Close followers of the Syrian struggle against the Baathist dictatorship
have probably grown accustomed to the “false flag” arguments of its
apologists who see every regime massacre as an incident staged by the
CIA et al to undermine the regime with the most prominent case being the
sarin gas attack on East Ghouta in August 2013.
In the latest go-round, Rick Sterling of the misnamed Syria Solidarity
Coalition has written a 30 page dossier titled The Caesar Photo Fraud
that Undermined Syrian Negotiations that begins by referring to past
“false flag” conspiracies with this at the top of the list:
In Gulf War 1, there were reports of Iraqi troops stealing incubators
from Kuwait, leaving babies to die on the cold floor. Amnesty
International incorrectly “verified” the false accusations.
As is so often the case with the Baathist amen corner, there is very
little introspection. If this was such a blatant lie (and it was), why
did the father of the current dynast in Damascus hook up with the USA,
Saudi Arabia and other demonic powers against Iraq? Putting 7,500 troops
at the disposal of the imperialist invasion force, Hafez al-Assad
calculated that it would put him on the side of the winners. He was
correct. After standing up for the feudal lords of Kuwait, he was
rewarded with renewed diplomatic relations with Britain and an easing of
tensions with the USA that clearly recognized the importance of having
an “anti-imperialist” government on its side as the NY Times reported on
September 15, 1999:
The main purpose of Mr. Baker’s visit, American officials insisted, was
symbolic. By meeting with President Assad, Mr. Baker sought to draw
attention, particularly in the Arab world, to the fact that one of the
most hard-line Arab nationalist regimes is joining the American-led
multinational coalition against Iraq.
Syria’s participation legitimizes that coalition in Arab eyes in a way
that no other country could, American officials say. The Administration
has been worried from the start that President Saddam Hussein would
break out of the boycott by convincing the Arab public that he is really
fighting the Americans and just a few Arab ”lackeys.”
So in a war that really set the tone for the next invasion of Iraq in
2002, Bashar’s daddy was indispensable for selling the war to the Arab
world, arguably with much more force than the stealing incubators
bullshit. You might say that in this instance the true flag was a lot
more damaging than the false flag.
full:
https://louisproyect.org/2016/03/04/a-response-to-rick-sterlings-claim-that-torture-did-not-take-place-in-syria/
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