Over at the American Conservative, Phil Giraldi alerts us to the US administration’s plans for the “day after” in Syria, if US assistance to the Syrian insurgents finds them victorious over the Syrian government. According to Giraldi’s analysis, a strategy of sorts is falling into place whereby whatever US-selected puppet ends up at least in title ruling Syria if the government is defeated will see CIA drones as a kind of leadership protection operation. This is more or less in place in Afghanistan and Iraq, Giraldi writes, and is to be expanded. US drones will silently patrol from the Mediterranean to Pakistan, seeking out those who have been identified by the US to be a threat. It is a recipe for an unsustainable and dystopian future, and, as the author points out, the plan is based on shortcoming and fallacy. Here is Giraldi:
Drones for “Regime Protection”
By Philip Giraldi
Media reports of CIA preparations to use drones to target al-Qaeda-linked rebels in Syria, should the post-Assad situation warrant such an intervention, are only party correct. The plan to use drones under certain circumstances is in reality part of the much larger CIA program in Iraq that parallels the program being set up in Afghanistan. CIA initiatives in both countries are related to what is being mandated by the National Security Council as a policy of “regime survival” to help keep in place governments that are at least nominally friendly to Washington and that will be dependent on American technology and intelligence resources for the foreseeable future to maintain their own security. The CIA will bear the brunt of the two operations, as it can do so without a highly visible military footprint. In Iraq it includes, among other elements, the continued training of something akin to an elite counter-terrorism Praetorian Guard to protect senior officials while also advancing efforts against a growing Salafist presence in the country, linked to resurgent Sunni terrorism that is attempting to weaken the government of Nouri al-Maliki. The Obama administration is hoping to develop a level of cooperation with the Iraqi government that will enable the identification of extremist elements, some of which are taking the opportunity to transit into Syria. They are a threat to what are perceived to be the long-term interests of America and Iraq’s Shia government. Those who are identified as al-Qaeda-linked militants could become drone targets in Syria, if the situation in that country deteriorates.
Read the rest here.
