Under siege and short on friends, former Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi was out of options in 2011 – as a menacing army of reportedly “democratically” minded rebels surrounded him. To the international press, Gaddafi offered a consistent take on the events, that despite the claims of democratic revolution, the rebel forces were predominantly constituted of al Qaeda and other jihadist group members. The United States, however, interpreted the scenario differently, viewing Gaddafi as an oppressive, sadistic tyrant, hell-bent on murdering democratic leaning revolutionaries.
There was truth to Gaddafi’s al Qaeda claims, to the dismay of the United States. In 2011, the Maghreb chapter of al- Qaeda – the faction once directly run by Osama bin Laden – condemned Gaddafi and openly pushed for all Muslims to support the Libyan uprising. According to West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center, the Libyan city of Benghazi was one of al Qaeda’s main headquarters – and the a main source of Al Qaeda fighters who entered Iraq. NATO planes, protecting the fundamentalist sects within the later infamous city, however, thwarted Gaddafi’s assault on Benghazi.
As al Jazeera published in 2011, “Gaddafi is struggling to maintain his authority in the country, as major swathes of territory in the east of the vast North African country now appear to be under the control of pro-democracy protesters.” Years later, after America financial assistance and intelligence support, the rebels would be successful. The al Qaeda flag was flown over the Benghazi courthouse once Gaddafi was murdered in the streets. Part of this support was allowing even extremist rebel groups to receive advanced weaponry from the Qatari Government. Large portions of Libya are still completely destabilized or controlled by al Qaeda.
Retired Rear admiral Chuck Hubeic, one of the contributors to the later CIA report on the Libyan incident, would state that the majority of the weapons supplied to the Libyan rebels were moved to Syria. Much like the Libyan revolution, the Syrian oppositional force also contains a large number of current or former al Qaeda members, though the exact percentage is constantly changing. The United States has estimated the number to be around 10 percent; Syrian president Assad has claimed totals of now 80 to 90 percent. Regardless of the exact number, the I.S. impact was large enough to prompt President Obama to request 500 million dollars from congress – to train more rebels to retake lost land from IS rebels.
The United States’ most important Sunni- Arab allies Qatar and Saudi Arabia have not been as tentative as America in regards to supplying Syrian rebels with heavy military machinery. Back in 2011, the small but wealthy Qatar began distributing weapons to the now Syrian rebels. Qatar has supplied Syrian rebels with U. S. made TOW anti- tank missiles and other advanced weaponry divides. In a 2014 Frontline documentary, rebels are even shown receiving training in Qatar. Saudi Arabia has also been tremendously active in arming Syrian Rebels – supplying a never ending amount of infantry weapons and more missiles. With the once strong Shiite crescent of Iran, Iraq, and Syria now severely weakened, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are competing to become the protector of the Sunni Arab world – supporting both democratic revolutionary’s and IS terrorists in their attempt to overthrow the Syrian regime.
The heavily supplied revolutionaries are now, in addition to simultaneously maintaining the Syrian revolution against President Assad, are warring with each other – with both the moderate and extreme factions receiving money and weaponry from the same sources. Eventually the ISIS faction of the Syrian revolution was strong enough to begin crossing over to Iraq, continuing their Jihadist quest to form an Islamic State. To date, the IS is in control of a Belgium sized state within Syria and roughly one third of Iraq.
As stated prior, President Obama has requested 500 million dollars to train and assist the most vested, moderate Syrian rebels, but the American regime also has continued their close relationship with the known Hamas and al Qaeda funding Qatar. In July, the United States has even supplied their close ally with 11 billion dollars worth of military equipment: apaches and extraordinarily advanced missile defense systems.
Just next door to Syria, the United States is supporting Iraq in its fight against the I.S. invasion. Shiite Prime minister Haider al-Abadi and Kurdish Leader Massoud Barzani have both received financial and military assistance against the I.S, but only after one third of Iraq was conquered and terrorized: Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, was conquered; the Mosul dam was overtaken; The Yazidi, Christians, and other minorities have been murdered in high numbers. The Kurds have been assisting America in operations since the 70s, but up until global support and pressure to stop the genoicide of minority groups and destruction in Iraq, the Obama administration had refused to supply the Kurds with any military equipment – while blocking Kurdish oil sales. Rebels who run routine military operations were given artillery and access to Qatar’s American weapon supply, but the truly democratic K.R.G. was brought to breaking point before receiving air support and light infantry weaponry.
To further complicate matters, Shiite Iran has spent billions to help bolster Syria and has been a valued ally to the Shiite run Iraqi Government. After endorsing Iraqi Prime Minister al Abadi, Iran continued to send military assistance and advisors to Iraq. That would mean, that at any given time, Iran is an American enemy in Syria and an American ally across the border in Iraq.
With the Syrian revolution becoming a sectarian proxy war, and an already Divided Iraq facing off against terrorists the United States currently still allows weaponry to get access to, there is no semblance of a consistent strategy. The myopic U.S. foreign policy creates, funds, and maintains a consistent state of Middle Eastern war. Conspiracy theorists and Scholars can debate over the line between corruption and incompetence. However, with well over 100, 000 deaths in Syria alone, the United States strategy needs to change – or America will find itself presiding over only the dead and the ashes of nations once promised democracy.
P&G Global Research Initiative 