by Stephen Lendman

Syria's conflict began in March 2011. Resolving it remains elusive. Previous articles explained it's Washington's war. It was planned years ago.

It's about advancing America's imperium. There's nothing civil about it. It's about toppling another independent government. They're not tolerated. Washington wants pro-Western puppet ones replacing them.

War rages. Tens of thousands died. Dozens more do daily. Obama remains unaccountable. His hands are blood-drenched. He's a war criminal multiple times over. He thrives on death and destruction.

Western-sponsored death squads invaded Syria. Assad's wrongfully blamed for their crimes. He's battling to save his country. He doing so responsibly.

He's doing what every leader would do. Defeating foreign invaders matters most. The vast majority of Syrians support him. He's their last line of defense.

He achieved impressive gains. He's routing foreign terrorists. Monday news reports said Syrian forces gained full control over Homs district. It's an important strategic victory. It's Syria's third largest city.

Insurgents call it "the capital of the revolution." It's a key central western city close to northern Lebanon. It links Damascus to the sea.

Victory came a day after Syrian forces captured the historic Khalid Bin al-Walid mosque. It's in Homs' Khaldiyeh neighborhood. It dates from the 13th century. Insurgents controlled it for over a year. Heavy fighting caused extensive damage.

Khaldiyeh's population once numbered about 80,000. Several thousand at most remain. Months of conflict took its toll. Many died. Others fled.

On July 29, Mossad-connected DEBKAfile (DF) headlined "Syrian army and Hizbollah capture Homs - opening way to (full control of Aleppo) and decisive Assad victory."

Syrian forces continue to pound insurgent positions. Many flee to escape death or capture.

Israel's nonplussed. According to DF, "Washington, Jerusalem and Ankara have run out of time for quibbling whether to step into the Syrian conflict. The critical decision facing them now is whether to" get involved or keep "stand(ing) aside."

Obama "must now decide very quickly whether Assad and his Russian and Iranian backers should be allowed to win the Syrian 'civil' war or" jump in to stop him.

The battle for Syria continues. The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said Assad's forces "continued hunting terrorists in Homs and its countryside and inflicted heavy losses upon them."

"An official source in the province told SANA that the army units have achieved new progress in al-Khalidiyeh neighborhood and destroyed a number of terrorists' dens, in addition to killing and injuring scores of them."

Syrian forces "destroyed a number of terrorists' dens and gatherings along with the weapons and ammunition inside them in al-Hamidiyeh, Jouret al-Shayah, al-Qusour and Bab Houd neighborhoods in Homs and in al-Dar al-Kabeira, al-Ghanto and al-Mashajar al-Janoubi in Talbisa and in al-Rastan city."

SANA discussed other important Syrian gains. They repeat with impressive regularity. Aleppo area terrorists were routed. Many were killed. Their weapons were captured or destroyed.

Army units "carried out operations against terrorists' dens and gatherings in the eastern Ghouta in Damascus Countryside, killing and injuring several terrorists, in addition to regaining control over a number of buildings in al-Qaboun neighborhood in the city."

Terrorists affiliated with "Tahrir al-Sham Brigade" in eastern Ghouta were killed. Others attacking Daraa military checkpoints were repelled. They suffered heavy losses.

"Non-Syrian terrorists (were) killed in Lattakia countryside." Others "suffer(ed) heavy losses in Idleb." More were routed in Hama.

Victories haven't turned the tide. Ending conflict matters most. Washington didn't start things to quit. Balkan wars persisted throughout the 1990s. Years more fighting could affect Syria.

Peace talks are illusory. Last year's Geneva conference failed. Plans for Geneva II won't fare better. Syria has no Western peace partner.

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Washington's subverting conflict resolution efforts. Attacks on Syrian forces are planned. Doing so contravenes peace attempts. Obama pretends support. His actions speak louder than words.

He's armed terrorist fighters all along. He's sending more weapons. Doing so furthers conflict. Peace remains elusive. It's illusory. Washington prioritizes war. Proxy death squads wage it.

Plans suggest greater US involvement. Doing so means full-scale war. Another regional charnel house looms. Libya 2.0 assures one. America's legacy reflects unconscionable mass killing and destruction.

Post-9/11 alone, millions died. Many more were injured or displaced. America wants the entire region redrawn. Millions of deaths are a small price to pay.

Washington-controlled NATO bears full responsibility. Israel shares its own. Voice of Russia's John Robles said "NATO and the West have an agenda, and that agenda is complete and total military domination of the world."

"No matter that the Cold War has long been over, and the West and NATO's beloved reason for expansion, the 'evil specter' of Communism in Europe, has been relegated to the pages of history, the US and its NATO allies need phantoms and demons, rogue nations and terrorists, evil aggressors and vicious invaders to justify their own existence and, even more so, to justify their own endless aggressive expansion and disguise the fact that such a global expansion is illegal and in fact a plan aimed at the domination of the world by one power."

"The US and the Western military industrial complex are not interested in peace."

Fake terrorist threats fuel its war priorities. They're pretexts for Washington's plan to rule the world.

With NATO partners and Israel, it's waging war "against peaceful countries." They're nonbelligerent. They threaten no one.

Washington's aggression may destroy humanity in the process. The "single biggest threat to peace" today isn't Syria, Iran or North Korea.

It's US-led NATO's global ambitions. Overreach may destroy the world to dominate it.

Former Congressman Ron Paul thinks Obama's Syria policy resembles Bush on Iraq. Rhetoric is familiar, he said. He's seen it before, saying:

"Because of this use of gas, the president claimed, Syria had crossed his 'red line' and the US must begin to arm the rebels fighting to overthrow the Syrian government."

A previous report said Obama decided much earlier. He did so "when the intelligence community did not believe 'with high confidence' that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons."

"Further, this plan to transfer weapons to the Syrian rebels had become policy much earlier than that, as the Washington Post reported that the CIA had expanded over the past year its secret bases in Jordan to prepare for the transfer of weapons to the rebels in Syria."

"The process (today is) identical to the massive deception campaign that led us into the Iraq war."

Like Bush/Cheney & Co., Obama "fix(es) the intelligence and facts" to fit policy.

"And Congress just goes along, just as they did the last time."

History does more than repeat. It prioritizes mass slaughter and destruction.

According to Senator Rand Paul, "Americans would probably be surprised to learn that their government was arming affiliates of Al Qaeda" and other anti-Syrian extremists.

They're Washington's most effective fighting force. Obama wants them more heavily armed. Congress is AWOL.

Proper oversight's absent. "(I)f the Constitution still matters, the president needs (congressional) authorization to arm these rebels." He lacks it.

He's secretly supplying weapons. Doing so is "complicated and dangerous."

"If the United States wants to choose a side in Syria, there is no clear moral choice. More important, there is no clear US national interest in Syria."

"That is why I have introduced bipartisan legislation along with Sens. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) that would prohibit the president from providing military aid to the Syrian rebels without congressional consent."

"The United States should never get involved where we have no clear national interest."

"We should not intervene militarily in a country like Syria, where we can’t separate friend from foe and might end up arming the very people who hate us the most."

America's a warrior nation. War is permanent policy. Peace is deplored. Global domination matters most. Independent countries are targeted. Conflicts persists without end.

When wars become the national pastime, catastrophic outcomes are certain.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com

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