Scott Bennett asserted that Russia’s imposition of economic sanctions on Turkey is the first step of a civilized information and economic warfare, which Turkey started by killing a Russian pilot and destroying a multi-million dollar Russian plane. "If Putin is smart, which he is, he will be expanding this negative public relations fire which Erdogan has started," Bennett said in an exclusive interview with Mehr News Agency on Russia's military campaign against terrorism in Syria.
Syria seems to have been turned into a battleground for west coalition and Assad supporters. How do you compare the achievements by Russia's military campaign, so far, and US-coalition in Syria?
The simplest way to compare the Russian and American military strategy in Syria is that Russia is serious, while America is schizophrenic. Russia’s objective is to shrink and disintegrate the conflict, while America’s is designed to enlarge and integrate the conflicting parties to synergize their destructive agenda. Russia wants stability and order in the region, while America seeks instability and chaos. Russia has boiled down the conflict, problems and issues in the region to their basic fundamentals in order to clearly understand in the simplest terms how they affect Russia and the world; and then designed a strategy to simply, quickly, and most effectively deal with them. In an act of surreal hypocrisy, America has said it is pursuing one objective, but done the opposite. It has opposed Russia, by complicating and exaggerating the issues, problems, and conflicts by its equipping and supporting the forces of rebellion in Syria without regard to how it would affect the world. The effects of the US policy has been the dissolution of socio-economic stability in Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Syria; and a mass exodus of human refugees mixed with opportunists and terrorists into the soft underbelly of Europe in what can only be described as an invasion of chaos sprinkled with suffering.
The EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has warned Russia risks a repeat of doomed Afghan war in Syria, do you think this is true? Is current Russian campaign which is carried out at request of Syrian government comparable to Soviet attacks on Afghanistan?
The difference is Russia was asked by Syria to come to its aid against a coalition of Persian Gulf nations working to destroy the Syrian government, and in its place establish a Wahhabi caliphate that would kill, enslave, and rape non-Wahhabi Muslims, forcibly convert them, and transform Syria into another nation of civil war and chaos. Russia saw this as an existential threat to its own borders and people and government, and acted accordingly by defending itself through defending its ally, the Syrian nation, government, and people.
The military campaign reportedly costs $4 million per day according to IHS Jane’s; what interests and benefits push Russia to launch and continue its fight against terrorism in Syria?
Russia has seen extremism in its Afghanistan conflict when the US hired as its own mercenary every Wahhabi fanatic, violent criminal, and desperado floating to the surface of humanity in order to initiate a “Soviet Afghanistan”. It saw it again with the similar extremists in the Muslim Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) that launched a civil war against Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic, and witnessed the NATO war against Milosevic framed fraudulently as a “Human Rights” issue — a standard weapon in the US Psychological Warfare arsenal. It also saw it in its Chechnya civil war conflict, and in numerous terrorist attacks against Russians — most notably the Beslan School attack by the Muslim Black Widow terrorist cell.
Since Russia has been bitten by the snake of Wahhabi terrorism so often in the past, it is only natural for it to crush the head of the snake under its heel now that it is inching closer towards Russia’s borders.
How do you evaluate the consequences of Turkey’s downing of a Russian fighter jet? Why Russia answered Turkey's act in such a way?
Russia’s economic sanctioning of Turkey is the first step of a civilized information and economic war, which Turkey started by killing a Russian pilot and destroying a multi-million dollar Russian plane. If Putin is smart, which he is, he will be expanding this negative public relations fire which Erdogan has started, by throwing atop it the gasoline of Erdogan’s acts of tyranny (killing journalists) and illegal oil smuggling and ISIL financing, as well as the Turkey refugee human trafficking into Europe and attempt to extort the European Union for $3billion euros to control the flow. This will isolate Turkey, and facilitate a coup d'état against Erdogan by senior military leaders in Turkey and pro-Russian politicians and businessmen in Turkey, and, once again, check-mate the US and halt its agenda.
It seems Turkey has downed the fighter jet feeling support from NATO against possible Russia retaliation. Considering previous cases in Georgia and Ukraine, do you think NATO would take measures in case of Russian military measures against Turkey?
It goes without saying that the NATO purpose was originally to defend Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and a few other nations from a Russian military invasion and takeover—at least that’s how it was originally sold to the public. However now, post-cold war, with Russia no longer interested in such campaigns, and instead intertwined with European economies and society, NATO logically must be recalibrated and redefined to modernize it. And that becomes the paradigm around which the new European-NATO mindset, as well as the American mindset, should logically be redefined and realigned.
Given that presently Turkey is a NATO member, despite being reviled by many European political leaders for Erdogan’s various offenses and violations against European values, Turkey still maintains a legal right to demand NATO respond to any outside attack. Therefore, any disruption of Erdogan must be seen as clearly coming from within the country’s own population, and a movement by the people to preserve their lives, their peace, and their right to responsible and accountable government. By defining any coup, overthrow, or removal of President Erdogan as a natural right of free and reasonable people, freedom and reason will become both the origin and the final objective of the changing of Erdogan’s rule. Any opposition will therefore be defined as the opposite of freedom and reason—and should be harshly described as slavery and insanity. Which, ironically enough, President Vladimir Putin has already been doing in his public statements.
Putin has said, “Allah has taken away Erdogan’s sanity”, in his explanation to the Russian Duma of Turkey’s “stab in the back and shoot down of a Russian bomber over Syrian airspace.” It is significant that this resembles the Old Testament story about the ancient Babylon King Nebuchadnezzar who because of his own pride and sense of invulnerability, was cursed by God and forced out of his kingdom into the wilderness where he “ate grass for seven years, before he was given back his right mind.” Since Turkish Muslims know this story intimately, the allusion to Erdogan could be sufficient to spark the necessary sense of betrayal, resentment, and commitment to change.
What is the impact of Russia’s military involvement in Syria on the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the region, as the most important ally of the Syrian government?
Russia’s entrance into the war against ISIL stabilizes the region by strengthening the Assad government, as well as the other governments opposed to ISIL, including Iran, Iraq, China, and many others. Russia has re-asserted itself not only as a government with a leader willing to protect stability and order in the world, but a world that when pushed to choose a side, will choose order and stability rather than the fanciful dreams of universal democracy achieved through the bloodshed off civil war and religious tyranny.
The more Erdogan is connected to human trafficking of invaders into Europe and financing ISIL through Persian Gulf nations (specifically using HSBC, UBS, Credit Suisse, and other international Saudi Banks); and trying to goad the NATO alliance into defending Turkey as the flashpoint of a conflict, the more a military coup will begin to seem the next logical step... and some pro-Assad, pro-Russian, Pro-China, group will take it. If Iran will give a blessing and their respect to the new Turkey military government, then this too would be an enormous benefit. The new Turkey military government could also be inspired by a generous percentage of the gas pipeline President Putin may want to resurrect with Turkey.
We measure the success of the Russian and American military campaigns very simply, using the results achieved, not the media reports and political rhetoric.
When America was in charge of the air campaign supposedly targeting the ISIL forces, no significant defeats or destruction resulted, and in fact a massive supply of weapons, soldiers, and money found their way into the coffers of ISIL. While the opposite seems true now that Russia has been engaged in fighting ISIL for the past few months, which has resulted in the absolute destruction of all illegal oil theft and smuggling operations that was previously financing ISIL, and a decimation of the ISIL fighters and their US weaponry. This has indirectly led to the strengthening of the legitimate government in Syria, led by President Assad, which has effectively checkmated the US agenda of regime change in Syria. Additionally the tsunami of human wreckage from America’s Middle East wars that has overwhelmed European shores, has also effectively drowned into silence the European NATO cries for Assad’s removal. The absence of these European cries for Assad’s removal, will be transformed into affirming nods at the benefit to Europe of keeping Assad in power, in order to keep the “cork in the bottle” restraining the Wahabi genie of terrorism anxious to escape and wreak havoc in Europe as revenge for the destruction of Iraq and in obedience to the agenda of the House of Saud and their Zionist Israeli cousins.
This success of the Russian campaign, and its simultaneous exposure of the US-Turkey-Israel-Saudi Arabia-Perisan Gulf nations coalition funding, aiding, and abetting the ISIL personnel, is what no doubt prompted the recent shoot-down of the Russian fighter bomber. It is also what has prompted President Obama to circumvent Congress’ war making powers, violate the Constitution, and send US Army Special Forces once again into Northern Iraq to supposedly fight an enemy they have previously hired, trained, equipped, and protected. At best this policy is hypocrisy, at worst it is treason.
Dr. Scott Bennett, formerly of the US Army 11th Psychological Operations Battalion, attempted to blow the whistle by contacting the commercially-controlled media and writing to US politicians after being sacked from his job as terrorist finance investigator after he proved too zealous at the job. He also tried to expose Union Bank of Switzerland for financing terrorism (Al Qaeda, Benghazi, ISIL) through the US and Allies, Saudi, Qatar, Turkey, Israel back in 2012; then thrown in prison for it. Bennett had a background in advertising, before being fast tracked into the US military PSYOPS division, receiving a Direct Commission as an Officer, and held a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmentalized Information (TS/SCI) security clearance.
Interview by Lachin Rezaian