Since leaving the Amal party in <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/threat/hezbollah">1982</a>, Hezbollah — meaning “Party of God” — has established a name for itself like no other. A Shiite Islamist terrorist group committed to Israel’s destruction, Hezbollah has arguably become Lebanon’s most powerful political party, obtaining <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/iransource/lebanon-s-elections-hezbollah-in-the-driver-s-seat">veto</a> power and a position in the current leading coalition, which <a href="https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/why-does-hezbollah-want-lebanons-health-ministry">controls</a> the majority. Now the highest-grossing terrorist group, receiving <a href="https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/why-does-hezbollah-want-lebanons-health-ministry">$700 million</a> from Iran out of its likely $1.1 billion in total <a href="http://e.forbes.co.il/1-hezbollah-annual-income-1-1-billion/">income</a>, Hezbollah has achieved notoriety, executing high-profile attacks: The U.S. Marine <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2013/06/13/world/meast/beirut-marine-barracks-bombing-fast-facts/index.html">Barracks</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/iran-helped-al-qaeda-with-the-1998-u-s-embassy-bombings-in-africa">embassy</a> bombings. Hezbollah has since furthered large-scale regional discord, provoking wars with Israel, supplementing Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian Civil War, and now, threatening Israel with <a href="https://nypost.com/2018/12/10/israels-blitz-of-hezbollahs-terror-tunnels-will-help-win-the-pr-war/">140,000</a> rockets and impending war.
Despite its antagonism, Hezbollah has also established a reputation for its deceitful “benevolence,” creating an elaborate welfare system that many Lebanese cannot resist and the under-resourced Lebanese government cannot match. This welfare system — entailing infrastructural, medical, and educational services — has fueled a dependency cycle through which many, especially disenfranchised Shiites, turn a blind eye to terrorism and reciprocate support for Hezbollah in return for social services. To defeat Hezbollah, policymakers must overcome Hezbollah’s “bene-violent” duality and offer economic considerations to displace Lebanon’s dependency on Hezbollah’s welfare apparatus.
Since its inception, Hezbollah has sought to forge support in local communities by offering free or heavily subsidize social services through its own NGOs. The most famous of these <a href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:pmPZvrwQwdUJ:https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/9924/40115471-MIT.pdf%253Fsequence%253D2+&amp;cd=1&amp;hl=en&amp;ct=clnk&amp;gl=us">NGOs</a> are Al Imdad and Al Shaheed, which rehabilitate the poor through welfare and training programs, Al Haya’a Al Sahhiyyah, which sponsors health and dental care at little to no cost, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=HNyv0N8cVE0C&amp;pg=PA51&amp;lpg=PA51&amp;dq=jihad+al+binaa+45+percent+of+water&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=WiIaS_SMMV&amp;sig=ACfU3U0-Zr7HWPtNR6-DoXol2XGzQuZ-CA&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwifqvDziKvkAhXDmq0KHWv-AX0Q6AEwA3oECAkQAQ#v=onepage&amp;q=jihad%2520al%2520binaa%252045%2520percent%2520of%2520water&amp;f=false">Jihad Al Bina’a</a> (JB), which restores damaged homes and public utilities, Jam’eyat Ta’aleem Al Dini Al Islami, which educates and subsidizes education for Lebanon’s youth, and the <a href="https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/23667/1/Daher_4182.pdf">Al Qard Al Hassan Association</a>, which provides loans.
While these services are extensive, they are also essential necessities available at little to no cost. Cue Hezbollah’s medical infrastructure, which <a href="https://mepc.org/hezbollahs-social-jihad-nonprofits-resistance-organizations?print=">offers</a> the low-income Lebanese free health insurance, free prescriptions, and health care at little to no cost. These services are also widely available and of quality, being <a href="https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/why-does-hezbollah-want-lebanons-health-ministry">furnished</a> at <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/iransource/hezbollah-s-new-drug-rehab-unit-points-to-limits-of-us-sanctions-policy">six</a> <a href="https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/why-does-hezbollah-want-lebanons-health-ministry">hospitals</a> as well as at “<a href="https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/why-does-hezbollah-want-lebanons-health-ministry">hundreds</a> of medical centers, infirmaries, dental offices, and mental health providers” throughout Lebanon. These medical centers are so advanced that, according to Hala Jaber’s Hezbollah: Born With a Vengeance, they can provide x-rays and specialized health services such as geriatrics and women’s health care. So while Hezbollah’s medical services are of quality, they are also ubiquitous and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/31/world/hezbollah-offers-a-helping-hand-in-southern-lebanon.html">mobilizable</a>, allowing Hezbollah to extend its reach to areas otherwise difficult for Lebanon’s government to access.
Hezbollah has also advanced much of the country’s public utilities infrastructure. It has done so primarily through its public-works wing, the JB, which has significantly impacted Lebanese lives. The JB has <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=HNyv0N8cVE0C&amp;pg=PA51&amp;lpg=PA51&amp;dq=jihad+al+binaa+45+percent+of+water&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=WiIaS_SMMV&amp;sig=ACfU3U0-Zr7HWPtNR6-DoXol2XGzQuZ-CA&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwifqvDziKvkAhXDmq0KHWv-AX0Q6AEwA3oECAkQAQ#v=onepage&amp;q=jihad%20al%20binaa%2045%20percent%20of%20water&amp;f=false">constructed</a> over 400 reservoirs, thereby connecting 45% of Beirut’s southern suburbs and much of southern Lebanon to clean drinking water — a factor all the more important since Lebanon’s south depends heavily on irrigation farming. The JB has also <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=HNyv0N8cVE0C&amp;pg=PA51&amp;lpg=PA51&amp;dq=jihad+al+binaa+45+percent+of+water&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=WiIaS_SMMV&amp;sig=ACfU3U0-Zr7HWPtNR6-DoXol2XGzQuZ-CA&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwifqvDziKvkAhXDmq0KHWv-AX0Q6AEwA3oECAkQAQ#v=onepage&amp;q=jihad%2520al%2520binaa%252045%2520percent%2520of%2520water&amp;f=false">connected</a> much of Lebanon’s south to the electric grid, installing over 20 generators. Furthermore, it has previously launched large-scale garbage <a href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:pmPZvrwQwdUJ:https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/9924/40115471-MIT.pdf?sequence=2+&amp;cd=1&amp;hl=en&amp;ct=clnk&amp;gl=us">collection</a> efforts, collecting on behalf of “a population of 500,000” at the end of the Lebanese Civil War.
Most important, perhaps, has been JB’s role in compensating housing, money, and basic necessities for those impacted by conflict. After provoking war with Israel in 1996, Hezbollah rebuilt <a href="https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/23667/1/Daher_4182.pdf">10,528</a> buildings while also compensating <a href="https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/hezbollah">2,300</a> farmers for their losses. Similarly, after provoking war in 2006, Hezbollah <a href="https://medium.com/@brettredmaynetitley/hizbullah-today-of-power-money-and-the-people-5d797a85789e">provided</a> water, food, and shelter to those affected locally, while also footing <a href="https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/lebanon-reconstruction-and-rivalry">$12,000</a> stipends to pay for the rents of homeowners while their homes were being rebuilt. Through connecting many to public utilities and housing during emergency, Hezbollah forges dependency on its welfare programs, thereby attracting party loyalty. Perversely, this cycle also allows Hezbollah to garner support by promoting the conflict and disrepair that Hezbollah can later “remedy” through its own welfare programs.
Further, Hezbollah has fueled support through subsidizing its private <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/hezbollah-in-lebanon">schools</a>. Educating around <a href="https://www.mepc.org/hezbollahs-social-jihad-nonprofits-resistance-organizations">14,000</a> students, Hezbollah’s primary and secondary schools offer poorer students the opportunity to attend private school — a privilege since Lebanon’s public schools are often considered inferior. Hezbollah’s educational facilities often <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/hezbollah-in-lebanon">boast</a> swimming pools and computer labs, encouraging students to attend class where they are later indoctrinated. Hence, through subsidizing education for thousands of students, Hezbollah cultivates a platform for grooming thousands to its cause.
Hezbollah also fosters support through its affordability and lending programs. In 2004, Hezbollah <a href="https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/23667/1/Daher_4182.pdf">introduced</a> its Al Amir discount card, which is purchasable for just one dollar and allows families to receive discounts of up to 50% at local shops. In 2014, <a href="https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/23667/1/Daher_4182.pdf">75,000</a> people owned a card. Hence, while promoting local business, Hezbollah also reaches out to tens of thousands who quickly discover Hezbollah’s benefits. Likewise, through its Al Qard Al Hassan Association, Hezbollah has <a href="https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/23667/1/Daher_4182.pdf">processed</a> over 700,000 loans totaling $245+ million — with many of the loans offering preferential conditions for a minor subscription fee. To no surprise, Hezbollah attracted <a href="https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/23667/1/Daher_4182.pdf">150,000</a> to its lending program in 2012 alone, thereby forging relationships and prospective supporters through even more welfare programs.
Ultimately, through its welfare apparatus, Hezbollah has reached out to hundreds of thousands of Lebanese — thus fostering allegiance, dependence, and propaganda victories. To defeat Hezbollah, powers must undermine Hezbollah’s welfare and propaganda outreach efforts — whether by devastating Hezbollah and Iran economically so that they can no longer sustain these programs, by sponsoring alternative paths to welfare and economic development to displace Lebanon’s allegiance to Hezbollah, or by combining these alternatives with military intervention. However, military action alone, while weakening Hezbollah’s military might, may perpetuate the devastation that Hezbollah has successfully exploited to remedy and to rally support.
&nbsp;
Jordan Cope is currently a law student at the University of Texas at Austin, where he also completed his undergraduate degree. Having graduated with a B.A. in international relations, Jordan also minored in Middle Eastern studies and can speak Arabic and Hebrew. He has also published research on the security implications of Palestinian foreign aid. He can be followed <a href="https://twitter.com/JordanCope12">@JordanCope12</a>.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-defund-lebanon-and-do-it-yesterday">Defund Lebanon. And Do It Yesterday.</a>

Beirut, Lebanon protests

COPE: Defeating Hezbollah Requires Economic Warfare, Too

Bashar Assad

Foreign Policy

Iran

Lebanon

Middle East

Radical Islam

Radical Islamic Terror

In trying to defend herself against <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/50165/tulsi-gabbard-responds-kamala-harris-calling-her-frank-camp">accusations</a> of being an &#8220;apologist&#8221; for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, 2020 Democratic Party presidential contender Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) turned to history. As a possible riposte, she quipped to Anderson Cooper that President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) worked with Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin during the Second World War.
&#8220;But I&#8217;m sure, you know, Roosevelt would have acknowledged that Stalin murdered millions of people,&#8221; Cooper initially responded, before (eventually) getting Gabbard to concede that she doesn&#8217;t dispute Assad tortures and murders countless Syrians.
It has long been a subject of controversy whether FDR was too restrained on his criticisms of Stalin. Ronald Reagan would often criticize the infamous Yalta agreement as a bad deal. Yet one of Roosevelt&#8217;s last major actions was to replace Henry Wallace with Harry Truman as his vice president.
His reason: Wallace was an apologist for Stalin. And after the war, Wallace ran as a &#8220;peace candidate&#8221; in the 1948 presidential election — a campaign dedicated to defending everything Stalin did and attacking Harry Truman as a &#8220;warmonger&#8221; in league with global fascism.
The lengths to which Wallace would go for Stalin&#8217;s sake were remarkable. When taken on tour of the Kolyma Gulag, Wallace met one person after another who told him how great it was there — reports he relayed with much enthusiasm. When Truman wanted to give aid to the government of Greece so that the Greeks could defeat a Communist insurrection, Wallace said Truman was trying to prop up fascism. When Stalin orchestrated a Communist coup in Czechoslovakia, Wallace said it was Truman&#8217;s fault and accused the U.S. ambassador of trying to orchestrate a fascist coup that Stalin needed to put down.
Likewise, today we have Gabbard touring Aleppo with people walking up to her to tell her how grateful they are for Assad and the Russians who carpet bombed the city. We have Gabbard blaming National Security Advisor John Bolton for Iran attacking tankers in the Persian Gulf, and we have her assurances that all resistance to team Iran/Assad/Putin anywhere in the Middle East takes the form of U.S.-funded al-Qaeda terrorists. Iran/Assad/Putin seem incapable of telling a lie, in Gabbard&#8217;s eyes.
Gabbard&#8217;s base of Code Pink-ers — the irksome blame-America-first crowd — are up in arms that she is being called out. Well, so be it. As with Henry Wallace, whose only support came from pawns of an evil empire, the baying of the beast betrays its presence.

MITSOTAKIS: Tulsi Gabbard Is More Henry Wallace Than FDR

2020 Election

Al Qaeda

Democratic Party

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR)

John Bolton

Leftism

Progressivism

On Wednesday, during the Democratic debate in Detroit, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) slammed Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) over her record as attorney general in California.
Following the debate, Harris <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/tv/kamala-harris-fires-back-at-assad-apologist-tulsi-gabbard-on-cnn-shes-polling-at-0-or-1/">told</a> CNN&#8217;s Anderson Cooper that Gabbard was an &#8220;apologist&#8221; for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad:
<blockquote>This coming from someone who has been an apologist for an individual, Assad, who has murdered the people of his country like cockroaches. She who has embraced and been an apologist for him in a way that she refuses to call him a war criminal. I can only take what she says and her opinion so seriously. So, you know, I&#8217;m prepared to move on.</blockquote>
In a subsequent interview, Cooper asked Gabbard for her response to Harris&#8217; criticism, and the following exchange took place:
<blockquote>COOPER: The only thing really [Kamala Harris] said about you &#8230; is that you are essentially an apologist for Bashar al-Assad; that you would never criticize him as a dictator or murderer.
GABBARD: I think it&#8217;s unfortunate and a disservice to voters in this country that she resorts to cheap smears rather than actually addressing her record&#8230;
COOPER: If voters are wondering, what is your take on Bashar al-Assad, what do you say?
GABBARD: My take is one of a soldier, where I&#8217;ve seen the cost of war firsthand in Iraq serving in a medical unit every single day confronted with that high human cost of war. So, I will never apologize for doing all that I can to prevent more of my brothers and sisters from being sent into harm&#8217;s way to fight counterproductive regime-change wars that make our country less safe, that take more lives, and that cost taxpayers trillions more dollars. So, if that means meeting with a dictator or meeting with an adversary, absolutely I would do it. This is about the national security of our country.
COOPER: I understand that position. Do you consider him a torturer or a murderer?
GABBARD: That’s not what this is about. I don&#8217;t defend or apologize or have anything to do with what he has done to –
COOPER: But if you&#8217;re President of the United States, it&#8217;s fine if you want to meet with somebody, but there&#8217;s traditionally [the] role of the President the United States calling out human rights abuses overseas. Bashar al-Assad is head of a regime which has disappeared many people &#8230; [inaudible].
GABBARD: Here&#8217;s the way that I look at it, and the kind of leadership, the example of leadership that I follow is one where Kennedy met with and worked with Khrushchev to forge a deal that would keep the American people safe; where obviously Reagan met with Gorbachev; Roosevelt met with Stalin, worked with Stalin, you know, Nixon met with Mao. These are the kinds of leaders who think about things that are very practical [on a] real level about how to keep our country and the American people safe.
COOPER: But Stalin murdered 20 million people.
GABBARD: That&#8217;s my point exactly. Yet Roosevelt not only met him, but he allied with him to bring about an end to that war.
COOPER: But I&#8217;m sure, you know, Roosevelt would have acknowledged that Stalin murdered millions of people. You don&#8217;t want to –
GABBARD: I don&#8217;t dispute that. Again, my focus is –
COOPER: But you won&#8217;t say anything about that, about [Bashar al-Assad].
GABBARD: I have been very outspoken about this before. These are things that are being used as detractions away from the central issue, which is, we are still waging a regime-change war in Syria today; we still have troops in Syria today; troops who are dying. That&#8217;s my focus. That&#8217;s why I&#8217;m running for president; to bring about this sea change in our foreign policy.
COOOER: I understand &#8230; I understand the not wanting to get involved militarily, and certainly as a veteran, you have more of a right than anybody to talk about that, and have an opinion about it. Just on a factual basis, Bashar al-Assad is a murderer and a torturer. Do you not agree with that?
GABBARD: I don&#8217;t dispute that.</blockquote>
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O47TE371KQ8?start=300" width="720" height="385" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>
In 2017, Rep. Gabbard met with Bashar al-Assad during a &#8220;fact-finding&#8221; trip. Later speaking with CNN&#8217;s Jake Tapper about the meeting, she <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/26/tulsi-gabbard-bashar-al-assad-syria-democrats">stated</a>:
<blockquote>Initially I hadn’t planned on meeting him. When the opportunity arose to meet with him, I did so, because I felt it’s important that if we profess to truly care about the Syrian people, about their suffering, then we’ve got to be able to meet with anyone that we need to if there is a possibility that we could achieve peace. And that’s exactly what we talked about.</blockquote>
In February, Gabbard indeed noted that Assad is a &#8220;brutal dictator.&#8221; Appearing on CNN, she <a href="https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/feb/15/tulsi-gabbard-assad-brutal-dictator-not-enemy-us/">stated</a>:
<blockquote>There are brutal dictators in the world. &#8230; Assad of Syria is one of them. That does not mean the United States should be waging regime-change wars around the world.</blockquote>
Rep. Gabbard is known as one of the most ardent opponents of regime-change wars among the 2020 Democratic candidates.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Responds To Sen. Kamala Harris Calling Her An Assad ‘Apologist’

Kamala Harris

Tulsi Gabbard

Democratic presidential candidate and congresswoman from Hawaii Tulsi Gabbard, appearing on MSNBC&#8217;s &#8220;Morning Joe&#8221; last week, <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DSv6w46mK6G0&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1549996645678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFWyyuTLkbL3vgjgGWIxOPss6xfOA" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv6w46mK6G0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">repeatedly</a> defended Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, refusing to denounce him either as an &#8220;enemy&#8221; or even an &#8220;adversary.&#8221;
&#8220;Assad is not the enemy of the United States because Syria does not pose a direct threat to the United States,&#8221; declared Gabbard, who had previously <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/tulsi-gabbard-says-she-has-no-regrets-about-meeting-with-syrian-president-bashar-al-assad/2019/01/20/4006f920-1ce3-11e9-9145-3f74070bbdb9_story.html?noredirect%3Don%26utm_term%3D.08a64674090c&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1549996645678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFgpTdozfAIpP2kZbJxAoRZtRMOZw" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/tulsi-gabbard-says-she-has-no-regrets-about-meeting-with-syrian-president-bashar-al-assad/2019/01/20/4006f920-1ce3-11e9-9145-3f74070bbdb9_story.html?noredirect=on&amp;utm_term=.08a64674090c" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">met</a> with Assad. &#8220;We have to look to who poses a threat to the United States.&#8221;
It is, frankly, very disturbing that Gabbard has been taken in by Assad&#8217;s propaganda. The State Department has <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/105904.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1549996645678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFZ3JFV6jwT-mXqy9--Ml6clncW3Q" href="https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/105904.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">listed</a> Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism for the past several decades. Syria provides support for myriad terrorist groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, all of which openly maintain offices in Damascus.
The Syrian government also provides material support to Hezbollah, the terrorist organization responsible for the 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marines barracks in Lebanon that resulted in the deaths of 241 American servicemen.
Yet, Gabbard seems to think that Assad is all that <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/1093247102254268418&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1549996645678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHvvlcCdUDN78aTIIkOa1g7cjvxaQ" href="https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/1093247102254268418" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stands</a> in the way of al-Qaeda and ISIS taking over Syria. In fact, the Assad regime has both directly and indirectly been a <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.meforum.org/2406/damascus-supporting-terrorists&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1549996645678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFQH7-uMve6_BwVoX9tfgErVRWC2g" href="https://www.meforum.org/2406/damascus-supporting-terrorists" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">major supporter</a> of al-Qaeda for years. Syria has harbored al-Qaeda terrorists responsible for the 2003 suicide bombings in Casablanca, as well as the 2004 Madrid train bombings, among others.
Assad and al-Qaeda have historically enjoyed a symbiotic relationship, especially when the Syrian dictator needs them to attack his enemies. In 2002, notorious jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi set up an al-Qaeda cell in Syria to carry out the <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/12/14/jordan.killing/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1549996645678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGfI22wZvUsLf5DUgf1hmSEtUYU2w" href="http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/12/14/jordan.killing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">assassination</a> of U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley outside his home in Amman. Syrian al-Qaeda operatives have also attempted to destabilize and overthrow the governments of Jordan and Lebanon, at times with the direct <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nysun.com/foreign/syrian-intelligence-linked-to-terrorist-group/65202/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1549996645678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE94HPj1ziLDFFdhSPMX1qQTTG-iQ" href="https://www.nysun.com/foreign/syrian-intelligence-linked-to-terrorist-group/65202/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">support</a> of senior Syrian intelligence officials.
Syria has also provided a critical <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/07/AR2005060702026_pf.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1549996645678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF5GquNSXUI5vbDX5B0_xLeVudutg" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/07/AR2005060702026_pf.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lifeline</a> to the Iraqi insurgency since 2003, which would eventually morph into ISIS, resulting in the deaths of thousands of Iraqis. In fact, almost all foreign al-Qaeda volunteers in Iraq <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/10DAMASCUS159_a.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1549996645678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGQfywIG_6iduuJlzobx1msCKxcJQ" href="https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/10DAMASCUS159_a.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">entered</a> via Syria (with the full awareness of Assad and his top aides).
Assad has the blood of thousands on his hands, including that of Tulsi Gabbard&#8217;s fellow American servicemen and women. Gabbard&#8217;s insistence that Assad is not an enemy of the U.S. is astounding.
Assad <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wsj.com/articles/assad-policies-aided-rise-of-islamic-state-militant-group-1408739733&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1549996645678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFC2F_ZpGTSSh5rV4C2ozRQrKWIjw" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/assad-policies-aided-rise-of-islamic-state-militant-group-1408739733" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">released</a> the majority of the ISIS leadership from his jails in a calculated decision to discredit and radicalize the Syrian opposition at the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011. Assad avoided fighting ISIS to enable their cannibalization of the more secular, pro-democratic opposition backed by Western powers. Assad continued to support ISIS by <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl0299.aspx&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1549996645678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGYilPjUTYlRgJtJHMA3Xky1VLb5w" href="https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl0299.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">purchasing</a> millions of dollars worth of oil from the terror group. At one point, sales to Assad <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.newsweek.com/isis-oil-deals-assad-regime-revealed-us-special-forces-raid-452426&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1549996645678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG8AM3UV7GwtlXijkgfZa46jTyACA" href="https://www.newsweek.com/isis-oil-deals-assad-regime-revealed-us-special-forces-raid-452426" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">peaked</a> at 72% of ISIS oil revenues.
Gabbard has been taken in by this murderous dictator. The question is whether that is a testament to Assad&#8217;s ability as a master manipulator, or proof positive that Gabbard is unfit to serve in the highest office in the land.
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Sv6w46mK6G0" width="560"></iframe></div>
Bradley Martin is a Senior Fellow with the news and public policy group Haym Salomon Center
<div> </div>

MARTIN: Tulsi Gabbard’s Ignorance Regarding Syria Reveals She’s Unfit To Be President

Syria

On Wednesday, Hawaii congresswoman and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/11/politics/tulsi-gabbard-van-jones/index.html">declared</a> 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) doubled down on her longstanding moral confusion with respect to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Assad has overseen the slaughter of roughly <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria/syrian-observatory-says-war-has-killed-more-than-half-a-million-idUSKCN1GO13M">half a million</a> people since the commencement of the bloody civil war that has been tearing apart his country for the better part of a decade.
Appearing on <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/rep-gabbard-assad-is-not-an-enemy-of-the-us-1438093891865">MSNBC</a> this morning, Gabbard emphasized that she does not necessarily view Assad as an enemy of the United States.
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe></div>
Politico <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/06/tulsi-gabbard-bashar-al-assad-enemy-1152242">reported</a> on the exchange:
<blockquote>
Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday declined to identify Syrian President Bashar Assad as an adversary of the U.S., doubling down on a 2017 meeting she had with the strongman whose military is engaged in a civil war with U.S.-backed rebels.
Questioned about her stance on Assad by NBC News&#8217; Kasie Hunt, Gabbard, one of Hawaii&#8217;s two House members, said Assad is not an enemy of the U.S. because, she said, he does not pose an immediate threat to the country. Pressed repeatedly, Gabbard declined to say whether Assad is a U.S. adversary, telling Hunt that &#8220;you can describe it however you want to describe it.&#8221;
She also said her meeting with Assad, which drew criticism in light of the Syrian leader&#8217;s record of human rights violations, was important in &#8220;the pursuit of peace.&#8221;
</blockquote>
In 2017, Gabbard appeared to go on a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/26/tulsi-gabbard-bashar-al-assad-syria-democrats">rogue trip</a> to meet Assad in Syria. According to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/26/tulsi-gabbard-bashar-al-assad-syria-democrats">The Guardian</a>, Gabbard&#8217;s trip to meet with the murderous tyrant made her the first sitting U.S. lawmaker to meet with Assad since the commencement of the bloody internecine conflict. Last month, shortly after confirming her 2020 presidential declaration, Gabbard <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/20/politics/tulsi-gabbard-bashar-al-assad-meeting-cnntv/index.html">defended</a> the 2017 trip in an exchange with CNN host Jake Tapper:
<blockquote>
Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard on Sunday stood by her decision to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2017, saying that American leaders must meet with foreign leaders &#8220;if we are serious about the pursuit of peace and securing our country.&#8221;
Gabbard, who announced earlier this month that she was running for president in 2020, discussed the controversial meeting with Assad during a trip to Syria in January 2017 with CNN&#8217;s Jake Tapper on &#8220;State of the Union&#8221; Sunday. The Syrian leader is believed to be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians.
&#8220;Looking back on that meeting, do you have any regrets?&#8221; Tapper asked.
&#8220;No, I think that it is, it continues to be very important for any leader in this country to be willing to meet with others, whether they be friends or adversaries or potential adversaries if we are serious about the pursuit of peace and securing our country,&#8221; Gabbard, who represents Hawaii, replied.
</blockquote>
Yesterday, only one day before her latest morally ignorant flirtation with the Damascus butcher, Gabbard received a perhaps unwelcome presidential endorsement: that of former Ku Klux Klan leader and notorious Jew-hater <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/ex-kkk-leader-david-duke-backs-tulsi-gabbard-for-president">David Duke</a>. The infamous white supremacist suggested on Twitter that Gabbard would be the candidate to put American interests ahead of Israeli interests. Gabbard has since denounced Duke and <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/428533-david-duke-endorses-tulsi-gabbard-for-president">rejected his endorsement</a>.

This Democratic Presidential Candidate Has Doubled Down In Her Defense Of Someone Completely Evil

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) received harsh criticism from across the political spectrum on Wednesday after she attacked President Donald Trump for his response to Saudi Arabia with regard to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/38628/democrat-gabbard-hurls-vulgar-insult-trump-knocks-hank-berrien">said </a>on Tuesday: &#8220;If we abandon Saudi Arabia, it would be a terrible mistake,&#8221; adding, &#8220;We may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi. In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They have been a great ally in our very important fight against Iran.&#8221;
Gabbard responded on Wednesday, tweeting: &#8220;Hey @realdonaldtrump: being Saudi Arabia&#8217;s bitch is not &#8220;America First.'&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Hey <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realdonaldtrump</a>: being Saudi Arabia&#8217;s bitch is not &#8220;America First.&#8221;
&#8212; Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) <a href="https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/1065289231977738240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
</div>
Gabbard was immediately slammed by figures across the political spectrum for her tweet due to a meeting that she had with Syrian President Bashar Assad in January 2017.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
And how would you describe your fondness for Assad? Asking for the 500,000 Syrians he murdered&#8230; including the 50,000 children who gasped their last breath because of him. <a href="https://t.co/5Ezre1lWwO">https://t.co/5Ezre1lWwO</a>
&#8212; Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepKinzinger/status/1065307218155905024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
An Assad stooge, everyone. <a href="https://t.co/dKGGECRlnh">https://t.co/dKGGECRlnh</a>
&#8212; Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1065295643231641601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TulsiGabbard</a> met with Bashar al-Assad last year and expressed doubt that he had attacked his own civilians with chemical weapons. Refresher, from <a href="https://twitter.com/eliseviebeck?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@eliseviebeck</a>, here: <a href="https://t.co/jp33fmUn0f">https://t.co/jp33fmUn0f</a> <a href="https://t.co/v3d7aJzNnc">https://t.co/v3d7aJzNnc</a>
&#8212; Ali Rogin (@AliABCNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/AliABCNews/status/1065294338543026176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
After the election, Rep. Gabbard visited Trump Tower to defend Bashar al-Assad to the president-elect. <a href="https://t.co/k7NwBxcM0a">https://t.co/k7NwBxcM0a</a> <a href="https://t.co/eBru8aNDBQ">https://t.co/eBru8aNDBQ</a>
&#8212; Scott Bixby (@scottbix) <a href="https://twitter.com/scottbix/status/1065295199549702145?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
assad&#8217;s vassal says what? <a href="https://t.co/K57gWssEtE">https://t.co/K57gWssEtE</a>
&#8212; Oliver Willis (@owillis) <a href="https://twitter.com/owillis/status/1065295552508764162?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-cards="hidden" data-lang="en">
Mayyyybe sit this one out <a href="https://t.co/um4BPtSpWH">https://t.co/um4BPtSpWH</a><a href="https://t.co/cByZt0g2dW">https://t.co/cByZt0g2dW</a>
&#8212; David Rutz (@DavidRutz) <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidRutz/status/1065295365761568769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
We can&#8217;t allow this kind of rhetoric to become acceptable as a concession to the age of Trump. And if the public has become so debased that politicians can&#8217;t be heard on big issues w/o resorting to this kind of language, our problems run much deeper than this rhetoric can solve. <a href="https://t.co/4z4tRbtExE">https://t.co/4z4tRbtExE</a>
&#8212; Michael Wear (@MichaelRWear) <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelRWear/status/1065297760008761349?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Now do one about Syria <a href="https://t.co/ctoTfplqTF">https://t.co/ctoTfplqTF</a>
&#8212; Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) <a href="https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/1065297775280177152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Bashar Assad&#8217;s most prominent congressional supporter is deeply concerned about Trump&#8217;s relationship with Saudi Arabia <a href="https://t.co/Ce6UylUqzq">https://t.co/Ce6UylUqzq</a>
&#8212; Tom Gara (@tomgara) <a href="https://twitter.com/tomgara/status/1065293248590200832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Also, Assad <a href="https://t.co/nxEJV31v7m">https://t.co/nxEJV31v7m</a>
&#8212; Burgess Everett (@burgessev) <a href="https://twitter.com/burgessev/status/1065295069740191744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Who was the bitch that used Stand Up For America &#8212; a not-for-profit organization founded after the 9/11 attacks &#8212; to promote one of their political campaigns? Oh, right. That was you. <a href="https://t.co/wskQTbWhpi">https://t.co/wskQTbWhpi</a>
&#8212; Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) <a href="https://twitter.com/ArthurSchwartz/status/1065310035511783424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Great, Tulsi. Now say something against Assad. <a href="https://t.co/e82XxEh36t">https://t.co/e82XxEh36t</a>
&#8212; Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) <a href="https://twitter.com/WajahatAli/status/1065303116541816833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
The worst possible messenger on the planet for this sentiment <a href="https://t.co/MCrYSXaTAw">https://t.co/MCrYSXaTAw</a>
&#8212; Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) <a href="https://twitter.com/SethAMandel/status/1065294523687989249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
TFW Assad&#8217;s pal is dunking on you for being too cozy to a Middle Eastern dictator&#8230; <a href="https://t.co/PVsIeg5BTs">https://t.co/PVsIeg5BTs</a>
&#8212; Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) <a href="https://twitter.com/NoahShachtman/status/1065292727947067392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
</div>

Tulsi Gabbard Gets Blasted Across Political Spectrum After Vulgar Tweet

Donald Trump

Trump Administration

On Wednesday, a string of suicide attacks rocked Sweida, a province largely controlled by the Syrian government, leaving 215 dead and 180 injured, according to the Sweida health authority.
Villages to the north and east of as-Suwayda were also attacked, according to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Their <a href="http://www.syriahr.com/en/">estimates</a> are even worse than the Sweida health authority, reporting at least 221 people killed, 127 of them civilians.
While the Syrian government maintains control of most of the province, the Islamic State maintains a presence in the northeastern desert region, <a href="http://www.afp.com/en/news/717/more-220-dead-attacks-southern-syria-doc-17w9d76">AFP</a> reports. Sources claim that Islamic State militants were invading homes and killing the occupants before clashing in firefights with pro-government forces. 
&#8220;It&#8217;s the bloodiest death toll in Sweida province since the start of the war [in 2011],&#8221; Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
According to the <a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-middle-east-44949823">BBC</a>, reports from Sena, a state-run news agency, claim that government security forces shot and killed two terrorists before they could detonate their devices.
In the past year, the Islamic State has lost a majority of their holdings within Syria. Their strongholds are small regions in the south and southeastern parts of the country. The Russian and Iranian-backed Syrian government has launched a campaign to regain territories from the Islamic State and rebel groups in the south.
Assad, who remains in the pockets of Russia and Iran, has made some gains in taking control in Syria, but there&#8217;s no clear end to the violence in sight.

Islamic State Kills Over 200 In String Of Suicide Bombings In Syria

Islamic State (ISIS)

Russia

On Saturday, the White House announced that its planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was back on after a brief hiatus. But it seems the United States might have to compete with other world leaders for space on Kim&#8217;s calendar: on Sunday, North Korean media claimed Bashar al-Assad is interested in his own North Korean summit.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/03/bashar-al-assad-visit-north-korea-state-media-claims">According to a report from North Korean state television</a> which is, of course, less than reliable, Assad is planning a state visit to North Korea &#8212; the first for the Syrian leader recently accused of using chemical weapons on his own citizens.
&#8220;I am going to visit the DPRK and meet HE Kim Jong-un,&#8221; Assad was quoted as saying, according to the UK&#8217;s Guardian newspaper. &#8220;HE&#8221; is short for &#8220;His Excellency,&#8221; Kim&#8217;s preferred title.
&#8220;The world welcomes the remarkable events in the Korean peninsula brought about recently by the outstanding political caliber and wise leadership of HE Kim Jong-un,&#8221; Assad supposedly said, according to North Korean media. &#8220;I am sure that he will achieve the final victory and realise the reunification of Korea without fail.&#8221;
If the story sounds a little farfetched, that&#8217;s because it is. Assad has not independently confirmed the meeting.
North Korea has made repeated overtures to Syria and Assad, violating international sanctions to send Assad military equipment and some of the parts necessary to build ballistic missiles and chemical weapons. North Korea could, again, be trying to get a quick influx of cash from the Syrian president.
North Korea could also be pushing the United States to pull closer in the days leading up to the Singapore peace summit set to take place on in June, with the ham-fisted suggestion that Kim has other suitors.

Is North Korea Set To Welcome Syrian Dictator Bashar Al-Assad?

Kim Jong Un

North Korea

Vice President Mike Pence delivered a stern warning to the Syrian regime while speaking in Peru at the First Plenary Session of the Summit of the Americas on Saturday. 
&#8220;Assad and his patrons would do well not to test our resolve or the capabilities of the Armed Forces of the United States,&#8221; warned Pence.
&#8220;As you are all well aware, last night, at President Trump&#8217;s direction, the United States, together with our allies France and the United Kingdom, launched precision strikes to cripple Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad&#8217;s chemical weapons program,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We acted in response to Assad&#8217;s horrific use of chemical weapons on his own citizens one week ago, an attack that horrified and shocked the conscience of the world. The United States assesses that the Syrian regime was responsible for this attack, and that chlorine and possibly nerve agents were used.&#8221;
The Vice President agreed with the statement by President Trump that the actions by the Syrian government were the &#8220;crimes of a monster&#8221; and praised the United Kingdom and France in helping the United States in striking Syria. 
&#8220;We delivered a clear and unambiguous message to the Syrian regime: The United States and our allies will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons against innocent men, women, and children; and we are prepared to deter any further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime,&#8221; he said.
Pence also gave a call-to-action for the representatives at the summit to aid the United States in standing up to the Syrians. 
&#8220;But today, I call upon every nation in this hemisphere of freedom to support this military action taken by the United States and our allies and to support it publicly, and also to add to that your condemnation expressed by nearly everyone here of Assad&#8217;s regime&#8217;s use of chemical weapons,&#8221; the vice president said. &#8220;The civilized world must send a message of resolve and unity that we will not accept such barbaric attacks now or ever.&#8221;
Watch the speech below:
<div>
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uhlLlIpjVxQ" width="854"></iframe></div>

</div>

Mike Pence: Assad Will Not Do Well To Test Our Resolve

Conservatism

Latinos

Mike Pence

Republican Party

On Sunday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley appeared on CBS&#8217; &#8220;Face the Nation.&#8221; When host Margaret Brennan asked Haley if Russia and Iran will see consequences for supporting Assad, Haley replied:
<blockquote>
Absolutely. So, you will see that Russian sanctions will be coming down. Secretary Mnuchin will be announcing those on Monday if he hasn&#8217;t already, and they will go directly to any sort of companies that were dealing with equipment related to Assad and chemical weapons use. And so, I think everyone is gonna feel it at this point. I think everyone knows that we sent a strong message, and our hope is that they listen to it.
</blockquote>
Here&#8217;s the video (pertinent portion begins at the 1:10 mark):
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="385" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9NTT4gVsHdg" width="720"></iframe></div>

Nikki Haley: Sanctions Are ‘Coming Down’ On Russian Companies Involved With Syrian Chemical Weapons

Nikki Haley

Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed &#8220;consequences&#8221; will follow from U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria, a &#8220;targeted military action&#8221; designed to cripple Bashar al-Assad&#8217;s chemical weapons production.
<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/13/russia-warns-of-consequences-for-us-led-strike-on-syria.html">CNBC reports that Russia</a>, which opposed both the coalition airstrikes and the suggestion that Assad deployed chemical weapons against his own people in a catastrophic attack last week, took &#8212; of course &#8212; to Facebook and Twitter to announce that it was considering &#8220;unspecified&#8221; action in retaliation.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Statement by the Ambassador Antonov on the strikes on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Syria?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Syria</a>: 
A pre-designed scenario is being implemented. Again, we are being threatened. We warned that such actions will not be left without consequences. 
All responsibility for them rests with Washington, London and Paris. <a href="https://t.co/QEmWEffUzx">pic.twitter.com/QEmWEffUzx</a>
&#8212; Russia in USA (@RusEmbUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/RusEmbUSA/status/984980480234868736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 14, 2018</a></blockquote>
Russia claims, in the statement, that it is being &#8220;threatened&#8221; and that it has already planned a response.
The war of words, the Associated Press reports, got even more heated in person. According to the AP, an &#8220;unnamed&#8221; Russian official went so far as to call President Donald Trump, &#8220;Hitler,&#8221; and suggest that, like the German dictator, Trump was making a mistake in starting a land war in Asia.
Trump &#8220;can be called Adolf Hitler No. 2 of our time &#8212; because, you see, he even chose the time that Hitler attacked the Soviet Union,&#8221; the official told the international news service.
The international community called the U.S.-led airstrikes &#8220;quite measured,&#8221; but any attack in Syria is still a risk. In the years since former President Barack Obama first drew his &#8220;red line,&#8221; the stakes in Syria have changed. Both Russia and Iran have an interest in propping up dictator Assad, with Russia now so entrenched in Assad&#8217;s battle against revolutionary forces (which include ISIS), that they&#8217;ve lost a number of soldiers.
Trump seemed to indicate Saturday that his campaign of airstrikes was over, tweeting the words, &#8220;mission accomplished.&#8221;

Russian President Vladimir Putin Vows ‘Consequences’ Over U.S.-Led Raid In Syria

Vladimir Putin

Ever since the infamous riots in Charlottesville, Virginia, white nationalists and supremacists could be counted on to support Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
James Fields, who mowed down a crowd of anti-fascist protesters with his car, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring 19 others, <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://twitter.com/yashar/status/896565353224036352&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1523645458416000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEkQs2prmE-lqGEhxKk9VXOoUgdDg" href="https://twitter.com/yashar/status/896565353224036352">posted</a> on his Facebook page a picture of Assad in full military uniform with the word &#8220;undefeated&#8221; inscribed underneath, while three men who participated in the rally <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://twitter.com/Walldo/status/896212779069186049&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1523645458416000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG43x_2xpv2f14CMOv8xzUBW--R0Q" href="https://twitter.com/Walldo/status/896212779069186049">praised</a> Assad&#8217;s use of barrel bombs and chemical weapons against his own people.
&#8220;Israel (with American approval) is, of course, attacking the civilized, European societies&#8211;the people who *should* rule in the region,&#8221; <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://twitter.com/RichardBSpencer/status/983191102000975873&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1523645458416000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEC_NuXD_fQ1mBy4QJj5p6KJ2wGZw" href="https://twitter.com/RichardBSpencer/status/983191102000975873">tweeted</a> white nationalist leader Richard Spencer, praising the Assad family even after Syria again <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-43686157&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1523645458416000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH9WISnB0oG-2M8pHfXlG51kcrvSQ" href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-43686157">used</a> nerve gas against its own citizens, murdering at least 42 adults and children, while injuring hundreds more.
Perversely, it makes sense that white supremacists support Assad because of his hostility toward the Jewish state. But classifying him as a white European? At first glance, it seems strange that white supremacists would view Assad, an Arab Alawite, as one of their own. But it is not unprecedented.
In Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World, history professor Jeffrey Herf <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300168051/nazi-propaganda-arab-world&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1523645458416000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFdTKhjkgT8PRujMVXZSVNhZoPmDg" href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300168051/nazi-propaganda-arab-world">highlights</a> how Nazi officials took great pains to reassure Arab diplomats that Nazi ideology and policy were directed against Jews and not toward non-Jewish Semites. Nazis responded to questions from the Egyptians by saying that the Nuremberg racial laws did not apply to them, while the German Foreign Ministry reassured the Iranian embassy in Berlin of the racial kinship between Germans and Iranians.
&#8220;Nazism viewed Arabs and Muslims as different but, in clear contrast to the racial hierarchy presented in Mein Kampf, not as racially inferior,&#8221; writes Prof. Herf.
Considered by many to be the father of Palestinian nationalism, Haj Amin al-Husseini <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-mufti-and-the-f-uuml-hrer&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1523645458417000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHLApVDLdSnBLHzP_zxCmxVjkkekg" href="http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-mufti-and-the-f-uuml-hrer">fled</a> to Germany in 1941 in an attempt to persuade Adolf Hitler and his Nazi leadership to extend their anti-Jewish program to the Arab world. Al-Husseini was tasked by Hitler to recruit 20,000 Bosnian Muslim volunteers for the SS, who participated in the killing of Jews in Croatia and Hungary. Hitler <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=http://www.apple.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1523645458417000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHnTklXNH_lvn72QUm1bsLoL5vWgw" href="http://www.apple.com/">declared</a> that Al-Husseini &#8212; and Bosnian Muslims, by extension &#8212; were to be considered &#8220;pure Aryans.&#8221;
Obviously, Hitler&#8217;s genocidal hatred for Jews overrode genetics or any sense of intellectual consistency. Which is why white nationalists and white supremacists today have no trouble supporting Assad as a &#8220;civilized leader&#8221; after torturing and murdering his own people.
It also explains how white supremacist and former KKK grand wizard David Duke can <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://twitter.com/DrDavidDuke/status/983192885179965440&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1523645458417000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGVQkMCHUERo1sEG9BoVhkHdIM-7w" href="https://twitter.com/DrDavidDuke/status/983192885179965440">praise</a> Assad for &#8220;protecting&#8221; Syria&#8217;s Christians, when in reality <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/religion/332938-dont-be-fooled-assad-is-no-friend-of-syrias-christian-minorities&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1523645458417000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE___L8glwock0nLWn7XHn1ZZiYAQ" href="http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/religion/332938-dont-be-fooled-assad-is-no-friend-of-syrias-christian-minorities">hundreds</a> of innocent Christians have been tortured to death in Assad&#8217;s jails or shot by his thugs. According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, the Assad regime is <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=http://sn4hr.org/blog/2015/05/07/6767/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1523645458417000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE0QJZgrMB655RM95Oc69MmHohLow" href="http://sn4hr.org/blog/2015/05/07/6767/">responsible</a> for the destruction of over 60% of all churches destroyed during the Syrian Civil War.
Those &#8220;barrel bombs&#8221; glorified by the Charlottesville protestors are responsible for the deaths of countless Christians in the past six years.
The truth is that white supremacists fervently support Assad because of his hatred for Israel and his determination to annihilate his enemies or anyone he deems inferior by any means necessary. Because of this maniacal hatred that supersedes all logic or reason, white supremacists and nationalists have found in Assad a kindred spirit.
Bradley Martin is a Senior Fellow with the news and public policy group Haym Salomon Center and Deputy Editor for the Canadian Institute for Jewish Research.

MARTIN: Why Do Neo-Nazis Adore Bashar al-Assad?

Nazis

On Thursday, Joy Behar of &#8220;The View,&#8221; who is simply unable to avoid letting the most vile things come out of her mouth, likened President Trump to the murderous trio of Kim Jong Un, Vladmir Putin and Bashar Assad. One choice comment from Behar: &#8220;Do you think Kim Jong Un is less moral than Trump?&#8221;
The segment of the show began with Whoopi Goldberg mocking Trump for criticizing Barack Obama telegraphing what he would do on foreign policy, then playing clips of Trump saying he liked the element of surprise, then segueing to Trump&#8217;s tweet saying Russia had better watch out in Syria for a possible missile strike in Syria.
Host Sara Haines said, &#8220;I kind of remember the good old days when he was friends with dictators. Now that he&#8217;s threatening them, I don&#8217;t know which one&#8217;s scarier.&#8221;
At that point, Behar chimed in: &#8220;We&#8217;ve gotten to the point in this world now where we have to rely on the sanity of Kim Jong Un and Putin over the president of the United States. That&#8217;s where we&#8217;re at, because one of the guys over there said, &#8216;We do not do diplomacy by tweet.&#8217; (to the audience) Thank you. Thank you.&#8221;
Host Sunny Hostin interjected, &#8220;What makes me nervous is that I don&#8217;t know if this president is able to compartmentalize things in the way that a president should; when he has all this Stormy Daniels stuff and personal attorney&#8217;s law firm and home being raided by the FBI, I just wonder if that is agitating him so much then he leans toward making emotional decisions.&#8221;
Behar: &#8220;They say that Bill Clinton was famous for being able to compartmentalize. Monica Lewinsky &#8212; Syria.&#8221; (applause)
Hostin: &#8220;And can he do that? Can he do that?&#8221;
Host Meghan McCain defended Trump: &#8220;There&#8217;s no way for him to win that; when he says nothing about Russia, people get angry; when he&#8217;s threatening Russia, people also get angry; I think we really need to pick our battles. I know that it&#8217;s sort of funny to talk about this, but we are talking about genocide in Syria.&#8221;
Goldberg: &#8220;I&#8217;m at the point where if you&#8217;re going to wag yourself around and say that &#8216;I&#8217;m a big guy,&#8217; then don&#8217;t not point out that other folks have had to do the same thing. Because you thought you were gong to be able to do this&#8212;&#8221;
McCain: &#8220;That&#8217;s not my issue. My issue is the moral relativism between someone like Kim Jong Un and Putin and President Trump. I think it&#8217;s easy to sort of sit here and say that.&#8221;
Then Behar really got nasty: &#8220;Do you think Kim Jong Un is less moral than Trump? Do you?&#8221;
McCain: &#8220;Oh, my God. The aiding and abetting of Assad right now?&#8221;
Behar: &#8220;What&#8217;s happened? What&#8217;s happened?&#8221;
McCain: &#8220;Chemical gassing of children! Last time I checked, America isn&#8217;t doing that to anyone.&#8221;
Behar: &#8220;What are you talking about?&#8221; Then, incredibly, considering North Korea is one huge gulag, Behar stated, &#8220;Wait a minute. Kim Jong Un isn&#8217;t doing that. What are you talking about?&#8221;
McCain: &#8220;Joy, I&#8217;m really trying right now, and I know there&#8217;s some frustration right now about the way we&#8217;re communicating about this and I completely understand it, but I will say it&#8217;s hard for me to sit here with moral relativism about many things with Trump. If you think that Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin, and Bashar al-Assad, and President Trump are the exact same thing, it&#8217;s when you lose all arguments with me in every way.&#8221;
Behar: &#8220;What I&#8217;m saying is that the two of them are backing off of war and I see Trump is provoking war, that&#8217;s what I see.&#8221;
Video below:
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Joy Behar Likens Trump To Kim Jong Un, Putin, And Assad

Joy Behar

On Monday, during a United Nations Security Council meeting, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley castigated Russia for protecting the Assad regime as it allegedly uses chemical weapons against its own people (emphasis added):
<blockquote>
The news out of Syria this morning is following a troubling pattern. There are reports of yet another chemical weapons attack on Sunday. Victims of what appears to be chlorine gas are pouring into hospitals. Few things have horrified my country and the world as much as the Assad regime&#8217;s use of chemical weapons against its people. This council has been outspoken on ending Syria&#8217;s use of chemical weapons, and yet they continue. Under the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Security Council Resolution 2118, the Assad regime&#8217;s obligations are clear &#8211; it must immediately stop using all chemical weapons; it must address the gaps and inconsistencies in its Chemical Weapons Convention declaration; and it must destroy all of its remaining chemical weapons under the supervision of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
These are worthy goals; these are urgent goals; and yet we&#8217;ve spent much of last year in this council watching one country protect the Assad regime&#8217;s use of chemical weapons by refusing to hold them responsible. So what do the American people see? What do people of all countries see? They see a council that can&#8217;t agree to take action even after the investigative mechanism created by this council found that the Assad regime used chemical weapons. Now, we have reports that the Assad regime has used chlorine gas against its people multiple times in recent weeks, including just yesterday. There is obvious evidence from dozens of victims. So we proposed a Security Council press statement condemning these attacks. So far, Russia has delayed the adoption of the statement. A simple condemnation of Syrian children being suffocated by chlorine gas. I hope Russia takes the appropriate step to adopt this text, showing the council is unified in condemning chemical weapons attacks.
Accountability is a fundamental principle, but it&#8217;s just the first step. Our goal must be to end the use of these evil, unjustifiable weapons.
When actions have consequences, when perpetrators are identified and punished, we come closer to reaching our goal. But if we can&#8217;t even take the first step of establishing accountability for chemical weapons use, we have to seriously ask ourselves why we are here. The requirements for establishing accountability for chemical weapons use have not changed since this council voted unanimously to create the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) in 2015; they have not changed since Russia acted alone to kill that mechanism last year. Such a mechanism must be independent and impartial; it must be free of politics; it must be controlled by experts, not politicians or diplomats; and it must be definitive.
The latest Russian draft resolution does not meet any of these criteria. Russia&#8217;s draft resolution completely ignores the findings of the JIM, which was an investigation that Russia supported until the investigators found [the] Assad regime to be responsible. That should already be enough to make us skeptical &#8211; but there are other deep problems. For their new investigation, Russia wants to be able to cherry pick the investigators; it wants to insert unnecessary and arbitrary investigative standards; and it wants the Security Council to be able to review all of the findings of this investigation and decide what makes it into the final report. That is not an impartial mechanism; it is a way to whitewash the findings of the last investigations that Russia desperately wants to bury.
No one should believe this draft resolution is a good basis for discussion when it is designed to undermine our core principles on chemical weapons. We cannot hope to end the use of chemical weapons if those who use them escape the consequences of their actions. And so, while we regret the need for its creation, we applaud the efforts of France to launch the International Partnership against Impunity for the Use of Chemical Weapons. This is yet another way to hold accountable the Assad regime, and any group who uses chemical weapons.
The United States has also announced that we will contribute to the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism on international crimes committed in Syria, the IIIM. The United States strongly supports the IIIM as a valuable tool to hold the Assad regime accountable for its atrocities, including its repeated and ongoing use of chemical weapons.
It&#8217;s a true tragedy that Russia has sent us back to square one in the effort to end chemical weapons use in Syria, but we will not cease in our efforts to know the truth of the Assad regime and ensure that the truth is known and acted on by the international community. That is why we hosted all fifteen members of this council at the U.S. Holocaust Museum last week. The exhibit was called &#8220;Syria, Please Don&#8217;t Forget Us.&#8221;
All of us saw undeniable evidence of the Assad regime&#8217;s atrocities and human rights violations. We cannot and should not forget the Syrian people. The United States will not forget them. While this council has not yet been able to act to provide real accountability for chemical weapons use in Syria, the United States will not give up on their responsibility to do so. This is the sincere wish of the American people, and I know that is shared by many in this council. We are not motivated by score settling or payback or power politics; we are motivated by the urgent need to end the unique and horrible suffering chemical weapons inflict on [the] innocent men, women, and children of Syria. The Syrian people are counting on us. Thank you.
</blockquote>
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WATCH: Nikki Haley Slams Russia For Wanting To ‘Bury’ Findings Of Assad Chemical Weapons Investigation

Since the fall of 2015, Rutgers University has employed a man named Mazen Adi. His employment appears to have remained under the radar until early November when Shiri Moshe of <a href="https://www.algemeiner.com/2017/11/05/syrian-diplomat-who-accused-israelis-of-trafficking-childrens-organs-now-professor-at-rutgers-university/">The Algemeiner</a> reported that prior to his teaching gig at Rutgers, Adi was a representative for the Bashar al-Assad regime at the United Nations:
<blockquote>
&#8230; between January 2007 and July 2014, Adi served as a diplomat and legal adviser at the Permanent Mission of Syria to the United Nations in New York. He represented the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as it met pro-democracy protesters with lethal force in 2011, sparking a conflict that has left an estimated 465,000 people dead or missing.
</blockquote>
You read that correctly. Adi was a United Nations diplomat for Syria under Bashar al-Assad. Now he works at Rutgers.
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In addition to defending Syria in general and the vile actions of Bashar al-Assad specifically, Adi has made numerous sickening and shocking remarks. In 2012, during a speech condemning Israel, Adi <a href="https://youtu.be/CyxY2A9ToPY">said</a>: &#8220;Indeed, international gangs led by some Israeli officials are now trafficking children&#8217;s organs.&#8221;
According to an anonymous student who spoke with Moshe, Adi has &#8220;defended Palestinian terrorism in class&#8221; as a means of resisting alleged occupation by Israel.
One might not know these things were they to read Adi&#8217;s glowing bio on the Rutgers website:
<blockquote>
Dr. Mazen Adi worked as a career diplomat and legal advisor for 16 years&#8217; experience both in bilateral and multilateral relations. Since September 2015, he started teaching at Rutgers University MA Program in Political Science-United Nations and Global Policy Studies, he teaches courses in International Criminal Law and Anti-Corruption; Extremism, Violence and Political Change; and Theories of Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism. He holds a Ph.D. in comparative law from Tor Vergata University (Roma 2) Italy, LL.M and MA from St. John &#8217;s University.
</blockquote>
Having repeatedly defended a man who presided over the deaths of more than 400,000 people, Adi is likely very familiar with international criminal law, as well as terrorism, extremism, and violence.
After Adi&#8217;s cover was blown, Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, <a href="https://www.unwatch.org/u-s-deport-rutgers-prof-represented-syria-aiding-genocide/">condemned</a> Rutgers, saying that it should be &#8220;a matter of profound concern that an American university would allow an apologist for the Syrian regime&#8217;s genocide to be a teacher.&#8221;
Neuer added that Adi should be fired, and that the United States needs to &#8220;investigate how a long-time agent of the Syrian regime&#8221; and an &#8220;apologist for mass murder&#8221; was even allowed to be hired by the university.
Rutgers is defiant, <a href="https://www.algemeiner.com/2017/11/07/rutgers-university-defends-decision-to-employ-ex-assad-regime-spokesman-calling-him-expert-in-international-law/">telling</a> Moshe that Mazen Adi was hired because of &#8220;his expertise in international law and diplomacy,&#8221; and that &#8220;Rutgers will not defend the content of every opinion expressed by every member of our academic community, but the University will defend their rights to academic freedom and to speak freely.&#8221;
To sum up this wild story: Rutgers, a taxpayer-funded university, may not agree with a man who defended Bashar al-Assad, and who claimed Israeli officials trafficked the organs of children, but free speech and stuff.
The Daily Wire reached out to Mazen Adi via his Rutgers email address. As of publication, he has not responded.

Rutgers Defends Hiring Former Bashar al-Assad Diplomat Who Once Claimed Israel Trafficked ‘Children’s Organs’

Rutgers University

The Washington Post is taking moral relativism to new heights. The Post&#8217;s Beirut bureau chief Liz Sly and contributor Suzan Haidamous co-authored a fluff piece that essentially attempts to re-define the terrorist group Hezbollah as a legitimate political movement. 
Going on &#8220;tour&#8221; with the Lebanese Shia militia, Sly and her colleague took the word of Hezbollah leadership at face value in an apparent effort to normalize the morally depraved non-state actors.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
On tour with Hezbollah in Lebanon, where they&#8217;re out to show that they, not Trump, are the ones fighting terrorism <a href="https://t.co/dPoWDYYu5A">https://t.co/dPoWDYYu5A</a>
&#8212; Liz Sly (@LizSly) <a href="https://twitter.com/LizSly/status/891805053056692224">July 30, 2017</a></blockquote>
&#8220;The current American president is ignorant of the region,&#8221; Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif told the Post reporters. &#8220;We are the force that fights terrorism while the United States continues to support terrorism in many forms.&#8221;
Afif added:
<blockquote>
We are the ones defeating terrorism. The Americans and their allies are the ones who are supporting terrorism, and they are the last ones who should be criticizing Hezbollah.
</blockquote>
And there you go, it&#8217;s the Americans who are &#8220;supporting terrorism,&#8221; not the jihadist martyrs with an AK-47 on their <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=hezbollah&amp;tbm=isch&amp;source=lnms&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiM2ubrubTVAhVR5GMKHUdjCBYQ_AUIBygC&amp;biw=1190&amp;bih=568#tbm=isch&amp;q=hezbollah+flag">flag</a>. 
Failing to provide proper context to the terror group&#8217;s hostile behavior in the region, Sly and Haidamous mention Israel, Hezbollah&#8217;s primary victim, once. Adding insult to injury, the reporters actually have the gall to frame Israel as the oppressor and Hezbollah the victim of the &#8220;Israeli occupation.&#8221;
&#8220;Nowhere was there any evidence of the Lebanese state, which has struggled to assert its role in the years since the 1975-1990 civil war saw the country overrun by scores of private militias,&#8221; write Sly and Haidamous. &#8220;Only Hezbollah survived intact, retaining its status because of the role it played resisting what was then the Israeli occupation of a big chunk of southern Lebanon.&#8221;
Hezbollah&#8217;s spontaneous missile attacks against innocent Israelis along the Jewish State&#8217;s northern border with Lebanon are conveniently ignored.
Moreover, the sheer extent of Hezbollah&#8217;s war crimes in Syria are left out entirely. Financed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hezbollah has functioned as a de facto mercenary group to prop up the genocidal Assad regime in Syria. It&#8217;s Hezbollah fighters, paid for and trained by Iran, who are butchering civilians on behalf of Assad.
But to Sly and Haidamous, Hezbollah&#8217;s barbarity is far too complex for moral judgment of any kind.
Indeed, the two Post writers appear to take issue with President Trump&#8217;s recent characterization of the terror group as a terror group.
&#8220;Whether the Trump administration can navigate the pitfalls of this complexity may determine if this tiny, relatively calm country can continue to escape the turmoil raging elsewhere in the Middle East,&#8221; write the two reporters, channeling obscurantist post-modern academics with exactly zero military experience.

SICK: Washington Post Is Touring With Terrorist Group Hezbollah

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Muslims

Terrorism

<div>
President Donald Trump is doing the right thing in foreign policy. And he is doing it well. I owe the president an apology, because I didn&#8217;t believe he would follow a foreign policy that would advance our interests and our values. 
I am guilty of having made assumptions. Having listened to Trump&#8217;s public statements before becoming president, I assumed the following: (1) A Trump administration would refuse to support NATO, putting the security of the free world at risk by tempting the Russians to attack Europe; (2) Cries for human rights would fall on deaf ears, debasing our moral standing and creating an atmosphere where evil regimes could commit ever-greater atrocities with impunity; (3) Trump would be susceptible to disinformation that confuses the pursuit of American foreign policy objectives. 
I have never been so happy to have been proven wrong. 
Far from weakening NATO, Trump has expanded it. By shepherding the admittance of Montenegro into the alliance, Trump has ensured that NATO now commands the entirety of Europe&#8217;s Mediterranean coastline. With the president firmly &#8220;committing the United States to Article 5&#8221; (Press Conference, 6/9/17), NATO is stronger than ever before. Russia had a fit about it, but Trump did it anyway.
In April, Trump proved that there would be consequences to violations of human rights when he fired 60 missiles at a Syrian airbase to punish the regime of Bashar al-Assad for use of chemical weapons. &#8220;Years of previous attempts at changing Assad&#8217;s behavior have all failed, and failed very dramatically,&#8221; said the president. &#8220;As a result, the refugee crisis continues to deepen and the region continues to destabilize, threatening the United States and its allies.&#8221; So he acted, and declared in a clear statement of principle that &#8220;we hope that as long as America stands for justice, then peace and harmony will, in the end, prevail.&#8221;
Assad is now afraid to conduct such an attack again. A mere warning from the White House has brought preparations for another chemical attack to a halt.
Russia has spent a fortune on propaganda telling the world that all opponents of Assad are ISIS or worse, and that all the massacres that they commit are therefore necessary and even noble. But, as Trump wrote in &#8220;The Art of the Deal&#8221; 30 years ago: &#8220;You can&#8217;t con people, at least not for long.&#8221; When the moment of truth came in April, Trump proved that he could see through the deception. 
While Assad and his allies insist that they are fighting ISIS, they have ceded large areas of southeast Syria to ISIS and have left them largely untouched. Instead, their firepower is focused on the Western part of the country, where rebels who are both anti-ISIS and anti-Assad operate. There is a reason for this. In 2015, Assad gave a speech in which he declared that the Syrian army &#8220;cannot fight on all fronts out of fear of losing control in certain areas, [and therefore] we relinquish [certain] regions in favor of important areas under our control.&#8221; In the final months of the Obama administration, ISIS territory in Syria was expanding while Assad and Russia were simultaneously carpet bombing the city of Aleppo (starting with the hospitals). The resistance to both Assad and ISIS was all but destroyed. 
Now, less than half a year later, a U.S.-backed rebel coalition, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and Kurdish fighters have forced ISIS into full retreat. ISIS is currently losing control of their capital, Raqqa, as SDF rebels with the support of American airpower and Special Forces are taking the city neighborhood by neighborhood. Trump has gone the extra mile to defend these anti-ISIS forces. When a Syrian regime fighter jet attacked the SDF on June 18, a U.S. Navy F/A-18E shot it down.
Trump has said repeatedly that he would like to see a safe zone where civilians can flee and where Syrian refugees can return. The liberation of southeast Syria from the scourge of ISIS presents such an opportunity. Assad was willing to let ISIS have this territory, so he has no moral right to demand these areas back from SDF and Kurdish fighters who were willing to fight for them (and who won&#8217;t gas the people who come to them for safety). Such an accomplishment may finally, at long last, bring the Syrian civil war to a close.
Syrian refugee Kassem Eid writes, &#8220;ISIS thrives on hopelessness and international passivity to convince its fighters to seek revenge instead of justice.&#8221; By taking action, Eid writes, Trump has done more to fight the Islamic State &#8220;than his predecessor did in six years. He has now given the Syrian people hope that the U.S. will stand for human rights and freedom.&#8221;
The bad guys are running scared and the good guys stand tall. I was wrong about you, Mr. President. You truly are making America great again.
Follow Spyridon on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/SpyridonM">@SpyridonM</a>. 
</div>

I Owe Trump An Apology

On Sunday, a US Navy fighter jet downed a Syrian aircraft after the Syrian plane began dropping bombs on Syrian opposition non-ISIS forces. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/18/middleeast/syrian-warplane-shot-down-coalition/index.html">According to CNN</a>:
<blockquote>
The shootdown came a little more than two hours after forces allied with the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad attacked the north-central Syria town of Ja&#8217;Din, which was controlled by the SDF&#8230;. &#8220;In accordance with rules of engagement and in collective self-defense of coalition-partnered forces, (the Syrian jet) was immediately shot down by a US F/A-18E Super Hornet,&#8221; the coalition statement said.
</blockquote>
Russia <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/russia-shoot-down-all-flying-objects-in-syria-us-regime-warplane-isis-terror-a7797101.html">immediately responded</a> by stating that it would target American aircraft operating west of the Euphrates River &#8211; and announced that it would cut off the hotline between the United States and Russia allowing the Russians to warn of potential air conflicts. The Russian Defense Ministry announced:
<blockquote>
&#8220;All kinds of airborne vehicles, including aircraft and UAVs of the international coalition detected to the west of the Euphrates River will be tracked by the Russian SAM systems as air targets,&#8221; the Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement.
</blockquote>
This sets up the possibility of imminent war between the United States and Russia over Syria, if the Russians aren&#8217;t bluffing. President Trump warned as a candidate against involvement in the Syrian conflict, and opposed Hillary Clinton&#8217;s proposed no-fly zone, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37766786">stating that</a>, &#8220;You&#8217;re going to end up in World War III over Syria if we listen to Hillary Clinton. You&#8217;re not fighting Syria any more, you&#8217;re fighting Syria, Russia and Iran, all right?&#8221;
Trump wasn&#8217;t wrong then, given the Russian stake in Syria. So either Trump believes the Russians are bluffing and aren&#8217;t interested in a proxy shooting war with the United States, or Trump has taken a confused position about the situation in Syria and given free rein to commanders without an overarching instruction.
Syria is a genocidal mess. The country is split between ISIS in the east, the Kurds in the north, the Free Syrian Army in the northwest and southeast, and Bashar Assad&#8217;s government forces everywhere else. The Russians back Assad, of course. Creating a no-fly zone over all of Syria will obviously draw the United States further into the conflict; David French at National Review suggests a partition of the country may be the only workable solution, with the United States providing ground support to the Kurds particularly.
All of this should disconcert those on the left who believe that President Trump is in the pocket of the Russians. President Obama&#8217;s relationship with Vladimir Putin was far more servile in Syria than Trump&#8217;s has been.

BREAKING: Russia Threatens War With US Over Syria

U.S. officials have confirmed that the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition hit Bashar al-Assad regime targets near Syria&#8217;s border with Jordan. Reports of the incidents were first circulated by rebel forces and Arab media outlets, prompting the United States to confirm the military strike.
The U.S. coalition made the decision to strike pro-Assad, Iranian-backed Shiite militia when the regime forces advanced too closely to the al-Tanf training base, where American military advisors are working with allied-partners, including Jordan and the United Kingdom, to train the so-called New Syrian Army (NSyA).
According to <a href="https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2016/06/21/al-tanf-bombing-russia-assisted-isis-attacking-us-backed-fsa-group-cluster-bombs/">foreign policy expert Rao Komar</a>, &#8220;The New Syrian Army is a key part of the U.S. government&#8217;s &#8216;Train and Equip&#8217; program which was set up to arm rebel groups to fight ISIS. New Syrian Army fighters are vetted by the U.S. and Jordan to ensure that they are not extremists.&#8221;
&#8220;Furthermore, they are required to sign a document pledging to only fight ISIS and not the Syrian government,&#8221; adds Komar.
The al-Tanf border crossing is essentially no-man&#8217;s land, a buffer zone between relatively stable Jordan and fragmented, polarized, and war-weary Syria. By nearly every metric, Syria is a failed state. Only recently have Assad regime forces (with the help of civilian-killing Russian cluster munitions and high payload bombs) taken over rebel-held territories in Aleppo and other towns near the battle-hardened Idlib province. 
Despite the presence of U.S., UK, and Jordanian special forces (as well as American aircraft, including F/A-18 jets, and fueling stations), <a href="https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2016/06/21/al-tanf-bombing-russia-assisted-isis-attacking-us-backed-fsa-group-cluster-bombs/">Russian warplanes have struck coalition-backed anti-ISIS forces at the al-Tanf crossing with impunity before</a>.
But on Thursday, the U.S. finally responded to the regime&#8217;s provocations. 
To be fair, the coalition had a degree of flexibility here. Initial reports suggest that the U.S. struck Shiite militia not only funded by Iran but trained and equipped by embedded Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the notorious military-intelligence arm of the Islamic Republic that reports directly to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 
In fact, the Iranian government semi-official Fars news agency reported on the deployment of 3,000 Hezbollah fighters to al-Tanf shortly before the U.S. airstrikes targeting regime forces. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Before reports of US airstrikes targeting pro-regime forces in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Syria?src=hash">#Syria</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Iran?src=hash">#Iran</a>&#8216;s Fars said <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hezbollah?src=hash">#Hezbollah</a> deployed 3,000 fighters to al-Tanf <a href="https://t.co/HZHSLvSvV5">pic.twitter.com/HZHSLvSvV5</a>
&#8212; Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) <a href="https://twitter.com/jseldin/status/865249134504267776">May 18, 2017</a></blockquote>
Hezbollah is a proxy terrorist group for Iran. The Lebanese Shiite group&#8217;s fighters operate as mercenaries for Tehran, carrying out the dirty work of the mullahs across the soon-to-be reified <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shia_Crescent">Shiite crescent</a>. From launching terrorist attacks along Israel&#8217;s northern border with Lebanon to slaughtering women and children for Iranian-ally Bashar al-Assad, Hezbollah has all but mastered the art of savage guerrilla warfare.
Given the group&#8217;s strong connection with Iran, Tehran will likely voice outrage over the U.S. coalition airstrikes; that outrage, however, will likely fall on deaf ears.
The Trump administration has already expressed a strong desire to reconsider key elements of the Iran nuclear agreement. As a result, Trump isn&#8217;t beholden to Iran the same way Barack Obama was. 
Tying the hands of the U.S. coalition behind its back, Obama insisted on a hands-off approach to the genocide in Syria in an effort to appease Tehran. Half a million dead Syrians later, Iran is doubling-down on its ballistic missiles program and expanding ts sphere of influence to Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and even Bahrain. 
After striking the Syrian regime&#8217;s al-Sharyat airbase last month, Trump showed the world, particularly the Iranians, that he was willing to respond to Assad&#8217;s gross violations of human rights, marking a new path forward for U.S. policy in the region. Trump&#8217;s imminent trip to Saudi Arabia is a reflection of this new policy as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and other key administration and military officials hope to reassert America&#8217;s traditional alliance with Sunni Arab states, and Gulf States that are actively fighting the Russian-Iranian-Syrian axis (largely through proxies), after it was seriously undermined by the Obama administration&#8217;s Iran-pandering.

Game-Changer: U.S. Strikes Iranian-Backed Syrian Regime Forces

Barack Obama

On Monday, the U.S. State Department accused Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad of using a crematorium outside of the capital Damascus to dispose of the bodies of thousands of prisoners. Thousands have gone missing since the start of the 2011 Syrian civil war-turned-genocide. Anti-Assad forces on the ground, including the Free Syrian Army (FSA) have accused the regime of getting rid of the bodies of the missing by burning them to a crisp. These allegations have mostly fallen on deaf ears.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
we said that years ago, but no body believed us 
Syria using crematorium to hide executions, State Department says <a href="https://t.co/hxCoLhZUmu">https://t.co/hxCoLhZUmu</a> <a href="https://t.co/cvERgKRb3b">pic.twitter.com/cvERgKRb3b</a>
&#8212; Asaad Hanna (@AsaadHannaa) <a href="https://twitter.com/AsaadHannaa/status/864190425464229888">May 15, 2017</a></blockquote>
But now the Trump administration is vindicating those who have long accused the butcher of Damascus of doing unspeakable things to his people.
According to the State Department, Assad built a large crematorium beside the Saydnaya Military Prison, the regime&#8217;s notorious detention facility. Saydnaya is just a 45-minute drive from Damascus. There, regime officers allegedly burned the bodies of thousands of prisoners to cover-up war crimes.
&#8220;Although the regime&#8217;s many atrocities are well-documented, we believe the building of a crematorium is an effort to cover up the extent of mass atrocities taking place in <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/17/middleeast/amnesty-report-syria-torture-deaths/">Saydnaya prison</a>,&#8221; <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/15/politics/assad-syria-crematorium/">said</a> Stuart Jones, acting assistant secretary for the State Department&#8217;s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the State Department. &#8220;We are appalled by the atrocities taking place in Syria [with the] seemingly unconditional support of Russia.&#8221;
Declassified intelligence, including photographs and satellite images, reveal not the only the barbarity of the Assad regime but the complicity of patron state Russia.
The &#8220;photos underscore the depths to which the Syrian regime has gone with the support of &#8230; Russia,&#8221; Jones <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/15/politics/assad-syria-crematorium/">asserted</a>.
According to Jones, the regime may be executing as many as 50 prisoners a day at the Saydnaya military prison. The bodies of the executed are then taken to the crematorium nearby to be burned.
&#8220;In February, Amnesty International alleged that thousands of people have been hanged at the Syrian prison just 45 minutes outside the capital of Damascus in a secret crackdown on dissent,&#8221; reports CNN. &#8220;Amnesty&#8217;s report, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/07/middleeast/syria-executions-amnesty-international-report/">Human Slaughterhouse</a>, said prisoners are moved in the middle of the night from their cells under the pretext of being transferred. They are taken to the grounds of the prison, where they are hanged, likely unaware of their fate until they feel the noose around their neck, Amnesty alleged.&#8221;
The crematorium where prisoner bodies are being incinerated was built after 2013, according to aerial photos obtained by the United States.
The State Department has come to its conclusion through a variety of vetted sources, including press reporting (local, dissident, and international), reports by U.S. intelligence assets, and reports compiled by non-governmental organizations, or NGOs.
The State Department&#8217;s accusations against Assad come just one week after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson&#8217;s meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
&#8220;The Russian government and Minister Lavrov have indicated to us that they&#8217;re interested in finding a solution&#8230;[but] there is no solution without an end to these atrocities,&#8221; Jones added. &#8220;We&#8217;re not going to signal what we&#8217;re going to do and what we&#8217;re not going to do,&#8221; Jones said, but he added that the US would &#8220;bring evidence forward to the international community.&#8221;
But unlike the Obama administration, which doubled-down on failed, and quite frankly naïve, diplomacy with the Russians, the Trump administration has shown its willingness to respond to Assad&#8217;s grotesque violations of international law. Last month, Trump authorized CENTCOM to launch 59 tomahawk missiles at al-Sharyat air field, destroying hangers, equipment, and aircraft.
The attack was relatively small in scale. In fact, the Russians were notified about the precision strikes before they occurred in order to avoid the possibility of dead Russian soldiers and a larger geopolitical quagmire. Nonetheless, the offensive, justified as a response to the human rights crisis in Syria, marked a major shift in the president&#8217;s thinking. During the presidential campaign, Trump signaled a strong preference to stay out of the conflict in Syria in the hopes of working with the Russians, and perhaps even Assad, to target ISIS. The problem, of course, was that neither the Russians nor the Syrian regime were going after ISIS. In many ways, the regime has a symbiotic relationship with ISIS.
Not only did ISIS begin as an offshoot of al-Qaida in Syria, but it flourished in the wake of Assad&#8217;s extermination of a fragmented and under-armed Syrian opposition.
As the Obama administration abandoned anti-Assad allies, including the Free Syrian Army, ISIS gobbled up defectors from the Syrian opposition, exploiting the war against the Shiite Iranian-backed Alawite regime in Damascus to recruit countless Sunni &#8220;holy warriors.&#8221;
The Islamic State&#8217;s successes in Syria led to more more manpower and more territory. IS fighters eventually took over vast swaths of land in Syria&#8217;s oil-rich northern territories, ensuring a consistent flow of income from black market petrol sales to fund its terror operations abroad.
The fact is, the Obama Doctrine is responsible for both the emergence of ISIS in Syria and Iraq and the continued atrocities of the Assad regime. 
Since 2011, Assad has been butchering his own people, and the Obama administration did nothing to take his bloody hands away from the levers of power. This failure to act wasn&#8217;t just moral cowardice but strategic idiocy.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Like Rwanda before it, Syria will be studied for years as an exercise in collective inaction. <a href="https://t.co/T92g8r5nz0">https://t.co/T92g8r5nz0</a>
&#8212; Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) <a href="https://twitter.com/jimsciutto/status/864159111965028353">May 15, 2017</a></blockquote>
Under the banner of American apologetics and prostration, the Obama administration abandoned key strategic U.S. allies on the ground, exacerbating a political vacuum that has already seen the emergence of Sunni jihadist factions like ISIS and the al-Nusra front. The disastrously ineffectual $500 million <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/204/russia-takes-control-syria-tells-us-stand-down-joshua-yasmeh">Pentagon program</a> to train and equip allied fighters against the Assad regime failed to yield any results. Only &#8220;four to five&#8221; militants were prepared for the project.
The discursive nature of U.S. policy in the post-Iraq invasion of the Middle East damaged both U.S. assets on the ground and the stability of the region as a whole. With Arab analysts suggesting that President Obama was &#8220;<a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/2015/09/26/Putin-has-checkmated-Obama-in-Syria.html">checkmated</a>&#8221; by Putin, the Obama doctrine was synonymous with incomprehensibility.
As Ian Bremmer, President of the Eurasia Group (a leading global political risk research and consulting firm), <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/261/obama-abandons-syrian-allies-russians-bomb-joshua-yasmeh">stated</a>, &#8220;Barack Obama&#8217;s painfully public vacillation on what to do with Syria&#8217;s Bashar al-Assad marks the low point of his six years in office.&#8221;
 &#8220;I don&#8217;t even know what to say,&#8221; <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/01/u-s-admits-we-can-t-protect-syrian-allies-from-russia-s-bombs.html">confessed</a> Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker in October of 2015, &#8220;We are getting to a place where there are little, if any, option left. This administration has frittered away most opportunities &#8212; to the point that they&#8217;re not going to be in direct with Russia, and Russia knows that.&#8221;
A Cold-War style showdown with Russia is not in anybody&#8217;s best interest. Mutually Assured Destruction is still the operative phrase.
Former President Obama has left the United States with very few logistically plausible options.
Today, Syria is hell on earth. Over half a million people have been killed in Assad&#8217;s slaughterhouse. Several million have been turned into refugees, forced to cross treacherous seas and pay off human smugglers to cross into countries that either don&#8217;t want them, pity them, or outright infantilize them in a way that only far-left, paternalistic Westerners with martyr complexes and Orientalist fetishists could do. 
But nonetheless, those who managed to escape the aerial bombings, mass rape, torture, chemical weapons attacks, arbitrary detentions, and crematoriums are the lucky ones
As The New Yorker&#8217;s Ben Taub noted in a <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/does-anyone-in-syria-fear-international-law">powerful essay</a> published last August, nobody, most of all Bashar al-Assad, is afraid of international law anymore.
&#8220;Nowhere has the supposed deterrent of eventual justice proved so visibly ineffective as in Syria&#8230;since 2011, not a minute has passed in which the Syrian government has not been committing multiple, simultaneous, widespread war crimes and crimes against humanity,&#8221; he writes. &#8220;The body of court-ready evidence against top officials within the Syrian government is more complete and damning than any that has ever previously been collected during an active conflict. And yet there is no clear path for prosecuting the highest-level offenders.&#8221;
Taub continues:
<blockquote>
The most incriminating evidence was produced by the regime&#8217;s own immense bureaucracy. Military police officers have systematically processed and photographed the emaciated corpses of thousands of detainees who were tortured to death by security and intelligence agents; more than fifty thousand of these images are currently in the possession of international lawyers and forensic investigators. And, as I have previously <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/04/18/bashar-al-assads-war-crimes-exposed">written for this magazine</a>, independent war-crimes investigators working for the Commission for International Justice and Accountability have smuggled out of Syria more than six hundred thousand government files, allowing them to trace the systematic torture and murder of tens of thousands of suspected members of the opposition to orders emanating from President Bashar al-Assad&#8217;s highest-level security committee, and approved by Assad himself&#8230;.
If the [International Criminal Court] were permitted to investigate war crimes in Syria, it would be unsurprising to see future prosecutions of top officials&#8212;including Assad&#8212;for an array of crimes prohibited by the Geneva Conventions, including willful killing; wanton and excessive destruction of property beyond military necessity; compelling prisoners of war to fight on behalf of their captors; intentional attacks directed against civilians; intentional attacks directed against humanitarian personnel, installations, and vehicles; bombardment of undefended towns, villages, or buildings; murdering prisoners of war; intentionally attacking markets, schools, and hospitals; mutilation; pillaging; the use of chemical weapons, including &#8220;asphyxiating gases&#8221;; and intentionally starving civilians as a method of warfare, while willfully impeding relief supplies.
With Russia now actively participating in Assad&#8217;s air campaign&#8212;using banned incendiary munitions and frequently bombing hospitals and markets in rebel-held territory on his behalf&#8212;the likelihood that the U.N. Security Council might eventually refer jurisdiction to the International Criminal Court has dropped to approximately zero per cent. 
</blockquote>
Taub&#8217;s conclusion is as heart-wrenching as at is true.
&#8220;The Syrian war has become a conflict in which war crimes carry no consequences&#8212;present or, seemingly, future&#8212;and in which their perpetration has been normalized as a part of military strategy, rather than being seen as an aberration,&#8221; he laments. &#8220;Western countries and the United Nations have spent the past five and a half years condemning atrocity after atrocity in Syria, to no avail. With justice so limited by geopolitics, who in Syria is afraid of international law?&#8221;
The people of Syria have come to know death as a daily messenger. After losing wives to barrel bombs, husbands to firing squads, children to chlorine and sarin gas, some call upon the angel of death for mercy, begging that he take them with him, too.
It&#8217;s unclear how the Trump administration will move going forward. Trump himself has sent mixed signals about Russia, claiming on one hand that Vladimir Putin can be a valuable anti-terror ally while dispatching administration officials to make strong accusations against Russia and its patronage of Assad&#8217;s hellish war-machine.
Trump has shown the world that he can respond to Assad&#8217;s barbarism. Now with hard evidence of Assad&#8217;s prisoner-burning crematoriums in hand, will Trump send another message to the butcher-incinerator of Damascus once more or smirk and extend a diplomatic hand to Russia, hoping that an amoral patron of death will experience a spontaneous change of heart?

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