Call Congress:Tell Them No US Troops in Syria, by Justin Raimondo

From Justin Raimondo at antiwar.com:

Two years ago, as the War Party was agitating for US intervention in Syria and the President was announcing his capitulation to their demands, Barack Obama told the American people the following:

“I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria. I will not pursue an open-ended action like Iraq or Afghanistan. I will not pursue a prolonged air campaign like Libya or Kosovo.”

Since that time, he and his principal spokespersons have repeated this promise or some variation of it no less than ten times, as the Washington Post has pointed out. But guess what? If you like your “no boots on the ground” you can keep your “no boots on the ground” – because our Dear Leader has turned on a dime.

Yes, folks, it has just been announced that US Special Forces are going into Syria in order to “advise and assist” the newly-formed “Syrian Democratic Forces,” yet another alliance of “moderate” Syrian rebels whose “moderation” consists mainly of wishful thinking on the part of this administration.

The formation of the “Syrian Democratic Forces” was announced just after the revelation that the Pentagon was giving up its training program to put US-vetted Syrian rebels in the field, and will instead ramp up its “covert” program of aiding existing rebel groups. A key change: while the commanders will be vetted, the fighters under their command will be given a Get Out of Jail Free card. That’s because the jihadists fighting the regime of Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad are all Islamist extremists of one sort or another, and connected ideologically if not organizationally either to al-Qaeda or the Islamic State.

To take a prime example: one of the thirteen groups under the “Syrian Democratic Forces” banner is “Suwar al-Raqqa,” otherwise known as the “Raqqa Revolutionaries.” These worthies defected to al-Qaeda in 2013:

“Hundreds of fighters under the command of the opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA) have reportedly switched allegiance to al-Qaeda-aligned groups, in a move described as a huge blow to moderate rebel forces.

“Activists and military sources have told Al Jazeera that the 11th Division – one of the biggest FSA brigades – has switched allegiance to the al-Nusra Front in Raqqah province, a border province with Turkey. A video was uploaded to YouTube on Thursday purporting to show members of the 11th Division parading through Raqqah with Nusra fighters. In the video clip, a voice can be heard saying in Arabic, “Raqqah … September 19, 2013 … The convoy of Nusra … God is great … Nusra in Raqqah province.”

“The switch, if confirmed, tightens Nusra’s control of Raqqah just days after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) attacked members of the Free Syrian Army in Azaz, on the border with Turkey.

“The Reuters news agency, citing sources inside Syria, also reported that entire units of the FSA had joined Nusra and the ISIS in recent days. The Raqqah Revolutionaries – which is part of the 11th Division – has about 750 fighters in total, according to a source close to al-Qaeda linked forces.”

Remember those 3,000 people murdered on September 11, 2001, in the middle of New York City? We’re now aiding and abetting their murderers – in the name of the “war on terrorism.”

To continue reading: No US Troops in Syria