Paused Before Damascus
or
(ssshh! ...the truth might leak out)
Napoleon Bonaparte's commander of horse, young Marshall Murat, is credited with the famous saying “Ride to the Sound of the Guns”. For those suffocating under the boot of oppression, there is a corollary to that dashing maxim: “Rise to the Sound of the Guns”.
Such an inspiration, in the summer of 1944, moved the Polish Resistance. Soviet armies were kicking Nazi butt, and rapidly approaching the Polish capitol Warsaw. By the end of July, the brave Poles could hear the guns. They rose.
Despite calls from Soviet radio exhorting the Resisatnce to come out and fight, the Red Army did not help the Poles. For sixty days, they watched. In such a case, there is no such thing as neutrality. If you don't help, the weaker side will surely be destroyed.
The Germans, if nothing else, thought they knew a good thing when they saw it. They crushed the Warsaw Uprising. When, in October, it ended, the Germans executed many very fine people and razed most of Warsaw to the ground.
What Uncle Joe Stalin knew was another commandment of war that trumps the bravado of Murat and the inspiration of the Polish Resistance.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend”- (sayeth the God of War)
Despite the utter desolation wrought upon the Soviet Union, the millions of casualties, and the incalculable hatred driving the Reds, they paused before Warsaw. They left the Polish Resistance to swing in the wind because it served their purpose to have the Germans wipe out the non-communist claimants to Polish legitimacy. The Nazi enemy, while a Polish resistor still lived, was now their friend.
Perfidy. Look it up. It will say “see Warsaw Uprising”
In our times, another uprising is raging; we call it the “Arab Spring”. Its not the first Arab uprising. Previously , with the support and blessing of the British and the French, the Arabs had ridden to Damascus. With Lawrence of Arabia. Lawrence could tell you of another definition of perfidy. Look it up. It will say “Sykes-Picot”.
The Arab Spring has reached Syria. This time, its not the Ottomans that they seek to overthrow. Once again, the British and French have done quite a bit of talking to encourage the Arab freedom fighters. The United States too has declared forcibly in favor of Bashar al-Assad's removal.
There is only one problem. Our forces have paused before Damascus, just as Stalin paused before Warsaw. Why is this?
The United States of America is at war, and has been been for many years. This war has been going on so long it has become our normal way of life- so normal that it hardly commands our attention anymore. Its very easy to forget that we are fighting and who we are fighting, and that it is this prosecution of war that rules our policy.
Al Qeada, and its affiliates, are the enemy. Assad is fighting Al Qaeda in Syria.
The enemy of our enemy is our friend: Bashar al-Assad is now our friend. The United States of America is pro-Assad. Sound crazy? Ask yourself this- “who has killed more Al Qeada in the past twelve months, Assad's Syria or the USA?”
Al Qeada saved the Assad regime from an early demise because when, as they have done for a thousand years, the Islamic militants rushed off at the first cry of “Jihad” they had no thought of what their actions would lead to. The result was that no one could supply meaningful weaponry to the rebels because those weapons might fall into Al Qeada's hands, and more importantly, the Assad regime must remain able to kill our enemies.
For those tasked in America with prosecuting the war against Al Qeada this was a dream come true. This elusive enemy, whose disbursement usually confounded our tactics, was now, voluntarily concentrating itself in Syria- where our new ally could kill them in droves. Better yet, while Al Qeada is in Syria it can battle Hezbollah formations and other Iranian proxies. Two birds with one stone- just like Warsaw. You couldn't diagram a better scenario for Uncle Sam- and the Russians and Iran are footing the bill!
The tacit understanding with the Syrian regime is almost entirely implicit. Assad is expected to figure out what our doing nothing, this “Pause Before Damascus”, really means. Nothing that can implicate anyone has been said. Perhaps there are some back-channels or perhaps not. Remember, we aided Saddam Hussein after he used chemical weapons on the Kurds. There is no question of morality for there is no higher morality than killing the enemies of the USA.
The only explict instruction to Bashar from Barack was the “Red Line” declaration.
What seemed so odd in the instant now makes perfect sense. Barack Obama was telling Bashir Assad “don't go too far, don't upset my public relations applecart with chemical weapons- I can't continue to help you by doing nothing if you use chemical weapons”.
Well, as the world knows, Assad is no brain surgeon. He did use chemical weapons and by doing so crossed President Obama's “red line”. We have to do “something” now. The United States can't have this punk ignore our red lines, and cause us to lose (public) face.
The media has opened up the hydrants and is pumping gush 24/7. It is wall to wall “Syria” leading up to the Congressional debate. Every off the wall opinion offered by every shade of half-witted politician is happily aired by equally pompous bloviators- except the truth that we are really pro-Assad. Somehow, this congress of geniuses has been unable to figure that one out. This should not be suprising; after all, in the entire State Departemnt there is not a single employee that can define “coup”.
The loose partisan cannons on the Republican side, dedicated to attacking anything and everything done by Barack Obama, have come closest to the truth in their shrill warnings about arming Al Qeada. Because partisan frenzy is not a function of intelligence, they have not been able to connect the dots. The Democrat “doves” left over from “movement” days are simply making reflexive anti-war remarks and are equally unable to penetrate their leader's smokescreen.
The “Syrian Intervention” so solemnly being debated is not intended by our government to weaken Assad. It is not intended to alter the battlefield. Above all, it is not intended to make victory possible for the Syrian people.
In fact, although deadly force will be used, it is a mistake to think of this as any sort of military intervention.
What this is going to be is a spanking. Bashar has been a bad boy. He has gone too far; he is threatening to upset the real-politik arrangement. If he doesn't get his act together, he could blow our cover and force us to actually do something to get rid of him. The key to the entire situation is to make the American public, and the world, believe we are supporting the rebels while our inaction actually supports Assad.
This spanking, especially couched in anti-appeasement and high toned morality is just the thing to re-establish the equilibrium and allow Syria to keep killing Al Qeada and Al Qeada to continue killing Hezbollah. The success of the operation depends on Bashar Assad understanding that we are only putting on a show and that if he cleans up his act act, we will continue to Pause Before Damascus.
Like all great Machiavellian maneuvers, the truth is hidden from the public because the public has been conditioned to see it's governments actions from an entirely different point of view. The public's support is still predicated on believing the cover story about preventing the spread of chemical weapons and our sympathy and support for the Arab peoples in their quest for justice. When we are dishing this tripe out, the Arab people, and especially the fighters for freedom in Syria are listening. Like us, they believe it and are encouraged to fight on.
Perfidy is like a diplomatic diploma. No longer will the sage professionals of the Old Worlds shake their heads and wonder at the naivete and “exceptionalism” of American statecraft. Surely, we have made the grade now.
Betraying a few million Syrians does not automatically propel Mr. Obama into the ranks of the great ones like Josef Stalin. On the other hand, Mr Sykes and Monsieur Picot would certainly be impressed.
Arabs have dictionaries too. Had them for a very long time.
Perfidy. They will look it up. What do you think its going to say?
Swanto Esquire III
summer 2013
San Antonio, Texas