McCain’s May 2013 photo-op with “Syrian rebels” (Free Syrian Army) was arranged by Elizabeth O’Bagy.
In an August 30, 2013 Wall Street Journal op-ed titled “On the Front Lines of Syria’s Civil War” O’Bagy promoted the idea that the Free Syrian Army are not jihadists:
“Moderate opposition forces—a collection of groups known as the Free Syrian Army—continue to lead the fight against the Syrian regime. While traveling with some of these Free Syrian Army battalions, I’ve watched them defend Alawi and Christian villages from government forces and extremist groups. They’ve demonstrated a willingness to submit to civilian authority, working closely with local administrative councils. And they have struggled to ensure that their fight against Assad will pave the way for a flourishing civil society.”
In Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings regarding a possible attack on Syria McCain cited this op-ed to support the idea that the Free Syrian Army are not jihadists.
The next day Secretary of State John Kerry encouraged members of the House of Representatives to read this op-ed.
Shortly after her op-ed O’Bagy was exposed as a fraud. She did not have a PhD from Georgetown as she had claimed and her connections with the Syrian Emergency Task Force where she was Political Director also came to light. She joined the Syrian Emergency Task Force on May 13.
Prior to her exposure O’Bagy also was employed as a Senior Research Analyst and Syria Team Lead by the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington, DC based foreign policy advisory group focused on the Middle East. She was hired in either August or September 2012 (unclear) and fired September 11, 2013.
The WSJ subsequently issued this clarification:
“In addition to her role at the Institute for the Study of War, Ms. O’Bagy is affiliated with the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a nonprofit operating as a 501(c)(3) pending IRS approval that subcontracts with the U.S. and British governments to provide aid to the Syrian opposition.”
The Syrian Emergency Task Force is a Washington, DC based lobbying group working for the overthrow of the Syrian government.
The Syrian Emergency Task Force receives funding from the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, itself funded by the State Department.
After being fired by Institute For The Study of War O’Bagy was hired by McCain as a “legislative assistant”.
>> The State Department, working through the Syrian Emergency Task Force, and indirectly through O’Bagy, maneuvered McCain into supporting an attack on Syria and/or arming the “good” jihadists either method with the goal of overthrowing the Syrian government. <<
Whether McCain was a willing and knowledgeable participant or was duped no long matters, he continues to support the idea of “good” jihadists even though it’s been exposed as a lie, and even though it has been known that arms supplied to “moderates” are given to ISIS.
And to remove any and all doubt the Free Syrian Army has said they are with ISIS:
“As President Obama laid out his ‘strategy’ last night for dealing with ISIS in Iraq and Syria, and as bipartisan leadership in Congress push to approve as much as $4 billion to arm the Syrian ‘rebels,’ it should be noted that the keystone to his anti-Assad policy — the ‘vetted moderate’ Free Syrian Army (FSA) — is now admitting that they, too, are working with the Islamic State.” - http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3202964/posts
Just so it’s clear...
O’Bagy has ties with the “rebels” working to overthrow Assad, rebels who receive funding from the State Department, and she is paid by a neocon think tank.
Clear as mud.
Then there’s Mouaz Moustafa, head of the Syria Emergency Task Force. Also was head of Libyan Council of North America. Also “worked with rebels” in Egypt.
“Arab Spring” was/is an operation run out of Obama’s State Department and the CIA.
The playbook being used in Syria is the same one used in Libya. The US facilitates the shipment of arms from Qatar and Saudia Arabia to “rebels”, and the US supplies the air power. Libya was overthrown and now is run by various islamist factions. The US is supplying rebels in Syria to overthrow Assad. If/when that happens ISIS will move in.
O'Bagy is a NeoCon, but only a "run of the mill PNAC type" or "junior member of the NeoCon foreign policy establishment".
The Institute for the Study of War is a NeoCon group led by Kimberly Kagan, a prominent NeoCon. She is the wife of Fred Kagan who is the brother of Robert Kagan, both of who are also prominent NeoCons, and have served as professors at the War College and West Point.
Several of the men associated with the Syrian Emergency Task Force attended and spoke at the 2012 GOP convention in Tampa. That is where the policy shift on Syria began.
Thru-out 2011 and 2012 the NeoCons and the liberal interventionist democrats wanted to intervene in Syria but the Realists and Obama were opposed. But after the 2012 convention, there began a slow shift among the Realists and by the spring of 2013 Bob Corker(minority chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee) shifted his position to support arming the rebels. So we can say that the NeoCons, the Liberal Interventionists, and the Realists all voted to arm the rebels(15 votes). But the 2 antiwar dems and the isolationist Rand Paul voted no(3 votes)
Then later in the year the issue of bombing Syria came up but that turned into a political hot potato so when the Senate Foreign Relation Committee voted it passed only by a vote of 10-8, but it passed.
John McCain is a Neocon and you can focus on him or point your finger at him but it is really a foreign policy doctrine issue. So on any and all foreign policy issues, where do the NeoCons(including John McCain) stand? Where do the Liberal Interventionists stand? Where do the Realists stand?