I posit the theory The White Helmets, a fake civil defense agency functioning only in Syrian anti-government militant-held areas, are of no future value to the US, for two reasons:
- Clearly, they've blown the last two chemical-staged events both of which triggered massive US missile attacks. It's commonly accepted that three strikes you're out. If the White Helmets are involved in the next chemical staged event and things go wrong like in Douma, it'll become their third strike. Unless you're frequently putting the ball over the fence, you can't strike out a lot. The White Helmets have passed their prime. If there's gonna become a third chemical provocation, from the US perspective, it'd probably be better to use Eric Prince undercover mercenary operatives rather than White Helmets, although it's likely some members of the White Helmets would help.
I think the US-UK, et. al. hope to end the White Helmet operations while there still remains a thin veneer of credibility to the organization.
It's important to also remember Syria remains a tinderbox for future action against Iran, especially with the Palestinian 70th anniversary of Nakba (when Palestinians lost their homeland) coming up, which will coincide with the US opening its new embassy in Jerusalem. So if the US requires another chemical incident 'tis better not to next time have White Helmets involved as the group could muddy the waters.
https://steemit.com/iran/@michaelweddle/nakba-catastrophe-say-what-war-with-iran
- The Syrian army has captured just about everywhere except a couple of ISIS/Al Qaeda pockets and the lands being held by Israel, Turkey and the US (SDF Kurds). So where are these White Helmets supposed to operate? Frankly, I don't see it as a big deal that Trump has canceled the funding. Clearly, it's to the US operational advantage to no longer carry their baggage. In effect, call it mission accomplished.
https://steemit.com/syria/@michaelweddle/does-the-us-capture-weapons-in-syria-or-just-give-them-away