The evidence for that is not only the Biblical prophecies, but also the modern geopolitics
By Sarkis Tsaturyan, PhD in History, REX News Agency Editor-in-Chief
Why Syria?
The civil war in Syria is a global incident. And it is not only about the fact that the Syrian Arab Republic is located at the crossroads of political, economic, energy and cultural routes linking the West with the East. Damascus is the reminiscence of the medieval Arab greatness, it is the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate that lasted from 661 to 750. That is why conquering it is not only of strategic, but also of mystical importance being stoked by history. In all fairness it should be noted, that prior to the Arab conquest and the subsequent Islamization, hordes of Alexander the Great sought to conquer the Syrian territory, and in 64 B.C. Pompey annexed it as a Roman province of the same name. Then the conquered Syrians integrated into the Roman governmental system, the Syrian-born emperor Avidius Cassius (? – 175 A.D.) was born among them. Integration reached such a level that Rome was ruled by the Syrian Severan dynasty in 193–235 A.D.
The main players and sponsors of the war are the USA, Great Britain, France, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, the UAE, and Jordan. Even Israel makes no secret of its indirect involvement in the conflict organizing medical treatment and rehabilitation for militants of Jabhat al-Nusra (the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda).
The author is taking the reader for this tiresome journey into the ancient times for a good reason. Historical facts show us that the control over the Syrian territory always allowed the invader to create a new empire on its basis. It was the case for Byzantium, the Umayyad Caliphate, and the Ottoman Empire, which conquered Syria in 1516. The Turkish dominance persisted until the World War I, which resulted in the League of Nations assigning a mandate for Syria and Lebanon to France, which in fact lasted until 1946. The World War II undermined the colonial grip of Paris allowing Damascus to declare its independence. This much awaited day arrived on April 17, 1946.
Anti-imperialism and total war
So, what preceded the key date in the Syrian 20th century history? Regrettably, it was only deception and betrayal. From 1920 to 1923 French administration leaded by general Henri Gouraud was trying to split Syria into ethno-religious enclaves, fighting with militiamen from among the Alawites and the Druze. The deprivation of sovereignty has the following timeline: on August 30, 1920 Gouraud proclaimed the State of Greater Lebanon (L'État du Grand Liban), and in September here comes the turn of the State of Aleppo (l'État d'Alep) and the State of Damascus (l'État de Damas). By 1922 the Druze State (L'État du Djebel druze) was founded, and only two years later Paris makes a decision to found the Alawite State (l'État des Alaouites), the territory of which until that time was considered to be an autonomy. On January 1, 1925 Gouraud created the State of Syria (l'État de Syrie) that was strongly denied recognition. In 1936, the French parliament rejected to ratify the treaty guaranteeing the Damascus independence, and in 1939 Paris gave the part of Syrian territory (the Sanjak of Alexandretta, now the Hatay province of Turkey) to the Republic of Turkey in return for its neutrality during World War II neglecting through the 1940s the Syrian demands to recognize its right to self-determination, which was stated both in the League of Nations mandate and later in the UN Charter.
Eventually Syria became an influential player, on which the outcome of the Lebanese civil war of 1975–1990 largely depended. From April 1976 to April 2005 Syria provided its military presence in Lebanon, thus having the predominant influence on the Eastern Mediterranean politics. And in late 2010 the civil war already moved to the territory of Syria itself.
Cui prodest?
Some 80 countries worldwide supporting the civil war participants directly or indirectly oppose the governmental forces. This number was announced by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. However, war analysts unofficially claim 60 countries to be participating. The process happening now is exactly what modern political analysts call “false flag operation”. The main players and sponsors of the war are the USA, Great Britain, France, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, the UAE, and Jordan. Even Israel makes no secret of its indirect involvement in the conflict organizing medical treatment and rehabilitation for militants of Jabhat al‑Nusra (the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda). So, this proxy war, which turned out to be the world one because of its participants, has a lot of curious details to be highlighted.
First of all, the number of armed groups fighting in Syria. The BBC counted about thousand of armed groups, about ten of which sound familiar to us. It is no coincidence that most groups have the word “front” in their names indicating the coalition nature of these alliances. Three or more constantly rotating groups often operate under the guise of one organization. For example, it was the case for the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front (Jabhat Tahrir Suriya al-Islamiyyah), which from September 2012 to November 2013 leaded the operation of such armed groups as the Falcons of the Levant (Suqour al-Sham operating in the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo), the Army of Islam (Jaysh al-Islam, Idlib and the Eastern Ghouta), and the Brigade of Oneness (Liwa al-Tawhid, Aleppo). Then they all ceased their activities announcing the creation of a new alliance, the Islamic Front (Jabhat al-Islamiyyah). The most widely-known brands of the Syrian civil war are the terrorist groups Jabhat al-Nusra (Aleppo, Idlib, Deir ez-Zor), the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (the ISIL, Aleppo, Idlib, Al-Raqqah), the Free Syrian Army and the Southern Front (the city of Deraa), all banned in Russia.
Secondly, by no means all the groups actively reported by the media are regular participants of the fighting. An example is the militants of the Free Syrian Army, who have long appreciated the comfort of Istanbul cafes, and in late 2015 some of them even defected to the ranks of the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish, Assyrian, Arab, Armenian, Turkmen, Circassian, and Chechen militias. They fight against the ISIL and Jabhat al-Nusra. It is an association including the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the Women's Protection Units (YPJ), Jaysh al-Sanadid, Syriac Military Council and other associations.
Thirdly, we know about the terrorist financing from the official sources. Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the UN, Bashar Jaafari, professed Turkey to be funding the ISIL facilitating the movement of terrorists in Syria. At different stages the Russian and Israeli defence ministers also took this stand. It is not limited to Ankara though. “It's not a secret anymore that Qatar and Saudi Arabia are funding Jabhat al-Nusra. They pay the bills for their training and arming”, Jaafari was quoted as saying by the Euronews agency. It was said quite a lot about the Riyadh’s links to al-Qaeda, but it was the civil war in Yemen that fully disclosed these criminal contacts: the city of Aden has been seized by al-Qaeda militants in alliance with the paramilitary groups loyal to pro-Saudi president Mansour Hadi. To be precise, let us recall that Riyadh and Doha are also major sponsors of the Muslim Brotherhood, the fighting cells of which operate not only in Syria and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, but also participate in the clashes with the Israeli Defence Forces in the West Bank of the Jordan River. Such is the vortex of the great Middle East war, on the outcome of which the situation in Syria depends.
What is awaiting Syria after the parliamentary elections scheduled for April 13? Only the force that is to gain the control over Aleppo, where military units of the Syrian armed forces and Russian Air Force are drawn up to repel the terrorists, will answer the question.
