In March 2017, the BBC published a fawning profile of the FSP, noting its British funding, and claiming the group “demonstrates to Syrians that it is not necessary to carry weapons in order to administer law and order in the country.” The British state broadcaster repeatedly stressed, the FSP “does not co-operate with extremist groups.” However, nine months later, it was revealed London’s “moderate” police force enjoyed intimate relationships with multiple ultra-violent militant groups, including HTS forerunner Jabhat al-Nusra....Fast forward to today, and courtesy of HTS, the British-created FSP is now Syria’s national police force. Ever since Assad’s fall, they have acted accordingly, brutally repressing internal dissent, while standing by as the new government’s militants massacre Alawites and other religious minorities in the country. Just as Inter-Mediate’s office in Damascus’ Presidential palace raises grave questions about the extent of London’s control over HTS, we must ask who all past beneficiaries of MI6 “moderate opposition service provision” in the country are truly working for.As The National reported in February, the White Helmets have been formally invited by Syria’s HTS-controlled Health Ministry to “run the emergency services countrywide.” The creation of such groups years prior to Assad’s ouster is a palpable example of the ability of British intelligence “hustlers” to “get ahead of events”, in Richard Moore’s phrase, ensuring MI6 has the people, organisations and structures in place to effectively take over countries if and when an enemy government falls.
