Was Obama truthful with the Syrians for us to expect Trump to be?

There exists absolutely no sliver of a doubt that every single major settler-colonial power in the history of the world lacked morals. It is impossible for the coloniser to have moral standing to begin with. I believe that the Americans have exhibited a level of superiority in acting as the coloniser over any other power in history. For American policies are not only immoral, but they also function at the highest level of opportunism and are marked by dangerous inconsistencies with policies that flip-flop back and forth. American foreign policy, particularly towards the Syrian crisis, is like a snake that you think you have grabbed from the tail only to realise that you have grabbed it from the head. The unprecedented lack of a firm stance exhibited by the US towards the Syrian crisis has made many supporters of the revolution worry for their livelihood due to the cloudiness of the American position.

If those who had placed their bets on American support had been well versed in politics, they would not have been deceived by the US’ comments, both historically and today. The great wolf of American politics, Henry Kissinger said it himself, ambiguity in politics is a trait of successful politics in itself. The goal of American politics is to confuse all sides and to pass American plans passed all parties without them feeling it. The American position, which appeared to support the Syrian revolution, was accepted by a great number of Syrians. Yet, many should bore Kissinger’s words in mind, especially when he said that the US is not necessarily concerned with solving the crises found in other countries but, rather focuses on mediating them in such a way that serves American interests.

There is no principle in American politics whatsoever. If what we are seeing today are the policies of the far right, then tomorrow you will see the policies of the far left, especially when it concerns the Syrian conflict and the concept of personal gain. This is true even when the cost at hand is the lives of millions of victims as is the case in Syria. One need only compare between the official statements made by the Obama administration in comparison to that of the current Trump administration. How many times did Obama call on the Syrian president to step down? How many times did the Syrian opposition hear rosy threats waged at the Syrian regime? Was it not the US that claimed to be the leader of a friend of Syria group, which resembles the concept of having Facebook friends that only give you likes. If you bother these fake friends, they block you from even seeing their meaningless likes.

Those who know American foreign policy well would not be surprised with America’s unclear policy. In fact, they would even expect the flip-flop approach to politics. The various American administrations are merely different faces of one operation: the business of forging unprecedented agreements, as we see today with Trump and the Assad regime.

The other day, US intelligence expressed its decision to send weapons into Syria to arm groups expressing their desire to combat the regime. Not too long ago it was the US that served as the head of group countries that stood in opposition to the regime. Not too long ago the US launched rockets from Jordan to dismantle Syrian tanks. Not too long ago the US stood in support of the Syrian opposition and all of the international organisations that stood in support of the group. Today, it has begun to defend the Syrian regime and has begun to defend Assad’s survival as a Syrian issue. Recently, a Lebanese journalist revealed evidence of a number of secret phone-calls between Trump and the Syrian president.

It would be foolish to say, of course, that the US has failed in bringing down the Syrian regime, as it appears that there is now an alliance between them. The US is likely to manipulate everyone to achieve its goals within the region. Could the regime have survived up to this point were it not for the US preventing anti-aircraft technology from reaching the opposition? On the other hand, would the opposition have survived until this point were it not for the US’ provision of anti-tank missiles? This is a despicable game meant to cause destruction only. What is ironic is that regime in Damascus has forgotten all of this and all that America has done and is now dancing with joy because of latter has stated that removing Assad is no longer a priority.

Any party that builds its policies based on the inconsistent American policy towards Syria and the regime must go and check into the first mental institution. Supporters of the regime are ecstatic with the US’ announcement that they are no longer calling for Assad’s departure. They know that this is an American game that cannot be trusted. It appears that the US was supporting Assad’s stay in the past when they appeared to be publically calling for his departure. And now, they are calling for his departure in public, however, the question that must be asked is: could they not be working on something else secretly? Please note that at the time the US began to tolerate the Assad regime, it begin to separate the southern region and isolate the north and east. The US now controls Syria’s oil-rich northeast, which means that it is no longer, concerned with whether or not Assad stays or goes.

Tell me what devastated country was saved by America? Did you find Obama believable, oh Syrians, for you to find Trump any different?

Translated from Arabi21, 9 April 2017.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.