Trump orders US troop pullout from NE Syria. Israel left alone against Russia, Iran

 

DEBKAfile notes that this is not the first time that President Trump has decided to pull the 2,000 US troops out of Syria. He decided this in March but was persuaded to hold off by Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. They explained that, as soon as American troops were out of the way, the Russians would move in and take control of the Syrian-Iraqi border and pro-Iranian forces would swarm across. Iran would be gifted its biggest military triumph ever by achieving a land bridge under its control up to the Mediterranean. Hizballah too would be further strengthened.

Turkey’s Latest Power Grab a Naval Base in Cyprus?

Turkey’s Naval Forces Command has “submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stating that Turkey should establish a naval base in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.” Pictured: The Turkish Navy frigate TCG Oruçreis. (Image source: CC-BY-SA-3.0/Brian Burnell via Wikimedia Commons)

 

• The possibility of a Turkish naval base on Cyprus does not bode well for the chances of a Cyprus reunification deal, particularly after the breakdown of the July 2017 peace talks, which were suspended when “Turkey had refused to relinquish its intervention rights on Cyprus or the presence of troops on the island.” Turkey has 30,000 soldiers stationed on Cyprus, the northern part of which it has illegally occupied since 1974.
• “If Greek-Turkish tensions escalate, the possibility of another ill-timed military provocation could escalate with them… Moreover, such a conflict might open up an even greater opportunity for Russian interference.” — Lawrence A. Franklin.

Turkey’s Naval Forces Command has “submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stating that Turkey should establish a naval base in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,” according to Turkey’s strongly pro-Erdogan daily, Yeni Safak, which recently endorsed the proposal for the base in an article entitled, “Why Turkey should establish a naval base in Northern Cyprus.”

Is Turkey No Longer Part of the West?

 

Almost a century has passed since the Ottoman Empire was dismembered and Mustafa Kemal set out to build the modern Turkish state on its ruins. Twenty years ago, no one in the West would have called into question the achievement of the man who eventually, with considerable justice, styled himself Atatürk (“Father of the Turks”). But many now fear that the political and cultural revolution he instigated in the 1920s will be overturned and that Turkey will cease to function as normal nation state, turn on the West, and try to upend the existing order in the eastern Mediterranean, the Balkans, and the Middle East.

Iran Targets the Gulf

The Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi. Iran offered “support to al-Qaeda in exchange for targeting the Gulf,” according to CIA documents captured last year from Osama bin Laden’s compound.

 

• Our allies are finally becoming force multipliers — joining with America to use its talent and technology finally to defeat the jihadist threat. We should assist and encourage the UAE and Saudi Arabia, not abandon them.

More than 7,000 miles from Washington and far from America’s headlines, a war in Yemen is rewriting America’s strategy against Iran and terrorism.

The three-sided civil war pits two radical Islamist forces — Al-Qaeda’s largest surviving army and Iran’s biggest proxy force — against each other and six of America’s Arab allies. U.S. Special forces carry out covert raids and CIA drones rain down missiles on terror leaders.

The Indirect Iran-Israel War Has Become More Direct

 

‘Iran is now sufficiently emboldened as to directly attack Israel.’

On February 10, an Israeli Army helicopter shot down an Iranian drone that had penetrated Israeli airspace from Syria. With that, a new, dangerous period began in the decades-old war between Israel and Iran. But just how dangerous it was remained largely unclear until the Israeli military allowed the media to report more about it two months later on April 13.

Until February 10, Iran had always attacked Israel via its terrorist proxy entities. But on that day, the world’s foremost state sponsor of terror proved ready and willing to directly send forces against Israel.

Mattis: Iran-Israel clash is close, but US military focus shifts out of Syria to Iraq

 

The US will relocate its military operations to Iraq and the Mediterranean, after drawing down its troops in Syria, Defense Secretary James Mattis disclosed to Congress on Thursday, April 26.

His comments were enigmatic: “Right now we are not withdrawing US troops from Syria,” Mattis said. “You’ll see increased operations on the Iraqi side of the border and the French just reinforced us in Syria with special forces here in the last two weeks. This is an ongoing fight right now,” he said.But what did he mean?US sources explain that while Washington is committed to fighting Islamic State terrorists, a US troop presence in Syria is not essential and the war can be fought from outside, e.g., Iraq.

The Deep State Closes In On The Donald: Mueller’s War, Part 2

Part 1 can be found here:

The Deep State Closes In On The Donald, Part 1

 

 

What is going on in the eastern Mediterranean and over the skies and on the ground in Syria is absolutely nuts; it’s also scary dangerous and utterly unnecessary, too.

After all, the imminent Russian/American military clash is over the skeleton of an artificial backwater nation confected in 1916 by two swells in the British and French foreign offices. At length, what was never a nation anyway has finally been reduced to rubble, misery and sectarian fragments.

So there is nothing to contest now, and, in fact, there never was. The sovereign government of Syria long ago invited the Russians in and Washington out. Period.

NATO’s Northern Expansion (II)

 

BERLIN/BRUSSELS/STOCKHOLM(Own report) – Officially neutral Sweden can be considered a “de facto member” of NATO, a Swedish foreign policy expert confirmed in a new German foreign policy periodical. Last fall’s large maneuver in Sweden sent a clear “message” that the country’s neutrality has “de facto been suspended,” completely changing the entire military “map” of the Baltic region “to NATO’s advantage.” In fact, back already in the 1990s, Sweden had begun to build links to the western war alliance; crucial decisions had been taken already before the Ukraine conflict’s escalation and Crimea’s integration into the Russian Federation. The Bundeswehr is heavily involved in integrating the Swedish armed forces into NATO’s structures, focusing on naval cooperation. This cooperation is aiming at including the Swedish military into NATO’s naval operations. The cooperation of the naval forces is not limited to NATO’s framework, but may also be within that of the EU.

Iranian Army Chief: Next War Will Eradicate Israel

The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps has vowed that the next war with Israel will result in the Jewish state’s eradication. (Photo: Reuters)

 

Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari has vowed that any future conflict with Israel will be the Jewish state’s last, and promised to come to Hezbollah’s aid if the terrorist group is attacked.

Donald Trump’s message to Greece: USA will INVEST in debt-ridden nation to save it from EU

A few points:

• Trump is potentially building a deterrent against Turkish aggression.
• Trump is hedging against the EU superstate that’s increasingly becoming anti-American through the Berlin-Paris-Brussels axis that has subjugated and destroyed Greece.
• Trump is possibly racing against China’s infrastructure investments and Port of Pirus takeover, keeping them from gaining a foothold in one of Europe’s most important strategic gateways.

 

Donald Trump and Alexis Tsipras shake hands outside the White House

 

DONALD Trump praised Greece’s economic recovery and vowed to invest in the debt-ridden nation as he met the country’s prime minister who once called the businessman “evil” before the US election.

The US President pledged to help the Mediterreanean nation back to prosperity after its struggles with EU austerity over the last 8 years.

The two leaders met at the White House for cordial talks and among the topics for discussion were investments in Greek oil resources and Greece-based military bases as the relationship between the USA and Turkey becomes tense.

Russian-Syrian airborne radar covers all of Israel

 

The Russian air force has recently deployed to Syria four of its most highly advanced early warning and control aircraft, the Beriev A-50 SRDLO (“Mainstay”), which is rated the most sophisticated AWACS in operation. Several A-50s were spotted flying over Syria in recent months, but they all turned around and headed back to Russia. Four are now installed in the hangars of the Russian Khmeimim Air Base in Syria’s Latakia province.

The plane’s Shmei-M radar is capable of pinpointing targets across a distance of 600km. While in flight, it covers all parts of Israel and can detect every aerial and military movement.

New US base in S. Syria for tussle over control

 

In readiness for a prospective showdown for control of southeast Syria, US Special Forces have set up a forward base at Al-Zukf in the Syrian Desert, DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources report. The location is 70km northwest of the Syrian-Iraqi-Jordanian border triangle and the Al Tanf crossing, which is controlled by US, Western allied and Jordanian special forces, together with a US-trained Syrian rebel unit, which calls itself the Revolutionary Commando.

Britain blocking EU military HQ: sources

Brexit-bound Britain is blocking the launch of an EU military headquarters because it opposes any suggestion that the unit would have an active operational role, EU diplomatic sources said Friday.

After months of tough negotiations, all 28 member states approved plans in March for a small grouping in Brussels to coordinate three of the bloc’s overseas training operations.

Week in Review: The Iranian Empire Is Back, Europe’s Military, Censoring ‘Fake News,’ and Much More

 

Highlights:

Return of the Iranian Empire

• “For the first time since 625 c.e.,” wrote Hussain Abdul-Hussain for now media, “Iran has restored its control over a contiguous territory that extends from the east of Afghanistan to the Mediterranean coast.”
• The Syrian regime recently announced that Hezbollah will play a lead role in the nation’s military.
• On the other hand, the Iraqi government voted to fully legalize Iranian-sponsored Shiite militias, officially making them a part of the Iraqi government forces.
• Abdul-Hussain continued: “[T]hese militias will control—on Tehran’s behalf—their respective armies and, by extension, the governments behind these armies.”

Erdogan Shifts on Syria After Third Russian Phone Call

Erdogan Shifts on Syria After Third Russian Phone Call

 

• “The aim of the Euphrates Shield Operation [in northern Syria] is not any country or person, but only terrorist organizations,” Erdogan said Thursday, as quoted by the Hurryiet Daily News.
• “No one should doubt this issue that we have uttered over and over, and no one should comment on it in another fashion or try to derail it,” he added.
• The latest comments come in contrast to remarks Erdogan made on Tuesday, when he said Turkey’s operation in Syria, launched in late August, aimed “to end the rule of the tyrant [Syrian President] al-Assad who terrorizes with state terror.”
• This drew surprise from Russia, which asked for clarification of the remarks.