Click to see full-size image. (Syrian Ministry of Interior)
Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of the United States Central Command, on December 5 congratulated Syrian security forces on seizing weapon shipments bound to Hezbollah in Lebanon, in a sign of growing collaboration between Washington and Damascus.
“Congratulations to Syria’s security forces for recently interdicting multiple weapons shipments. These shipments were intended for Lebanese Hezbollah,” Cooper said in a brief statement published by the command on X.
“The United States and our regional partners have a shared interest in ensuring the disarmament of Lebanese Hezbollah and in preserving peace and stability across the Middle East,” he added.
In recent days, Syria security forces seized two weapons prepared for smuggling into Lebanon. The first shipment was made up of over 1,200 landmines and was seized near the town of Yabroud in the southern governorate of Rif Dimashq. The other included rocket-propelled grenade launchers, sniper rifles and various other arms. It was captured close to the town of Qusaer in the central governorate of Homs.
The Ministry of Interior alleged that the first shipment was bound to Hezbollah, but didn’t repeat the same accusation with the second.
Click to see full-size image. (Syrian Ministry of Interior)
Click to see full-size image. (Syrian Ministry of Interior)
Click to see full-size image. (Syrian Ministry of Interior)
Click to see full-size image. (Syrian Ministry of Interior)
From the get go, it was clear that these seizures were meant to appease the U.S., and to some extent even Israel. Cooper’s statement, which is beyond unusual, confirmed this.
Tensions have been mounting between Israel and Syria for the last few months, with recent reports from Hebrew media suggesting that security talks between the two, which are mediated by the U.S., have reached a dead end.
Last week, Israeli troops came under attack while conducting an operation to arrest suspects from a “terror group” in the town of Beit Jinn in Rif Dimashq. Six of the troops were wounded and at least 20 Syrians were killed in retaliatory Israeli strikes. According to Hebrew media reports, the involvement of Syrian intelligence was suspected by Israel.
This was the deadliest clash since the Israeli military began conducting such missions after occupying the buffer zone adjacent to the Golan Heights last year following the fall of the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad.
U.S. President voiced his support for Syria after the deadly clash to the shock of everyone, calling on Israel in a post to Truth Social to “maintain a strong and true dialogue” with the country, and warning that “nothing takes place that will interfere with Syria’s evolution into a prosperous State.”
Washington’s supportive stance of Damascus is unprecedented on all levels, not just in the context of the U.S.-Syrian relations, but even in the context of the wider U.S.-Arab relations.
All of this is of course very suspicious. The U.S. may be of course just pushing Syria towards a security agreement with Israel, which refused to withdraw from the territories it occupied after the fall of the Assad regime. But it also makes sense that Washington is propping up Damascus in order to use it in something very risky, like pressuring Hezbollah.
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nice job syrian army
there is no syrian army you retarded asshole, just a bunch of head hacking savages.
good job julani getting a pat on your head from the american and zionist bastards.