JamaliahYusofYacob - Sebagai
Tentera Syria maju di Palmyra, kerajaan Amerika Syarikat seolah-olah acuh tak
acuh kepada pembebasan bandar purba dari tangan kerajaan Islam (IS). Hanya
apabila ditanya pemberita lakukan Jabatan Negara panggilan ISIS "mungkin
kejahatan yang lebih besar" daripada Presiden Assad.
Disokong
oleh pesawat perang Rusia, tentera Syria berjaya memasuki bandar bersejarah
pada Khamis. Palmyra, atau Tadmur, merupakan Tapak Warisan Dunia UNESCO, yang
telah diduduki oleh jihad sejak Mei lepas.
Tentera2
kerajaan telah membuat kemajuan yang mantap sejak melancarkan serangan
bersepadu untuk merebut kembali bandar, yang, sehingga ditawan oleh jihad,
ditempatkan beberapa monumen yang terpelihara di DUNIA kuno. Negara Islam (IS,
yang sebelum ini ISIS/ISIL) militan memusnahkan dua kuil yang berusia 2,000 tahun
Palmyra selepas merampas bandar tahun lepas.
Terlebih
dahulu Syria Tentera juga merupakan kemenangan strategik yang penting,
penjelasan laluan ke arah tapak penting lain - bandar timur Deir ez-Zor, di
mana kuasa-kuasa kerajaan adalah di bawah pengepungan oleh pelampau.
Walau
bagaimanapun, kemenangan ini terbaru tentera kerajaan Syria tidak dipenuhi
dengan semangat di Washington. Malah, kata jurucakap Jabatan Negara, Mark Toner
tidak dapat segera berkata sama ada Amerika Syarikat dianggap pembebasan
Palmyra ini satu perkembangan positif atau tidak, menunjukkan terdapat
perbezaan sedikit antara IS dan "rejim" Presiden Bashar Assad.
Kurang
daripada 24 jam sebelum tolak utama SAA ini, Penyegar ditanya mengenai Rabu
jika Amerika ingin melihat "rejim mengambil semula Palmyra, atau adakah
anda lebih suka bahawa ia kekal di dalam tangan Daesh ini?" Daesh adalah
istilah Bahasa Arab penghinaan untuk IS.
Selepas
bercakap tentang "pelanggaran dakwaan pemberhentian permusuhan" oleh
"rejim" dan memberi bukan jawapan - a, Toner telah ditekan untuk
menjelaskan kenyataannya.
"Tidak,
Maksud saya, melihat, maksud saya, secara umum, ia bukan satu pilihan yang
hebat, yang sama ada/atau, tetapi - yang lebih dahsyat, Daesh atau rejim
tersebut - tetapi kami rasa Daesh mungkin kejahatan yang lebih besar dalam kes
ini," toner menjawab.
Pembebasan
Palmyra sahaja kemenangan terbaru dalam rentetan kejayaan Tentera Syria telah
mencapai sejak Rusia memulakan kempen anti-keganasan pada bulan September.
Disokong oleh kuasa udara Rusia, Damsyik telah berjaya memaksa pengganas
daripada Latakia dan bahagian utara Aleppo, bandar terbesar di negara ini dan
hab komersial di zaman pra-peperangan. tentera Syria juga sebahagian besarnya diserap
Hama dan Wilayah Homs di tengah Syria.
BACA LAGI: 9000 serangan mengejut, 400 lokaliti dibebaskan: Apa Rusia telah dicapai semasa operasi Syria 5-bulan (READ MORE: 9,000 sorties, 400 localities freed: What Russia has achieved during its 5-month Syria operation )
US
State Dept fails to say if ISIS must be pushed out of Palmyra Or NOT . . .
As the
Syrian Army advanced on Palmyra, the US government seemed indifferent to the
ancient city’s liberation from the hands of Islamic State. Only when pressed by
reporters did the State Department call ISIS “probably a greater evil” than
President Assad.
Backed
by Russian warplanes, Syrian troops managed to enter the historic city on
Thursday. Palmyra, or Tadmur, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has been
occupied by jihadists since last May.
Government
forces have been making steady progress since launching a concerted offensive
to retake the city, which, until its capture by jihadists, housed some of the
world’s best-preserved monuments of antiquity. Islamic State (IS, formerly
ISIS/ISIL) militants destroyed two of Palmyra’s 2,000-year-old temples after
seizing the city last year.
The
Syrian Army’s advance is also an important strategic victory, clearing a path
toward another vital site – the eastern city of Deir ez-Zor, where government
forces are under siege by the extremists.
However,
this latest victory of Syrian government forces was not met with enthusiasm in
Washington. In fact, State Department spokesman Mark Toner could not
immediately say whether the US considered Palmyra’s liberation a positive
development or not, suggesting there was little difference between IS and the “regime” of President Bashar
Assad.
Less
than 24 hours before the SAA’s major push, Toner was asked on Wednesday if the
US would like to see “the regime
retake Palmyra, or do you prefer that it stays in Daesh’s hands?”Daesh
is a derogatory Arabic term for IS.
After
talking about “alleged violations
of the cessation of hostilities” by the “regime” and giving a
non-answer, Toner was pressed to clarify his remarks.
“No, I mean, look, I mean, broadly speaking,
it’s not a great choice, an either/or, but – which is worse, Daesh or the
regime – but we think Daesh is probably the greater evil in this case,” Toner replied.
The
liberation of Palmyra is just latest victory in a string of successes the
Syrian Army has achieved since Russia began its anti-terror campaign in
September. Supported by Russian air power, Damascus has managed to force
terrorists out of Latakia and the northern part of Aleppo, the country’s
biggest city and commercial hub in pre-war times. Syrian forces have also
largely mopped up Hama and Homs Provinces in central Syria.
