June 20, 2016

An Eyewitness Tells How The U.S. Ambassador Instigated "Revolution" In Syria

S. Rifai, also known as @THE_47th, is a Syrian "activist" from Homs. He was involved since early 2011 when the U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford (@fordrs58) fomented the "revolution" in Syria. He has since tweeted about the "revolution" and has shown lots of insider knowledge. Below S. Rifai corrects the U.S. propaganda record.

The former ambassador Ford allegedly had a hand in last weeks "dissident" letter by some State Department employees. The letter urges launching an open U.S. war against Syria and its government. Ford was recently interviewed about the letter for an exculpatory piece in the New Yorker.

In the New Yorker interview Ford asserted:

We all learned from Iraq that regime change is not the way to bring about positive political change. In the case of civil war, there needs to be negotiation between the opposition and the government. The question is how you increase the likelihood that it will succeed. And ever since Secretary Clinton and Sergei Lavrov concluded the communiqué, in June, 2012, Administration policy has failed to create the conditions necessary to succeed.

Quoting the above S. Rifai responded to former ambassador Ford's assertions (emphasis added, edited to expand Twitter shorthand):

S. Rifai @THE_47th 5:02 AM - 19 Jun 2016 That's not what u told us in meetings in Damascus Ambassador @fordrs58 ..that's not the message you conveyed Ambassador Ford @fordrs58 you have had more freedom in Damascus in 2011 than most political opposition and throughout your meetings, the above message was different You actually had the courage Ambassador @fordrs58 to sit with regime officials who seemed ready to defect and your message certainly wasn't "negotiation" Your meetings in Abu Remmaneh, Malki, and in known dissidents houses Mr. @fordrs58, remember those? remember the promises? I can get more specific about these meetings Mr. @fordrs58, but it is not in your interest nor mine These details are like farts in the wind Mr. Ambassador @fordrs58 - what counts is the "Assad must go" part that you and your president said repeatedly.

Ford did not immediately respond but S. Rifai insisted

S. Rifai @THE_47th 5:14 AM - 19 Jun 2016 @fordrs58 so please clarify: you knew all along that Obama wanted "negotiations with the government" but you and him kept telling us "Assad will go"?

Another "revolutionary" joins:

Abdul @al_7aleem 5:36 AM - 19 Jun 2016 .@THE_47th @fordrs58 Isn't it our fault for forgetting the last 90 years of US history in all our excitement...

S. Rifai @THE_47th ‏5:38 AM - 19 Jun 2016 We didn't forget as much as we hoped for change.. It's not like we had another power-player we could rely on

Later on Ford responded:

Robert Ford @fordrs58 10:34 AM - 19 Jun 2016 you should remember that we (US Embassy and others) urged a dialogue with the Syrian government and that protests stay peaceful

(Ford's tweet implies that, despite his claimed urging, the protests did not stay peaceful. He admits that the protesters, not the government, initiated the violence.)

Rifai counters:

S. Rifai @THE_47th 11:36 PM - 19 Jun 2016 Expectation vs. Reality Your trip to Hama was about dialogue? Your Malki meetings were about peace? Are you insulting my intelligence? .@fordrs58 when you knew Manaf Tlass or the Prime Minister was about to defect, did you urge them to dialogue instead? .@fordrs58 where is "dialogue" in Obama's "Assad must step aside"? Assad must go, Obama says .@fordrs58 when farouk Al Sharaa invited the opposition to a meeting in 2011 you advised Nabil Maleh, Michel Kilo, Fayez Sara NOT to dialogue. .@fordrs58 do you want the Bulgarian Ambassador to refresh your memory? How about B.R? Or M.T? All were there when you advised the opposition NOT to dialogue. .@fordrs58 you were giving us lectures on how important it was to tour the EU and lobby for our cause, and to capitalize on EU cutting ties with Assad

Later:

Robert Ford @fordrs58 7:33 AM - 20 Jun 2016 @THE_47th please get your facts straight. I never even met Fayez in 2011. We urged Sharaa dialogue to expand to include people like Michel & Haithem M. S. Rifai @THE_47th 8:10 AM - 20 Jun 2016 .@fordrs58 fine. I'll get them to say what you told them. On another note: why did you provide "non-lethal" aid to rebels? .@fordrs58 and when you went to the Syrian border with Turkey to meet rebels, were you also urging them to dialogue?

To recap. Ford now asserts that he and Obama did not want immediate violent "regime change" in Syria. That they wanted to have a dialogue and negotiate with the Assad government.

Rifai, who was there from the very beginning, says that those are lies. In his talks with the opposition Ford argued against any negotiations. His talks were not about peace or dialogue. They were for blatant, violent "regime change".

The "revolutionary" dupes fell for it.

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Addendum:

Ford peddles at least one other big lie in the New Yorker interview. He says:

[Back in 2012, we in the State Department ...] didn’t anticipate that the Al Qaeda organization would split and produce an even more virulent form—that a more extreme form would come to control the eastern portion of Syria going into Iraq.

In mid 2012 the Defense Intelligence Agency circulated a high level assessment of the situation in Syria that said the opposite. The Obama administration did anticipate the Islamic State. According to (vid, 8:50) then DIA boss Gen. Flynn, it was a "willfully decision" by the Obama administration to do nothing to prevent it.

THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A DECLARED OR UNDECLARED SALAFIST PRINCIPALITY IN EASTERN SYRIA (HASAKA AND DER ZOR), AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THE SUPPORTING POWERS TO THE OPPOSITION WANT, [...] ISI COULD ALSO DECLARE AN ISLAMIC STATE THROUGH ITS UNION WITH OTHER TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS IN IRAQ AND SYRIA, WHICH WILL CREATE GRAVE DANGER IN REGARDS TO UNIFYING IRAQ AND THE PROTECTION OF ITS TERRITORY.

Ford did know what was going to come. He is lying.

Posted by b on June 20, 2016 at 13:39 UTC | Permalink

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