January 29,
2016 "Information
Clearing House"
- Robert Ford was US Ambassador to Syria when
the revolt against Syrian president Assad was
launched. He not only was a chief architect of
regime change in Syria, but actively worked with
rebels to aid their overthrow of the Syrian
government.
Ford assured us that those taking up arms to
overthrow the Syrian government were simply
moderates and democrats seeking to change Syria's
autocratic system. Anyone pointing out the obviously
Islamist extremist nature of the rebellion and the
foreign funding and backing for the jihadists was
written off as an Assad apologist or worse.
Ambassador Ford talked himself blue in the face
reassuring us that he was only supporting moderates
in Syria. As evidence mounted that the recipients of
the largesse doled out by Washington was going to
jihadist groups, Ford finally admitted early last
year that most of the moderates he backed were
fighting alongside ISIS and al-Qaeda. Witness
this incredible Twitter exchange with then-ex
Ambassador Ford:
Then late last year the McClatchy News Service ran
an
article in which Ambassador Ford admitted that
his "moderates" regularly collaborated with ISIS and
al-Qaeda to the point where he no longer thought the
US government should be arming them.
So those who pointed out that the rebellion in Syria
was foreign-driven and jihadist from the start were
no longer crazy conspiracy theorists, but were
rather conspiracy factists.
Did that stop Ford from pushing radicals, though?
Hardly!
As the Syria peace talks are scheduled to begin
within days in Geneva, with a main sticking point
being whether to admit groups that have allied with
al-Qaeda to the negotiating table as potential
leaders of "new Syria," it is extremely instructive
to recall what Ambassador Ford said about one such
group, Ahrar al-Sham, to a BBC interviewer last
October.
Ahrar al-Sham, according to experts including
those at Stanford University, "was founded by
members of Al Qaeda and maintains links to AQ’s core
leadership." The group vigorously rejects the notion
of an elected government in Syria after the
overthrow of Assad, instead
calling for:
...a
Divine system prescribed for his Caliph and
slaves… It is the system where the rule is for
the pure Islamic law. Allah’s law is complete,
and you need only consider the texts and derive
rules.
Ahrar al-Sham
has been
reported by Christian rights groups in Syria to
have executed Christians in Idlib, Syria, after they
captured the town last year. The Christians
committed the "crime" of not following Sharia law.
Sounds like a pretty bad group, but nevertheless it
still has its Western cheerleaders...including
Ambassador Robert Ford!
Here's Ford
in an interview with the BBC last October about
Ahrar al-Sham (emphasis added):
Stephen Sackur BBC: “Ok, let me ask
bluntly, Ahrar al Sham (The Free Men of Syria)
group, one of the most powerful groups you would
call “moderate”, is it really moderate when a
group like that proclaims its desire to see
Sharia as the driving force of a “future
Syria”.. which clearly makes comments which
suggest that Alawites and Christians would find
it very difficult to find a place in their
Syria…. Are these moderate?? You regard this as
moderation?”
Robert Ford: “This is how I
define as a moderate in the Syrian context,
Stephen; a moderate is a group that accepts
there has to be a political negotiation and
there has to be a political process after a
transition government is set up.. a political
process to determine the future permanent
government of Syria.. That there must be
pluralism in that process… and it’s one that
works with other groups/ factions in a
pluralistic setting… I don’t agree at
all with Ahrar al Sham’s desires to set up an
Islamic State (in Syria).. but I have to admit
that they accept the needs to be a political
negotiation.. I have to admit they’re
willing to work with other groups and they do on
the ground with great effect…This is one of the
reasons, they’re strong as they are, as you
mentioned… It’s not a group I ever want my
daughter to marry into… I don’t agree with their
vision of society…but I would not call
them Jihadis, they’re not looking to
impose an Islamic State at sword point…
Different, they’re therefore, from alQaida…
Different therefore from the Islamic State..And
they’re willing to accept even such things as
Parliament…and some kind of government
institutions… So, yes they want Sharia
… but the kind of Sharia they want may in fact,
in the end, not look like the kind of Sharia the
“Islamic State” already imposing over most of
central and Eastern of Syria…”
Is it any
surprise that Syria is in the current disastrous
state, where hundreds of thousands have died in a
war instigated by those who knew from the beginning
would only benefit radical Islamist extremists? Is
there no justice for those who push such murder and
mayhem on such a grand scale? Today, as civilized
people recognize International
Holocaust Remembrance Day, is Nuremberg dead?
Daniel
McAdams Daniel served as the foreign affairs, civil
liberties, and defense policy advisor to U.S.
Congressman Ron Paul, MD (R-Texas) from 2001 until
Dr. Paul’s retirement. From 1993-1999 he worked as a
journalist based in Budapest, Hungary, and traveled
through the former communist bloc as a human rights
monitor and election observer.
Copyright ©
2016 by
RonPaul Institute.