Assad or the US-Israel axis? We're actually saying they're all complicit!

When American academic and UN advisor Jeffrey Sachs spoke at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum about the war in Syria—now in its 14th year—his remarks were received like carefully prepared talking points handed to those who mourn the fall of the Assad regime. That he’s American seems to make his claims feel more "credible" to some. And the fact that he blames both the U.S. and Israel? Even better—it gives his words an extra dose of "legitimacy."

But no one stops to ask: What’s Sachs’ problem with the U.S. or Israel? Why is he speaking out against them so bluntly and so publicly? He claimed the war in Syria wasn’t Assad’s fault, but rather the result of a U.S.-Israeli conspiracy. And just like that, we’re being asked to forget everything that’s happened in plain sight over the past 14 years and to see the war only through the lens Sachs provides.

According to Sachs, Israel supposedly asked the U.S. in 2005 to remove unfriendly regimes in the Middle East, and Obama only got around to it in 2011, triggering the Arab Spring. And the Syrian war? Just a consequence of that. So, in this version of events, Assad had no role whatsoever. A man with nothing on his record but noble service to his country and people!

Apparently, he didn’t kill the kids in Daraa, didn’t open fire on mourners, didn’t torture and massacre hundreds of thousands in Sednaya, didn’t bomb his own people with artillery and barrel bombs, didn’t slaughter a million Syrians with help from Russia and Iran, didn’t displace 12 million people. And we didn’t see five million of them in our own country, didn’t witness what they endured for 14 years.

Sachs is, quite clearly, insulting our intelligence. And yet, the mourners of the toppled Assad regime accuse us—yes, us—of trying to "cover up" the U.S. and Israel’s role in the Arab Spring, just because we dare challenge Sachs’ bedtime stories. Some even go so far as to brand us "Islamist Evangelicals" as if we’ve suddenly become defenders of the U.S. or even Israel!

But Sachs isn’t the only one selling snake oil—he just happens to have a huge market for it. And when the buyers are this eager, who can blame the man for cashing in?

Let’s be real. These people never tire of their chronic hatred of Islamists. Their favorite fantasy? Islamists in bed with the U.S. But in reality, Islamists kicked the U.S. out of Afghanistan and dealt historic blows to both the U.S. and Israel in Gaza. And yet, these critics are still titillated by the idea of an Islamist-American alliance.

Meanwhile, across the Muslim world today, Islamists are the most systematically repressed group—jailed, exiled, tortured under regimes that operate with the full blessing of U.S. oversight. If they had an ounce of reason or fairness, they’d realize that the only real alternative to the U.S.-Israel axis right now is political Islam. But of course, they don’t.

Let me say it loud and clear: we’re not covering up the U.S. and Israel’s role. On the contrary, we’re exposing it even more. If you truly believe that the U.S. spent 14 years trying to topple Assad and just couldn’t manage it, then you’ve been fast asleep. And now that the Syrian people are finally mounting a genuine revolution—one that has Israel visibly nervous—you try to frame it as an American plot to discredit it.

Ask yourselves: if the U.S. really wanted Assad gone 14 years ago, why hasn’t it happened? Why send thousands of truckloads and cargo planes full of weapons, but never to the actual opposition? If even a fraction of that support had gone to real anti-regime forces, Assad would’ve been history in year one. A little logic goes a long way.

But no—America never wanted to remove Assad. It had no role in starting the Arab Spring. Its role came after, in crushing it with counter-revolutions and military coups. Why? Because those uprisings threatened Israel. Every regime that came to power via a coup was designed to restore Israel’s comfort zone. In Syria too, the goal was to prevent an Arab Spring-style revolution from succeeding. The Syrian uprising was part of that revolutionary wave, but the U.S. and Israel intervened to make sure it was crushed. And until December 8, 2024, they propped Assad up. Why? Because for Israel, Assad’s revolutionary alternatives were the real nightmare—and rightly so.

Let me put it even more plainly: My article doesn’t downplay the U.S. or Israel’s role—it underscores it. Both have been complicit in every massacre in Syria over the past 14 years. When the U.S. sent thousands of truckloads of weapons to the SDF, it wasn’t to overthrow Assad. It was to create a structure that would block the Syrian people from taking power and pose a threat to Türkiye. They collaborated with Assad to keep the revolution from succeeding.

So no, this isn’t about absolving the U.S. and Israel—it’s about showing their guilt runs deeper than Sachs dares to admit. We're not exaggerating. When those atrocities happened in Sednaya, Palmyra, and Homs—when Assad was committing genocide—the U.S. was fully present on the ground and turned a blind eye. They could’ve taken him out with a snap of the fingers. But they didn’t, because those who would’ve replaced him were Islamists—and that terrified Israel.

Oh, and by the way: the "witness" Sachs brings up, Wesley K. Clark? The man is basically a con artist’s character witness. He’s been accused of fraud, lying, and manipulating U.S.-China markets. Anyone curious can do a quick online search and see for themselves.