Prof Michel Chossudovsky: Secret Plan to Assassinate Syrian President

At a time when the British press was still "reporting the truth", London's Guardian published a detailed report of a 1957 Anglo American assassination plot directed against the Syrian president, with a view to implementing "regime change". The similarity to today's war on Syria is striking. What is revealing is that the political assassination of the Syrian president has been on the Anglo American drawing board for over half a century. The article, which reviews the text of the leaked 'Secret Document' confirms that British Prime Minister Harold Macmillian and President Dwight D Eisenhower had ordered the assassination of the Syrian Head of State. Documents show White House and No 10 conspired over oil fueled invasion plan. The stated objective of this secret plan, entrusted to Britain's Secret Intelligence Services (SIS) and the CIA, consisted in assassinating the Syrian president together with key political and military figures. "Mr Macmillan and President Eisenhower were left in no doubt about the need to assassinate the top men in Damascus." "In order to facilitate the action of 'liberative' forces, to hold losses and destruction to a minimum, and to bring about desired results in the shortest possible time, a special effort should be made to eliminate certain key individuals. Their removal should be accomplished early in the course of the uprising and intervention, and in the light of circumstances existing at the time." (The Guardian, 27 September 2003). The stated pretext of the Macmillan Eisenhower plan was that Syria was "spreading terrorism" and "preventing the West's access to Middle East oil". The secret 1957 Plan called for the funding of a so called "Free Syria Committee" equivalent to today's Syrian National Council (SNC). It also involved "the arming of "political factions with paramilitary or other actionist capabilities within Syria. Under the plan, the CIA together with Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) "would instigate internal uprisings".