Syria at the Center of the Storm of US Plans

These days, the U.S. aggressively promotes the diplomacy and media wars against Syria. This campaign is not a spur of the moment decision or the result of abrupt changes in the region, but rather part of plans that have been in place for decades and are linked to U.S. strategic interests. According to these plans dating back to 2003, Damascus was the target after the fall of Baghdad, followed by Tehran, then Cairo, then Tripoli. These goals are part of the overarching strategy known as “The Plan of the New American Century,” the details of which I review thoroughly in my book “Empire of Lies: the Terms of the American Deception after September 11th.”

In 1991, the Council on Foreign Relations met with the U.S. Congress, endorsing the so-called “American Century Plan, 2000-2020.” In 1997, a number of strategy and policy makers developed the plan further and identified the nations and areas in which these strategies would be carried out. Included in this were “the strategic tri-targets supporting American interests,” and it means that the Middle East has become the theater for military operations carried out during the 20th century.

No sooner did the Iraqi war end than Americans revived their former plan and escalated their campaign against Syria. Richard Perle (nicknamed the “Prince of Darkness”), expert in Strategic and Political Studies, published a study under the title “A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm,” the realm, of course, being Israel. Some of the most significant recommendations made in the report were literally to create problems for the Syrian regime by employing hostile elements. Yet, after the resurgence of an armed Iraqi opposition, the American military’s plans to target Syria after Iraq’s fall were effectively sabotaged.

As a result of this shift, the Americans have refocused on Syria in particular. While the effort was relatively limited and only conducted through diplomatic and media channels, it pushed Israel to conduct hostile operations against Damascus, which culminated in the 2003 Israeli air strike on Ain es Saheb. Ten days after the Israeli raid, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Act” by an overwhelming majority.

Syria continues to be in the middle of the political storm and at the center of American colonial attention. The targeting will continue in order to bring Damascus into the fold as part of the plan to put the entire region in line with both U.S. and Israeli interests.