Changes

[[File:North-Syria-Map-696x284.png|right|300px|thumb|The Northern Syria jihadi corridor (in grey). Weapons and foreign jihadis enter Syris from Turkey through the jihadi corridor.]]

[[File:North-Syria-Map-696x284.png|right|300px|thumb|The Northern Syria jihadi corridor (in grey). Weapons and foreign jihadis enter Syris from Turkey through the jihadi corridor.]]

Just as France and the UK were the driving forces in persuading Obama and Hillary to get behind Libyan regime change, so to were Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey the driving forces behind Syrian regime change. In Libya, Gaddafi's African unity policy and development bank threatened established French and UK commercial investments. In Syria, Iranian support and the sanctuary given to [[Hezbollah]] - basically a standing contingent of the Iranian Quds Force on [[Israel]]'s northern border<ref>https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/18328</ref> - threatened both the Saudi kingdom and Israel. In both cases, Libya and Syria, Obama's policy of leading from behind - giving aid to minor allies who started unnecessary wars - had catastrophic consequences for the men, women, and children on three continents, victims of the parochial ambitions of minor state actors and ambitious career opportunists.

Just as France and the UK were the driving forces in persuading Obama and Hillary to get behind Libyan regime change, so to were Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey the driving forces behind Syrian regime change. In Libya, Gaddafi's African unity policy and development bank threatened established French and UK commercial investments. In Syria, Iranian support and the sanctuary given to [[Hezbollah]] - basically a standing contingent of the Iranian [[Quds Force]] on [[Israel]]'s northern border<ref>https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/18328</ref> - threatened both the Saudi kingdom and Israel. In both cases, Libya and Syria, Obama's policy of leading from behind - giving aid to minor allies who started unnecessary wars - had catastrophic consequences for the men, women, and children on three continents, victims of the parochial ambitions of minor state actors and ambitious career opportunists.

Overall, on a covert level, it had been a co-ordinated strategy from the beginning, to get rid of Gaddafi and Assad at once. First Gaddafi, then with captured weapons caches and experienced, fired up jihadis, ship them off to dispose of Assad, with Qatar and the US in the background as players since the UNSC 1970 was passed. Gaddafi took a little longer than anticipated, most thought he'd be out by April 2011, but it took until October. UK & France would bow out in the Syrian operation, where Saudi Arabia and Turkey stepped forward to play leading roles. And this was expected to be a tougher and slightly more enduring fight, six months behind schedule, but unlike Gaddafi, Assad still retained WMD, as well.

Overall, on a covert level, it had been a co-ordinated strategy from the beginning, to get rid of Gaddafi and Assad at once. First Gaddafi, then with captured weapons caches and experienced, fired up jihadis, ship them off to dispose of Assad, with Qatar and the US in the background as players since the UNSC 1970 was passed. Gaddafi took a little longer than anticipated, most thought he'd be out by April 2011, but it took until October. UK & France would bow out in the Syrian operation, where Saudi Arabia and Turkey stepped forward to play leading roles. And this was expected to be a tougher and slightly more enduring fight, six months behind schedule, but unlike Gaddafi, Assad still retained WMD, as well.