(Photo Credit: Peter Souza/The White House)
Ben Rhodes, while promoting his new book, said the situation led to a schizophrenic U.S. policy in Syria.
In a recent interview with The Intercept, former Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes finally admitted the Obama administration armed jihadists that became the foundation of ISIS in Syria. Continue reading
An interview going viral across Arabic social media quotes former Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani as claiming that his country, along with Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States, began shipping weapons to “jihadists” from the very moment that the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011. Continue reading
Iran military leaders. Teheran wants to establish a military base in Syria near the Jordan or Israel border, U.S. lawmakers said. / Fars via AFP
Iran is looking to establish a permanent military presence in Syria and is eyeing a potential base near the Syrian border with Israel or Jordan, two U.S. lawmakers said.
“A permanent Iranian military base in Syria … would increase Iran’s operational capacity to inflict serious damage against two of our closest allies in the region,” Rep. Peter Roskam, Illinois Republican, and Rep. Ted Deutch, Florida Democrat, wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
The lawmakers’ warning comes as a Senate panel on May 25 approved new U.S. sanctions targeting Iran’s support for international terrorism and its ballistic missile program, the first move to punish Teheran since the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear accord went into effect. Continue reading
RUSSIA has built massive nuclear bunkers capable of providing shelter to Moscow’s 12 million people as Vladimir Putin gears up for a devastating nuclear war with the West.
The giant bunkers, which were revealed by Russian officials on Friday, are a response to mounting tensions between the Kremlin and Washington over Russia’s intervention in Syria’s civil war.
…Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that a US intervention against the Syrian army “will lead to terrible, tectonic consequences not only on the territory of this country but also in the region on the whole”.
Last year’s mass influx of refugees from Syria and Iraq triggered a series of security, social and political troubles throughout Europe, reaching as far as Sweden.
But while the refugee numbers have been reduced, major nations such as Germany and Italy face new problems. Continue reading
While President Barack Obama and his would-be successor Hillary Clinton try to convince the American people that everything is fine in regards to the U.S. position in the world and the security of the nation; foreign adversaries are celebrating what they see as the country’s decline. For example, an August 18 editorial in Global Times, the official media outlet of China’s ruling Communist Party, proclaimed “US suffers new setback in Middle East.” The column hailed its axis partner Russia for basing long-range bombers in Iran to attack targets in Syria in support of the regime of Bashar Assad. It is official Washington policy to remove Assad from power to end Syria’s civil war, but Russian and Iranian military intervention has thwarted the half-hearted, slow-motion effort of the Obama administration to aid the Sunni rebels. “More sadly for Washington” continues the Chinese editorial, “Iraq also consented to the passing-through of Russian military aircraft under some symbolic limits.” This is not surprising given that U.S. policy has allowed Baghdad to become a Shiite satrap of Iran. Though this error goes back to the Bush administration, Obama’s withdrawal of all American troops in 2011 allowed the Iraq regime to openly embrace Tehran. Continue reading
Russia is now gunning for NATO’s throat in its bid to break up the Western alliance.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has embarked on a campaign to reach out to countries such as Russia, which he regards as a viable alternative to the U.S. in protecting Turkey’s interests in the region. Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin with Turkish President Erdogan (then prime minister), meeting in Istanbul on December 3, 2012. (Image source: kremlin.ru)
- In recent months the Kremlin has hinted that keeping Assad in power is not its primary concern. Rather its main objective in Syria is to keep its strategically-important bases in the country.
- This has led to suggestions that, in return for building closer relations with Turkey, Moscow might be prepared to do a deal whereby Assad is removed from power and Russia’s military interests in the country are safeguarded.
- If that outcome could be achieved, then Russia and Turkey would be able to forge a powerful partnership, one that would pose a serious threat to Western interests in the Middle East and beyond.
The deepening diplomatic pact between Turkey and Russia represents yet another damning indictment of the Obama Administration’s ability to maintain relations with Washington’s traditional allies in the Middle East.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The pursuit of peace in Syria may require the United States and Iran to break new ground in their increasingly comfortable diplomatic relationship, propelled by last year’s nuclear accord and their more recent prisoner swap. Another taboo could be shattered soon: Military discussions.
Iran may be just one of 17 countries invited to the first gathering Friday of a task force the US and Russia are leading to forge a temporary truce in Syria’s civil war. But for the Obama administration, Iran is like no other country at the table. Continue reading
There are many unpredictable aspects of the Syrian conflict, but the downing of the Russian bomber by Turkish jets on Tuesday was not one of them. Indeed, given the simultaneous military campaigns taking place in a relatively small swath of territory by Russian, American, French, Syrian, Iranian, and other forces, it is surprising that such an incident did not happen earlier. Nevertheless, the downing of a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 by Turkish jets marked the first attack on a Russian fighter aircraft by a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member state since 1953. Although this incident is not by itself sufficient to provoke an armed conflict between Turkey and Russia, it illustrates the main danger confronting the world in Syria, namely a conflagration between regional powers, many of which are armed with nuclear weapons. Continue reading
As each day passes by with the proxy war over Damascus, it’s looking like this could be the time and how Bible prophecy Isaiah 17:1 is to be fulfilled — that’s to say, slowly reduced to rubble through world powers making their moves in a high stakes game of chess. Although we’re likely heading in that direction, only time will tell. Until then, keep your eyes on the proxy war.
While the US has certainly made some epic strategic blunders in Syria that raise serious questions about just how “intelligent” US intelligence actually is, there’s little doubt that if one were to look behind all of the media parroting, the Pentagon and Langley understand all too well what’s going on in the Middle East.
That is, the significance of the Russia-Iran “nexus” in Syria isn’t lost on anyone in the US military and you can bet there have been quite a few high level discussions over the past 72 hours about the best way to counter Moscow and Tehran’s powerplay before it spills over into Iraq and ends up degrading Washington’s influence in Baghdad. Continue reading
Israel will never allow Syria to become a base for Iran to launch attacks against the Jewish state, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
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Iran is said to be coordinating its operations in Syria with Russia. Teheran terror proxy Hizbullah has been fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces for much of the four-year civil war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will take unilateral action against Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) in Syria if the United States turns down his proposal to join forces against the terrorists, according to a report on Sept. 23.
According to a Bloomberg report, Putin has become frustrated with what he sees as U.S. stalling on the proposal for a “parallel track” of strikes against ISIL. Continue reading
Telegraph View: Sadly, allowing Assad to remain in power may be the least worst option for the world
Nothing better illustrates the utter vacuity that exists at the heart of Government policy-making over the vexed issue of Syria than its inability to respond to the significant challenge posed by President Putin’s military intervention in support of the Syrian regime. As we have seen in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, Mr Putin is not shy about using military force when it suits his geo-political agenda. And with President Bashar al-Assad’s regime reportedly on the brink of collapse, the Russian leader has clearly decided that the deployment of Russian warplanes and armoured vehicles is vital to prevent the Syrian capital falling into the hands of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) militants, with all the implications that would have for the region.
The seed bank, built in 2008 on a remote island halfway between Norway and the North Pole, holds 860,000 seed samples deposited by countries all over the world. It’s meant to serve as “the final back up” for the world’s staple crops — rice from Asia, African maize, European barley — just in case they accidentally get obliterated through disease or nuclear war. Continue reading
THESE staggering images show just how much Russia’s military presence has grown in Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s heartland.
Vladimir Putin’s Government is understood to be handing out new types of air and ground weapons to soldiers in the war-torn country, amid growing concerns of Moscow’s deepening support to Damascus.
Sources say Russia has set up an air traffic control tower and transported prefabricated housing units for up to 1,000 personnel to an airfield serving the Syrian port of Latakia.
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