Stephen Lendman -- ISIS is a US ‘proxy force’ to replace Syria’s Assad

The United States is using the ISIL terrorist group as a “proxy force” and “foot soldiers” to remove the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad, an author and radio host in Chicago says.

“What most people do not know, especially Americans, is that ISIL fighters are US allies, they were created by America, they’re US foot soldiers, US proxy forces,” Stephen Lendman told Press TV on Saturday.

“They’re being used by America in its war to replace the Assad government with a pro-Western stooge government, this is what the ‘dirty game’ is all about,” Lendman said.

The “dirty game” is to arouse more anger toward ISIL terrorists through beheadings and other brutal tactics in order to enlist more countries in President Barack Obama’s coalition against the Syrian government, he added.

ISIL militants have been trained by CIA operatives out of secret bases in Jordan and Turkey to destabilize Syria, Lendman noted.

Some analysts have long maintained that the United States and its allies have seized on the ISIL threat to target the democratically elected government of Syria.

American officials admit that the US-led airstrikes are not stopping ISIL advances in Iraq and Syria, raising doubts on the efficacy of Obama’s long-contemplated strategy for confronting the terror organization.

There is a growing concern about whether the US-led air war in Syria against ISIL is working, with even the so-called moderate Syrian militants, closest to the US, turning against it.

Activists and residents in Syria say the airstrikes are harming ordinary Syrians more than the well-financed terrorists, according to the Washington Post.

Residents say the air campaign, launched since Sept. 22, has not weakened the ISIL group’s grip on power or had any significant impact on its capacity to capture territory and launch attacks.