Delivering his traditional Christmas day homily to the faithful in the Vatican’s St. Peters Square, 79-year-old Pope Francis condemned “brutal acts of terrorism” in Paris and elsewhere around the world. Praying that the “monstrous evil” that’s killed thousands and displaced millions of Syrians, fueling the biggest immigration crisis since WWII, Pope Francis asked for God’s help. “Only God’s mercy can free humanity from the many forms of evil, at times monstrous evil, which selfishness spawns in our midst,” Pope Francis told worshipers under unusually heavy security in St. Peters Square. God’s mercy hasn’t yet stopped the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS] from its four-year killing binge, wreaking havoc in the Holy Land. Defeating ISIS and ending the Mideast east massacres can only come from a clear recognition of what’s fueling what looks like as nearly five-year-old Syria civil war.
Syria’s so-called “civil war” started March 11, 2011 in the height of the Arab Spring, where rebel groups rose up against traditional Mideast dictators like Tunisia’s Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Dec. 18, 2010, Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak Feb. 11, 2011 and Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi Aug. 23, 2011. U.S. officials accepted the Arab Spring without paying attention to the Saudi backed proxy war supporting radical Wahhabi groups around the Middle East. President Barack Obama to this day doesn’t admit that a determined Saudi-funded proxy war accounts for most of the “civil war” against Shiite Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. White House officials have stubbornly rubber-stamped the Saudi proxy war, insisting on regime change in Damascus, despite alienating Russia and Iran. Playing up on lingering Cold War fears and antipathy over the Iranian Revolution, Obama backs the Saudi proxy war.
Friday’s confirmed death from Russian air strikes in East Damascus of 44-year-old Jahran Alloush, head of the Saudi-funded Jaish al-Islam rebel group, proves, beyond all doubt, that the Syrian “civil war” is a Saudi-funded proxy war to topple al-Assad. Alloush’s death “stands as one of the most significant opposition losses” of the nearly five-year Syrian uprising,” Mideast expert Charles Lister. Confirming Alloush’s death, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Alloush and five other commanders were killed “in an air strike that targeted one of their meeting in Eastern Ghouta,” proving that the Obama administration’s Syrian narative was false. White House officials denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin for launching air-strikes Oct. 30 against Syrian opposition groups. Obama insists that Moscow should only target ISIS, not so-called moderate opposition groups.
Secretary of State John Kerry only recently agreed in Moscow Dec. 16 that the U.S. no longer sought regime change in Damascus, despite battling Moscow on the issue, driving U.S.-Russian relations to a post-Cold War low. Obama and Kerry’s late-night change-of-heart on al-Assad comes from Russia’s steely resolve to let the Syrian people decide the fate of their government. While backed by Russia and Iran, Damascus has battled numerous radical Wahhabi groups, including al-Qaeda’s al-Nusra Front and ISIS, all insisting on regime change in Damascus. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, hosting a Syrian opposition conference in Riyadh Dec. 10-12, insisted that al-Assad must go. Obama and Kerry have only recently admitted that U.S. foreign policy aligned itself with ISIS and al-Qaeda seeking to remove al-Assad’s Russian and Iranian-backed government.
Whatever ultimately happens in Damascus, backing off regime change has opened the door to more U.S.-Russian cooperation. Picking the good-guys and bad-guys in Syria hasn’t been easy, especially admitting that what looks like civil war is actually a carefully planned-and-funded Saudi proxy war. Alloush’s death, heading Syria’s National Coalition, proves what Moscow has been saying all along that Saudi-funded terror groups have been pressing for al-Assad’s removal. Before Kerry met with Putin Dec. 16 agreeing to take al-Assad’s fate off the table, the White House considered Alloush’s group a key part of the Syrian opposition. Alloush’s group Jaish al-Islam backs replacing Damascus with an Islamic state consistent with Wahhabi requirements demanding strict Sharia law, much like ISIS and al-Qaeda. Alloush’s death, from Russian air strikes, deals new blow to the Saudi-backed opposition.
Calling for an end to Syria’s “civil war,” the Pope should address his humble request to The Kingdom that shows no signs of letting up its proxy war against al-Assad. U.S. officials need to stop blaming Russian and Iran for backing their ally al-Assad and get U.S. policy aligned away from ISIS and al-Qaeda. Allowing Riyadh to dictate U.S. Syrian policy has inadvertently fueled ISIS and al-Qaeda in the region, ignoring the Saudi-funded proxy war that seeks to establish an Islamic state in Damascus. Alloush’s death, heading up Syria’s opposition National Coalition, fully exposes the real story behind Syria’s “civil war.” U.N. officials, especially members of the European Union, need to consider Saudi’s ongoing proxy war to topple al-Assad. Only by stopping Saudi-funded insurgent groups can the war end, civilians protected and order restored to the region.
