US made catastrophic mistake in Syria: Analyst

Press TV has interviewed Susan Lindauer, a former CIA asset and radio host in Maryland, to discuss Syrian military forces’ recent advances against the Daesh Takfiri terrorists in the city of Aleppo.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: How do you feel about these very significant advances especially this retaking of the Kowaires military base?

Lindauer: This is excellent news for the Syrian people and excellent news for Europe. It provides a safe zone for Syrian refugees to come back to the country as opposed to being forced to flee.

It is not surprising that it would be slow, it is going to continue to be a slow process but with every victory there will be a wider territory of protection and I would like to say that here in Washington, Middle East experts are quietly cheering Putin on. We are actually very pleased with what Russia is doing for the Syrian people because we know that it is Washington providing the weapons, the training, the financing to the Syrian rebels. Al-Nusra [Front] and ISIS (Daesh), perhaps there is a distinction in whether they crucify their prisoners or they behead their prisoners but they are Islamic radicals who are bent on Sharia law which is unacceptable to the United States and it is unacceptable for those Syrian rebels to take power.

So by knocking out [Syrian President Bashar] Assad, we have destroyed the Middle East, we have destroyed a secular government which was a valuable ally in the war on terrorism. It is a very foolish policy and although mainstream Washington, the corporate media, cheers on the Syrian rebels, the [US President Barack] Obama administration officially cheers on the rebels and says that ‘Assad must go’, you notice that there is no push for boots on the ground in Syria. There is a great antipathy and fear. We recognize that we have made a catastrophic mistake in Syria. And so Putin jumping in at this moment, he is actually doing what the rest of us wish we could do but we cannot. America must never go into the Middle East again. That is the ultimate cost of the Iraqi war.

Press TV: I am wondering if as you say many people in Washington are secretly cheering on Russia, why not just admit the US made a mistake and go on the Russian side?

Lindauer: Washington rarely admits that it made a mistake. They may maneuver slowly to that position. I would call attention to the fact that the Russians - I think this is very important - that Russia jumped into Syria at exactly the moment that [German Chancellor] Angela Merkel was inviting the refugees to come into Europe.

I really truly believe that the NATO forces were looking to exploit the refugee crisis as a pretext to send NATO into Syria to knock out Assad. That is what I am convinced was going to happen. And I think that Russia has moved so rapidly because they possessed that intelligence and they were executing a countermeasure which shows again Putin’s great strength as a leader. I think there is a lot more admiration for Putin here in the United States than most people will realize.

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