For many months ISIS have been holding on to one last piece of worthwhile territory in Syria. It’s a strip of land about half the size of the Isle of Wight, running along the East bank of the Euphrates River. At the northern end of this strip is the settlement of Hajin, the ISIS “Capital” of the area. Today (13/12/18) it was announced that the Kurdish forces, backed by the USA, Britain, and over one hundred other nations, have at last taken Hajin from ISIS. Our headline here is not true. It was Hajin that was captured, not Steeple Bumpstead. Our headline was also unfair to the USA et al, since Hajin is twice the size of Steeple Bumpstead.
This entire ISIS pocket, never mind tiny Hajin, would have been overrun by the Syrian Army with Russian help a long time ago, but for the fact that land East of the Euphrates is American controlled. Syrian and Russian forces observe a de-confliction “agreement” that keeps them out. (Crossing the river exposes them to American firepower.)
Can it take a nation with 1.3 million active military personnel, backed by most other nations on the Planet, many months to take a single village? Clearly the answer must be “yes”, but one has to accept that the time taken is proof of something very significant: the Americans want the presence of ISIS. They use it to justify their own presence in Syria. And that presence is also significant: most of the Syrian territory not controlled by the Syrian Government today is controlled by the USA.
Those who have paid attention to the Syrian War will remember that vast quantities of US military aid to the “moderate” rebels “accidentally” ended up in the hands of ISIS and Al Qaeda. If the Americans don’t know who they’re training and equipping, nor how to capture Syria’s answer to Steeple Bumpstead, they are either mind-bogglingly stupid or have a hidden agenda. Either way, don’t expect the mainstream media to tell you. And don’t expect anything nearer to the truth to come out of the churches, even when an unnecessary war, backed by the British Government, is wrecking millions of lives. And don’t expect the churches to remind you that Jesus commanded love for enemies. (Nor even to note the simple fact that Syria is not our enemy anyway.)
Genuine Christianity has absolutely nothing to do with any of this, beyond proclaiming the wickedness of it, and the guilt of those who promote it or acquiesce in it.
UPDATE 19/12/18
Today it is reported that ISIS are back in control of “Eastern Hajin” after a “big counter-attack”. This would be hilarious if it wasn’t true. “Eastern Hajin” must refer to an area of about 35 acres – that’s about the space taken up by Wembley Stadium. Will the Global Coalition against ISIS manage to retake it?
Interestingly, Trump has just announced again that all US troops are to be pulled out of Syria. Previous announcements came to nothing. Wait and see.
UPDATE 21/1/19 See new article here.
For websites that report daily on the Syrian War, see Links Page here.