Nstead of combating terrorism, Washington is waging a war in which terrorism is the principal weapon of the United States, Richard Black, a Republican member of the Virginia State Senate, told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th September, 2018) Instead of combating terrorism, Washington is waging a war in which terrorism is the principal weapon of the United States, Richard Black, a Republican member of the Virginia State Senate, told Sputnik.
"We talk about the war on terror. But we are not waging the war on terror. We are waging a war in which terror is our principal weapon. That is my principal concern with what we are doing in the middle East," Black said in an interview.
The US state senator traveled to Syria on Wednesday and met with Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Sputnik talked to Black shortly after his visit and asked him to share his views on the situation in the war-torn country, the reported chemical attacks, a possible offensive on Idlib and Washington's policies in the Middle East.
ASSAD'S IMMENSE POPULARITY AMONG SYRIANS
The recent meeting with Assad was Black's second encounter with the Syrian leader.
"We had a 45-minute schedule and we ended up talking for three hours. The last time he was optimistic, he was determined. This time there was almost a spring in his step. He was quite joyous and happy. I think like all Syrians he realizes that unless the West gets involved in a very malign passion, the war will end rather soon. I think all Syrians are ready for that," the US state senator said.
When asked about whether his impression of Assad matched the Syrian president's image in the Western media, Black said that Assad was a very humble man.
"There is almost a touch of shyness about him. Incredibly intelligent and very devoted to his people. He doesn't have an imperial presidency like we have and many Western countries have. When he suddenly goes to a religious ceremony, whether it's for the Muslims or the Christians, he drives himself in his own SUV. He doesn't have an escort and people love him for this," Black specified.
Assad enjoyed unparalleled popularity, love and devotion, the senator added, recalling his experiences of talking to shepherds in the Syrian countryside. They loved their president and wanted people in the West to know that, Black said.
"There has never been one attempt on President Assad. And he says: 'If the Syrian people wanted me out, soldiers would march in one day, they would say, Mr. President, it's time for you to leave, pack up your things, we are going to escort you out, you are no longer the president.' And he would say: 'I accept that, it's the will of the people,'" Black stated.
One of the issues discussed by the Virginia state senator and Assad was the possible offensive on Idlib, the remaining hotspot of extremists in Syria.
"The people in Idlib live under a domination of these very vicious jihadists. They are headed by an individual named al-Julani. Al-Julani was a major figure in ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Levant terror group, banned in Russia]. He is the top figure for al Qaeda [terror group, banned in Russia] in Syria. If the United States were to intervene on the side of the rebels in Idlib, we would be fighting shoulder to shoulder, alongside al Qaeda, the same group that attacked the Twin Towers and the Pentagon on 9/11," Black said.
Assad, naturally, wanted to limit the possible bloodshed in Idlib as much as he possibly could, Black said.
"This has always been his policy throughout the war unlike when we attacked Mosul and Raqqa and just carpet bombed and indiscriminately killed every one who was in those cities. They don't do that in Syria because they are liberating the people," Black added.
He stated that it was unacceptable not to destroy terrorists in Idlib despite possible collateral damage.
"The idea that that somehow we would leave the most hideous jihadists, the worst terrorists on earth untouched to prevent the accidental death of some civilians is like if at the end of WWII we would say: 'Well, this final battle for Berlin will result in civilian casualties so we cannot go after Adolf Hitler because there will be collateral damage and some people will be injured," the US state senator said.
He also warned that the failure to defeat terrorists in the region might see them start operating outside the country.
"Idlib must be liberated not only for the future of Syria, but for the future of civilized mankind. If [the jihadists] are allowed to survive, if they are not taken out in Idlib they're going to travel to Berlin, to London, to Paris, to Brussels, to New York, to Washington DC," Black said.
ABSENSE OF INCENTIVE FOR ASSAD TO USE CHEMICAL WEAPONS
The situation in Idlib, the only stronghold of the terrorist insurgency left in Syria, has recently escalated, as Damascus and Moscow believe that terrorists of the Tahrir al-Sham group � formed by the Jabhat Fatah al Sham terrorist organization, which is banned in Russia, and other groups � are preparing a false-flag chemical weapons attack in Idlib, set to provoke Western retaliation against the Syrian government.
In turn, Jim Jeffrey, the US secretary of state's special adviser on Syria, said on Thursday that Washington had "lots of evidence" that the Syrian government was preparing to stage a chemical weapons attack in Idlib. He added that any offensive in Idlib would be regarded as a "reckless escalation," to which the United States and its allies would "swiftly and vigorously" respond.
Black said that Assad found the idea of the government ever using chemical weapons "ludicrous" especially after the United States had declared unequivocally along with the UN that there were no poison weapons remaining in Syria.
The Syrian president understood that any such action on the part of the Syrian government forces would trigger a US-led invasion, the US state senator recalled.
"Each one of these so-called poison gas attacks has been debunked by very credible investigative journalists, people like Seymour Hersh. He has done excellent work on Syria and he has disclosed the fact that these were faked gas attacks," Black said.
Black, nevertheless, said he worried very much that there would be a new gas attack soon.
"There's been actual intelligence released on it. And it appears as though British Intelligence MI6 will carry out a staged gas attack. They have already chosen a location that has been disclosed. They have trained people to fake as if they were victims of gas. Now it's been disclosed and they may change their plans. We may see a different scenario," Black noted.
FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE STAGING CHEMICAL ATTACK IN DUMA
"I have studied the Syrian war for seven years ... I have studied each of these gas attack provocations. And with the exception of Duma every one of them has been carried out by the terrorists often in conjunction with Turkey or with other foreign intelligence agencies," Black said.
According to the Virginia state senator, in Duma, however, there was "a very strange situation" never reported in the media.
"British intelligence began warning several weeks earlier that there was going to be a gas attack in Duma, that the Syrians were going to carry it out. And the tiger forces of the Syrian army launched an attack from an unexpected direction. They captured the chemical laboratory that the rebels intended to use to stage the gas attack that they would blame on the Syrian government. The terrorists gave up and the battle progressed, finally the rebels had to surrender. And they staged a false gas attack [on April 7, 2018]. There never was a gas attack in Duma," the US state senator said.
Black explained that he knew it because his friend Pearson Short who worked for One America news was in Damascus at the time and immediately dashed down with a taxi driver and an interpreter to the place of the reported gas attack. Upon arrival, Short questioned many people who had no connection to the Syrian government and was told that the civilians had never heard of a gas attack.
"It was all staged and fake. There is sort of a pattern on these things. I began to pick up in the British media about four weeks ago these panic announcements that Syria was going to use gas. To me it's always a signal that they are about to stage one of these stage gas attacks. I think there's a very real danger," the US state senator said.
"Going all the way back to the time when the US opposed the Soviet Union occupation of Afghanistan, we have begun to use terror as a weapon. We should have learned in Afghanistan that this is a very dangerous weapon. It is like Pandora's Box. Once you open and release the creatures that are in Pandora s box you can never get them back in," Black said.
The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has repeatedly worked with the UK intelligence to overthrow nations and install a puppet regime with the help of terrorism, the Virginia state senator said.
"I would say that the worst thing about American foreign policy is that it is deeply entrenched in our foreign policy to use terror as a weapon. The people in the CIA and the State Department have no limits, there is no moral constraint on what they will allow the terrorists to do or encourage them to do mass raping of Syrian women, beheadings, crucifixions, amputations, burning of people - all of these things," Black said.
Having in mind the purpose of a regime change which would satisfy Saudi Arabia and some other Middle East powers, the United States and its Western allies "are quite comfortable" to use terrorism, the US state senator added.
According to Black, fighting in the Middle East accounted for one third of the United States' national debt and it did not even result in anything beneficial.
"There is not one single thing that has benefited the American people or American foreign policy from what we have done in the Middle East. Everything has been destruction, we have left governments in ruins, we have left anarchy in places like Libya where they have no government in all after seven years and so it is time that we refocus our foreign policy and restore the image of the United States as a good, decent and moral country," Black said.
Black added that he had also visited Christian churches and convents and expressed his concern over the fact that the United States was providing aid to terrorists who desecrated ancient Christian relics and killed priests.
"The US pays these people, we arm them, and train them and they go and pluck the eyes of Jesus. These are hideous people," Black emphasized.
US SANCTIONS OBSTRUCTING REFUGEES RETURN
Another issue discussed during the US state senator's meeting with Assad was the US sanctions against Syria.
"We talked about the sanctions, the American sanctions and how they prevented people from receiving food, medicines for cancer, for other things," Black said.
The Virginia state senator added that Washington bypassed international law to impose the sanctions and it should be considered as a violation of law even if it was indirect.
"International law makes it a war crime to prevent food and medicine from getting into a country, but in a very common fashion we have skirted the law of war by imposing Currency controls, so [we say] 'you cannot bring in medicine, you just cannot pay for it.' I still think it is a violation of the law of land warfare because there is a principle of law that says that you cannot do indirectly what you are prohibited to do directly," he said.
According to the US state senator, lifting of sanctions would considerably contribute to the refugee return.
"We did talk about the refugees and President Assad made it quite clear, he wants all of the Syrians to return to Syria. The main power is a power of a nation. The Syrians are very intelligent, very hard-working. He wants them back," Black added.
Black also shared his experience of visiting the site where the over four-year-long battle Aleppo took place.
"I went to the battlefront, I went to the scene of one of the greatest battles of modern history when the terrorists tried to break out of the pocket where they were trapped in Aleppo, the Aleppo pocket. That was a tremendous battle waged for about a month. Thousands of men died on both sides. Ultimately, the terrorists were defeated. I went to the frontlines, was in a building overlooking the battlefield," Black said.
The Virginia state senator also said that he had met with the governor of the Aleppo and Homs provinces, adding that Syrians had made an enormous progress in rebuilding Homs since his last visit.
"Syrians are very industrious people; they do not sit around waiting for someone to fix the problem for them. They get out and work. The piles of rubble that were there the last time are completely gone," he stated.
Syria has been in a state of war for seven years with Assad fighting various opposition factions and terrorist groups. In 2017, Syria declared victory over the IS terrorists, but some territories are still being cleared of extremist groups, including IS affiliates. The main efforts in Syria are currently focused on political settlement and post-war reconstruction of the country.
