By Theodore Shoebat

Bashar al-Assad, in a meeting with Iraqi National Security Adviser Faleh al-Fayyad, declared that what Turkey is doing in Syria is an invasion. He also affirmed that the  According to the Syrian publication, SANA:

The President added that the Turkish criminal aggression launched by Erdogan’s regime on our country comes in the context of that greed whatever it has raised of false mottoes, yet, it is a blatant invasion and a clear aggression to which Syria has responded in more than one place through striking its agents and terrorists, and Syria will respond and confront it with all its forms in any region of the Syrian territory through all available legitimate means.

Al-Assad had a meeting recently with Russian envoy, Alexander Lavrentiev, and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin, and he affirmed to them that Syria is prepared to repulse both American and Turkish forces.  Assad emphasized on the northeastern part of Syria, across the Euphrates river—”and the Turkish aggression against it,” according to the Syrian leader’s office. Al-Assad continued on to say:

“The current and future stage must be focused on stopping the aggression, and the withdrawal of all Turkish, American and other illegal forces from all Syrian territories, considering them occupation forces according to international law and conventions … The Syrian people have the right to resist them by all means available.”

The Assad administration announced that the Russian delegation expressed “rejection of any step or action that violates Syria’s sovereignty and further complicates the situation and affects efforts to end the war, which depends first and foremost on the elimination of the remaining terrorist outposts, and the restoration of control over all Syrian territory, especially all of the border regions.”

Now those who are supporters of Trump are quick to argue that current US administration has threatened sanctions on Turkey and has called for a cease fire. But, as the Daily Beast recently reported, the US exerted efforts to prevent the Syrian government from helping the Kurds fight off the Turks. According to the report, based off of local sources, the US military launched airstrikes against pro-Assad positions near Tabqa, Mansour, and in Khasham, killing and injuring an unspecified number of fighters. But, as the Daily Beast has shown, according to the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces’ local Tabqa Civil Council, there were no Syrian forces positioned in Taqba or Raqqa, although this was disputed by Syrian state media. American forces are also stationed at the Qarakozaq bridge which connects Manbij to the adjacent town of Kobani, according to sources who also affirmed that the reason for the US presence was to preclude pro-Assad forces from entering the area.

Some local media outlets have reported that pro-Assad and Russian forces have been deploying to certain areas within Tabqa and Mansour in southwest of the Raqqa province. They’ve also deployed into Manbij farther west toward Aleppo and also cities such as Ain Aissa and Tal Tamr farther north toward Turkish forces. It was also reported that in Deir Ezzor province to the east, pro-Assad forces within the town of Khasaham tried to move cross to the Euphrates. Khasaham is nearby numerous large oil fields controlled by Kurds, and a lot of money is being generating from the oil of these fields.

Anti-Assad factions in Syria have actually been supporting the arrival of American and Turkish troops with the hopes that they will remove the Assad administration. One activist for the anti-Assad faction, Nawaf al-Mustafa, said:

“U.S. forces have been stationed at the Qarakozaq bridge and preventing traffic from moving since yesterday … We hope they stay and hold off long enough for Turkish-backed forces to enter the area, otherwise, many people will have to flee.”

So there is a pro-NATO faction within Syria, and at the same time the US has been facilitating the Turkish expansion into that country. Regardless of the common trope about sanctions against Turkey, the reality is that the Americans were backing Turkish expansionism into Syria, and this is indicated by the fact that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo kept talking about a “roadmap” plan with Turkey in Syria.

As we reported back in May of 2018, the United States was conspiring with Turkey for a Turkish invasion of Syria. Hence Mike Pompeo, from all the way back to early 2018, was talking about a “roadmap” plan with Turkey in Syria. This was the whole purpose of the US intervention, it was to back Turkey. As we wrote back in July of 2018: “The United States is facilitating Turkish expansionism with its recent agreement with Turkey on the ‘Manbij agreement’ which esteems Turkey as a partner to bring stability to Syria.” We also wrote back in November of 2017:

“The United States armed Turkey to the teeth, so that it could be the superpower in the Middle East. Now, the US is staying in Syria to go against Assad, and this is being done to help Turkey control the region, which will only lead to a revived Ottoman Empire and the resurgence of genocidal policies the likes of which the world saw in the Armenian Genocide.”

America’s policy is helping to create the conditions for whatever future genocide will transpire in the future.