U.S. Intervention in Syria is Illegal, Immoral and Indefensible —
But to Understand Why, You Have to Dig Past the Mainstream Media Consensus

Rich Whitney
Jul 20, 2017 · 9 min read

In May of this year, U.S. and allied forces dropped or fired over 4,300 bombs and missiles in Syria and Iraq. At least 350 and maybe as many as 1,327 civilians were killed. Our nation has been bombing Syria for nearly three years and we now have “military advisers” setting up bases inside the country. The number of strikes and civilian casualties has been steadily growing.

The official story and the mainstream media consensus is that our government’s intervention in that country is justified because it is in support of Syrian people trying to overthrow another monstrous dictator who uses chemical weapons on his own people — you know, like Saddam Hussein in Iraq and Muammar Qaddafi in Libya had to be overthrown, which we all know turned out so well — and because we are also fighting ISIS there.

The mainstream media’s narrative is wrong in every respect, but so tight is its stranglehold on the story that even Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh — who exposed the My Lai massacre and the Abu Ghraib torture scandal — can’t even get published in the U.S. or interviewed by any mainstream source! See: https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/06/30/after-hersh-investigation-media-connive-in-propaganda-war-on-syria/

The reality is that the U.S. has attacked a sovereign country, not supported an indigenous rebellion against a dictator. It played a major role in starting the insurrection in the first place, in brazen violation of international law. In its drive to force the Assad government from power, it now openly supports a branch of Al Qaeda — the very group that our government was supposedly trying to wipe out in the so-called “war on terror.” There is also considerable evidence that the invasion and occupation of Iraq, U.S. attacks on Libya, and then Syria, all contributed to the rise of ISIS.

Syria never attacked, or threatened to attack, the United States. Congress never declared war on Syria. Yet our government continues to spend billions of our tax dollars murdering people in another country, violating international law, inflicting misery on millions of people, creating the worst refugee and humanitarian crisis since World War II — and creating more sympathy for terrorists in the process. When governments rain terror from the skies, some people will inevitably be motivated to return the favor with car bombs, truck attacks and mass shootings.

Our government’s intervention in Syria does serve the interests of Big Oil and the War Machine but it does not serve the security interests or any interests of the American people, and it certainly does not serve the interests of the people of Syria, the Middle East, Europe or anywhere else.

But to get more people motivated to challenge our government’s obscene policy, it is first necessary to counter the mainstream media’s and the national security state’s dominant narrative and rationale, and reveal the monstrous truth about what it is doing and why it is doing it. Toward that end, I have begun to assemble this working guide of good educational source materials from great independent journalists, bloggers, commentators, experts on international law and more. This is a work in progress and I welcome suggestions for additional articles and source materials. I hope to update this Syria Resources Guide periodically. Meanwhile, start to get educated, share this and the individual resources with friends — and help us build a powerful peace movement in this country!

Good General/Introductory Material:

http://www.alternet.org/grayzoneproject/

https://consortiumnews.com/ (Award-winning journalist Robert Parry and others of his caliber write for Consortium News. This is an indispensable source for real incisive journalism.)

https://www.counterpunch.org/

https://airwars.org/ (This is a good source for getting the basic data on civilian casualties from international airstrikes in Iraq, Syria and Libya.)

A Closer Look at Syria: http://acloserlookonsyria.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Main_Page (This is a very good basic ongoing chronicle of events, with links to sources. The authors also have a sub-page devoted to events in Ukraine.)

Rania Khalek, How U.S. Support for Syrian Rebels Drove the Refugee Crisis That Trump Has Capitalized On, 3/1/17
http://www.alternet.org/grayzone-project/us-support-syrian-rebels-drove-refugee-crisis

1. Origins of the War and the U.S. Role in Inciting It/Scope of U.S. Intervention
Thesis: The war in Syria is not and was not a “civil war.” It was, from the beginning, primarily an attack on Syria by surrogate forces, the vast majority of whom came from outside the country, armed, trained and supplied by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other nations seeking to overthrow the Assad government.

Gareth Porter, How America Armed Terrorists in Syria, Consortium News, June 23, 2017
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/06/23/how-america-armed-terrorists-in-syria/

Stephen Gowans, The Revolutionary Distemper in Syria That Wasn’t. U.S.-NATO Sponsored Al Qaeda Insurgency Since the Outset in March 2011, Global Research, 1022/16
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-revolutionary-distemper-in-syria-that-wasnt-us-nato-sponsored-al-qaeda-insurgency-since-the-outset-in-march-2011/5552358

David S. Cloud and Raja Abdulrahim, U.S. has secretly provided arms training to Syria rebels since 2012, Los Angeles Times, June 21, 2013
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/21/world/la-fg-cia-syria-20130622

2. Who are the “rebels”? U.S. Support for Al Qaeda
Thesis: The so-called “moderate rebels” that the U.S. is supposedly supporting in Syria are not “moderate” and the “Free Syrian Army” is practically non-existent. The principal recipients of U.S. assistance have been Al-Nusra and other affiliates of Al Qaeda.

Porter, 6/23/17 op cit.

Khalek, 3/1/17, op cit.

Tyler Durden, “America Is On Our Side”: Al-Nusra Commander Tells German Press US Is Arming Jihadists, Zero Hedge, 9/26/16
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-09-26/america-our-side-al-nusra-commander-tells-german-press-us-arming-jihadists

Gareth Porter, Reporting (or Not) the Ties Between US-Armed Syrian Rebels and Al Qaeda’s Affiliate, FAIR, March 21, 2016
http://fair.org/home/reporting-or-not-the-ties-between-us-armed-syrian-rebels-and-al-qaedas-affiliate/

3. U.S. Role in Rise of ISIS
Thesis: ISIS is a product of the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Libya, U.S. policy in the aftermath of both invasions, including oppression and use of torture in Iraq, and U.S. intervention in Syria. There is at least some evidence that the U.S. encouraged and/or supported the rise of ISIS in Syria in order to further its goal of overthrowing the Assad government.

Khalek, 3/1/17, op cit.

David Mizner, How the U.S. Helped ISIS, Jacobin Magazine, 6/1/15
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/06/isis-syria-assad-iraq-benghazi/

Brad Hoff, Rise of Islamic State was ‘a willful decision’: Former DIA Chief Michael Flynn, Foreign Policy Journal, Aug 7, 2015
https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2015/08/07/rise-of-islamic-state-was-a-willful-decision-former-dia-chief-michael-flynn/

Ben Norton, Leaked Hillary Clinton emails show U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar supported ISIS, Salon.com, Oct 11, 2016
http://www.salon.com/2016/10/11/leaked-hillary-clinton-emails-show-u-s-allies-saudi-arabia-and-qatar-supported-isis/

Patrick Cockburn, We finally know what Hillary Clinton knew all along — US allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar are funding Isis, The Independent, 10/14/16
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/hillary-clinton-wikileaks-email-isis-saudi-arabia-qatar-us-allies-funding-barack-obama-knew-all-a7362071.html

4. International Law Violations
Thesis: U.S. support for insurrection in, and direct military intervention in, Syria, is in brazen violation of settled international law, including the U.N. Charter and the Nuremberg Principles, and violates our own Constitution. It was an impeachable offense when authorized by President Obama and is an impeachable offense when authorized by President Trump.

Marjorie Cohn, Trump’s Syria Attack Trampled Many Laws, Consortium News, April 11, 2017
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/11/trumps-syria-attack-trampled-many-laws/

Paul Findley, Obama Has No Authority To Attack Syria, Real News Network, 9/8/13
http://therealnews.com/t2/component/content/article/264-paul-findley/1736-obama-has-no-authority-to-attack-syria

Margot Patterson, How the U.S. violates international law in plain sight, America, The Jesuit Review, October 12, 2016
https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2016/10/12/how-us-violates-international-law-plain-sight

O’Connell, Mary Ellen (2012), “Adhering to Law and Values Against Terrorism”, Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law; Vol. 2, Iss. 2, Article 6

http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=ndjicl

Dennis J Bernstein, A Baseless Justification for War in Syria, Consortium News, June 25, 2017
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/06/25/a-baseless-justification-for-war-in-syria/

5. The Poison Gas Attacks and other U.S. Mainstream Media Disinformation
Thesis: Neither the 2013 nor the 2017 highly publicized poison gas attacks in Syria were perpetrated by the Assad government, but were “false flag” attacks, intended to inflame public opinion and justify U.S. military intervention. More generally, most of the mainstream news media in the U.S. has been propagating disinformation about the Syrian government in support of current U.S. policy favoring “regime change.”

A. The 2013 Gas Attack

Patrick Cockburn, Rogue game in Syria: Claims Ankara worked with US and UK to smuggle Gaddafi’s weapons to jihadi fighters, and Jabhat al-Nusra aided by Turkish intelligence in sarin gas attacks, Belfast Telegraph, April 14, 2014
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/cia-mi6-and-turkeys-rogue-game-in-syria-claims-ankara-worked-with-us-and-uk-to-smuggle-gaddafis-weapons-to-jihadi-fighters-and-jabhat-alnusra-were-aided-by-turkish-intelligence-in-sarin-gas-attacks-30183069.html

Seymour M. Hersh, The Red Line and the Rat Line, London Review of Books, April 17, 2014
https://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n08/seymour-m-hersh/the-red-line-and-the-rat-line

Robert Parry, NYT Retreats on 2013 Syria-Sarin Claims, Consortium News, April 6, 2017

https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/06/nyt-retreats-on-2013-syria-sarin-claims/

Matthew Schofield, New analysis of rocket used in Syria chemical attack undercuts U.S. claims, McClatchy News Service, 1/15/14

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/article24761710.html#storylink=cpy

B. The 2017 Gas Attack

Ken Klippenstein, Exclusive: Seymour Hersh Dishes on New Exposé Upending the Official Story About Trump and Syrian Chemical Attacks, Alternet, June 28, 2017
http://www.alternet.org/grayzone-project/seymour-hersh-syria-bombshell

Seymour Hersh, Trump’s Red Line, Die Welt, 6/25/17
https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article165905578/Trump-s-Red-Line.html

Scott Ritter, Pursuing Hard Truths in Syria, Consortium News, 7/2/17
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/07/02/pursuing-hard-truths-in-syria/

Col. Patrick Lang (Ret.), Former DIA Colonel: “US strikes on Syria based on a lie”, Intel Today, April 7, 2017
https://gosint.wordpress.com/2017/04/07/former-dia-colonel-us-strikes-on-a-syria-based-on-a-lie/#more-3691

Fellowship of the Minds, 3 reasons why the latest Syrian chemical attack attributed to Assad is a false flag, 4/7/17
https://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2017/04/07/3-reasons-why-the-latest-syrian-chemical-attack-was-a-false-flag/

Robert Barsocchini, Addendum to Dr. Theodore Postol’s Assessment of the White House Report on Syria Chemical Attack, Washingtons Blog, April 13, 2017
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2017/04/addendum-dr-theodore-postols-assessment-white-house-report-syria-chemical-attack.html

C. Other Media Disinformation and Bias

Rick Sterling, The Caesar Photo Fraud that Undermined Syrian Negotiations, Counterpunch, March 4, 2016
https://www.counterpunch.org/2016/03/04/the-caesar-photo-fraud-that-undermined-syrian-negotiations/

Ben Norton, A Tale of Two Syrian Cities Under Attack Exposes Western Media’s Pro-War Hypocrisy, Alternet, April 24, 2017
http://www.alternet.org/grayzone-project/rashidin-bus-bombing-khan-sheikhoun-chemical-attack-syria-media

Caity Johnstone, Twitter Is Using Account Verification To Stifle Leaks And Promote War Propaganda, Blog Post, July 14, 2017
https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/twitter-is-using-account-verification-to-stifle-leaks-and-promote-war-propaganda-8135c806197

6. The White Helmets
Thesis: The “White Helmets” are not a neutral, unbiased Syrian civic organization, but are funded by the U.S. and U.K. and engage in disinformation and propaganda in support of current U.S. policy favoring “regime change.”

Klippenstein, 6/28/17 op cit.

Ben Norton & Max Blumenthal, Yet Another Video Shows U.S.-Funded White Helmets Assisting Public Executions in Rebel-Held Syria, Alternet, April 24, 2017
http://www.alternet.org/grayzone-project/white-helmets-assisting-public-executions-rebel-held-syria

Fellowship of the Minds, 4/7/17, op cit.

7. The Real Motives for U.S. Intervention
Thesis: The real motives for U.S. intervention in Syria are to further achieve dominance in the Middle East along with its allies, Saudi Arabia and Israel, to control sources of oil, and to build a natural gas pipeline across Syria, a goal opposed by the Assad government.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Why the Arabs Don’t Want Us in Syria, Politico, Feb. 22, 2016
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/02/rfk-jr-why-arabs-don’t-trust-america-213601

8. Organizations Opposing the War

Yes, my friends, there really is a peace movement in this country. Gee, for some reason it doesn’t seem to get a lot of media coverage, though!

Hands Off Syria Coalition: https://handsoffsyriacoalition.net/

United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC): https://www.unacpeace.org/

Green Party of the United States: http://www.gp.org/ and Illinois Green Party: http://www.ilgp.org/. The Green Party is committed to the cause of peace and nonviolence as one of its core principles (the Four Pillars of non-violence, ecological wisdom, social justice and grassroots democracy). When you vote Green, you are not only voting for peace, you are voting for the one party that aims to transform the socio-economic foundation of society and dismantle the military-industrial complex, national security state, fossil-fuel-based energy infrastructure and the other institutional causes of war. Our party refuses corporate money, and our candidates are not for sale!

Rich Whitney is an attorney, actor, disk jockey, humorist, political commentator, environmental activist, peace activist, supporter of sustainable transportation, Illinois Green Party activist and officer, former Green Party candidate for governor. He also supports democracy and would like to see its establishment in the United States.

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Rich Whitney

Written by

Rich Whitney is an attorney, disk jockey, environmental and peace activist, and co-chair of the Illinois Green Party, residing in Carbondale, Illinois.

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