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US seeks to balkanize Syria rather than overthrow Assad: Commentator

Friday, 29 June 2018 1:41 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 29 June 2018 1:44 PM ]

The United States’ goal in Syria is no longer overthrowing President Bashar al-Assad but rather balkanizing the country, says a political commentator.

“The United Sates and other imperialist powers are not quite finished with Syria yet. Despite the fact that it is very clear that they are going to lose the war for Syria -- the side of the Syrian government backed by Russia and Iran are certainly going to win the overall war -- it seems that hostilities will continue for the meantime as the long-term goal has now shifted away from overthrowing the Syrian government to balkanizing the country using different groups to try to prop up illegitimate governments or at least to carve up the country into various smaller states that can be used by other imperialist powers,” Jason Unruhe told Press TV in an interview on Friday.

“The renewed funding for the White Helmets certainly shows that they are still willing to back up many of the forces that already exist in the country… I think… funding the White Helmets inside the country shows that US and other imperialist countries’ foreign policy is definitely still aimed towards trying to harm the Syrian government under the guise of trying to protect the people of Syria but at the same time has shifted their goal towards the balkanization of the country as opposed to the outright overthrow,” he added.

The self-proclaimed civil defense group White Helmets has been blamed for staging suspected chemical attacks in the Arab country.

The group, which operates exclusively in militant-held areas of Syria, has on several occasions become the first to provide footage of alleged chemical attack sites in Syria and the aftermath scenes, including the incidents in Khan Shaykhun in Idlib province and the town of Douma near the capital Damascus.

Assad has also described the White Helmets as “a branch of al-Qaeda and al-Nusra” militant groups and a “PR stunt” by the United States, Britain and France.