{"id":1448606,"date":"2022-04-21T08:11:58","date_gmt":"2022-04-21T12:11:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1448606"},"modified":"2022-04-21T08:12:02","modified_gmt":"2022-04-21T12:12:02","slug":"how-the-obama-biden-team-empowered-terrorist-networks-in-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-the-obama-biden-team-empowered-terrorist-networks-in-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Obama\/Biden Team Empowered Terrorist Networks in Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-the-obama-biden-team-empowered-terrorist-networks-in-syria%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1448606&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p><em>By Aaron Mat\u00e9 for RealClearInvestigations<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The road to Al Qaeda\u2019s control of the Syrian province of Idlib actually started hundreds of miles across the Mediterranean in Libya.<\/p>\n<p>In March 2011, after heavy lobbying from senior officials including Secretary Hillary Clinton, President Obama authorized a bombing campaign in support of the jihadist insurgency fighting the government of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Backed by NATO firepower, the rebels toppled Gaddafi and gruesomely murdered him in October.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Buoyed by their quick success in Libya, the Obama administration set their sights on Damascus, by then a top regime change target in Washington. According to former NATO commander Wesley Clark, the Assad regime \u2013 a key ally of U.S. foes Iran, Hezbollah, and Russia \u2013 was marked for overthrow alongside Iraq in the immediate aftermath of 9\/11. A leaked\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wikileaks.org\/plusd\/cables\/06DAMASCUS5399_a.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2006 U.S. Embassy in Damascus cable<\/a>\u00a0assessed that Assad\u2019s \u201cvulnerabilities\u201d included \u201cthe potential threat to the regime from the increasing presence of transiting Islamist extremists,\u201d and detailed how the U.S. could \u201cimprove the likelihood of such opportunities arising.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/flashback-congress-banned-arms-from-going-to-neo-nazis-in-ukraine-in-2018\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FLASHBACK: Congress Banned Arms From Going To Neo-Nazis In Ukraine In 2018<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The outbreak of the Syrian insurgency in March 2011, coupled with the fall of Gaddafi, offered the U.S. a historic opportunity to exploit Syria\u2019s vulnerabilities. While the Arab Spring sparked peaceful Syrian protests against the ruling Ba\u2019ath party\u2019s cronyism and repression, it also triggered a largely Sunni, rural-based revolt that took a sectarian and violent turn. The U.S. and its allies, namely Qatar and Turkey, capitalized by tapping the massive arsenal of the newly ousted Libyan government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring the immediate aftermath of, and following the uncertainty caused by, the downfall of the [Gaddafi] regime in October 2011,\u201d the Defense Intelligence Agency\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Pgs.-1-3-2-3-from-JW-v-DOD-and-State-14-812-DOD-Release-2015-04-10-final-version1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported the following year<\/a>, \u201c\u2026weapons from the former Libya military stockpiles located in Benghazi, Libya were shipped from the port of Benghazi, Libya, to the ports of Banias and the Port of Borj Islam, Syria.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The redacted DIA document,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/JW-v-DOD-and-State-14-812-DOD-Release-2015-04-10-final-version.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">obtained by the group Judicial Watch<\/a>, does not specify whether the U.S. was directly involved in these shipments. But it contains significant clues. With remarkable specificity, it detailed the size and contents of one such shipment in August 2012: 500 sniper rifles, 100 rocket-propelled grenade launchers with 300 rounds, and 400 howitzer missiles.<\/p>\n<p>Most tellingly, the document noted that the weapons shipments were halted \u201cin early September 2012.\u201d This was a clear reference to the killing by militants that month of four Americans \u2013 Ambassador Christopher Stevens, another State Department official, and two CIA contractors \u2013 in Benghazi, the port city where the weapons to Syria were coming from. The Benghazi annex \u201cwas at its heart a CIA operation,\u201d U.S. officials\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/SB10001424052970204712904578092853621061838\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told the Wall Street Journal<\/a>. At least two dozen CIA employees worked in Benghazi under diplomatic cover.<\/p>\n<div id=\"subscribe\" class=\"email-signup inarticle\">\n<h4>Support Conservative Voices!<\/h4>\n<h5><strong>Sign up to receive the latest<\/strong> political news, insight, and commentary delivered directly to your inbox.<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<p>Although top intelligence officials obscured the Benghazi operation in sworn testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, a Senate investigation eventually confirmed a direct CIA role in the movement of weapons from Libya to Syria. A classified version of a 2014 Senate report, not publicly released, documented an agreement between President Obama and Turkey to funnel weapons from Libya to insurgents in Syria. The operation, established in early 2012, was run by then-CIA Director David Petraeus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe [Benghazi] consulate\u2019s only mission was to provide cover for the moving of arms\u201d to Syria, a former U.S. intelligence official told journalist Seymour Hersh\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lrb.co.uk\/the-paper\/v36\/n08\/seymour-m.-hersh\/the-red-line-and-the-rat-line\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">in the London Review of Books<\/a>. \u201cIt had no real political role.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>The Death of a U.S. Ambassador<\/h3>\n<p>Under diplomatic cover, Stevens appears to have been a significant figure in the CIA program. More than one year before he became ambassador in June 2012, Stevens was appointed the U.S. liaison to the Libyan opposition. In this role, he worked with the Al Qaeda-tied Libyan Islamic Fighting Group and its leader, Abdelhakim Belhadj, a warlord who fought alongside Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. After Gaddafi\u2019s ouster, Belhadj was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/middle_east\/these-libyan-ex-militiamen-were-once-linked-to-al-qaeda-now-they-wield-power-in-a-new-order\/2017\/09\/27\/8356abf8-97dd-11e7-af6a-6555caaeb8dc_story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">named head of the Tripoli Military Council<\/a>, which controlled security in the country\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n<p>Belhadj\u2019s portfolio was not limited to post-coup Libya. In November 2011, the Al Qaeda ally traveled to Turkey to meet with leaders of the Free Syrian Army, the CIA-backed opposition military coalition. Belhadj\u2019s trip came as part of the new Libyan government\u2019s effort to provide \u201cmoney and weapons to the growing insurgency against Bashar al-Assad,\u201d the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/0IP4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">London Telegraph<\/a>\u00a0reported at the time. On September 14, 2012 \u2013 just three days after Stevens and his American colleagues were killed \u2013 the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.co.uk\/article\/syrian-rebels-squabble-over-weapons-as-biggest-shipload-arrives-from-libya-pr2rmxkpg8d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">London Times<\/a>\u00a0revealed that a Libyan vessel \u201ccarrying the largest consignment of weapons for Syria since the uprising began,\u201d had recently docked in the Turkish port of Iskenderun. Once unloaded, \u201cmost of its cargo is making its way to rebels on the front lines.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/republican-dan-crenshaw-says-conservatives-who-oppose-war-with-russia-use-putins-talking-points\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Republican Dan Crenshaw Says Conservatives Who Oppose War With Russia Use \u2018Putin\u2019s Talking Points\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The known details of Stevens\u2019 last hours on September 11 suggest that shipping weapons was at the top of his agenda.\u00a0 Although based in Tripoli and facing violent threats, he nonetheless made the dangerous trek to Benghazi around the fraught anniversary of 9\/11. According to a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/content\/pkg\/CRPT-114hrpt848\/html\/CRPT-114hrpt848.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2016 report from the House Intelligence Committee<\/a>, one of Stevens\u2019 last scheduled meetings was with the head of al-Marfa Shipping and Maritime Services Company, a Libyan firm involved in ferrying weapons to Syria. His final meeting of the day was with Consul General Ali Sait Akin of Turkey, where the weapons were shipped.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/was-syrian-weapons-shipment-factor-in-ambassadors-benghazi-visit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fox News later reported<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cStevens was in Benghazi to negotiate a weapons transfer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With the Libyan channel shut down by Stevens\u2019 murder, the U.S. and its allies turned to other sources. One was Croatia, where Saudi Arabia\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/02\/26\/world\/middleeast\/in-shift-saudis-are-said-to-arm-rebels-in-syria.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">financed a major weapons purchase in late 2012<\/a>\u00a0that was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/01\/24\/world\/middleeast\/us-relies-heavily-on-saudi-money-to-support-syrian-rebels.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">arranged by the CIA<\/a>. The CIA\u2019s use of the Saudi kingdom\u2019s vast coffers\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/Users\/Peder\/Downloads\/%252522the%20same%20partner%20%25255Bthat%25255D%20the%20C.I.A.%20has%20relied%20on%20for%20decades%20for%20money%20and%20discretion%20in%20far-off%20conflicts.%252522\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">continued an arrangement<\/a>\u00a0from prior covert proxy wars, including the arming of the mujahideen in Afghanistan and of the Contras in Nicaragua.<\/p>\n<p>Although the Obama administration claimed that the weapons funneled to Syria were intended for \u201cmoderate rebels,\u201d they ultimately ended up in the hands of a jihadi-dominated insurgency. Just one month after the Benghazi attack, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/10\/15\/world\/middleeast\/jihadists-receiving-most-arms-sent-to-syrian-rebels.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New York Times reported<\/a>\u00a0that \u201chard-line Islamic jihadists,\u201d including groups \u201cwith ties or affiliations with Al Qaeda,\u201d have received \u201cthe lion\u2019s share of the arms shipped to the Syrian opposition.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Covertly Arming An Al Qaeda-Dominated Insurgency<\/h3>\n<p>The Obama administration did not need media accounts to learn that jihadists dominated the Syrian insurgency on the receiving end of a CIA supply chain.<\/p>\n<p>One month before the Benghazi attack, Pentagon intelligence analysts gave the White House a blunt appraisal. An August 2012\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Pg.-291-Pgs.-287-293-JW-v-DOD-and-State-14-812-DOD-Release-2015-04-10-final-version11.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Defense Intelligence Agency report<\/a>, disseminated widely among U.S. officials, noted that \u201cSalafi[s], the Muslim Brotherhood, and AQI [Al Qaeda in Iraq] are the major forces driving the insurgency.\u201d Al Qaeda, the report stressed, \u201csupported the Syrian opposition from the beginning.\u201d Their aim was to create a \u201cSalafist principality in eastern Syria\u201d \u2013 an early warning of the ISIS caliphate that would be established two years later.<\/p>\n<p>General Michael Flynn, who headed the DIA at the time,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lrb.co.uk\/the-paper\/v38\/n01\/seymour-m.-hersh\/military-to-military\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">later recalled<\/a>\u00a0that his staff \u201cgot enormous pushback\u201d from the Obama White House. \u201cI felt that they did not want to hear the truth,\u201d Flynn said. In 2015, one year after Flynn was forced out, dozens of Pentagon intelligence analysts signed on to a complaint alleging that top Pentagon intelligence officials were \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/irp.fas.org\/agency\/dod\/ig-centcom.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cooking the books<\/a>\u201d to paint a rosier picture of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/exclusive-50-spies-say-isis-intelligence-was-cooked\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the jihadi<\/a>\u00a0presence in Syria. (The Pentagon\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2017\/02\/01\/politics\/report-centcom-intelligence\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">later cleared CENTCOM commanders of wrongdoing<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>The Free Syrian Army (FSA), the main CIA-backed insurgent force, also informed Obama officials of the jihadi dominance in their ranks. \u201cFrom the reports we get from the doctors,\u201d FSA officials\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/post-partisan\/post\/al-qaeda-affiliate-playing-larger-role-in-syria-rebellion\/2012\/11\/30\/203d06f4-3b2e-11e2-9258-ac7c78d5c680_blog.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told the State Department in November 2012<\/a>, \u201cmost of the injured and dead FSA are Jabhat al-Nusra, due to their courage and [the fact they are] always at the front line.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jabhat al-Nusra (Al-Nusra Front) is Al Qaeda\u2019s franchise in Syria. It emerged as a splinter group of Al Qaeda in Iraq after a falling out between AQI leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and his then-deputy, Mohammed al-Jolani. In 2013, Baghdadi relaunched his organization under the name of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Jolani led his Syria-based Al Qaeda faction under the black flag of al-Nusra.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[W]hile rarely acknowledged explicitly in public,\u201d Charles Lister, a Gulf state-funded analyst in close contact with Syrian insurgent groups\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/blog\/markaz\/2015\/03\/23\/are-syrian-islamists-moving-to-counterbalance-al-qaeda-will-it-last\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote in March 2015<\/a>, \u201cthe vast majority of the Syrian insurgency has coordinated closely with Al-Qaeda since mid-2012 \u2013 and to great effect on the battlefield.\u201d\u00a0 As one Free Syrian Army leader told\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/12\/28\/world\/as-syrias-revolution-sputters-a-chaotic-stalemate.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the New York Times<\/a>: \u201cNo FSA faction in the north can operate without al-Nusra\u2019s approval.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to David McCloskey, a former CIA analyst who covered Syria in the war\u2019s early years, U.S. officials knew that \u201cal-Qaeda affiliated groups and Salafi jihadist groups were the primary engine of the insurgency.\u201d This, McCloskey says, was \u201ca tremendously problematic aspect of the conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In his memoir, senior Obama aide Ben Rhodes acknowledged that al-Nusra \u201cwas probably the strongest fighting force within the opposition.\u201d It was also clear, he wrote, that U.S.-backed insurgent groups were \u201cfighting side by side with al-Nusra.\u201d For this reason, Rhodes recalled, he argued against the State Department\u2019s December 2012 designation of al-Nusra as a foreign terrorist organization. This move \u201cwould alienate the same people we want to help.\u201d (Asked about wanting to help an Al Qaeda-dominated insurgency, Rhodes did not respond).<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/newly-declassified-9-11-documents-show-possible-connection-to-saudi-officials\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Newly Declassified 9\/11 Documents Show Possible Connection To Saudi Officials<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In fact, designating al-Nusra as a terror organization allowed the Obama administration to publicly claim that it opposed Al Qaeda\u2019s Syria branch while continuing to covertly arm the insurgency that it dominated. Three months after adding al-Nusra to the terrorism list, the U.S. and its allies \u201cdramatically stepped up weapons supplies to Syrian rebels\u201d to help \u201crebels to try and seize Damascus,\u201d the Associated Press\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/ap-master-plan-underway-to-help-syria-rebels-take-damascus-with-us-approved-airlifts-of-heavy-weapons\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported in March 2013<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>\u2018There Was No Moderate Middle\u2019<\/h3>\n<div>\n<div class=\"video-block full\">\n[embedded content]\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h6>\u00a0<\/h6>\n<p>Despite being privately aware of Nusra\u2019s dominance, Obama administration officials continued to publicly insist that the U.S. was only supporting Syria\u2019s \u201cmoderate opposition,\u201d as then-Deputy National Security Adviser Antony Blinken\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/blogs\/politico-now\/2014\/09\/blinken-us-arab-allies-to-foster-syrian-rebels-196202\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">described it in September 2014<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But speaking to a Harvard audience days later, then-Vice President Biden blurted out the concealed reality. In the Syrian insurgency, \u201cthere was no moderate middle,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/Users\/Peder\/Downloads\/here%20was%20no\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Biden admitted<\/a>. Instead, U.S. \u201callies\u201d in Syria \u201cpoured hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Assad.\u201d Those weapons were supplied, Biden said, to \u201cal-Nusra, and Al-Qaeda and the extremist elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biden\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/middle_east\/biden-apologizes-to-turkeys-erdogan\/2014\/10\/04\/b3b5dc84-d97d-4381-ab7f-1754d495f84a_story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">quickly apologized for his comments<\/a>, which appeared to fit the classic definition of the Kinsley\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/worldviews\/wp\/2014\/10\/06\/behind-bidens-gaffe-some-legitimate-concerns-about-americas-middle-east-allies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">gaffe:<\/a>\u00a0a politician inadvertently telling the truth. Biden\u2019s only error was omitting his administration\u2019s critical role in helping its allies arm the jihadis.<\/p>\n<p>Rather than shut down a CIA program that was aiding the Al Qaeda-dominated insurgency, Obama expanded it. In\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/10\/23\/world\/middleeast\/obamas-uncertain-path-amid-syria-bloodshed.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">April 2013<\/a>, the president signed an order that amended the CIA\u2019s covert war, codenamed Timber Sycamore, to allow direct U.S. arming and training. After tapping Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar to fund its arms pipeline for insurgents inside Syria, Obama\u2019s order allowed the CIA to directly furnish U.S.-made weapons. Just as with the regime change campaign in Libya, a key architect of this operation\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/02\/03\/us\/politics\/in-behind-scene-blows-and-triumphs-sense-of-clinton-future.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">was Hillary Clinton<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/trump-blasts-george-w-bush-for-9-11-comments-about-domestic-terrorists\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Trump Blasts George W. Bush For 9\/11 Comments About Domestic Terrorists<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Obama\u2019s upgraded proxy war in Syria proved to be \u201cone of the costliest covert action programs in the history of the C.I.A.,\u201d the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/08\/02\/world\/middleeast\/cia-syria-rebel-arm-train-trump.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00a0New York Times<\/a>\u00a0reported in 2017. Documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed a budget of nearly $1 billion per year, or around $1 of every $15 in CIA spending. The CIA armed and trained nearly 10,000 insurgents, spending \u201croughly $100,000 per year for every anti-Assad rebel who has gone through the program,\u201d U.S. officials\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/national-security\/lawmakers-move-to-curb-1-billion-cia-program-to-train-syrian-rebels\/2015\/06\/12\/b0f45a9e-1114-11e5-adec-e82f8395c032_story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told the Washington Post<\/a>\u00a0in 2015. Two years later,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/what-the-demise-of-the-cias-anti-assad-program-means\/2017\/07\/20\/f6467240-6d87-11e7-b9e2-2056e768a7e5_story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">one U.S. official estimated<\/a>\u00a0that CIA-funded militias \u201cmay have killed or wounded 100,000 Syrian soldiers and their allies over the past four years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But these militias were not just killing pro-Syrian government forces. As\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/05\/24\/magazine\/aleppo-after-the-fall.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the New York Times reported in April 2017<\/a>, US-backed insurgents carried out \u201csectarian mass murder.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One such act of mass murder came in August 2013, when the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army joined an al-Nusra and ISIS offensive on Alawite areas of Latakia. A\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/sites\/default\/files\/reports\/syria1013_ForUpload.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Human Rights Investigation<\/a>\u00a0found that the insurgents engaged in \u201cthe systematic killing of entire families,\u201d slaughtering a documented 190 civilians, including 57 women, 18 children, and 14 elderly men. In a video from the field, former Syrian army general Salim Idriss, head of the U.S.-backed Supreme Military Council (SMC), bragged that \u201cwe are cooperating to a great extent in this operation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Latakia massacres came four months after the U.S. ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/content\/pkg\/CHRG-113shrg86861\/html\/CHRG-113shrg86861.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hailed<\/a>\u00a0Idriss and his fighters as \u201cthe moderate and responsible elements of the armed opposition.\u201d The role of Idriss\u2019s forces in the slaughter did not cancel the administration\u2019s endorsement. In October, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/national-security\/cia-ramping-up-covert-training-program-for-moderate-syrian-rebels\/2013\/10\/02\/a0bba084-2af6-11e3-8ade-a1f23cda135e_story.html?utm_term=.de6bebf26283\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Washington Post revealed<\/a>\u00a0that the \u201cCIA is expanding a clandestine effort \u2026 aimed at shoring up the fighting power of units aligned with the Supreme Military Council, an umbrella organization led by [Idriss] that is the main recipient of U.S. support.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Officially, the upgraded CIA program barred direct support to al-Nusra or its allies in Syria. But once U.S. weapons arrived in Syria, the Obama administration recognized that it had no way of controlling their use \u2013 an apparent motive for waging the program covertly. \u201cWe needed plausible deniability in case the arms got into the hands of al-Nusra,\u201d a former senior administration official\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/10\/23\/world\/middleeast\/obamas-uncertain-path-amid-syria-bloodshed.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told the New York Times in 2013<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>One area where U.S. arms got into al-Nusra\u2019s hands was the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib. Al Qaeda leaders would ultimately control and \u2013 though the group disputes it \u2013 provide ISIS leaders sanctuary there. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/biden-tells-u-n-era-of-relentless-war-is-over-one-day-after-bombing-syria\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Biden Tells U.N. Era Of \u2018Relentless War\u2019 Is Over \u2013 One Day After Bombing Syria<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>\u2018Al-Qaeda\u2019s Largest Safe Haven Since 9\/11\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>In May 2015, an array of insurgent groups, dubbed the Jaish al-Fatah (\u201cArmy of Conquest\u201d) coalition, captured Idlib province from the Syrian government. The fight was led by al-Nusra, and showcased what Charles Lister, the D.C.-based analyst with contacts to insurgents in Syria, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/opinions\/why-assad-is-losing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dubbed<\/a>\u00a0\u201ca far improved level of coordination\u201d between rival militants, including the U.S.-backed FSA and multiple \u201cjihadist factions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Lister, the conquest of Idlib also revealed that the U.S. and its allies \u201cchanged their tune regarding coordination with Islamists.\u201d Citing multiple battlefield commanders, Lister reported that \u201cthe U.S.-led operations room in southern Turkey,\u201d which coordinated support to U.S.-backed insurgent groups, \u201cwas instrumental in facilitating their involvement in the operation\u201d led by al-Nusra. While the insurgents\u2019 U.S.-led command had previously opposed \u201cany direct coordination\u201d with jihadist groups, the Idlib offensive \u201cdemonstrated something different,\u201d Lister concluded: To capture the province, U.S. officials \u201cspecifically encouraged a closer cooperation with Islamists commanding frontline operations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The U.S.-approved battlefield cooperation in Idlib allowed al-Nusra fighters to directly benefit from U.S. weapons. Despite occasional flare-ups between them, al-Nusra was able to use U.S.-backed insurgent groups \u201cas force multipliers,\u201d the Institute for the Study of War, a prominent D.C. think tank,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.understandingwar.org\/sites\/default\/files\/ISWBackgrounder_Jenny_JN.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">observed when the battle began<\/a>. Insurgent military gains, Foreign Policy\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2015\/04\/28\/syrias-revitalized-rebels-make-big-gains-in-assads-heartland\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported in April 2015<\/a>, were achieved \u201cthanks in large part to suicide bombers and American anti-tank TOW missiles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The jihadist-led victory in Idlib quickly subjected its residents to sectarian terror. In June 2015, al-Nusra fighters\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-middle-east-33092902\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">massacred at least 20 members of the Druze faith<\/a>. Hundreds of villagers spared in the attack were forced to convert to Sunni Islam. Facing the same threats, nearly all of Idlib\u2019s remaining 1,200 Christians fled the province, leaving a Christian population that reportedly totals\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/01\/23\/world\/middleeast\/syria-christians-idlib.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">just three people<\/a>\u00a0today.<\/p>\n<p>In a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/08\/02\/world\/middleeast\/cia-syria-rebel-arm-train-trump.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2017 post-mortem<\/a>\u00a0on the Obama administration\u2019s covert war in Syria, the New York Times described the insurgents\u2019 conquest of Idlib as among the CIA program\u2019s \u201cperiods of success.\u201d This was certainly the case for Al Qaeda.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIdlib Province,\u201d Brett McGurk, the anti-ISIS envoy under Obama and Trump, and now Biden\u2019s top White House official for the Middle East,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/08\/13\/world\/middleeast\/idlib-syria-displaced-militants.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said in 2017<\/a>, \u201cis the largest Al Qaeda safe haven since 9\/11.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/families-of-9-11-victims-criticize-biden-for-calling-on-saudi-arabia-to-provide-more-oil\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Families of 9\/11 Victims Criticize Biden For Calling On Saudi Arabia To Provide More Oil<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>U.S. Allows ISIS Takeover<\/h3>\n<p>Al Qaeda is not the only sectarian death squad that managed to establish a safe haven in the chaos of the Syria proxy war. Starting in 2013, al-Nusra\u2019s sister-turned-rival group, ISIS, seized considerable territory of its own. As with Al Qaeda, ISIS\u2019 land-grab in Syria received a significant backdoor assist from Washington.<\/p>\n<p>Before Al Qaeda captured Idlib, the first ISIS stronghold in Syria, Raqqa, grew out of a similar alliance between U.S.-backed \u201cmoderate rebels\u201d and jihadis. After this coalition seized the city from the Syrian government in March 2013, ISIS took full control in November.<\/p>\n<p>When ISIS declared its caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq in June 2014, the U.S. launched an air campaign against the group\u2019s strongholds. But the Obama administration\u2019s anti-ISIS offensive contained a significant exception. In key areas where ISIS\u2019s advance could threaten the Assad regime, the U.S. watched it happen.<\/p>\n<p>In April 2015, just as al-Nusra was conquering Idlib, ISIS seized major parts of the Yarmouk refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus, marking what the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/04\/05\/world\/middleeast\/islamic-state-seizes-palestinian-refugee-camp-in-syria.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New York Times called<\/a>\u00a0the group\u2019s \u201cgreatest inroads yet\u201d into the Syrian capital.<\/p>\n<p>In the ancient city of Palmyra, the U.S. allowed an outright ISIS takeover. \u201c[A]s Islamic State closed in on Palmyra, the U.S.-led aerial coalition that has been pummeling Islamic State in Syria for the past 18 months took no action to prevent the extremists\u2019 advance toward the historic town \u2013 which, until then, had remained in the hands of the sorely overstretched Syrian security forces,\u201d the Los Angeles Times\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/world\/middleeast\/la-fg-syria-palmyra-obama-20160327-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported in March 2016<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=e4phB-_pXDM&#038;feature=emb_title\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a leaked conversation<\/a> with Syrian opposition activists months later, then-Secretary of State John Kerry explained the U.S. rationale for letting ISIS advance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaesh [ISIS] was threatening the possibility of going to Damascus and so forth,\u201d Kerry explained. \u201cAnd we know that this was growing. We were watching. We saw that Daesh was growing in strength, and we thought Assad was threatened. We thought, however, we could probably manage, that Assad would then negotiate\u201d his way out of power.<\/p>\n<p>In short, the U.S. was leveraging ISIS\u2019s growth to impose regime change on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/mahmoud-ahmadinejad-issues-more-forceful-condemnation-of-crackdown-on-freedom-convoy-than-some-republicans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Issues More Forceful Condemnation Of Crackdown On Freedom Convoy Than Some Republicans<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The U.S. strategy of \u201cwatching\u201d ISIS\u2019s advance in Syria, Kerry also admitted, directly caused Russia\u2019s 2015 entry into the conflict. The threat of an ISIS takeover, Kerry said, is \u201cwhy Russia went in. Because they didn\u2019t want a Daesh government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Russia\u2019s military intervention in Syria prevented the ISIS government in Damascus that Kerry and fellow Obama administration principals had been willing to risk. Pulverizing Russian airstrikes also dealt a fatal blow to the Al Qaeda-dominated insurgency that the Obama team had spent billions of dollars to support.<\/p>\n<h3>From U.S. Enemy to \u2018Asset\u2019 in Syria<\/h3>\n<p>With U.S.-backed fighters vanquished and one of their main champions, Hillary Clinton, defeated in the November 2016 election, the CIA operation in Syria met what\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/08\/02\/world\/middleeast\/cia-syria-rebel-arm-train-trump.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the New York Times called<\/a>\u00a0a \u201csudden death.\u201d After criticizing the proxy war in Syria on the campaign trail, President Trump shut down the Timber Sycamore program for good in July 2017.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt turns out it\u2019s \u2013 a lot of al-Qaeda we\u2019re giving these weapons to,\u201d Trump told\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2017\/08\/01\/trump-wall-street-journal-interview-full-transcript-241214\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Wall Street Journal that month.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>With the exit of the Obama-Biden team, the U.S. was no longer fighting on Al Qaeda\u2019s side. But that did not mean that the U.S. was prepared to confront the enemy that it had helped install in Idlib.<\/p>\n<p>While Trump put an end to the CIA proxy war, his efforts to further extricate the U.S. from Syria by withdrawing troops\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/off-the-rails-trump-military-withdraw-afghanistan-5717012a-d55d-4819-a79f-805d5eb3c6e2.html?deepdive=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">were thwarted by senior officials<\/a> who shared the preceding administration\u2019s regime change goals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen President Trump said \u2018I want everybody out of Syria,\u2019 the top brass at Pentagon and State had aneurysms,\u201d Christopher Miller, the Acting Secretary of Defense during Trump\u2019s last months in office, recalls.<\/p>\n<p>Jim Jeffrey, Trump\u2019s envoy for Syria, admitted to deceiving the president in order to keep in place \u201ca lot more than\u201d the 200 U.S. troops that Trump had reluctantly agreed to. \u201cWe were always playing shell games to not make clear to our leadership how many troops we had there,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defenseone.com\/threats\/2020\/11\/outgoing-syria-envoy-admits-hiding-us-troop-numbers-praises-trumps-mideast-record\/170012\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jeffrey told Defense One<\/a>. Those \u201cshell games\u201d have put U.S. soldiers in harm\u2019s way, including four servicemembers\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.military.com\/daily-news\/2022\/04\/08\/rocket-attack-injures-4-us-troops-syria.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recently wounded in a rocket attack<\/a>\u00a0on their base in northeastern Syria.<\/p>\n<p>While thwarting a full U.S. troop withdrawal, Jeffrey and other senior officials\u00a0have\u00a0also preserved the U.S. government\u2019s tacit alliance with Idlib\u2019s Al-Qaeda rulers.\u00a0Officially, al-Nusra remains on the U.S. terrorism list. Despite several name changes, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/2017-2021.state.gov\/amendments-to-the-terrorist-designations-of-al-nusrah-front\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/2017-2021.state.gov\/amendments-to-the-terrorist-designations-of-al-nusrah-front\/index.html&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1650406657449000&#038;usg=AOvVaw18FAET6WpGa-NQieRIAmu-\">State Department has dismissed its rebranding efforts<\/a>\u00a0as a \u201cvehicle to advance its position in the Syrian uprising and to further its own goals as an al-Qa\u2019ida affiliate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But in practice, as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wgbh\/frontline\/article\/abu-mohammad-al-jolani-interview-hayat-tahrir-al-sham-syria-al-qaeda\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wgbh\/frontline\/article\/abu-mohammad-al-jolani-interview-hayat-tahrir-al-sham-syria-al-qaeda\/&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1650406657449000&#038;usg=AOvVaw3eyMa28rVbw1kkI0JjSOfA\">Jeffrey explained last year<\/a>, the U.S. has treated Al-Nusra as \u201can asset\u201d to U.S. strategy in Syria. \u201cThey are the least bad option of the various options on Idlib, and Idlib is one of the most important places in Syria, which is one of the most important places right now in the Middle East,\u201d he said. Jeffrey also revealed that he had communicated with al-Nusra leader Mohammed al-Jolani via \u201cindirect channels.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeffrey\u2019s comments underscore a profound shift in the U.S. government\u2019s Middle East strategy as a result of the Syria proxy war: The Syrian branch of Al Qaeda, the terror group that attacked the U.S. on 9\/11, and which then became the target of a global war on terror aimed at destroying it, is no longer seen by powerful officials in Washington as an enemy, but an \u201casset.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/the-stain-of-afghanistan-will-stick-to-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Stain Of Afghanistan Will Stick To Biden<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Since retaking office under Biden, the Obama veterans who targeted Syria with one of the most expensive covert wars in history have deprioritized the war-torn nation. While pledging to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/abdullah-ii-antony-blinken-bashar-assad-damascus-lebanon-ffcf492a15c5b9363c9cf8e5c531ff54\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">maintain crippling sanctions<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2021\/07\/27\/troops-to-stay-in-syria-biden-500848\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">keep U.S. troops at multiple bases<\/a>, as well as announcing sporadic airstrikes, the White House has otherwise said little publicly about its Syria policy. The U.S. military raid that ended ISIS leader al-Qurayshi\u2019s life in February prompted the only Syria-focused speech of Biden\u2019s presidency.<\/p>\n<p>While Biden trumpeted the lethal operation, the fact that it occurred in Idlib underscores a contradiction that his administration has yet to address. By taking out an ISIS leader in Al Qaeda\u2019s Syria stronghold, the president and his top officials are now confronting threats from a terror safe haven that they helped create.<\/p>\n<p><em>Syndicated with permission from RealClearWire.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"disclaimer\">The opinions expressed by contributors and\/or content partners are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Political Insider.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Aaron Mat\u00e9 for RealClearInvestigations The road to Al Qaeda\u2019s control of the Syrian province of Idlib actually started hundreds of miles across the Mediterranean in Libya. In March 2011,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":489,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1448606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1448606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/489"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1448606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1448606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1448606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1448606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1448606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}