US claims otherwise are a complete fabrication. All anti-Assad forces are US-trained, armed, funded, and directed terrorists, taught the fine art of killing, committing atrocities and using chemical weapons – including ISIS, Al Qaeda, Jabhat al-Nusra and various splinter groups.

The so-called Free Syrian Army and other alleged “moderates” exist only in US and go-along media propaganda reports, willful misinformation to deceive an uninformed public.

Wars depend on lies to gain popular support, or at least no significant opposition. Often they collapse under the own weight.

Putin’s Syrian mission shows the emperor has no clothes. If enough Americans pay attention and express outrage, Washington’s imperial Middle East agenda may falter, perhaps collapse. It’s already wobbly.

ISIS et al represent proxy US foot soldiers, imported abroad from scores of countries. They’re all legitimate Russian targets, all being battered by formidable air power to Washington’s consternation, wrecking its regional agenda – for the first time, a real challenge to its hegemonic aims.

Putin is effectively contesting Obama’s dirty game. Washington has no effective counter-strategy, increasingly transparent propaganda and dubious military moves alone, along with continued Russia bashing and fear-mongering.

In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, two State Department officials repeated tired old Big Lies.

Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Anne Patterson and her European and Eurasian Affairs counterpart Victoria Nuland committed perjury – claiming Russian air strikes hit 85 to 90% “moderate” rebels and civilians in areas with no ISIS presence.

“Russia’s military intervention has dangerously exacerbated an already complex environment,” Patterson blustered. “(T)his has not been a Russian fight against terrorism so much as an effort to preserve the Assad regime,” she duplicitously claimed.

Nuland remains infamous for orchestrating the coup against Ukraine’s sitting government, replacing it with Nazi-infested putchists – responsible for aggression against its own people and virtually every imaginable human rights abuse.

Her testimony was a litany of Big Lies, saying Assad “continues to barrel bomb its own citizens with impunity, perhaps even emboldened by Moscow’s help.”

“The vast majority of Russian air strikes are targeted in areas where the Assad regime has lost territory to forces led by the moderate opposition.” “We are accelerating the work we are doing to support the moderate Syrian opposition and to protect Syria’s neighbors” – code language of US supporting ISIS and other takfiri terrorists. “(W)e are awaiting further evidence that Russia is sincere in its claims to want to fight ISIL and save Syria for the Syrian people, rather than simply protecting the dictator who bears direct responsibility for the country’s destruction…The quality of our cooperation with Russia in Syria depends on the choices Moscow makes.”

It’s hard imagining anyone believes Nuland’s utter disregard for the truth. Her public record betrays her, revealing her deplorable neocon credentials – supporting endless wars of aggression, responsible for devastating mass slaughter and destruction.

“What would positive cooperation by Russia look like,” she asked? Cease its military campaign, “insist” Assad pull back, work with Washington and its (rogue) partners for resolving things diplomatically.

Who are the so-called “moderate” rebels Washington consistently touts? Where are they? Last month, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia can’t identify them. Washington provides no information.

“From the very beginning of the operation in Syria, President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have expressed the readiness to interact with the so-called moderate opposition,” Peskov explained. “At the same time, it had to be stated that attempts to identify the so-called moderate opposition remained unsuccessful all the way.” “(N)o moderate forces can be spotted in the patchy mass of terrorist and extremist organizations that pose a threat to Syria’s territorial and political integrity.” “Regrettably, neither the US nor European partners, nor somebody else has been able to help us with this identification. Other countries are unable to point to some moderate forces capable of taking care of a settlement in Syria. Regrettably, there have been no tangible results.”

State Department spokesman Admiral John Kirby claims some (nonexistent) “moderate” rebels switched sides. Hot war success depends heavily on winning the propaganda one.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book is titled “How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War”. www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html Visit his blog site at www.sjlendman.blogspot.com.