Press Release
Tillerson's Speech on US Policy in Syria
Sweet on the Surface but Deceptive as the Cunning of the Fox
(Translated)

 US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson delivered a speech at Stanford University, California on 17/1/2018 devoted to explain US policy in Syria. The question of Syria did not come as a subject, but was the only subject in Tillerson's speech. After reviewing the events in Syria in which he flipped the facts and mixed them with lies to absolve America of the blood of the Syrian people and portray them as a concerned friend, Tillerson summed up the objectives of American policy in Syria in: 1 - Fighting the main enemy of America, ISIS, along with al-Qaeda and prevent these organizations from posing a danger to America and its allies. 2. America will focus on "weakening" Iran's influence in Syria and not enabling it to establish a crescent extending from Iran to the Mediterranean Sea. 3. For these reasons, US forces will not withdraw from northeastern Syria, but will enhance its military and diplomatic presence in Kurdish areas to ensure the stability of the situation and up until the implementation of the political solution based on Security Council Resolution 2254. 4. America will not allow international assistance for reconstruction in any area under the control of the Assad regime. 5. Conduct free and transparent elections under the sponsorship of the United Nations, including the participation of Syrian expatriates and all who were forced to flee the conflict, eventually leading to the departure of Assad and his family from power.

It is clear that the American decision to strengthen the military and diplomatic presence aims to impose a new reality that enables America to control the details of events in Syria, whether militarily, or to take the fight against terrorism as a pretext to stay in Syria. Tillerson, the brazen liar, has claimed that America will not repeat the mistake of Iraq in Syria when it withdrew its forces from it in 2011; this withdrawal paved the way for the emergence of the ISIS that later caused the tragedies that followed (as he claimed). Of course, he did not bother himself to explain how and why the Iraqi army leadership handed over northern Iraq with all the military and financial resources to ISIS in the summer of 2014.

His statement, as well as the decision to form a 30,000-strong Kurdish border force, it reveals that America has malicious goals and the intention to ignite successive crises so that it can formulate the region to achieve its interests and objectives. The continued presence of US forces in Afghanistan, which it occupied in the aggression in 2001, is the best witness to what we say. The counterterrorism pretext against al-Qaeda (yesterday) and ISIS (today) is a lie and fabrication to cover up the reality of the American intentions. In his speech he said: "The United States will maintain a military presence in Syria that focused on ensuring ISIS cannot re-emerge.” He added: "Our military mission in Syria will remain conditions-based.” meaning that these forces do not have a specific date for departure or certain standards in which the success of the mission is measured. When Senator Tom Udall asked State Department official David Satterfield, "How can this not turn into an endless war?" Satterfield's answer was a deceptive mumble in vague terms.

Of course, the fox Tillerson had to conceal the poison in the honey, he tried to decorate his speech and shed the exposed crocodile tears when he claimed America's concern for the civilians. That is the victims of the American agent, the butcher of Damascus. Tillerson has vowed that America will never allow the use of chemical weapons in Syria and that America will hold accountable those responsible... While he did not speak out regarding the victims of the barrels bombs and the missile bombardment that destroyed hospitals, mosques and houses on civilian heads, in Tillerson’s dictionary it seems that this is a kind of "merciful" killing, thus turning a blind eye to it.

We conclude by saying that after uncovering the truth of America’s criminality and showing that the butcher of Damascus is only a fraction of the many crimes of the real criminal, America. it is a shame that some opposition (revolutionary) leaders of the so-called Free Army are chasing after the mirage of the promised Trump’s paradise. Although Trump refused to meet them in Washington, and only allowed them to hold some meetings in Washington, at the same time the delegation of the negotiating body scramble from one capital to another to convince the concerned countries that the revolutionary forces are keen to secure the interests of those countries better than chemical Bashar. This is while other factions fight to achieve Erdogan's goals in Afrin instead of directing their efforts against the butcher Damascus.

Everyone should realize that the shortest way to get rid of Bashar and his gang’s tyranny is by uniting the efforts to deliver a decisive blow that will destroy the regime in Damascus and nowhere else. This requires a united leadership that seeks Allah's pleasure and disavows the support of the conspirators who conspired against Ash-Sham’s revolution. Otherwise the suffering of our people in Ash-Sham will last longer.

Dr. Osman Bakhach
Director of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir