US Intends Indefinite Illegal Occupation of Syrian and Iraqi Territory
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)
All US wars and related occupations are flagrantly illegal, Trump continuing what his predecessors began.
Pentagon and State Department officials lied, claiming Washington needs no congressional or other authorization to maintain a military presence in Syria and Iraq.
US-installed puppet Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi was pressured to accept the indefinite presence of US forces in the country.
Syria’s Bashar al-Assad slammed their presence in northern and southern parts of the country, earlier saying:
“Any foreign troops coming to Syria without our invitation or consultation or permission, they are invaders, whether they are American, Turkish, or any other(s).
Russia operates in Syria by invitation. So do Hezbollah fighters and Iranian military advisors. US forces are there illegally – waging naked aggression by terror-bombing and support for terrorists, seeking regime change.
Last March, Assad blasted Washington, saying wherever US forces are sent, “they only create a mess. They are very good at creating problems and destroying, but they are very bad in finding solutions,” adding:
Without US-led foreign intervention, war would “only take a few months” to end. It never would have been launched.
Washington intends indefinite missions wherever it shows up. Last month, Rex Tillerson lied saying “(t)he Trump administration’s counterterrorism policy is quite simple. It is to protect Americans at home and abroad from attacks by terrorists.”
The only threat they face is state-sponsored terrorism, no others from terrorist groups Washington created and supports.
Tillerson lied claiming “Syria remains a source of severe strategic threats,” adding US forces will remain in the country indefinitely “to protect our own national security interest.”
They illegally occupy Syrian territory for regime change. Throughout its history, Syria never threatened US security.
The Pentagon and State Department lied, claiming ISIS terrorists in Syria give Washington legal justification for US forces to remain indefinitely in Syria and Iraq.
The Trump administration turned truth on its head, claiming a legal right to strike Syrian forces and Iranian military advisors it believes threaten US troops and terrorist fighters it supports and falsely calls “rebels.”
According to Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs Mary Waters, “the United States will not hesitate to use necessary and proportionate force to defend US, coalition, or partner forces engaged in operations to defeat ISIS and degrade Al Qaeda.”
Washington created and supports ISIS and al-Qaeda, Waters failed to explain. US forces operate illegally in all its war theaters.
Trump has no legal authority to wage war anywhere without Security Council approval. All US wars are illegal acts of aggression against sovereign nations threatening no one.
Congress has appropriation authority. It can end US wars by cutting off funding, the way US involvement in Southeast Asia ended in April 1975.
Efforts began with the Church/Cooper June 30, 1970 amendment (attached to a supplemental aid bill), stipulating no further spending for soldiers, combat assistance, advisors, or bombing operations in Cambodia.
The 1972 Church/Case amendment to end all funding for US military operations in Southeast Asia, except for withdrawal subject to the release of prisoners of war, was the first congressional legislation to end the Vietnam war.
In June 1973, Congress passed the Church/Case amendment ending all funding after August 15.
On April 30, 1975, US forces completed their withdrawal from the rooftop of its Saigon embassy, ending over a decade of war – based on the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing war without declaring it, based on a false flag incident.
Congress can end illegal US wars today the same way it did in the 1970s. Figures like Senators Frank Church, William Fulbright, George McGovern, and others like them aren’t around today.
Even conservative Senator Richard Russell, Lyndon Johnson’s mentor in the Senate, called war in Southeast Asia the “damn worse mess I ever saw,” telling LBJ the territory wasn’t a “damn bit” important to America.
US wars of aggression rage today in multiple theaters. Virtually no congressional profiles in courage exist to stop them.
No House or Senate members argue publicly against endless US wars. None publicy support peace.
Nothing is being done to cut off war funding. Instead, military budgets are increased.
The vast majority of House and Senate members publicly support Washington’s imperial war agenda – including self-styled progressive Bernie Sanders.
Without strong opposition, endless US wars continue, others in the wings to be launched.
Catastrophic nuclear war is ominously possible against one or more nations threatening no one.
America’s imperial agenda is humanity’s greatest threat!
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My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."
