by Stephen Lendman

It’s been coming for a long time - facilitated by repeated Big Lies about Bashar al-Assad, ignoring his overwhelming public support, especially for defending Syria responsibly against imported Islamic State and other takfiri terrorists, enlisted by Washington as foot soldiers to topple his government.

Obama upped the stakes a year ago by authorizing the bombing of Syrian infrastructure targets, a bandit diktat without Security Council or congressional authorization - on the phony pretext of fighting IS.

Now in collaboration with Turkey, plans are to establish illegal buffer and no-fly zones in northern Syria bordering southeastern Turkey. Its airbases are being used to bomb Syrian sites - again on the phony pretext of fighting IS. Belligerent comments from Washington suggest full-scale war may be imminent.

Deputy State Department spokesman Mark Toner lied saying Washington seeks a political solution to Obama’s war. It “cannot include President Assad,” he added. A litany of Big Lies followed:

Toner: “The Assad regime has carried out brutal attacks on the civilian population of Syria.”

Fact: Syrian military forces defend the civilian population against US enlisted death squad invaders.

Toner: Assad “had been instrumental in creating the kind of lawless area to the north where ISIL has been able to” get control.

Fact: Blaming victims is longstanding US policy. Washington, rogue NATO partners, Israel and other regional allies bear full responsibility for nearly four-and-a-half years of conflict in Syria.

Toner: “(W)e’re trying to dislodge (IS), destroy it, defeat it.”

Fact: IS is a US creation - a proxy death squad force to do Washington’s killing for it on the ground wherever it’s deployed.

Toner: Iran is excluded from efforts to resolve Syria’s conflict diplomatically as “long as it supports Assad.”

Fact: Tehran supports his legitimate right of self-defense. UN/Arab League envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura believes Iran’s involvement is essential to have any hope for resolution.

Toner: “The Assad regime, frankly, is the root of all evil here. It has created conditions in which we find ourselves.”

Fact: Truth is polar opposite. This comment and numerous others like it show Obama’s war will continue until Assad is toppled, assuring Syria will be more greatly ravaged and destroyed than already.

All signs point to Obama intending to use US warplanes extrajudicially (with no Security Council or congressional authorization) against Syria’s military, strategic sites, as well as perhaps Damascus and other cities - putting civilians more in harm’s way than already.

Libya 2.0 may be imminent - maybe launched while Congress is on summer break, political focus is on the 2016 presidential race, and many Americans are enjoying summer activities.

Reports indicate Turkish military forces are deployed near Syria’s border. Washington warned Assad against attacking so-called moderate rebels or face a direct US response.

No moderate elements exist. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said “(f)or us…there is no moderate opposition and immoderate opposition. Whoever carries weapons against the state is a terrorist.”

All other countries operate by the same standard. They’d act no differently from Syria in defending their territory against foreign invaders. It’s a fundamental obligation.

Assad responsibly defending Syria and its population from US enlisted IS and other terrorists may now become pretext for Obama initiating full-scale war - perhaps jointly with Turkey and other NATO partners.

Another Libya-type conflict looms - perhaps planned all along because imported terrorists can’t topple Assad on their own. They’re no match against Syria’s superior military in head-to-head fighting.

With full-scale US war perhaps imminent, the fate of another regional country hangs in the balance.

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

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

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

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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