"With Assad gone, and Iran no longer able to threaten Israel through its, proxies, it is possible that the United States and Israel can agree on red lines for when Iran's program has crossed an unacceptable threshold. In short, the White House can ease the tension that has developed with Israel over Iran by doing the right thing in Syria."
Grisly Warnings
So, based on the logic expressed in the email, Clinton's goal of "regime change" in Syria was driven in large part by Israel's perception of its strategic interests, and she was ready to do to Assad and possibly his family what was done to Libya's Muammar Gaddafi and Iraq's Saddam Hussein -- and to members of their families -- to kill or imprison them.
Recall that on Oct. 20, 2011, when Gaddafi was captured, sodomized with a knife and then murdered, Secretary Clinton gleefully declared, "We came, we saw, he died," and clapped her hands. The email about Syria was written six months later.
In regards to Assad submitting to U.S. and Israeli "regime change" desires, Clinton's spring 2012 email said, "With his life and his family at risk, only the threat or use of force will change the Syrian dictator Bashar Assad's mind."
At the time, Clinton was still basking in the presumed glory of the Libyan "regime change."
"Libya was an easier case," the email explained. "But other than the laudable purpose of saving Libyan civilians from likely attacks by Qaddafi's regime, the Libyan operation had no long-lasting consequences for the region. Syria is harder." Note that Clinton's propagandistic wartime claims about Gaddafi's "genocide" had faded, in the email, to "likely attacks" (although during Campaign 2016, she has again elevated Gaddafi to "genocidal.")
The email continues: "But success in Syria would be a transformative event for the Middle East. Not only would another ruthless dictator succumb to mass opposition on the streets, but the region would be changed for the better as Iran would no longer have a foothold in the Middle East from which to threaten Israel and undermine stability in the region."
Clinton's email also recognized that the U.S. role in Syria would have to be even more significant than it was in Libya: "Unlike in Libya, a successful intervention in Syria would require substantial diplomatic and military leadership from the United States. Washington should start by expressing its willingness to work with regional allies like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar to organize, train and arm Syrian rebel forces. ...
"Then, using territory in Turkey and possibly Jordan, U.S. diplomats and Pentagon officials can start strengthening the opposition. It will take time. But the rebellion is going to go on for a long time, with or without U.S. involvement."
Helping the Terrorists
By 2012, those Turkish-Saudi-Qatari-backed rebels already included Al Qaeda's Nusra Front and "Al Qaeda in Iraq," which would soon spin off into the Islamic State.
The email continues: "The second step is to develop international support for a coalition air operation. Russia will never support such a mission, so there is no point operating through the UN Security Council. Some argue that U.S. involvement risks a wider war with Russia. But the Kosovo example shows otherwise.
"In that case, Russia had genuine ethnic and political ties to the Serbs, which don't exist between Russia and Syria, and even then Russia did little more than complain. Russian officials have already acknowledged they won't stand in the way if intervention comes.
"Arming the Syrian rebels and using western air power to ground Syrian helicopters and airplanes is a low-cost high payoff approach. As long as Washington's political leaders stay firm that no U.S. ground troops will be deployed, as they did in both Kosovo and Libya, the costs to the United States will be limited.
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