Saudi
Arabia announces the formation of a military coalition of 34 countries to fight
"terrorism" in the Islamic world, in the latest sign of a more
assertive foreign policy by the kingdom. Watch the short video below. Why don't the Saudis stop their terrorism in Syria and Yemen?
The Syrian front Dec. 17, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbL4uQGyHi8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haBBMQYbqM4
The Syrian front Dec. 16, 2015
After two tries, US
Secretary of State Kerry finally turned President Obama away from his four-year
insistence that Bashar Assad must go, as a precondition for a settlement of the
Syrian conflict. Tuesday, night, Dec. 15, the Secretary announced in Moscow:
“The United States and our partners are not seeking so-called regime change.”
After Kerry's first
try, Obama still stuck to his guns. He said in Manilla on Nov.19 that he
didn’t believe the civil war in Syria “will end while the dictator remains in
power.”
Almost a month went by and then, Tuesday night, after a day of dickering with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov culminating in a joint conference with Putin at the Kremlin, Kerry confirmed this change in US policy. The focus now, he said, is "not on our differences about what can or cannot be done immediately about Assad." Rather, it is on facilitating a peace process in which "Syrians will be making decisions for the future of Syria."
This statement brought Washington in line with Moscow’s demand for the Syrian president’s future to be determined by his own people.
Almost a month went by and then, Tuesday night, after a day of dickering with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov culminating in a joint conference with Putin at the Kremlin, Kerry confirmed this change in US policy. The focus now, he said, is "not on our differences about what can or cannot be done immediately about Assad." Rather, it is on facilitating a peace process in which "Syrians will be making decisions for the future of Syria."
This statement brought Washington in line with Moscow’s demand for the Syrian president’s future to be determined by his own people.
On this demand, Iran’s
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is even more obdurate than Putin.
Washington’s surrender to
the Russian and Iranian line on Assad’s future was offered in the
short-term hope of progress at the major international conference on the Syrian
question taking place in New York Friday.
Another major US concession – this one to Tehran - was scarcely noticed.
Earlier Tuesday, the UN nuclear watchdog's 35-nation board in Vienna closed its investigation into whether Iran sought atomic weapons, opting to back the international deal with Tehran rather than dwell on Iran's past activities.
Another major US concession – this one to Tehran - was scarcely noticed.
Earlier Tuesday, the UN nuclear watchdog's 35-nation board in Vienna closed its investigation into whether Iran sought atomic weapons, opting to back the international deal with Tehran rather than dwell on Iran's past activities.
This motif of going
forward toward the future rather than dwelling on the past was a repeat of the
argument for keeping Assad in power. It provided an alibi for letting Tehran get away with the
suspicion of testing a nuclear detonation at its Parchin military complex,
without forfeiting sanctions relief, by the simple device of denying access to
UN nuclear agency monitors to confirm those suspicions.
These epic US policy reversals carried three major messages:
1. The Obama administration has lined up behind Putin’s Middle East objectives which hinge on keeping Bashar Assad in power.
These epic US policy reversals carried three major messages:
1. The Obama administration has lined up behind Putin’s Middle East objectives which hinge on keeping Bashar Assad in power.
2. Washington endorses
Russia’s massive military intervention in Syria, although as recently as
last month Obama condemned it as doomed to failure.
3. The US now stands
behind Iran - not just on the Syrian question - but also on the existence
of an Iranian-Syrian-Hizbollah alliance, based on a solid land bridge from Iran
and the Gulf up to the Mediterranean coast under Russian military and political
protection and influence.
Even more surprising were
the sentiments heard this week in Jerusalem.
Some Israeli officials urged
the government to accept the American policy turnaround. In some military
circles, senior voices were heard commenting favorably on Assad’s new prospects
of survival in power, or advising Israel to jump aboard the changing setup
rather than obstructing it. Those same “experts” long claimed that Assad’s days
were numbered. They were wrong then and they are wrong now.
Israel was forced to yield
on the Iranian nuclear program, but its acceptance of the permanence of
Assad and the indefinite presence in Syria of his sponsors, Iran and Hizbollah,
will come at a high price for Israel in the next conflict.
The American aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman and its strike
group reached the Persian Gulf on Thursday after crossing the Suez Canal, and
thus shifted from the US sixth fleet's area of operations to that of the fifth
fleet, which includes the Indian Ocean. By sailing north, the aircraft carrier will be able to
launch cruise missiles at ISIS targets in Iraq and act in concert with France's
Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier that is also anchored in the gulf.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Thursday signed a landmark agreement
opening the way for the development of Israeli’s offshore gas fields by a
consortium led by Noble Energy and the Delek Group. As minister of the economy,
the prime minister officially invoked Antitrust law’s Clause 52 which allows
him to approve a monopoly if it serves a national foreign or security
interest. The consortium is already developing the Tamar offshore reserve, which is
in production, but has held off proceeding with the much larger
Leviathan site in the eastern Mediterranean Sea until the regulatory
uncertainty regarding the project was clarified. Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said Israel will receive
60-70 percent of the gas produced by its offshore gas fields
Opponents of the deal say they will challenge the move before Israel's
Supreme Court.
The US military
command in Europe announced Wednesday that 12 warplanes that were deployed to
Turkey's Incirlik airbase a month ago will return to their base in Britain. The decision to
withdraw the 12 F-15s was made less than a day after US Defense Secretary
Ashton Carter visited the base. In a response to a question by journalists on
the connection between the two events, Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said it
was just a coincidence and that "I wouldn't read anything into us moving
these out of there as any sort of less combat capability...to be able to strike
in Syria."
Turkish ambassador to Qatar Ahmet Demirok said Wednesday that
his country will set up a military base on Qatari territory "to fight the
shared enemies of the two countries." The Turkish military activity in
Qatar will include the placement of 3,000 Turkish troops and the establishment of
air and naval units as well as "special warfare units."
1. Both Turkey and Qatar have supported the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the Syrian opposition and the rebels who deserted from the Syrian army, and have opposed the rising influence of Iran in the region and the Russian intervention in the conflict in Syria.
2. Even though Ankara approved the base in 2014, the steps for establishment of the base are only underway now because they been approved by Saudi King Salman.
3. The base plan is additional proof of the tightening of diplomatic relations between the two sides as well as the growing Saudi involvement in the effort for establishment of an "Islamic military coalition" that includes both Qatar and Turkey.
1. Both Turkey and Qatar have supported the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the Syrian opposition and the rebels who deserted from the Syrian army, and have opposed the rising influence of Iran in the region and the Russian intervention in the conflict in Syria.
2. Even though Ankara approved the base in 2014, the steps for establishment of the base are only underway now because they been approved by Saudi King Salman.
3. The base plan is additional proof of the tightening of diplomatic relations between the two sides as well as the growing Saudi involvement in the effort for establishment of an "Islamic military coalition" that includes both Qatar and Turkey.
Iran's ground forces command has submitted a proposal to the
head of the country's general staff for the upgrade of the armored corps and
infantry via the acquisition of advanced Russian T-90 tanks, attack
helicopters, ammunition and personal equipment. The announcement was made on
the sidelines of a defense conference in North Khorasan by Ahmad Reza
Pourdastan, commander of the ground forces. "Currently, T-72 tanks are the
backbone of our armor. These armored vehicles have proved to be fairly good in
combat operations," he said. "At the same time, we see that the T-90
tank possesses better combat characteristics and meets all the requirements we
set," he added. The Iranian news agency that quoted the senior military
source did not specify the amount of tanks that Tehran will receive or the date
when the deal will be completed.
Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud announced
Wednesday that his country will support the Egyptian government and help it
overcome the economic crisis it is experiencing from a lack of foreign
currency. He ordered the increase of Saudi investments in Egypt to up
to 8 billion dollars, the supply of all of Egypt's oil needs for the next
five years, and the purchase of Egyptian bonds. Riyadh is paying back Cairo for
the participation of the Egyptian air force and fleet in the war in Yemen,
including the recent capture of Hanish Island in the Bab-el-Mandeb strait.
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