The U.S. military is indirectly and covertly supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad, providing him with intelligence through third-party mediators in an effort to help his regime defeat the Islamic groups challenging his rule, Pulitzer-winning journalist Seymour Hersh claimed in a piece published by the London Review of Books Tuesday. Hersh claimed that despite the U.S.'s avowed public policy, which opposes Assad's regime and urges his replacement as part of a solution to the civil war that has been raging in Syria since March 2011, the Joint Chiefs of Staff has been using contacts in Russia, Germany and Israel to relay intelligence to Damascus, on the understanding it would be "transmitted to help Assad push back the Nusra Front and the Islamic State group." The report also claimed that the Joint Chiefs' actions stem from the military's concerns that Washington is "overly focused" on confronting Russia -- Assad's ally -- perhaps at the expense of potential chaos in Syria should Assad's regime topple, as well as out of anger that the White House is apparently unwilling to challenge Turkey and Saudi Arabia over their support of extremist groups in Syria. According to the British daily The Independent, the report claims "there was a clear gap between the thinking of the military leaders and the political leadership of President Barack Obama and his administration." One of Hersh's sources in the Joint Chiefs of Staff reportedly told him the U.S. military was not "intent on deviating from Obama's stated policies ... but sharing our assessments via the military-to-military relationships with other countries could prove productive. It was clear that Assad needed better tactical intelligence and operational advice. ... The JCS concluded that if those needs were met, the overall fight against Islamist terrorism would be enhanced. Obama didn't know, but Obama doesn't know what the JCS does in every circumstance, and that's true of all presidents." One senior political adviser was quoted as saying that there was no "conspiracy to go over Obama's head," and that if Assad was somehow able to remain in power, it would be "because he was smart enough to use the intelligence and operational advice we shared with third-party nations." There was no official comment on the report by the Pentagon or the White House.
Report: US military secretly assisting Assad
Pulitzer-winning journalist Seymour Hersh claims the U.S. is using third-party mediators to provide the Syrian president with intelligence to better fight Islamic State • Assistance stems from concern complete chaos will follow regime's demise, he says.
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