U.S. Outmaneuvers Itself In Syria Over Damascus-Baghdad Highway

By Brandon Turbeville

As the Syrian military makes massive gains throughout the country, particularly in the east, it is now painfully obvious that the United States and its Western allies are desperately trying to prevent the Assad government from reaching the Iraqi border and unifying Syria.

One need only look at the strategic positioning of U.S. and allied troops as well as Western-backed terrorists to see that this is the case. For instance, the presence of the United States at al-Tanf was strategically planned to block Syrian military forces from linking up with Iraqi military forces and, thus, Iranian forces via the Damascus-Baghdad highway. This much is evidenced by the fact that the U.S. forces stationed there have repeatedly shot down and attacked anti-ISIS forces moving in their direction under the ridiculous guise of “self-defense.”

In an interview with Sharmine Narwani, a U.S. military colonel claimed that the U.S. forces are not in al-Tanf to fight Assad but to fight ISIS. If the Syrian military shows itself willing and able to fight ISIS, the colonel said, the U.S. would have no reason to have troops stationed there. The idea that the Syrian government wants to fight and defeat ISIS is not in question. Neither is its ability to fight, assuming the West would stop arming and directing the terrorist organization and continually acting as its air force. Indeed, the Syrian military is ramping up its campaign against ISIS in the east. Still, the American forces have repeatedly attacked the SAA in its attempt to defeat the terrorist organization, a fact which contradicts Colonel Dillon’s claims.

So what is the real reason the Americans are based at al-Tanf? As mentioned earlier, the goal is to block Syrian military forces from linking up with Iraqi military forces and, thus, Iranian forces via the Damascus-Baghdad highway.

Take a look at the map commissioned by Sharmine Narwani. It shows three main border crossings between Syria and Iraq. The northern border is held by Kurdish forces whose goal is an independent state and who are backed by the United States for the purposes of federalizing Syria. The middle border crossing is known as the Homs-Baghdad highway. This crossing cuts from government-held territory to Deir-ez-Zour and through the ISIS heartland. Obviously, this crossing is unusable due to the fact that ISIS maintains control of a vast amount of territory through which the highway travels. The third border crossing is located in the south of the country and is the Damascus-Baghdad highway that travels through at-Tanf.

This route – the Baghdad-Damascus highway – was much more likely to have been the easiest land route that the Syrian military would have been able to capture given the fact that the northern and middle part of the east of Syria is heavily occupied by Western-backed terrorists and Kurdish terrorists. However, after the U.S. placed its forces in al-Tanf, that border crossing is off limits as well.

If you are getting the sense that the entire procession of military forces in Syria is the physical equivalent to a chess game, you are absolutely right. That’s exactly what it is. The U.S. is essentially blocking the Syrian military from reaching the Iraqi border via the Damascus-Baghdad highway. But does that seal the deal? And is that the only way the SAA can reach Iraq?

The answer to both questions is a resounding “no.” Despite the best laid plans of American strategists, Syrian forces have already reached the Iraq border and made contact with Iraqi forces who have fought their way west. The two militaries made physical contact north of al-Tanf. In addition, Iraqi forces have made their way to the al-Waleed border crossing, Iraq’s side of the border with al-Tanf. What this means is that the American forces placed at al-Tanf to block the Syrian military have effectively been pinned in between Iraqi military forces in the east, Syrian forces to the north, and Syrian forces in the west on the Damascus-Baghdad highway.

As Sharmine Narwani writes,

When Syrians and Iraqis bypassed the al-Tanaf area and headed northward to establish border contact, another important set of facts was created on the ground. U.S. coalition forces are now cut off – at least from the south of Syria – from fighting ISIS in the northeast. This is a real setback for Washington’s plans to block direct Syrian-Iraqi border flows and score its own dazzling victory against ISIS. As Syrian forces head toward Deir ez-Zor, U.S.-backed forces’ participation in the battle to liberate that strategic area will now be limited to the Kurd-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from the north, while Syrian forces have established safe passage from the north, south, west – and potentially from the east, with the aid of allied Iraqi forces.

In other words, the Syrians have just outplayed the Americans in terms of military strategy. The new reality on the ground precludes American forces’ support of ISIS to al-Tanf unless the Americans do something incredibly reckless and shocking.

Unfortunately, the United States has shown itself ready to do just that in Syria and in other parts of the world.

Brandon Turbeville – article archive here – is the author of seven books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, Five Sense Solutions and Dispatches From a Dissident, volume 1 and volume 2, The Road to Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault on Syria, The Difference it Makes: 36 Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Should Never Be President, and Resisting The Empire: The Plan To Destroy Syria And How The Future Of The World Depends On The Outcome. Turbeville has published over 1000 articles on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville’s radio show Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST at UCYTV. His website is BrandonTurbeville.com He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com.

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