{"id":146590,"date":"2019-11-04T12:00:52","date_gmt":"2019-11-04T12:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=146590"},"modified":"2024-09-23T14:41:30","modified_gmt":"2024-09-23T13:41:30","slug":"by-protecting-syrias-idlib-the-us-created-a-safe-haven-for-baghdadi-and-isis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/11\/by-protecting-syrias-idlib-the-us-created-a-safe-haven-for-baghdadi-and-isis\/","title":{"rendered":"By Protecting Syria\u2019s Idlib, the US Created a Safe Haven for Baghdadi and ISIS"},"content":{"rendered":"

29 Oct 2019 – With the killing of self-proclaimed ISIS \u201ccaliph\u201d Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the shoddy narrative pushed by US government officials and regime change propagandists about Idlib was blown to pieces as well.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Grayzone<\/p><\/div>\n

October has been a tough month for the motley crew of self-styled Syria experts and regime-change diehards who spent years cheering on the so-called \u201cmoderate rebels.\u201d<\/p>\n

First, the \u201cFree Syrian Army\u201d fighters they had long championed were finally and undeniably exposed as the brutal extremists<\/a> they always were.<\/p>\n

All it took for the curtain to be pulled back was for President Trump to green-light a Turkish invasion of Syria<\/a>, and those once-\u201cmoderate\u201d CIA-trained contras that had long terrorized civilians in Syrian government territory were revealed to be Turkish-backed mercenaries, slaughtering and beheading their way throughout the Kurdish-majority regions of northeastern Syria.<\/p>\n

As The Grayzone\u2019s Max Blumenthal reported, 21 of the 28 former Syrian \u201crebel\u201d factions employed in Turkey\u2019s invasion of northern Syria were previously armed or trained by the US<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Almost as soon as that episode was in the rear-view mirror, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed by a US-led operation in Idlib, the northwestern Syrian providence controlled by Syria\u2019s local al-Qaeda affiliate<\/a>, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.<\/p>\n

Even as US officials acknowledged that Idlib was home to the largest faction of al-Qaeda fighters since 9\/11, supporters of regime change and the US government itself fiercely protected the province, upholding it as the last rebel stronghold resisting the government of President Bashar al-Assad.<\/p>\n

With Baghdadi\u2019s killing, they were forced to contend with the fact that they helped provide a sanctuary to the bloodthirsty ruler of ISIS.<\/p>\n

Following US President Donald Trump\u2019s announcement of Baghdadi\u2019s death, mainstream pundits honed in on Trump\u2019s hyperbolic commentary \u2013 \u201che died like a dog, he died like a coward\u201d \u2013\u00a0 and sneered at the president\u2019s compliments to Russia, Turkey, and Syria for not obstructing the operation.<\/p>\n

But the proverbial elephant in the room continued to go unnoticed, or ignored: The US had been using diplomatic leverage and threats of military force to keep Baghdadi\u2019s hosts in power.<\/p>\n

Smearing the truth-tellers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Only a few political outliers have dared to state the inconvenient truth about Idlib. Chief among the marginalized truth-tellers was Democratic presidential hopeful and congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.<\/p>\n

During a Democratic primary debate, Gabbard accused Trump of \u201csupporting al-Qaeda<\/a>\u201d by protecting Idlib with threats of military force.<\/p>\n

Senator Kamala Harris lashed out at Gabbard, branding her as an \u201capologist for an individual, Assad, who has murdered people in his country like cockroaches.\u201d Neoconservative Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin <\/a>piled on, writing that Gabbard \u201chelped Assad whitewash a mass atrocity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Tulsi Gabbard: "This current President is continuing to betray us. We were supposed to be going after al Qaeda, but over years now, not only have we not gone after al Qaeda … our President is supporting al Qaeda" #DemDebate<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/RM5q7yb5aE<\/a><\/p>\n

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) August 1, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n