Steven Heydemann's bottom line has always been to make a
contribution to the Jewish dream of keeping the American military mired in
Syria, thus protect Israel's ambitions in the region and beyond, even if it
meant that America will pay a heavy price in lives lost and squandered wealth.
But conscious of the fact that he lost much credibility over
the years talking rubbish about Syria, the first thing that Heydemann did
before getting involved in another debate about Syria, was to seek a co-author
who would join him in writing an article on the subject. He wanted an author
whose reputation was intact, and Michael O'Hanlon fit the bill. Heydemann
goaded him to join the project and was lucky to hear O'Hanlon say yes.
That's how Steven Heydemann and Michael O'Hanlon ended up
writing: “Here's What a Trump-Putin Deal on Syria Could Look Like,” an article
that also came under the subtitle: “America needs to look after its own
interests and allies, while also preventing the rise of an ISIS 2.0.” The piece
was published on July 13, 2018 in the National Interest.
Here is the last sentence –– the bottom line, as it is –– of
the thousand-word article the two co-wrote: “The emergence of an ISIS 2.0 or
similar extremist movement could easily be the result of an abrupt American
departure and therefore should be avoided.” And here is what came in the middle
of the article: “Actions that signal that the U.S. is not concerned with the
outcome will make it difficult for Washington to help Israel … Additionally, it
will make it harder for the U.S. to influence the shape of any future regional
security architecture in the Middle East.” The message to America is clear:
Stay in Syria because Israel needs you there.
Most everything else in the article is a sanitized version
of the rubbish that Heydemann has been spewing for decades about Syria and its
leaders; about its governance, its history, religion and what have you. That
kind of rubbish helped no one at the time and will help no one today. In
addition to the horror that was inflicted on the Syrian people, the American
military came out looking like the terror arm of the Israeli government. In the
same way that the Jews have agitated on behalf of Israel to get America involved
in Libya, Iraq and Syria, they are now agitating to have America remain in
Syria indefinitely, thus keep the horror show going till the advent of a Jewish
messiah that doesn't seem inclined to come.
Because Heydemann and O'Hanlon could not tell America to
just remain in Syria without giving reasons for making such a request, they
invented four reasons why America must remain in the hellhole that the Jews
forced it to create in the first place. The reasons are that (1) Russia cannot
be trusted to keep its word in anything it promises; (2) Russia has little or
no leverage on Iran or the Assad regime; (3) if America abandons Syria, it too
will have no leverage over what goes on in that place; (4) this will have the
effect of making Israel incapable of causing mischief in the region and get
away with it.
For these reasons, the two authors came
up with a set of goals, which they say, Donald Trump must keep in mind when he
meets with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki tomorrow. They are as follows:
The U.S. should implement the following
ideas: Protect its Kurdish partners and secure protection and autonomy to
friendly opposition forces; return refugees in parts of Syria outside of the
regime's control and work with other countries to pressure Assad out of office.
The two writers also promise that these steps will reduce the odds of ISIS or
another such group from reemerging, as well as limit Iran's influence in Syria
while addressing the strategic effect of the regime's victory.
To achieve these goals, the two authors
wish that Trump would propose the following to Putin:
Accept that Assad will choose his
successor. Negotiate with Damascus and Moscow to protect various autonomous
zones within Syria. This could start with the Kurdish northeast. American and
international assistance should then start flowing to these zones. Meanwhile, American
forces should stay on the ground in their current numbers to protect the
autonomous areas until Assad is gone. American and allied airpower should
remain to retaliate against attacks on American or friendly positions.
Heydemann and O'Hanlon call this a
“pragmatic plan that will protect America's friends and allies while reducing
the odds of a future extremist takeover”.
And that's the only incentive they
could come up with, trying to entice America's rulers to commit the country's
military into yet another Jewish war that will bleed America to a premature
death.