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US helping ISIL against Syrian government: Analyst

A US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle flying over northern Iraq after conducting airstrikes in Syria, September 23, 2014. (AFP Photo)

Press TV has conducted an interview with Mimi al-Laham, an activist and political commentator in Australia, to discuss Washington’s expanded air support for a group of militants it has trained to supposedly fight ISIL in Syria.

Following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: How is this new US support for these new militants going to further prolong the conflict in Syria?

Laham: Well, first of all the claim is that this new Syria force is supposed to be a force that is predominantly fighting ISIL. This is a force of 60 people and they are not going to be doing a better job in fighting ISIL than the Syrian air force but the US is using them as an excuse to keep the Syrian air force out of the area.

So it seems to me that what the US wants to do is to help ISIL to grow further and to continue the chaos because they can only support the militia groups, they can’t really support the legitimate sovereign Syrian state and they seem to be continuing on with their mission to destabilize Syria and overthrow the Syrian government.

However, I feel that this statement that they have made is a bluff. They do not have any intention of actually being in a conflict with Syria at this time. They would rather see Syria slowly destroy itself and they are hoping that with this threat they won’t have to face the Syrian air force because they will themselves pull out of the area which is a mistake.

Press TV: Who are these militants that the US is supposedly supporting in the fighting against ISIL?

Laham: Well, you know it is funny because the US have never actually named them, they have refused to name them and in any time in the last four years they have refused to name the insurgents they claim are moderate because time and time again, the people that they support turn and deflect to the al-Nusra front which is an Al Qaeda faction bringing with them the US training and the US weapons.

So again, we hear that these are a handful of people that they have supposedly trained. It is laughable; I mean 60 people is laughable.

Press TV: Right and how effective has the US campaign against ISIL in Iraq and Syria been up to this point?

Laham: Well, it is absolutely clear that it has been completely defective. ISIL has continued to expand and grow its land base and in fact, the US assault against ISIL has improved recruitment for ISIL. So ISIL can now claim that it is fighting the US invasion and gain more troops that way.

So everything they have done so far has helped them. In fact, they have even airdropped weapons into their areas and friendly-fired at the Iraqi army. So the whole idea that they want to fight ISIL in the first place is a sham and an excuse in order to attack Syria and be in the area and attack eventually perhaps attack Syria’s state.


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