US war on Syria ‘planned many years ago’

The United States’ possible military action against Syria was planned “many years ago” in order to replace the Syrian government with a pro-Western one, an American journalist said.

“The issue is very clear. Syria is Washington’s war. It was planned many years ago,” Stephen Lendman told Press TV on Monday. “The issue was replacing an independent government with a subservient, pro-Western one.”

“Any government that is independent gets targeted for regime change. This is longstanding US policy and the situation in Syria is very grave,” he added.

“American forces have been beefed up in the Mediterranean. There is every indication that America plans to attack. It will do it extra judiciously, lawlessly,” Lendman said.

On Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons against civilians, paving the way for Washington’s military intervention in Syria.

The Syrian government, however, has vehemently denied the accusations, saying the chemical attack was carried out by the foreign-backed militants themselves as a false-flag operation.

Lendman cited a CNN report in December that the “Pentagon contractors have trained these insurgents in the handling of chemical weapons. If you train them in the handling, you’re training them in fact on the use of chemical weapons.”

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad once again dismissed the allegations of the use of chemical weapons.

“Failure awaits the United States as in all previous wars it has unleashed, starting with Vietnam and up to the present day,” Assad said. “The comments made by politicians in the West and other countries are an insult to common sense… It is nonsense.”

Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to reports, the Western powers and their regional allies — especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey — are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.