There seems to be some serious confusion about the ongoing crisis in Aleppo, Syria. Even my favorite go-to source for all things political, Mark Levin (Levin TV episode #179), is of the opinion that Bashar Al-Assad is the big villan here. Sadly, I can’t agree with him on this one. Putin is a tyrant, and Assad is certainly no boy scout, but Syria would be far worse under Sunni rebels than the current regime.
 
Because I’ve been so concerned about the ongoing Christian persecution in the Middle East, I’ve been following developments in that area for the past few years. There are several reasons why – despite frenzied reports from the mainstream media (via the insurgents) – I firmly believe that the liberation of Aleppo is a good thing for Syria, and that Assad’s government is not committing horrifying war crimes against its own people.
 

Consider the sources

 
We already know that the network news and the majority of the mainstream media lean far left, which is why so few of us trust them anymore. They’re all pushing the Assad-is-killing-his-own-people narrative; not with any real evidence, just repeating one-sided talking points.
But the real “tell” is Secretary of State John Kerry. He’s been peddling a load of B.S. on Syria for years. If you’re buying Kerry’s hyperbole on Syria, remember that the last time he was accusing troops of war atrocities – it was our guys in Viet Nam!

What are these rebels rebelling against?

 
What do they want? Does anyone know? More and more, reports are that there are no more “moderates”, that radical elements have co-opted the rebellion. According to many in western Aleppo, it’s now ~

al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, ISIS and the less familiar brands, who are occupying the city and fighting the government.

 
U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat from Hawaii (incidentally, a Hindu and a member of the Hawaii Army National Guard) met with Donald Trump in late November to discuss the Syrian situation ~

You might not have heard of her, but this Hawaii Democrat has been one of the loudest voices in Congress speaking for the protection of Middle Eastern Christians and other religious minorities. Here is part of Rep. Gabbard’s statement:
 
“I felt it important to take the opportunity to meet with the President-elect now before the drumbeats of war that neocons have been beating drag us into an escalation of the war to overthrow the Syrian government — a war which has already cost hundreds of thousands of lives and forced millions of refugees to flee their homes in search of safety for themselves and their families.”
 
(S)uch a U.S. intervention — beyond risking war with nuclear-armed Russia — would allow radical Sunni Muslims aligned with al Qaeda to take over Syria and commit genocide against religious minorities numbering in the millions, including Syria’s Christians. You know, the way they did in Iraq. That is why Syria’s Christian leaders have been begging Western Christians since 2013 to avert such a reckless intervention.

Turkey is not our friend

 
Now Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a real tyrant. And Turkey is on the side of the anti-government forces; they’re hoping to weaken Syria so they can help themselves to some of the northern parts of the country (including possibly, Aleppo).
If we needed any more proof that Erdoğan is turning his country into an Islamic theocracy he just did this ➡ Turkey jails American Christian pastor on “terrorism” allegations (Where’s the mainstream media on this story?!)
 

The O’Ministration has been screwing this up for months years

 
The ugly truth about the Benghazi disaster being covered-up to obscure the Obama administration’s weapons transfer from Libya to Syria has since come out. Now that no one apparently cares anymore about four dead Americans, it’s safe for the New York Times to report that – C.I.A. Arms for Syrian Rebels Supplied Black Market, Officials Say.
The fact is we’ve been aiding the “moderate” rebels for 4-5 years. It’s working out really well. This article from Counter-Jihad Report is from June 2016 ~

The Central Intelligence Agency’s program to train and equip ‘moderate’ Syrian rebels suffered yet another embarrassment when arms intended for those rebels instead ended up on the black market. Some of the arms were then used in an attack on an American training facility in Jordan that killed two American DynCorp employees. That attack also killed several police officers who were being trained by the American private security firm at the behest of the US State Department.

 
The revelations are only the most recent humiliation for American efforts in Syria under the Obama administration. In mid-February, a group of CIA-backed rebels ended up fighting against, and losing to, a group of Pentagon-backed rebels. The previous fall, CIA-backed rebels surrendered a quarter of their equipment al Qaeda.

What a cluster!

What about the Christians?

 
It’s taken five years to get the Obama administration to even admit that Christian genocide is taking place in the Middle East – and they still refuse to do anything about it.
 
Listening to the media-types hyperventilate over the “genocide” in Aleppo makes you wonder where they’ve been the last several years. As The Stream explained last month, U.S. involvement, on the side of the rebels…

… beyond risking war with nuclear-armed Russia — would allow radical Sunni Muslims aligned with al Qaeda to take over Syria and commit genocide against religious minorities numbering in the millions, including Syria’s Christians. You know, the way they did in Iraq. That is why Syria’s Christian leaders have been begging Western Christians since 2013 to avert such a reckless intervention.

“Dust Boy” propaganda

 
The Islamists have mastered the art of fauxtography as means to garner sympathy for their jihad (Google “Pallywood”). Remember “Dust Boy?” ~
 
 
This shocking image from Aleppo last summer was most likely a hoax, calculated to do exactly what it did: generate international outrage against the Assad regime. But consider, what sort of emergency responder poses an injured, traumatized young boy for a photo session – rather than immediately tending to his injuries? Perhaps a heartless terrorist with an ulterior motive?
 
What the Islamists have quickly learned is that nothing tugs at the human heartstrings like a dusty dead or injured child cradled lovingly in the arms of some hero (who was probably waving an AK-47 or an ISIS flag hours before). If you search for “Aleppo civil war” images, the majority are “rescue” pix.
 
Note – Any media with the “White Helmets” logo ➡
is automatically suspect ~

Unlike a legitimate rescue organisation such as the Red Cross or Red Crescent, the “White Helmets” only work in areas controlled by the armed opposition.

What’s happened to these poor children is heartbreaking, a terrible consequence of this tragic civil war. But it’s a double tragedy, not to mention wicked, to use their poor little bodies as propaganda tools.

 
There are no easy answers to the Syrian civil war. Bashar Al-Assad is a dictator. Putin has thuggish aspirations of restoring the former Soviet empire. But ISIS and al-Qaeda are pure evil. Toppling Saddam Hussein, and then quickly exiting Iraq as as we did, left that country unstable and vulnerable to Islamist insurgents who wasted no time outdoing the former leader in atrocities.
 
As Barak Barfi says at Politico in a piece titled “In Aleppo, I Saw Why Assad Is Winning.” Syrians are war-weary and long for safety and stability; Assad represents their best chance of getting that ~

If Assad wins, most Western observers will attribute the triumph to his use of naked force. But it his reliance on primordial loyalties, a fear of post-revolutionary chaos and appeal to the self-interest of Aleppo’s merchant class which will have been the real keys to his success.

 
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Related:
The Christian remnant in Aleppo
 
ALEPPO: The Reality on the Ground Defies Western Mainstream Media Distortion
 
Meanwhile, in another part of the world… ~ The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are bravely battling the barbarians.
 
Syria: Obama-backed rebels persecute Christians, force them from their homes (July 2015)
 
A Syrian Refugee Speaks: There Is No Easy Solution To Our Crisis ~ Interesting take from an Assyrian-American ~

For Christians living in Syria, this is a perilous time. For their faith, and their faith alone, they are facing genocide. The country’s refugee crisis intensifies as people attempt to flee persecution, and there is no end in sight […]
 
Ideally, the end goal would be for Syria’s political climate to change and move towards democracy. Then I think about what happened to Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. As much as I appreciate freedom and democracy, some Arab countries cannot seem to handle it. Due to the conflict between Muslims and other religious groups, along with the fighting within Muslim groups themselves, there is ongoing warfare and unrest. Maybe a strong ruling party is needed to control and restore order? Maybe Islam is the problem and needs reform?

 
Syrian White Helmets a ‘terrorist support group & Western propaganda tool’
 
40,000 Pro-Assad Christians in Aleppo Fear Return of Rebels ~ Safer under Assad ~

Christians and Muslims in the Middle East lived peacefully with each other for hundreds of years. However, when jihadist groups such as the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) and al-Qaeda invaded Iraq and Syria in 2014, the terrorists ordered Christians to either leave, convert, or pay a subjugation tax.