Canceling Timber Sycamore: Trump Ends Obama’s Shadow Mercenary Arming Program in Syria: U.S. Bombs Its Own Deep State Arms Factories For War Profiteers

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Austin Carson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago. Carson holds a PhD in Political Science from The Ohio State University.

The Salafist, the Muslim Brotherhood, and AQI [Al Qaeda in Iraq] are the major forces driving the insurgency in Syria. The West, Gulf countries, and Turkey support the opposition, while Russia, China and Iran support the [Assad] regime." In essence, Jordan’s involvement exposed multiple layers of fault lines in the operation, serving as a poignant case study in how alliances can unravel and strategic partnerships can morph into liabilities. This aspect of Timber Sycamore offered a grim lesson in the unpredictability and risk associated with outsourced logistics and partnership-based covert operations, especially in a region as volatile as the Middle East. Lastly, to send it all home, this is retired 4-star general Wesley Clark. He has quite the resume and is highly decorated.

Malone, Paul (10 July 2016). "Save us from the Dr Strangeloves". Canberra Times . http://www.smh.com.au/comment/save-us-from-todays-dr-strangeloves-20160707-gq0d74.html . Retrieved 21 September 2016. Blum, William. Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II. Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press, 1995. ISBN 1-56751-052-3 The program remains classified, [8] [25] [13] and many details about the program remain unknown, including the total amount of support, the range of weapons transferred, the depth of training provided, the types of US trainers involved, and the exact rebel groups being supported. [21] However, an opinion piece in The Canberra Times noted that two thousand tons of Soviet-era weapons had been delivered to Aqaba by April 2016. [26] Why would they do this? Because such political, economic, social and/or value changes as the U.S./the West seeks to achieve/has already achieved, both at home and abroad, these tend to undermine/have already undermined the status quo and, thus, tend to undercut/have already undercut the power, influence and control of various governments and population groups throughout the world — to include such entities here in the U.S./the West.)

Timber Sycamore is distinct from the Syrian Train and Equip Program, another Pentagon program established to train Syrian rebel forces to fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) [7] [23] The Pentagon made it clear their goal in Syria and Iraq was 'to fight ISIS and fight ISIS only [and] we've asked [our partner forces] to be committed to that same mission' and that they would not fight Assad's military. [24] Consequently, and in the interests of this notorious “ Sunni diplomacy”, the French state has not only turned a blind eye to the suspicious deeds of Saudi Arabia in Syria and Yemen; it has directly supported Saudi campaigns, in the most discreet way possible. These maneuvers have led to a literally schizophrenic political stance, whereby in fact the French state trumpets its operations against terrorism whenever it can, but further down at the level of the directorate and the intelligence services, strategies that have the specific effect of bolstering jihadist groups are being illegally imposed on some countries, such as Syria, Yemen or Libya. During that interview, journalist Mehdi Hasan not only elicited from him that the CIA had played a coordinating role in this vast arms trade, but also that US involvement in this shadow war had been much greater than we thought. According to the Washington Post , it was one of the CIA’s “ largest covert operations” in its history. In January 2016, the New York Times confirmed this, noting that the CIA’s maneuvers to overthrow Assad were part of a multinational campaign involving billions of petrodollars from the Gulf states, mainly spent by Saudi Arabia.First, supporting the opposition and their efforts to end the violence and begin the transition to a free and democratic Syria without Assad. The United States continues to provide the opposition with communications equipment and other forms of non-lethal assistance and direct financial assistance. We are coordinating our efforts with others who are also providing various forms of support." Obama, of course, has had a good past four years, his two presidential terms elevated to near perfection by the intolerably divisive and self-interested Make America Great Again antics of Donald Trump. But this is not an edifying account of the positive use of US power – under either occupant of the Oval Office. Jordanian officials sold CIA-supplied weapons to arms dealers: report". Pakistan Today. 27 June 2016. This fragmentation of the opposition wasn't merely a logistical failure; it had dire strategic implications. Without a centralized command structure or a common set of tactical objectives, these disparate factions were not just ineffective but sometimes counterproductive. The haphazard distribution of weapons and the poor vetting of end-users allowed more radical elements to infiltrate the ranks of the rebels. The ideological void within the fragmented opposition became fertile ground for jihadist groups, who swooped in to capitalize on the disarray, further complicating the Syrian conflict and American involvement. The arrival of Russian forces in the Syrian conflict in 2015 was akin to throwing a match into a powder keg. Their engagement was not just a geopolitical maneuver; it was a decisive game-changer. With the Kremlin's air support and logistical reinforcements, Bashar al-Assad’s government was not merely sustained but invigorated, effectively stymieing any hopes of a swift regime change that Timber Sycamore had faintly promised. The immediate effect was a tightening of the noose around the program's already constrained operational flexibility. Russia’s intervention tilted the scales in Assad’s favor so significantly that it led to a reevaluation of American commitments and objectives in Syria.

a b Greenwald, Glenn (3 November 2009). "A court decision that reflects what type of country the US is: Even when government officials purposely subject an innocent person to brutal torture, they enjoy full immunity". Salon. US Senator Ron Wyden's office has questioned the program, releasing a statement that "the US is trying to build up the battlefield capabilities of the anti-Assad opposition, but they haven't provided the public with details about how this is being done, which US agencies are involved, or which foreign partners those agencies are working with." [3] Analysts [ ] According to Rachel Marsden writing for The Baltimore Sun, the CIA and Saudi intended for Timber Sycamore to allow independent military forces to drive out Assad, install a Syrian leader friendly to U.S., Saudi and Qatari interests, and weaken Russia's influence in the Middle East. [26] Thousands Syrian rebel fighters trained and equipped by U.S., U.K. and Arab governments in an effort to topple the Syrian government.In April 2013, having expanded into Syria, the group adopted the name ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah fī 'l-ʿIrāq wa-sh-Shām. As al-Shām is a region often compared with the Levant or Greater Syria, the group's name has been variously translated as "Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham", "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (both abbreviated as ISIS), or "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (abbreviated as ISIL).