Washington's Phony War on ISIS

by Stephen Lendman

The Big Lie explains everything about US policies on issues mattering most - especially geopolitical ones.

The New York Times operates as a virtual US government house organ. Many of its reports are little more than administration and Pentagon press releases.

On June 9, it headlined "US Embracing a New Approach on Battling ISIS in Iraq." The so-called new approach is the beefed up old one - providing more support for Islamic State fighters in Iraq, Syria and wherever else Washington deploys them.

They're in Libya. Small numbers are in Gaza perhaps ahead of more to come.

Death squad diplomacy is longstanding US policy. Vietnam's Operation Phoenix became a prototype for today's wars. Tactics included intimidation, kidnappings, torture, and mass murder.

Strategy involved eliminating opposition elements and terrorizing people into submission. US recruited Contra death squads operated the same way against the 1980s Sandinista government.

According to Times propaganda, Obama plans "a major shift of focus in the battle against the Islamic State…"

A new Anbar Province military base will be built adding to the bloated number Washington already has in the region.

Around 400 so-called "trainers" (US special forces death squads) will be deployed to join the battle for Ramadi - for sure not to combat IS fighters Washington recruits, arms, funds, trains, directs, and uses as proxy US foot soldiers.

What's planned for Ramadi and elsewhere in Iraq remains to be seen. US bombing Iraqi and Syrian targets have nothing to do with eliminating ISIS.

Strategy involves destroying vital economic infrastructure of both countries, as well as helping IS fighters gain more territorial control and keep it.

US satellite imagery and other intelligence knows exactly where they're located. Yet US bombings don't target them.

The New York Times and other major US media ignore what demands headlines. They perpetuate the myth of America's war on IS instead of explaining one against Syria to oust Bashar al-Assad and on Iraq to balkanize it into the Kurdish north, Baghdad center and Basra south with IS fighters controlling large swarths of territory.

Part of America's strategy is endless regional conflicts and destabilization as pretext for maintaining US military forces throughout the Middle East.

Its vast oil reserves are a treasure Washington intends to control - no matter how much mass slaughter and destruction it takes - or brutal exploitation of millions of people.

Washington currently has around 3,000 US combat troops in Iraq. Up to 1,000 more are planned - maybe more to come.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Steven Warren ludicrously said "(b)ecause the (Iraqi) forces we've trained are performing better than expected, we feel it's in everyone's interest to train more."

Their so-called effectiveness let IS fighters make increasing territorial gains. At a Germany G-7 summit news conference, Obama indicated no "complete strategy" for dealing with IS despite many months of direct US involvement in Iraq's ongoing conflict.

Excuses given didn't wash. Strategy involves supporting IS, not combatting it - what media scoundrels won't explain.

US claims about wanting to degrade and defeat IS are polar opposite truth. If Washington opposed Islamic terrorists, they never would have been created in the first place - and supported all along.

It bears repeating. IS and likeminded Islamic terrorists are US foot soldiers used to further America's imperial agenda - endless wars and elimination of all independent governments to achieve unchallenged global dominance.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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