from Rogue Money:

The US should learn the lesson of Iraq, President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday, threatening to expel American troops from Syria and retake areas from its Kurdish allies. In the interview with RT, the Russian state’s international broadcaster, Assad raised the prospect of conflict with US forces if they do not leave Syria.

Assad’s Call for the Americans to Leave Syria Was Not an Imminent Threat of Action Against U.S. Forces, But a Reminder Regarding Their Costly Occupation of Iraq

If you read the full transcript of the RT interview posted at Syria’s government news agency site, it’s clear from the context Assad is not issuing an ultimatum threatening American troops with imminent action if they do not get out. Rather, the Syrian President is comparing the U.S.-led occupation of sovereign Syrian territory alongside NATO allies the French and Turks to the Americans’ over a decade-long stay in neighboring Iraq. The implication being, rather than conventional battles of the type fought between U.S. troops and pro-Damascus militias accompanied by a few dozen Russian mercenaries like the infamous Conoco gas field clash of February 7-8, the Americans could face Iraq insurgent-style tactics, such as ambushes and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The Washington (Langley/Bezos) Post aka Pravda on the Potomac has already acknowledged the public relations problem peaceful demonstrations by Syrians calling for U.S. forces to withdraw poses to a long term occupation and partition of the country.

Given that President Trump campaigned on a promise of no more foolish Mideast wars of regime change like those waged by George W. Bush in Iraq or Barack Obama in Libya, the real threat Assad is making is he and his allies can eventually make another ‘Dubya’ out of Trump. That is, to saddle an American President already opposed by the vast majority of the legacy media and much of the U.S. population with an unpopular Mideast war that involves a steady flow of flag-draped American coffins coming back home. Against this threat, we are likely to see counter-threats of U.S. bombing Syrian government forces and neocons magnifying an Israeli pundit’s call for the assassination of Assad. But again, the alternate headline which the legacy media largely skipped over in reporting Assad’s call for the Americans to leave his country was the quite real prospect of American and Russian forces clashing this spring.

In the RT interview, Assad quoted the Russian Ambassador to Lebanon’s threat that if Russia’s servicemen were harmed not only would the missiles be shot down but Moscow would strike back against the missile launchers — meaning U.S. bases in the region. From social media posts in the days leading up to the April 14 illegal missile strikes on Syria, we know Russian Air Force Sukhoi jets were spotted over Latakia on the Mediterranean coast carrying supersonic anti-ship missiles capable of sinking US Navy vessels. We also observed reports that Moscow’s long range bombers were placed on alert at Mozdok in the Caucuses and RuAF jets based at Kheimmim flew sorties during the U.S. missile strikes — just in case the Americans attacked any Russians — and the U.S. Air Force also flew F22 patrols over its Al-Tanf base in southeastern Syria to deter possible Russian counter strikes on American troops.

Notwithstanding Threats, the Wheels of Diplomacy Are Turning: Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman Meets Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu in Moscow as Syrian Government Forces Are Poised to Retake Territory Back from Jihadists Along the Golan

Read More @ RogueMoney.net