by Ghassan Kadi
Barely two months into his office, Trump is still facing a very hostile environment around him both domestically and internationally. Many of his domestic election promises have been kept to the pleasure of some and dismay of others, but on the international front, his emerging policies are, for better and for worse, still developing.
Some pundits believe that it is only a matter of time before Trump turns against Russia even more vehemently than his predecessor. Some even argue that he already did. The truth is that his stand towards Russia is giving confusing messages; but is it really?
Trump thus far remains adamant about working with Russia, and with Syria for that matter, against ISIS. So what has changed?
In the lead-up to his presidential election win and all the Democratic Party accusations regarding different types of association with Russia, even some pro-Russia analysts believed their enemies’ lies and thought that once elected, Trump was going to walk away from the Levant and give it to Russia on a silver platter. Well, this did not happen, and it wasn’t meant to happen.
This is not to mean that Trump is not quitting before a fight either. Thus far, all indications are that he is not looking for a fight; instead, he is looking for leverage.
The leverage he is seeking is more than a simple face-saver. He wants America to weigh in as far as the final talks regarding the end of hostilities in Syria is concerned.
Only a few days ago, I heard on the grapevine that a deal has been struck between America and Russia, one that is based on a trade-off; ISIS for Iran. It didn’t make much sense then, and it still doesn’t, because it is clear now that this deal has not yet been struck; it has only been touted.
Without paying too much attention to the sequence of events, Trump made very early hostile and unprovoked remarks towards Iran. That was his way of showing his Israeli and Saudi allies that he shares the same anti-Iranian passion they have. That was also his way of telling Putin what the new administration redlines are; and Iran is certainly high on the list.
Certainly, the Saudis jumped on the opportunity and felt euphoric. After all, they feel that they had been badly let down by Obama who would not take decisive action in Syria against President Assad. The Saudis are either naïvely triumphant or simply unaware of what is around the corner for them. Trump’s anti-Iran passion is perhaps only equaled, if not surpassed, by his anti-ISIS passion, and he is not shy from saying that it was Arab/Muslim oil money that funded ISIS. Simply put, whilst many thought that the Saudis were going to be the first on Trump’s international “hit-list”, they have in reality only been renegaded to the second position; because right now, Trump can use them and he is going to get all the mileage he can before he turns against them.
The Saudis, who have never been masters of foreign diplomacy nor intelligent by any measure, are under the illusion that their relationship with the United States has been restored. Little do they realize that they are being walked on a leash and straight into the slaughter house.
This is where the race for Raqqa begins and we are yet to see where it ends.
Unlike Mosul and before that Aleppo, different powers can end up kicking ISIS out of Raqqa. This includes the Americans (aided by loyal Kurds), the Syrian Army (aided by Russia, Iran and loyal Kurds) and the Turks.
Syria’s redline is ISIS.
Russia’s and Iran’s redline is also ISIS.
Turkey’s redline are the Kurds.
The Kurds’ redline depends on which Kurdish faction
But America’s additional redline is Iran.
Turkey announced recently that operation Euphrates Shield has ended. Erdogan seems to be stepping out of Raqqa to see how the others play the game. His troops are poised to go back in, though they never really left, but he wants to distant himself from the Raqqa battle for now.
On the other hand, America is saying to Syria, Iraq and Russia; if you want ISIS out of Syria and Iraq, we will help, we will guarantee it, but you must reciprocate by keeping Iran out of Syria and Iraq.
It is on these lines that the battle for Raqqa is drawn; each side trying to score as much as possible militarily so he can have a bigger say.
The recent huffing and puffing on part of America, Israel, and even Syria herself has been along these lines. Only Russia is playing it cool, at least thus far.
No one can be sure of what is happening within the diplomacy corridors behind the scenes. America is possibly arguing that serious attempts to quell all forms of radical Islam should not keep Iran off limits. The Russians and the Syrians will find this argument difficult of defend ideologically. The Russians and the Syrians will find it even more difficult to argue against this if America presented preparedness and willingness to sacrifice Saudi Arabia in the overall deal.
America will perhaps try to push harder and present a comprehensive Middle East road map, one that includes Lebanon and makes disarming Hezbollah part-and-parcel of the overwhelming deal. There is little doubt that given the very little that Israel and the US have on the ground in the Levant at present, they will be prepared to let their loyal Kurds down, let Turkey down, let Qatar and Saudi Arabia down, fight ISIS till the end, restore full Iraqi and Syrian sovereignty, if this can guarantee for the American Israeli duo clipping the wings of Iran and removing Hezbollah from the scene. The recent statements America made about the future pf President Assad as one that needs to be decided by Syrian people is only one little aspect of the new and bigger direction America is seeking.
America and Israel will be hoping that Russia will be able to convince both of Syria and Iraq that this is a good deal and that it is a win-win situation. The Kurds as a whole will lose regardless of who wins as they always did. Turkey will be feeling left out whether such a deal comes to fruition or not. Syria will not accept being swayed into walking away from her allies. Iran will not accept to be demoted after it has scored many diplomatic and military wins. Saudi Arabia will be elated to see the prospect of Iran dragged down the gutter before it realizes that it is the second sheep in line. Hezbollah will not let down arms and sees this whole scenario a question of life or death.
It is conflicts of this magnitude that create wars, and as the race for Raqqa looms, arms will be twisted and skulls will be crushed, and in the end, it is the people, ordinary men, women and children who pay the price.
I see a problem with this interesting speculation. It requires everyone involved to stand down and allow Trump/USA have its way, at little cost to the US while everyone else is a loser.
Russia, who is now deciding fates of many of the nations and stakeholding groups, would become a secondary power.
Hezbollah, heroic and badly bloodied, would disappear as a military force defending the Shiites of Lebanon and Syria.
Kurds would be denied regional power, and supposedly, merely stand down against Turkey, Syria and Iraq-Iran. Maybe the Kurds would become a mere militia after years of attaining Army status and achievements in many of the biggest battles of Syria and Iraq.
Iran would leave Lebanon (Hezbollah would be gone in this speculation), leave Syria (presumably Russia would be the permanent guarantor), give up the naval base it is soon to have on the Mediterranean, and get out of Iraq’s three-corner balancing act of Sunni-Kurd-Shiite.
All this in exchange for Saudi and Qatar being snubbed by the US.
I find these occurrences in the speculation as impossibilities.
The “plan” is against the national interests of all the primary nations except the US.
Leverage? Trump’s generals think that a few thousand (even 5-10,000) who may yet appear on the ground with tanks and artillery and Apaches and A-10s will enforce his plan. But they will find their bases quite untenable. Fighting ISIS at its end days in Raqqa is wholly different if Hezbollah and SAA, Iranian militias and Quds Force troops with Turks confront the Americans. A drone and missile war should produce enough casualties while the UNSC debates the “invader” Americans as criminals. The US has only an exit option, to my eyes.
Considering that soon Trump will play his hand with China, if that turns out badly, the Chinese would join in the forces against the Americans. They are a huge stakeholder in Syria and Iraq.
Then, the US Coalition will join and a full fledged regional war of the Sunni Gulf States versus the friends of Syria will erupt.
Trump may want to back Iran out of Syria and Lebanon, but it won’t happen.
The American generals are getting all the wars they have not won all over again.
Even Yemen is back on the hit list. But Trump wants victories.
If that means Iran goes back to early ’79-’80 conditions in the region, the Americans are delusional.
What is is what will be.
Iran has to be attacked to change its arc in the region.
Israel would love that.
But there are consequences.
More likely, the US will use Kurds to keep a destabilizing force in Syria. It will be like historic US policies many other places. And the US will keep “Syrian rebel terror groups” in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to keep proxies picking at Assad and securing rat lines along the borders.
That is easy to do and very American.
As for getting Iran out of the three countries and inside its own borders, just the opposite will occur. The Kurds, the Israelis and the Sunni proxy terrorists all bind Russia-Turkey-Iran-Syria-Hezbollah into an alliance of necessity. Iran may move out its Shiite militias, but Hezbollah will stay in Syria for years to come. Too many deaths, too much blood spent for them to leave any time soon.
And Russia is going nowhere. In fact, Russia has its own agenda. It is presently accommodating the US. This is both wise and of necessity. Russia won’t face off with the US directly.
But when Raqqa is done, all the forces will coalesce and the US will be the lone outsider.
All American wars are judged by casualties. Enough or too much in a short span, and the war is deemed a mistake. That number, over the last decade has dropped to 100 or so. If the US actually takes a 100 KIA and wounded in a few weeks of combat, the public will hang “loser” on Trump. The generals might not agree, but Trump is on thin ice with any “new war”. And taking on Iran’s new allies in Syria would be a new war. Especially, since he and the generals have rejected what Trump’s voters and most Americans wanted–cooperation with Russia against ISIS and AQ.
I don’t see Trump gaining leverage anywhere with anything the military does.
They will have to fight for “this plan” of isolating Iran. And the US cannot fight in Syria, Iraq and Iran, and maybe Lebanon and keep its KIA under 100. In fact, it will be in the range of thousands. It is committing its Elite troops at present. Marines, SOCs, the 82nd Airborne, and whatever it thinks is its best. A real war in the region would be grievous for the Americans.
The Hegemon has few months at most in the Syrian war. To cow Iran, it must push out Russia. Not going to happen.
Trump has the same problem in North Korea. To cow Pyongyang, he has to push away China. I don’t think that is going to happen.
Trump is late to the game. He is looking for leverage in all the wrong places.
Both regions would become manageable if the Hegemon backed away.
Then Russian diplomacy could work in both strident conflicts.
You can’t leverage a deal when all you have is kinetic power,death and chaos in your portfolio. Nobody is on the other side of that deal.
great reply as always Larchmonter 445 – as I was reading this article I was thinking Russia give up on Iran and let US do what it wants ?? That’s never going to happen –
Russia just ain’t gonna do that.
And I ould never want ithat to happen. I love Iran. I’m proud of Iran. And Hezbollah. And Assad – and not Trump.
Trump’s a big disappointment.
But I also disagree with the article at the beginning when it was talking about Trump and Iran.
I think that alot of the noise about Iran during the election was coming from Flynn. I have heard Phil Giraldi say that for many years, Flynn has had an obsession with Iran – then Giraldi rolled his eyes – I don’t think he likes Flynn at all –
And personally ? I think Flynn is a fly in the ointment. I know alot of important people on the Internet think he was Trump’s best man…I never did – not from the first time I saw him trying to make sense in interviews, when he first appeared a couple of years ago.
I appreciate that he was some sort of whistleblower, but he must had done many things ‘right’ to get to the position he owned in the Defense Intelligence Community.
Anyway, I’m thinking that Trump will not go after Iran or Russia.
But internally – in the USA itself – Trump is a disappointment
And environmentally ???? HUGE mistake – worse that Obama or Hillary –
Sad. The earth and her inhabitants suffer –
The whole creation waits for man.
And with Trump in the White House – many endangered animals will disappear from our planet before he leaves..
Trump’s gone back from where Obama was with protection of animals and the climate etc etc etc.
To believe that the American forces will leave is not very realistic in my opinion. For some time now they have given up on removing Assad (at least for the present) and fully planned for a partition of the country, taking the east and Raqqa, allowing room for the Qatar pipeline into Turkey.
And once in Raqqa, who is to move them out? Who is willing to risk a major confrontation? True, if everyone coalesced against them, perhaps their bluff would be called – but how is that coalescence to happen? Only Russia can confront them, but will Russia take the risk? Will Assad and his SAA? Maybe, hoping to get world sympathy and perhaps even Russian military support. But who will risk major confrontation between major nuclear powers?
The partitioning of Syria is the game plan, and will be executed by the Americans as they fill in as occupation forces behind the advances of the Kurds, under the agreement to support the Kurds as they advance. The Americans will likely never leave Syria.
Russia seems to have good relations? with the Kurds. Kurds are the main reason also for partitioning of Syria, Iraq and eventually Iran for the Kurdish state. For this reason the Kurds support the US. So, what was the fuss about going to war in the first place, especially Russia’s intervention in Syria knowing fully well Syria will be partitioned? Russia also has lost some of its people in Syria. Doesn’t seem clear here. If this happens, Iran and Syria will have doubt about Russia. China is no where to be seen.
@Victor the Americans will likely never leave Syria
Correct. They never leave anywhere: they still occupy Germany and Japan. And Korea.
Afghanistan. Iraq. Kuwait. Kosovo.
South America.
Pacific islands
Antarctica
No part of the planet escapes their tentacles.
… until the US collapses. Then the American soldiers will be left to fend for themselves in the imperial outposts. No resupply coming. No reinforcements in sight. Only the angry and revengeful local population…..
I love the smell of US-exceptionalist desperation in the morning.
Afghanistan was going to be Pipelinistan, and be a new free supply of scarce metals mining… how’d that work out for the US/Big Oil/Big Mining planners? Let alone the PNAC/Grand Chessboard prognosticators? The only US-Afghan “success” is the CIA ramping up opium/heroin production.
The US left Vietnam… at the business end of Viet Cong weapons… largely supplied by… the Soviet Union. The US will leave Syria, as even their “allies” the Kurds will not die for Israeli/Zionist aims. For example, the Iraqi Kurds decided to stop being cannon fodder and genocide enablers for the US as the Mosul debacle unfolded.
The only question is will the US leave Syria willingly, or be forced out when the US public get alarmed at the resumption of a steady stream of flag-draped coffins headed for “a local hero’s hill” (Prine). “Be the first one on your block to have your boy (or girl these days) come home in a box… and it’s 1,2,3, what’r we fighting for…?” (Country Joe)
The US may have nearly 1,000 bases worldwide, but they are not supported by the people who live around those bases… in fact, the US personnel are almost universally reviled as unwelcome invaders, hiding imperious violent thugs and rapists in their ranks (see Okinawa). And if the local Syrian militias decide the US has overstayed, US troops will die. In Syria/Russia is moving military projection steadily east and soon will be “coordinating” US/NATO airpower out of Syrian airspace. The US (and NATO/EU, Turkey, Israel) has been plainly told that any unauthorized overflights will be challenged, and I’d guess not just with upgraded Syrian S-200’s. No repeats of “accidental” bombing of Syrian/Hezbolla positions (like Deir ez-Zor) will be tolerated. With no US air cover, US troops will be nearly surveillance-blind, facing “ISIS”, and former ally militias as well as the Syrian Army/Hezbolla in unfamiliar terrain… if one dead Special Forces in Yemen (briefly) made the MSM headlines, imagine what the spectre of a new Iraq/Afghanistan debacle unfolding will do to the US public’s psyche.
That 1,000 US bases have been paid for by a large % of the $20trillion in debt the US taxpayer carries, plus a huge portion of the similar $trillions in central bank US$-reserves/debt carried by NATO and other allies… like Japan. The US gov’t buys Israeli/Zionist and Saudi/Wahabbist “support” to the tune of several $billions per year… but it is obvious the Israeli/Zionist/Rothschilds call that tune, not the US gov’t or even US Deep State.
The Kurd extremists want a “homeland” because the Zionist extremists were given Israel, and the US made promises it had no right to. Silly Kurds, they don’t have the generational Rothschilds backing them (where is the Kurds’ Balfour Declaration?), and we all know the Rothschilds want their Zionist Empire to occupy all of the Greater Middle East to “right historical wrongs”… except most of those wrongs are not supported by any real archeology, just grew-in-the-telling Bible stories and cherry-picked/amplified inter-tribal spats.
If you don’t “see” China, it is because they operate even more quietly than Russia… that whole New Silk Roads thing. And developing strong alliances with bordering countries that are tired of US/Zionist duplicity/meddling, like the Phillippines and Malaysia. Even Australia knows which side its economic/security bread is butters, and are going to great lengths not to piss China off too much. Only Japan and South Korea are stupid enough to follow US orders to confront China over the South China Sea.
So all is there too see for those who care to look.
“They (US) never leave anywhere”. They left Vietnam…and unceremoniously at that.
Syria is winning its war against the efforts of those determined to break that nation and it needs only to remain focused on it’s agenda ….One Syria undivided, under Pres. Assad and his government until Syria’s citizens themselves choose otherwise.
Some how the Americans need to be defeated in the court of Public opinion. From the beginning the U.S. has orchestrated this fiasco, this human disaster, in Syria. They are directly aiding and abetting all Jihadist forces, which does not inhibit them at all from then slaughtering them when the spotlight is on. The International community must coalesce around reality, relentlessly exposing the truth, as does the Saker here and other such non mainstream media. The UN could still be a formidable association, if it weren’t controlled by the U.S. So, why does not China take over that U.S. role. The U.S. constantly threatens to withhold their funding if they don’t get their way on something. China is now in the same $$ ballpark with the U.S., and could then send the Bill to them when making up the shortfalls. This would then expose and embarrass the U.S., and leave room to perhaps improve the leadership at the UN, which could be very effective if it weren’t so manipulated by the U.S. Resolutions should then be relentless and highly publicized pointing out things like the many instances the U.S. has violated the key aspects of the UN Charter and other International Law. So called Conservatives in the U.S. like to rag on about their bible, the Constitution. Such behavior at the UN would and could also then highlight that violating the UN Charter, rules of engagement and etc., also violates the Constitution as such International Law has been ratified by the Congress and becomes U.S. law as a consequence. Just some hopeful/wishful thoughts on how this ugly U.S. Foreign policy could be wound down as peacefully as possible ; such negative publicity would also make it harder to continue such illegal and criminal and immoral activities that the U.S. Govt. engages in on an everyday continuous basis. ??
The Israelis now get to decide if Oded Yinon is on or off. If it wants to develop energy resources offshore and in the Golan, it can get Russian help. But not if it can’t let go of OY. Oy vey! I bet it can’t let go; Netanyahu may see war as a way to save his tuchas, unless the generals/politicos dump Netanyahu rather than risk the $38 bil they just scammed from the US. The Israeli fundamentalists will likely pursue OY. It’s a mental thing with them.
Germany is getting its way on Nord Stream 2: it gets built, the line runs onshore to Germany and Germany collects the transit fees. The Russians win this contest.
The US faces casualties it can’t afford, as Larchmonter445 pointed out. But it has a meeting with destiny–its decline–and it can’t face that and let the Zionist 5th column down. Chabad’s Kushner is in a tough spot.
Trump always discards people who fail to make him look good. That’s rule #1. Rule #2 is see rule #1. Maybe this April-May we find out what Bannon is really made of: does his nationalism Trump the generals, Kushner and Israel. I bet it does. BWDIK?
20 dead here, 15 dead there. This isn’t a war. Just a series of small fist fights. What is the Russian Air Force actually doing?
The phase of peaceful protester it is over.
The phase of guerilla militant’s war it is over.
The phase of well-armed and trained militants is escalating.
They are able to match the Syrian army gun per gun and tank for tank.
The Russian aerospace it is a joke.
Now the US (NATO) is in, and soon we will see what is planed long time ago and will be implemented NOW.
Assad cannot deal with an Opposition army very well equipped, with unlimited capitals and with full NATO support. Air cover, Armor, Artillery and with well-trained unlimited manpower.
It took them one year to watch what Russian were capable to do in Syria, and now they are stepping in to finish the job.
Sorry for many Russian lives lost in Syria, targeted selectively by High Tech adversaries.
The key thing to understand is that Putin’s role is that of a man who wants to be a deal maker. Such a man has no real allies. Everything and everyone is leverage to him. That I think is why he may be able to get along surprisingly well with Trump, just as he does with Erdogan and above all Netanyahu. In the end, everyone will get a chunk of Syria and Assad will be left with a rump state that will soon turn into rump steak as the Vultures, now firmly ensconced in Syria prepare for the next, post-‘peace’, round of subversion and war.
Ya, Putin has no allies… has signed literally hundreds of $billions in trade/military deals with China, can land military aircraft at Iranian airbases.
Putin put Nutty-yahoo in his place about Iran…
https://www.rt.com/news/380061-putin-netanyahu-iran-israel-syria/
Sorry no, Putin has not invested so much of Russia’s military, diplomatic and domestic support resources in Syria, Iran and even Turkey (don’t forget the re-started pipeline), to walk away and let the US/Israeli/Saudi axis hack the various countries (including Iraq) to pieces.
I can see the Kurds (of all stripes) coming to their senses that the US simply lies, and instead opting for peaceful semi-autonomous regions in Syria, Iraq and Turkey. Erdogan will probably have to go for that to happen in Turkey, but I’m guessing he’s on borrowed time with the majority of voters anyway.
That way Syria, Iraq and Turkey all remain as whole federations, denying the Israeli/Zionists and the Saudi royals/Wahabbists the opportunity to piecemeal split the Greater Middle East between them. That was the deal the US apparently promised, given the literal $billions/year of US tax$$ each of those religious fanatic countries’ leadership gets. Sykes/Picot and Balfour writ large.
“recent statements America made about the future pf President Assad as one that needs to be decided by Syrian people ”
That wasn’t America, but Tillerson, and Haley is making noise i the other direction, with support from the camp opposed to Trump. It’s like buying a house with three different contracts, all saying different things, which together mean nothing definite at all. The US can’t be negotiated with, publicly or privately, because there is no “US” or any fixed agent now. Should one listen to COngress, the White House, CIA, DoD, State, and which of the factions in any of those? Which will be the operative authority at any given time?
Maybe it’s easier to predict what Erdogan will say and do than the US, and we’ve seen the consistency there.
Will Trump hold fast on something, give in, be impeached/neutered, or jump from one stance to another capriciously? Which group in congress, or the spooks, or the ruling class, will gain traction? And what will the economy do to change things? How do you make a deal with chaos?
As in chess, every time a move is made, the next move is completely open and will depend on the current evaluation of the position, with neither player bound to the past, so all possible lines need to be taken into account. The US still wants what it always did: everything, and only the ‘facts on the ground’ will constrain their actions, not agreements or what it (any US faction) says. They negotiate cease fires and then attack the next day, same as their Ukrainian lackeys.
It’s what psychopaths (capitalists) do — whatever they think they can get away with.
I think Trump is learning very quickly how the game is played, and is being trickier than most give him credit for. Remember, that Steve Bannon is his main strategist and is generally considered a pretty smart guy.
If Trump (and Bannon) didn’t know before the election that improving relations with Russia was going to be rough, its certainly clear by now that there is a powerful force within the US government and ruling oligarchy against reconcilliation with Russia.
If US-Russia relations were going to improve, it was always going to begin in Syria. In Syria there was the obvious common goal of defeating ISIS. That was always the low-hanging fruit for beginning to rebuild some sort of trust and relations between the two nuclear powers.
We’ve seen that in the last few weeks. We’ve seen the deployment of more US troops and equipment to Syria. We also saw at the beginning of this the direct talks between Russian and US generals. The topic was making sure they didn’t shoot at each other while the US was doing more against ISIS and the Russians were still involved in going after ISIS. Again, that was always going to be the obvious first step of what the diplomats like to call “trust building.”
We also saw the first deployment of the Marines just happen to be coordinated with Russia in keeping the Turks and Kurds seperated. Its also possible that we’ve seen some joint diplomacy of Russia and the Trump people in the overall withdraw of Turkey from an operation where Trump is going to heavily use the Kurds to accomplish a goal that Russia also wants.
At the same time, I saw stories from DC citing the famous ‘anonymous sources’ that any reconcilliation with Russia was put on hold. I laughed when I saw that, because to me that told me that Trump/Bannon was learning to play the game. If the press will run with any ‘anonymous source’ that leaks them a story, then use that for misdirection. Since the DC Beltway Deep State is against better relations with Russia, that’s the hand the Trump/Bannon team showed them. Leaked their own ‘fake news’ about how any detente with Russia was on hold to distract from the first ‘trust-building’ steps that were taking place outside the Beltway in Syria.
I thought I saw the Russian gov’t leak a similar story at the same time, saying they were not expecting any quick improvement in relations. And I wondered then if Putin was in on the deal, again trying misdirection away from the early first steps that were happening in Syria. Let the opponents of better US-Russia relations think they’ve won.
Remember, in this communications age, Trump or Putin or their high level staffers can always be in contact with each other. And no gurantee that they’ll hold a press conference announcing every phone call. The MSM focus on the idea of a summit, but in this area of modern communications there’s no reason to take a boat to Yalta to have a little chat. So, its quite possible for the high-level people to be running an agreed game plan and leave the rest of their governments in the dark. Not a bad idea when at least the US government seems to leak even worse than it traditionally has.
It also means that some of what you see on the stage is deliberate misdirection. I think for instance that Ms. Haley at the UN is just that. I don’t think Trump cared about the UN. I think Trump had to pay off a political favor from the primaries. And I think that Trump/Bannon is perfectly happy with a loud-mouth at the UN who’s badmouthing Russia. They could easily let Putin in on the plan, and him to just ignore everything said.
I also think that Israeli policy is largely a payoff of political debt. Trump got the nomination, but he lacked unity in the party and he lacked the backing of major donors. Enter one Sheldon Adelson, the casino owner who also back Netanyahooooooo. They met right after Trump got the nomination, and it was then announced that Sheldon was onboard with big donations for the fall campaign against Hillary and her Wall Street friends. I suspect the ambassador to Israel was decided in that meeting. And the general tone of Trump’s making his following the line on Israeli policy as well.
The key is to understand that Trump was making the deals he needed to win the primaries. The South Carolina primary was an early test after Iowa/NH, and the support of the state’s governor is always useful in such cases. Now that governor sits in the UN. Trump needed money and needed to do more to unify the party after he got the nomination. Giving Sheldon Adelson what he wanted on Israeli policy helped Trump/Bannon do both. The key is to understand that neither Ms. Haley at the UN nor the ambassador to Israel might represent Trump/Bannon’s real beliefs. Both might just be the results of deals that they needed to make to get to the White House. And later, when the political situation changes, perhaps stabilizing for them and having a more united party behind them, then they might decide they no longer need the people who were a part of those deals.
Meanwhile, events are unfolding just as they always were going to unfold. The first place where Trump and Russia were going to cooperate was going to be against ISIS in Syria. Always. And its very easy to imagine that Putin would want to wait to see how Syria goes to see if he wants to do more deals with Trump. And Trump would want that first big victory of success against ISIS to use as leverage. This would help Trump to solidify his politics at home. And he could then point to cooperation with Russia to gain a needed goal as political cover for more deals with Russia.
I can see Trump/Bannon and Putin being smart enough to decide that was a way to go. And its certainly worth remembering that MSM stories from ‘unnamed sources’ and clowns at the UN might all be distractions to keep the critics away from what’s really important. Like I said, I think Trump/Bannon is learning to play the game.
Exactly my thinking.
ISIS, we shouldn’t forget, is essential to the globalists. The US Army is viewed by the banksters, think-tankers & neocons more as a liability than an asset. The Army families are a pain in the ass, Congressional oversight sucks, financing always too little too late, and so on.
ISIS, it has to be understood, is the blueprint for all future Banking Cartel-Mossad-CIA private mercenary armies.
Under ever-changing names, financed off-the-books by narco-money, human trafficking, plundering of natural resources, organ harvesting and such, ISIS & Sons will be sent on never-ending crusades all over the globe.
Until AI-controlled golem & robots armies are ready to take over, that is.
Trump and Bannon are clueless dupes thinking they control anything, much less the Zionist/corporate agenda via the US military/Deep State. The only bigger dupes are his MAGA supporters who still think Trump has even for foggiest clue. Trumpy can’t even get immigration control and health-care “deals” shifted to remotely resemble his campaign promises. He thought all he would have to do is sit in the Oval Office yelling “you’re fired” while tweeting like a madman… it worked for all his “corporate” career, why not run the country like his vaunted Trump Empire? Because the knowledge base, personality requirements and skill-set are completely different. Everyone thought the gov’t/Wall Street revolving door was because the corporate types were so smart… maybe it was because the corporates were pretty much useless in gov’t and were simply a long series of overpaid “new brooms” who were soon proven they didn’t know which end of a sweeper to hold onto.
There’s an old gambling saw that goes: “If you don’t know who the mark is at the table, it’s you.”
Trump, Bannon and the rest of their Clown Cabinet of has-been/never-was generals and Wall Street refugees are bumbling from one media circus “deal” to the next. Trump was only ever supposed to be the candidate easiest to be beat by Clinton, the role the 0.001%ers set out for him. Now the 0.001%ers are trying to make sure Trumpy doesn’t destroy the POTUS, Rep/Dem duopoly “brands” beyond redemption, while limiting the damage he can cause to their MIC profit margins and generational Covert Corporate Empire agenda.
Trump is the embodiment of the Peter Principle. “A man rises to his level of incompetence, then stays there.” Fortunately Trump’s bumbling will last no longer than 8 years and probably only 4. The 0.001% will not put Pence in charge, they are having enough trouble keeping control of Trump.
The US military is as much an essential cog in the “globalist” tax$$/debt trap-rip-off agenda as ISIS et. al. Can’t have “defense” spending without an enemy, and Russia resolutely refuses to take the Maidan bait. And THEN Putin goes and kills the Golden ISIS/Al Qaeda Goose that laid the “war on terrorism” egg. No wonder the Zionist/Rothscild warmongers are PO’d at him.
Love your comment Nice Try —
one very slight quibble, when Deep State super-mafioso gamed this one out they calculated Clinton was a win and so was Trump. They had strategies prepared for either outcome, as ever they control both sides, though I bet they were far less ready for Trump’s winning and were forced to scramble near the end and during the first days of his Presidency. All is well for them now as they have re established a firm grip on everything. The Wormtongues who counselled in favour of Trumpism will remain isolated and be removed by the end.
Either way the Deep Staters, all of them, are demanding and will get a bigger slice of an ever-shrinking pie for an Empire in retreat. Everyone gets shaken down from Russia, China, Iran to ‘allies’ in Europe and free trade ‘partners’ like Canada, not to mention US-Americanos who will pay dearly no matter who is their semi-official leader. Didn’t Congress just cut another 400 billion dollars from Medicaid just a few weeks ago, while everyone blabbered on about failed health care reform. Haha. There’s no failure here and all while the war in Syria and Iraq is ramped up like never before.
There will be changes to the seating arrangements around the great Deep State table, where all important decisions are ultimately made. Chairs will be added and some will be removed. Trump is a genuine dupe, a sort of Tsar Nicolas before the Bolshevik revolution October 1917 — exactly 100 years ago. The trick for him now is to mobilize at least some of the potential gangster-losers and bring them to his side, not that it will make much difference to people like me and you.
dear Anonymous – yes I agree too, and I hope you’re right. Steve Bannon is – to me – a cool guy…although I’m sure he’s quite a dark person in some ways – I watched a couple of his talks – parts of them – and I’ve watched his documentary “Generation Zero” – I thought it was okay –
in my unsophisticated view, this US strategy has the purpose of considerably weakening Russia in the medium/long term. Iran is a rock – it would be a big mistake to consider Iran as no more than a particle in myopic zero-sum, Newtonian political-economic-military power calculations. The world is much more than zero-sum games and Newtonian physics.
These nations including Russia are being tricked from left and right. The only reason US is negotiating with these nations is to come out a victor in the end against all. By stalling and distracting these nations using “negotiations” with one against the other, in the end it will come after everyone, one by one. There is no winning with this and get used to it. Nations, be it Turkey, Iraq, Russia, Iran, Syria. The second group nations: Saudi, Qatar, Turkey, etc which the US uses currently to eliminate its competitor/enemies/above nations, it will eliminate them in the end as well. By now we should recognize the nature of the empire.
We are in spy vs. spy territory. The neocons are still in charge. All Trump can do is playing the clown in front of the public, while trying to get things going behind the curtain. Jim Willie suggests that Trump has a shadow cabinet for all key positions!
69min >
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggIbQW1BbIg&t=1s
ISIS for Iran? You had me laugh here. Never going to happen. But Trump in order to appease the the neocons is forced to continue to talk the talk, while making sure he is wrecking the walk.
Watch all coming US foreign policy initiatives derail, fail and lead to ‘unexpected’ results. Trump will look like a total loser. Few will know that this is the best possible outcome under the current circumstances.
Best to live in the present, the future a projection of the present. The present is the worst Govt and opposition ever known. The present is the worst people in the neighbourhood ever. Animosity on steroids.
War is our life, it is the natural extension of division, division is our life
Thank you for the above article, but no one will win any useless failure of humanity (war) if the enemy is not recognized and targeted, and I can’t see any light in this article. This enemy is the major power’s best friend creating illusions/delusions/confusions to divide – the ‘others’ life made worthless….So sorry we can’t see therefore that all life is made worthless, we are all humanity.
May Russian diplomacy (and power) prevail, but it be a hard slog against an eternity of deaf dumb blindness which has brought us to this present. It should be so easy.
Great article but I think the stated plan of the US is only an opening position in negotiations and that no one in the US, especially Trump, expects the final deal to look anything like that. It is part and parcel of his negotiating style to get the best deal he can in the end. Which will not be very much, but will include the destruction of ISIS in Syria and Iraq and he will be able to use that domestically in the US as a win, and there is no reason for Russia/Iran/Syria/HA to care about that.
Someone has to take Raqqa. From the resistance point of view, it must not be Turkey, but the Kurds with US help can be acceptable. Because 1) Taking Raqqa means significant casualties and if the Kurds are up for it, fine by them. If they hold on to it afterwards, that’s acceptable. What the resistance can’t accept is any rule by the “FSA” which would mean a continued terrorist base ISIS under a different name can use against them indefinitely. But the Kurds would have no such interest and would probably have to struggle to hold Raqqa’s Arab population and would not want any trouble (slow motion ethnic cleansing is a risk, but can probably be checked.) Turkey would be the looser in that deal, but not much they can do about it and migh focus on an Iraqi Kurdistan style deal with the newly autonomous Syrian Kurds.
Deir ez Zour is relieved by Syria and the resistance. The road to Iraq and Iran remains wide open. The US will continue to complain about HA and the Iranian backed militias in Syria but wont be able to do much about it and will likely have to accept it at least for the time being. There will be other wars they will tell themselves.
In the end, they US/Trump Admin will be able to claim at home that they defeated ISIS, they will have some influence over Iraqi Kurdistan, and will have some influence over Iraq, but not nearly enough to check Iranian influence there. This will be at the cost of somewhat frayed relations with Turkey and they will have to forget about getting rid of Assad and Iranian influence in Syria.
Russia keeps its presence in Syria for as long as it wants to. Iran keeps access to Lebanon pretty much forever, or as close as humans can come to that. The Syrian government will rule most of Syria and will have decent relations with its Autonomous Kurdish region. ISIS will be gone from Raqqa and someone else will have done the heavy lifting for them.
Turkey will be the looser but will find a way to live with it and make the most of a business relationship with Syrian Kurdistan.
KSA is the fly in the ointment as they will be fit to be tied. Sadly, the compensation Trump has in mind is helping them to starve Yemen into submission. This is by far the worst part of the deal from the resistance perspective. Hopefully the Houthis will be able to win anyway and Trump will simply find an excuse to screw the Saudis.
That leaves Israel, which will have the least to show for all of it. Yes Syria is greatly weakened after all this, but that might only be temporary. It will rebuild and now both HA and Iranian backed forces are right across from them in the Golan. Not at all what they envisioned when this all started (at their own behest)
At least that is my guess.
Lysander,
What you said is spot on.
“Deir ez Zour is relieved by Syria and the resistance. The road to Iraq and Iran remains wide open. ”
Syria wins the war by holding Palmyra and Deir ez Zour corridor. Doing so blocks the Qatar pipeline and keeps the Iranian supply chain open for Hezbolla. It destroys the 2 main objectives the corrupt powers supporting the terrorists where trying to accomplish. I’m not saying Raqqa doesn’t matter but, that city doesn’t hold the key to victory in Syria.
Syrians need to hold this corridor like their existence depends upon it. Syria also needs to make it openly known to all players they will hold this with all their might, will use all means available to defend it and will allow no foreign intervention (safe zones) into this area. On this there should be no wavering, no politics, no deals. All foreign aircraft in these areas not there on the behalf of the Syrian government will be unceremoniously shot down. Period.
Only then will Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Israel see that their nefarious plans will never come to pass.
The US isn’t fighting ISIS. It has just switched from using them to split up Syria to using the Kurds to do the same. Any US ‘fights’ with ISIS will be to transfer territory from ISIS to the Kurds.
The idea that Russia would sell out the Iranians for ISIS is absurd. The Russians (and allies) have ISIS on the run, in spite of all the support given ISIS by the US and its stooges. Also, the FSA is running out of manpower, munitions and finance. ISIS will be destroyed as it is at a lower cost than the poisoned chalice of the NeoCons. If Russia falls for that, it will undermine everything it stands for, revealing it as treacherous to the Chinese, and other potential allies. It would give Russia a win over a battle (with ISIS), at the expense of losing the war against the US. Remember that the US regards Russia as more of a threat than ISIS.
Great insight, and keenly penned.
One thing which isn’t mentioned here is the International Courts scene and how that is playing out, or will play out, decide futures yet unknown. Headed now to the US Supreme Court, still short one justice, is the fate of banks who help to fund terrorism. Terrorism by whose standards? US Court so, of course by US standards.
(here is a link to the article: https://www.rt.com/usa/383376-arab-bank-scotus-liable/)
“The court must decide if the bank can be sued for damages under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), which allows non-US citizens to file a case against actors who violate the law of nations or a treaty of the United States”
This brings another interesting factor into warfare which we’ve really not seen a whole lot of, yes, we’ve always had financial warfare, but this is different. This is a court of law, and making one liable for financing terrorism, even being the transaction facilitator, on this type of international scale shows a new battle front being drawn.
I have longed believe the London Court Decision we’re awaiting between Russia and Ukraine would set the stage for the US’s continued presence in that theater, Now, with this new filing to be heard by the Supreme Court, which attacks the spoils of terrorism and denies payment to families, this maybe more effective than any bullet in the stopping of jihad.
Interesting times as new fronts are opened, new avenues are ceased, and soon to the victor goes the spoils may not be the end result after the courts are done.
Every time reading these speculations i’m wondering what China is thinking and planning behind the scenes and what Putin knows about it. If anyone really is playing beautifully this global game it’s surely China letting western nations, Muslim nations and Russia lost their political capital.
The partition and the bargain as postulated by the author may not be far fetched or unrealistic, let’s take a look at the two scenarios:
PARTITION
In think majorly this will both guarantee israeli security and America’s grand plan to lay gas pipeline from Qatar to Turkey and finally to Europe with the double advantage of weaning Europe away from dependency on Russia’s gas and also serve as a weapon to deny Russia major means of foreign revenue thereby threatening her economy. And to do this there’s no need for much America’s boot on the ground unless America is planning to one day reapply the policy of removing Assad which I believe it still harbours. It will also spell doom for Iran because the corridor through which it supply Hezbollah advance weapons and access to the Mediterranean will be curtailed with America guarantying Israel free bombing raids as Assad can no longer provide cover as he’s not in charge of the whole country and would want to avoid direct confrontation with America. Also Iran have the ambition of supplying gas to Europe one day through the Iran-iraq-Syria line and can come to an agree or body such as gas OPEC with Russia. For both Russia and Iran these poses strategic threat.
THE GRAND BARGAIN
The new America administration recognises the limit of her ability to use hard power to achieve her objectives on the Syria file so in all likelihood may want to use diplomacy to achieve what it can’t on the battlefield. Going by the bargain America will agree to Russia presence but definitely want Iran out of Syria in other to guarantee Israel’s security making sure a second front is not open on her through Syria, Israel will prefer Russia’s presence in Syria as it has a close relationship with Russia and with a weakened Syria occupied by America and a hostile entity (America’s occupation forces in Raqqa or Northern Syria) on the flank of hezbollah Israel would feel more emboldened and have a free reign against both Assad and hezbollah as the axis of resistance will become weakened if not broken. With these America can easily trade off any of her pawns Saudi, Qatar, Turkey, ISIS and even the Ukraine. But the question is is this a win-win for Russia? Will Iran, hezbollah and Asaad settle for such bargain after all there sacrifice?
I believe a lot of people will agree with me there’s no other way to answer this except NO.
Every nations as her own national interest which it will try to secure in every situation, so I will not say Russia can or cannot sacrifice her allies depending on the condition she finds herself or where her interest lies. For Iran and allies it’s a battle to victory or to death, but I see only one option here which to me is already being planned for by Iran, Syria, hezbollah and their assorted Shia militias: a protracted long drawn out guerrilla tactics (observe the word tactics) to bleed America and her allies until they’ve had enough and failed (leave or not ) just like in Iraq. Let them bleed financially and mortally that’s the only language they understand and which Iran with the likes of Qassem Soleimani are ready made expert. So I don’t see Iran and her allies putting there faith in the hand of Russia and I don’t see Russia sacrificing them for any grand bargain because the least effect of such move is the trust deficit it would place on Russia as a partner in the future among comity of nations and how long will it take before America betray Russia again???
Partition
It depends on what form the partition they intend takes. If “ISIS and corrupt powers hold east of the Euphrates river this could well enough seal off supply routes for Hezbolla and they would accomplish half of their objective. For the Qatar pipeline they would have to push all the way West to Palmyra and everything south of there to Jordan. There is no reason why Syria (with Russia and Iran’s help) cannot prevent this. They just need to keep their eye on the ball and be committed to it.
Raqqa and Mosul are nothing more than battles to displace ISIS to where they want them which is Deir ez Zour so they can follow them there. Aleppo was a major setback for them, but not a show stopper. Deir ez Zour and Palmyra are the show stoppers to the Corrupt Empire’s objectives in Syria.
I would make a side note on Mosul. What the U.S. is doing there will come back and bite them. They will forever have enemies in northern Iraq for their total disregard for civilian casualties in airstrikes. Northern Iraq is lost to the U.S. for good and may as well be considered Iran now for all practical purposes. Of course, the U.S. already thought this of this area but, word does spread south…
Frankly, I can only recommend one approach to Syria and its allied partners. Take back its territories piece-by-piece under its constitutional control in its entirety, if required by military force from whomever occupies it. Meanwhile, I fear that Russia committed a grave error to insist on a anti-terrorist coalition with NATO. You should never invite the wolverine to your home, lest it will swallow all your provisions.
If Israel really wanted, it could strike a simple deal with Syria and Lebanon: negotiated peace including the return of the occupied territories in exchange for a complete withdrawal of Hezbollah plus a staged disarmament of its heavy weapons. If Israel would finally abandon its imperialistic fantasies it would not be that difficult.
Hizballah is not going anywhere. They may retreat out of Syria once the civil war is under control by the SAA and Russia and Iran, since their forces may be needed in Lebanon at any time.
But Hizballah is not going anywhere from Lebanon. And that is the goal of any US/Israel negotiations on Hizballah: to get rid of Hizballah, so that Israel can start a war with Iran. That in fact is the goal of the Syria crisis from Day One: to degrade both Syria and Hizballah militarily as preconditions for Israel to start a war with Iran.
Hopefully, both Syria, Iran and Russia understand this and will act to insure it does not happen. Russia will continue to defend Syria, for sure. Russia has no motivation to screw Iran over. Russia may not care about Hizballah per se, but probably knows that is the only force keeping Israel out of Lebanon and from starting a war with Iran – which Russia certainly does not want.
So whatever the US, Turkey, Israel and Saudi Arabia are planning, I don’t at this point see much room for it to succeed. Someone is either going to have to escalate the conflict big time or blink.
Israel might be crazy enough to force a war with Syria that might involve Russia. Israel might also decide to start a war against Hizballah despite not being sure of winning and might even cross Syrian territory to attack Hizballah in the Bekaa Valley – their only significant strategic move that would lessen the likelihood of a major defeat a la 2006. What the US might do in that case is unclear. If Trump were to enter the Lebanon war on the side of Israel, that would help Israel achieve its goal but at tremendous cost for the US, both in terms of the Middle East and relations with Russia.
It just isn’t clear to what degree the parties are willing to escalate the current situation. The only thing we DO know with clarity is that Israel and the Saudis and the military-industrial complex in the US want a war with Iran. And that isn’t going to change.
It seems inevitable that the Kurds, the largest stateless minority in the world, are bound to end up carving a sovereign state from the current Turkish, Iranian, Iraqi, and Syrian territories, particularly Syrian and Iraqi. It is just a matter of time.
Iraqi Kurdistan has already been autonomous for over 10 years now, and there is no power in the world to reverse the process to more autonomy and eventually sovereignty. Syrian Kurdistan is but a step from gaining their autonomy in the upcoming post-war Syria.
The weight of the historical process is firmly on the Kurds’ side. Those who oppose it are playing a losing game. Needless to say, the Kurds absolutely deserve to have their own state.
All the neighbors of the Kurds are dead against another “Israel” in their midst. Furthermore, the Kurds will be land-locked and totally dependent on the goodwill of these neighbors.
Switzerland is an exception in Europe – because it made itself useful to the elites of the neighborhood. I cannot see the Kurds doing anything of the sort. Their leaders are easy to bribe – e.g. Barzani – and they have massive internal conflicts. Their demographics are such that they risk bringing Turkey down in due course.
Iran is the key. If Iran stays in the Russian camp it divides the Middle East in half and keeps Hezbollah in the game.
The only really reliable non-Syrian/Russian forces are the Shias…Hezbollah, Iraqi Shia, Iranians.
However much Israel and its shills, USA, UK, EU, NATO et al may not like it, a new Shia crescent has emerged out of the Iraqi/Syria quagmire.
It serves the scheming, two faced, back stabbing, self adulating western alliance right that their nasty little enterprise of a greater Israel, stretching from Cairo to Bagdad and Aleppo to Medina, has been strangled at birth!
The US and Trump are too naive, too adolescent, too self deluding to face the fact that Israel as a concept is dead in the water.
The fact that the Rothschild Bank bought Jerusalem in 1829 will mean that the city will remain under Rothschild control (nominally lesser Israel) for many years.
Hezbollah taught the Israelis that they are no longer invincible. Everyone knows that if the Israeli shills of the western alliance try to close down the new Shia crescent, it will only make the Shia crescent paramount in the Middle East.
Iran, Iraq, Syria, with much of Lebanon and Palestine will see the demolition of the new and illegal Israeli settlements and Israel collapse in to a weakened land locked ‘tourist State’ centred around Rothschild’s private fiefdom of Jerusalem.
Uganda was at one time going to be the new Jewish homeland in the first decade of the 1900s, then Madagascar, but Rothschilds hung on until Britain was on the point of losing the First World War in early 1917, and got the Balflour declaration in return for bringing the US in to the war to save the British Empire.
More recently the new Jewish homeland was to be Ukraine, but the US screwed that up so spectacularly that this dream is no more likely than the F35 proving to be a world beating 5th generation multipurpose war plane.
Israel and the F35 are synonymous, both cost a fortune and both are abject failures.
Israel is on its last legs and the US is in terminal decline due to empire overstretch.
There will be a few mad years of reckless gambling by Israel and the west and as a result the great lie that is Israel and the US will come crashing down.
Syria may be partitioned, Iran might be hobbled again, the Al Sauds might survive another decade, but the die is cast.
The future in the Middle East is the new Shia Cresent back by the diplomacy and physical might of Russia. An unassailable combination of intelligence and common sense.
Pirouette
@ Pirouette
The differences between Sunni and Shi’a are a joke, but they are sworn enemies since 1400 years ago. During the seventh century, there was a schism led to a civil war. The two sides became known as Sunni and Shia, and they hated one another, and divided ever since. This ancient sectarian hatred, simmering just beneath the surface for centuries, explains the Sunni-Shia violence today in places such as Syria Iraq and Iran, as well as the worsening tensions between Saudi Arabia, which is officially Suni, and Iran Which is officially Shia. This is literally ancient history. Today’s divide between Sunni and Shia isn’t primarily about religion, and it is not ancient: It is quite recent, and much of it is driven by politics, not theology.
Suni-Shia sectarianism is indeed tearing apart the Middle East, but is largely driven by the very modern and very political rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia. They have sought to fight one another on Sunni-Shia lines not of religious hatred but rather because they see sectarianism as a tool they can use-thus making that religious division much more violent and fraught. So there it is a lot of meat over there, and takes the lion’s share whoever controls the money supply.
“Trump made very early hostile and unprovoked remarks towards Iran. That was his way of showing his Israeli and Saudi allies that he shares the same anti-Iranian passion they have. That was also his way of telling Putin what the new administration redlines are; and Iran is certainly high on the list.”
The reason why Donald Trump made very early hostile and unprovoked remarks about Iran, is because he is one of the top Jewish leaders in the world–but super deep under cover–so that no one who researches his family tree will ever be able to uncover any evidence.
Trump isn’t the only one. Both Bill and Hillary Clinton are also among the highest Jewish leaders in the world; Angela Merkel, and most of the top leaders of the Arab nations!
What if it’s true, Trump is pouring tons of heavy armaments into Lebanon through the port in Beirut-ship loads of tanks, etc.? The calculus changes because this looks like Trump is preparing for an invasion of Syria. How’s that for leverage? Now, we might assume he is working in tandem with Israel to deal with both Hezollah and Assad. While the ships arrive in Beirut, Russia is silent. I think Trump has played Russia pretty well.
The Anglo Americans are much like the Devil.
They will whisper in your answer and tempt you to “make a deal” by betraying your allies or friends.
When they have gotten what they want, however, it will be your turn to be backstabbed by Perfidous Albion.
Russia should keep this in mind if it has any ideas about “cooperating” with the United States in its transparent attempt to dismember Syria.
The USA and its allies are not fundamentally fighting ISIS. They are using ISIS as a stalking horse to invade Syria and impose a modern day Sykes-Picot (aka a colonial carve-up) on that nation.
There is only one way to get rid of all these terrorists permanently – attack their financiers and backers.
In Saudi Arabia, there are several million foreign workers – Yemenis, Indians, Pakistanis, Egyptians etc.(removed,we can’t advocate things like that,MOD)They have no public entertainment other than the malls and executions. Their elites frequent a small number of well-known night-spots in London, Cairo, Beirut, Spain Morocco etc.
(Removed,please do not advocate actions like that.MOD)
If you read your history, the Romans only managed to get the Carthaginians (i.e. Lebanese) out of “Italy” by attacking Carthage. It worked very well. It vacuumed all the concerned Carthaginians out of Italy – after 120 years of unsuccessful defense.
Isn’t this the same Ghassan Kadi who published an article last year here on The Saker which supported Kurdish separatism???
/kurdish-autonomy-partition-or-master-plan/
— We have to be honest and fair and say that Kurds have been marginalized, even in Syria. As a matter of fact, some Syrian Kurds do not even have identity cards.
— The Syrian government will have to find a way to fix this grave anomaly and give Kurds the due respect they deserve.
— There has been a lot of talk and innuendo about federation and the newly-announced Kurdish autonomy within Syria. Under normal conditions, autonomy within a state and federation spell danger. They are not at all far away from partition. In this instance however, there could be more than meets the eye at the first glance.
— There are more ways than one in which Kurds can play a huge role in all of this, and if the cards are played correctly and intelligently, a Kurdish autonomous zone in Syria can herald the beginning of a whole new era and an end to the infamous Sykes-Picot accord on a frontier that was last on the agenda.
— A conventional war will be very hard to plan for and execute for Syria to reclaim its territory lost to Turkey. However, a Kurdish autonomous zone can, and hopefully with much less bloodshed and human suffering.
— So whether a huge or limited civil war erupts in Turkey, or none whatsoever, if the Kurds see in the Syrian Kurdish autonomy experiment a model for them to follow or join, eventually, no one can stop them; not even Turkey.
— If the proposed Kurdish Syrian area of autonomy is going to remain under the roof of Damascus, and if the trilateral cooperation on the battlefield between Russia, the Syrian Army and the Kurds has now evolved into a trilateral political and strategic alliance; one that has a long-term vision and understanding, and if the parties have employed their combined knowledge of the region, its people and governments in order to work out a master plan, we could then well and truly be looking at a scenario that is going to herald the start of a chain reaction that will slowly but surely eat away at Turkey’s regional hegemony on occupied land and suppression of its own citizens.
— If indeed there is a trilateral Russian/Syrian/Kurdish plan to this effect, and I find it to be highly likely, then the coalition would have successfully managed to turn the table around Erdogan in a manner that gives him a taste of his own medicine, and in the most powerful and effective manner possible.
— On the other hand, the force that the trilateral Russian/Syrian/Kurdish coalition is banking on is local, determined, highly trained and knows the territory like no other.
— Either way, the Syrian Kurdish autonomy is going to create new dynamics and generate changes. But those changes do not at all necessarily have to be negative as many fear. The odds suggest otherwise, and no one in his/her right mind can expect any member of the trilateral Russian/Syrian/Kurdish coalition to dump the others at the eve of victory, at the time when they should be celebrating their combined victory. After all, what do the Kurds expect to gain if they go against the grain of the coalition and make their declaration of statehood before the Geneva talks? Such move, if in fact is an act of mutiny as some observers are reading, would be tantamount to nothing short of political suicide. My reading does not see this. My reading see a potential for a huge Russian-sponsored deal that will bring dignity to the Kurds, resolve their problem, and restore Syrian sovereignty. I cannot be certain that is this the plan, but indications show it is highly likely.