On Thursday, a military and diplomatic source told Sputnik that USAF helicopters had evacuated 22 Daesh field commanders and militants from areas outside the city of Deir ez-Zor in late August, amid a successful operation by Syrian government forces to free the area from terrorist control. The militants were reportedly taken to northern Syria. The US-led coalition's press office told Sputnik that the allegations were "false."
Asked to comment, Karen Kwiatkowski, a retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel turned anti-neoconservative activist, told Sputnik that these evacuees were likely people that the US military and intelligence establishment wanted to protect, "particularly people with evidence that could be used against the US [during] negotiations."
"It makes a lot of sense that we would either want to kill those people or extract them before the Syrians could interrogate them," Kwiatkowski said.
"That's inconsistent with the top level message from President Trump for sure," the retired officer added. "This set of relationships that the CIA, parts of the military and the State Department have with Daesh goes [back to before] Trump's administration. It seems like they're not following his orders here, but I'm sure there's a larger agenda at stake."
Kwiatkowski recalled that while Trump himself has been "consistent about eliminating these terrorists, the CIA runs its own operations, and they don't consult with anybody; that would be consistent" from their standpoint.
The activist explained that CIA black programs don't require day-to-day approval from the president. If that's what this evacuation was, "this is standard operating procedure, and they don't really care what the president says in a speech designed for the consumption of the American people."
Kwiatkowski suggested that news of the Deir ez-Zor extraction stood in clear contrast to Washington's public campaign against Daesh, including its operations against the Daesh convoy that's currently stranded on the Syrian-Iraqi border.
"That's populating our media - that the Americans are killing Daesh, not that the Americans are rescuing Daesh," the Kwiatkowski said.
"Certainly, we are rescuing our allies. But to some extent, we are preserving people who have worked with us, people that are dealing with the financial aspects of our aid to Daesh, because that's what's going to be looked at in the autopsy of this operation. People are going to be saying: where did the money flow? Who knew about it? What was the American role? Americans will be asking that question too, not just the world."
Ultimately, asked what impact this news would have on public support for the president, Kwiatkowski said that for those who have an understanding of the neoconservative trajectory which has dominated US policy for many years, "we don't expect as much of Trump. [But] for Trump voters, there is a problem. [They] bought into his less interventionist type of policy. He ran on that, he was elected on that. He gave some early speeches relating to this concept. That was pleasing to his supporters; it angered the neoconservatives."
Today, the observer said, it's clear that either the neocons are wearing Trump down, "or have somehow otherwise convinced him to allow them to do what they want to do."
The report on the alleged US operation to rescue Daesh in Deir ez-Zor commanders has led Russian experts to call on President Trump to comment directly on the claims, and to ignore any CIA or Pentagon commentary. Speaking to Sputnik, Russian defense analyst Igor Korotchenko said that Trump "must comment on this and declare clearly: either the evacuation of the Daesh field commanders was authorized by him personally and he assumes all political responsibility for this step, or the [US] special services acted without his approval."
Comment: This is another one of the ways in which Trump is bound by the Deep State; to go public, acknowledge and respond to these allegations would mean that he'd be proclaiming war on a group of individuals capable of "heart-attacking" him in retaliation. And to do and say nothing is to give tacit permission for the CIA to continue its criminal dirty work - and ultimately betray the promise he made to the millions of US citizens who put their faith in him.
Imagine being a well intentioned leader faced with such a dilemma.
Reader Comments
I didn't vote Trump because I believed the lies. As with the shattering of most illusions, it was/is a mindfuck, and it's taken me the better part of a year to come to terms and regain the ability to think for myself when it comes to politics. This upheaval has also forced me to evaluate everything I have ever believed because if my thoughts were like a puppet on strings where politics are concerned, how has confirmation bias fucked me everywhere else in my life?
As a former liberal automaton, I can see that Trump isn't going to do any of the things the left said he would absolutely do, or at least not in the ways they said he would do them and not in the ways that the left said he meant to do them.
The French and Brits have been in it up their necks as well. Really the cause of Syria's misery is the great global centers of predatory capitalism - USA, UK, France and Japan - whose power from interposing themselves between work and reward is now collapsing. There is a chance for humanity to restore fairness, equity and the rule of law - fingers crossed.
Comment: This is another one of the ways in which Trump is bound by the Deep State; to go public, acknowledge and respond to these allegations would mean that he'd be proclaiming war on a group of individuals capable of "heart-attacking" him in retaliation. And to do and say nothing is to give tacit permission for the CIA to continue its criminal dirty work - and ultimately betray the promise he made to the millions of US citizens who put their faith in him.
Imagine being a well intentioned leader faced with such a dilemma.
I think this is also the dilemma, the US population have no inclination the levels of depravity that the deep state or certain vested interests will go to ensure they maintain there hold onto power.
They have no idea about non lethal weapons, it's not just about water cannons or tear gas, it is far more lethal, they have the technology to create heart attacks, and also devastating cerebral bleeds, commonly known as strokes.
Knowing that, it takes a very brave man, a very stupid man or a very clever man that can navigate through the labyrinth.
All there is at this time is a man that wants the best for it's people, but can he survive in a nest of vipers.
The last part of the comment is something to think on. What would any one of us do in such a situation? The Donald would have to make sure he had a plan in place to expose the deep state when they do off him. A dead man switch of sorts.