Obama administration for not intervening more deeply into the Syrian morass. Obama’s former election rival, Senator John McCain of Arizona, just took to the floor of the US Senate saying that arming the rebels is not enough.
Presumably, he has called for airstrikes to create a so-called no-fly zone. It seems this is a very dangerous and ominous moment, Horne said. Particularly since the Sunni clerics have just met in Cairo, Egypt and called for a Holy War against the Assad regime and Damascus. Instead of trying to calm things down, it seems that the Obama administration is about to throw fuel on the fire according to Horne.
The UN has suggested that everyone is on board for this Geneva conference, except the Syrians. The opposition, the rebels have made clear that they have no interest in negotiating with Assad. As they see it, they will win this conflict on the battlefield, and the Europeans; particularly the British and French will be sending them more weapons sooner rather than later. And, as they see it, they can win.
It is in contradiction with Washington's allegations, bearing in mind also that, just a few weeks ago, Turkish authorities found that some rebels residing in Turkey had sarin weapons. It is difficult to say whether these weapons were used, and if so, who used them? For example, what was the chain of custody that allowed the Obama administration to conclude that it was Damascus and not the rebels?
How did those samples get from the battlefield to Washington? How do we know that a renegade soldier in the Syrian military used these weapons precisely to invite an intervention to Washington? There are so many questions. Horne revealed he is looking forward to seeing the evidence, though he doubts the administration will be able to provide any.
Horne said one reason the Obama administration is edging towards more direct intervention in Syria is that Assad’s forces are triumphing on the battlefield, not least because of the assistance they are receiving from Hezbollah forces in neighbouring Lebanon. This assistance has outraged the Israelis and the Israeli lobby in Washington. As they see it, they would like to see Hezbollah degraded on the battlefield of Syria and, therefore, the new call from Washington for military intervention in Syria in the views of Horne.
The American people are totally against this intervention in Syria. They see no advantage in arming Al-Qaeda forces, who are the tip of the spear of the rebels. It thus seems that US politicians do not have the best of this argument. Arming Syrian rebels is also a de facto message to Iran, coming officially the day she was having her presidential election. Fight Hezbollah through Syrian rebels and wait for Iran's reactions.
Hassan Nasrallah has vowed that Hezbollah will not leave Syria to prevent the regime from falling into the hands of Washington, Tel Aviv and most importantly al Qaeda, which will definitely target Lebanon after such a victory.
