Baladi News – (Hossam Mohammed – Hiba Mohammed)
When they heard about the establishment of an international coalition, led by the United States, against terrorism in Syria, Syrians felt optimistic that this would put an end to their sufferings, and that Assad would be submitted to the international court of justice after committing the most heinous crimes against people just because they demanded change. However, the destructive missiles of the coalition reflected that Assad is not listed in the black list at all, and that his terrorism is a benign one and does not constitute a problem for the west.
The international coalition raised the slogans of “fighting terrorism”, which put into action using smart and destructive missiles that takes more lives of civilians under the pretext of fighting ISIS.
Since the coalition started its operations, consecutive massacres have been committed against Syrian civilians interchangeably by the coalition, Russia, and the regime in several Syrian governorates.
The coalition itself did not hesitate in the formation, armament, and support of Kurdish and other militias in order to place them in the areas evacuated by ISIS in order to cause a social fracture in the Syrian social fabric in the course of demographic change process, which would cause hostilities among the ingredients of Syrian people and consequently, a lot of blood would be shed.
Syrian journalist, Ahmad Assi, told Baladi News that “all the parties involved in the Syrian conflict have agreed to target civilians using many pretexts, and particularly fighting terrorism.”
He added that “the coalition, since in entered Syria, has killed hundreds of civilians. Assuming that the coalition is targeting terrorists, it ought to avoid civilians. Women and children are not to blame in all that is happening, and so far, we have witnessed repeated bombardments against villages, residential areas, and even refugee camps by the international coalition air forces.”
One of the most prominent media activists in Aleppo city and countryside, Majed Abdel Nour, thinks that the international coalition has supported the factions that suit it best with money and weapons in return of making a tangible change on the ground for the interests of major powers, indicating that violations have been committed by these factions against civilians in all the areas where they were created.
The activist believes that the international coalition, through its acts and massacres, consolidated terrorism in its ugliest forms. Although it claims that its presence aims at uprooting terrorism, its words do not match its actions. “had the coalition truly come to fight terrorism, we would have seen Assad being persecuted at the international criminal court rather than being promoted again.”
Dissident major from the regime forces, Mohammed Abu Bahjat, indicated in a phone call with Baladi News that the west in general, and the United States in particular, define and fight terrorism in a way that is harmonized with their goals and interests only.
He added that “we have witnessed this equation clearly in Syria for months. The international coalition, led by the United States, does not want to take the terrifying crimes and violations of Assad into consideration, neither does it regard them crimes at all. Actually, Assad does what these states want and achieve the goals for which they came to Syria.”
The major emphasized that terrorism must be fought in whole, not selectively. However, the coalition deemed killing Syrians permissible under the pretext of fighting ISIS. He also considered that the coalition commits more horrible crimes than ISIS today.
In this context, the international coalition for “fighting terrorism” committed a shocking massacre during the past few hours, killing over 150 Syrian civilians, including women and children, in Aleppo countryside in dozens of airstrikes against ISIS-controlled areas in Manbij and Jarablus and their outskirts.
Syrian opposing writer, Fawaz Tello, told Baladi News that what is happening in Syria is not a fight against terrorism, but a support for another type of terrorism under the command of the American coalition that conducts airstrikes in the north to provide coverage for the Kurdish militias that also have miscellaneous loyalties to Russia and Iran, meanwhile Russia and Iran attack other areas.
Tello considered the support of other types of terrorism a terrorism too, as it serves to displace Sunni Arabs in Syria and Iraq under the pretext of fighting ISIS with the assistance of west-supported sectarian Iraqi militias. Had they been serious about fighting terrorism, they should have intered into a partnership with the Sunni Arabs in Syria and Iraq in Tello’s opinion.
Mohammed Darkoushi, a Syrian poet and writer, said to Baladi News, “The secret societies and organizations governing the world behind the façade of democracy fabricate and promote an enemy to justify causing conflicts in many areas in the world, including Africa and the Middle East, and they also support despots and dictators in these countries in order to maintain them as markets for selling their weapons.”
The writer considered that “al-Qaeda and Khomeini regime were created by the west to cause tensions and chaos, as there is nothing better than investing in blood shedding. The international coalition does not aim at fighting terrorism, because if you want to fight terrorism, you should deal with its roots, including social and political injustice practiced by people like Bashar al-Assad against Syrians and states like Israel against Palestinians.”
The writer added, “The international coalition does not want to fight terrorism. Had it really wanted to fight it, it would not have supported the sectarian Popular Mobilization Forces. Supporting such militias aims at creating a historical hostility between the Sunnis and Shiites. The coalition wants to generalize the Iraqi experience (sectarian infighting) all around the region, in order to create sectarian cantons and establish Israel as the strongest among them.”