Raisi visit to Syria

Two Iranian lawmakers have welcomed the upcoming visit by President Ebrahim Raisi to Syria, saying the visit would strengthen the Axis of Resistance. 

Javad Karimi Quddousi, a member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said the visit is meant to strengthen the Resistance Front and the economies of the two countries. 

“After 13 years, the president of Islamic Iran will travel to Syria and I wish he had at least one trip to Syria during the 11th and 12th governments so that the Resistance Front will be strengthened even more,” Quddousi told IRNA.

“Among the closure of the country's diplomacy in the previous government was the closure of the diplomacy of the Resistance area, which in fact resulted in indifference to the member countries of the Resistance Front, including Syria.”

He added, “In these 44 years that have passed since the victory of the revolution, countries such as Syria and the oppressed people of Palestine were an important support for the resistance front. The proxy wars that the Zionist regime and the West started with the support of ISIS in Syria took place because of the Syrian people's support for the Resistance Front.”

Quddousi considered Raisi's visit to Syria as the culmination of Ayatollah Raisi's presidential and strategic trips. “At this point, when there has been a great victory for the Resistance Front in all fields, the president will visit this country because the plans and movements of Iran and Syria have been shared and they have formed a united front against their enemies,” he continued. 

Stating that today Gaza is not separated from the West Bank, he said, “Quds is not separated from Gaza and the West Bank, and Syria and Lebanon are connected to all these areas. Along with these countries, the Yemenis formed a united front which caused the defeat of the Hebrew, Arab, and Western united front against the Resistance Front.”

Underlining that today Zionists and Westerners admit that Bashar al-Assad and his people won, Quddousi noted, “Ayatollah Raisi's trip at this point is very effective in terms of politics, security and strategy for the liberation of Quds. And the second dimension will be the reconstruction of Syria.”

He said, “The reconstruction of Syria with the mobilization of the private sector is a good opportunity to provide civil and economic services, especially in the construction industry sector and take over the Syrian economic market.”

The lawmaker added, “During a visit to the Syrian city of Aleppo, half of this city has been razed to the ground, and Syrian statesmen suggested to the 12th government [the Rouhani administration] to undertake the reconstruction of this city, in which case twice the amount proposed to European countries will be paid to Iran. But the previous government did not make an effort in this regard.”

Ebrahim Azizi, another lawmaker sitting on the Committee, said the visit is an indication that Iran’s regional policies won. 

“The President's visit to Damascus shows the victories of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the regional and international scene and shows the depth of greatness that Muslim nations created in different scenes in the fight against arrogance,” Azizi said in remarks to IRNA.

“The media of the West has been presenting the Americans as invincible for years, but the victory of the Resistance Axis in Syria showed that it is possible to stand against the domination system and defeat them.”

He added, “The normalization of relations with Syria can be effective in the path of economic, commercial, cultural and security exchanges in the region, since the countries of the region have turned to the view of the Islamic Republic today, it is a wise and intelligent move, it can help the development of peace and stability in the region.”

 

 

Pentagon warns Turkey against attacking Syria

The Pentagon has warned NATO member, Turkey against a new military operation in Syria. The Turkish strikes in Syria late last month endangered US troops and caused casualties for their partner forces. 

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday spoke by phone with his Turkish counterpart, conveying his strong opposition to a new Turkish military operation in Syria. 

Austin expressed concern over escalating action in northern Syria and Turkey, including recent airstrikes, some of which directly threatened the safety of US personnel who are working with local partners in Syria to defeat ISIS.  

Secretary Austin called for de-escalation, and shared the Department’s strong opposition to a new Turkish military operation in Syria. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan last month launched airstrikes on northern Syria and Iraq targeting Kurdish groups in the two neighboring countries. Ankara claims the strikes are in retaliation for a November 13, 2022 bombing in Istanbul that killed six people and injured 80 more. 

Erdoğan also suggested on November 23 that he also plans to order a ground invasion into northern Syria. 

The US has notably partnered with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the effort to defeat ISIS in the region and continues to work with the group to keep the terrorist group at bay. 

Since the Turkish strikes, the US military is operating at a reduced number of partner patrols with the SDF, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Thursday.  

Ryder noted that while the US recognizes Turkey’s security concerns, the focus here is on preventing a destabilizing situation, which would put ISIS in an ability to reconstitute. 

He added that the US has frequent and open lines of communication with its Turkish allies at a variety of levels. 

“We did issue a statement highlighting the fact that a strike did come close to US personnel, and we clearly have communicated that,” he said. 

 

Delay in recognizing Taliban government could initiate anarchy in Afghanistan

The animosity of United States with Taliban is evident from the fact that despite taking an exit from Afghanistan as back as on August 15, 2021, the super power has not recognized the Taliban government.

To further add to Taliban insults the US has also not unfrozen foreign exchange reserves of Afghanistan. It looks too funny that the super powers are trying to arrange aid for Afghanistan, on the pretext of hunger etc. However, Afghans are barred from using their own foreign exchange reserves.

There is a consensus among the analysts that since the Taliban's takeover of Kabul, the United States has fundamentally altered its approach towards Afghanistan.

The United States is defeating its stated goals of countering terrorism, maintaining regional stability and protecting rights of Afghans, particularly females.

The United States has been beating the drums that the violent conflicts among the armed groups have proliferated.

The fragile economy of Afghanistan is deteriorating fast and the Afghan people are facing an extraordinarily grave humanitarian crisis. The Taliban's interim government is widely viewed as insular and exclusive.

The western media is constantly running stories that Taliban have curtailed rights of girls and women. It is also alleged that Taliban at times have turned a blind eye to abductions, beatings and, in some cases, the torture and killing of journalists, human rights activists and former civilian and military officials. 

Tom West was appointed the US Special Representative for Afghanistan in October 2021, and assigned task of advancing US objectives in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US and NATO forces and the Taliban takeover.

As part of his efforts, he engages in dialogue representatives of Taliban, regional leaders, the international community and Afghan political and civil society members to find ways to assist the Afghan people while protecting US national security interests.

I am shocked to know that a US Think Tank intends to invite the US Special Representative for consultations with the Taliban, other Afghans and the international community to find ways of supporting the Afghan people during this period of significant transition for the country.

According to the critics of Afghanistan policy of the United States, it is feared that whatever armaments the super power has abandoned in Afghanistan may be ultimately repossessed and used by ISIS and/or anti-Taliban groups.

United States drops over 100,000 bombs across Syria

I am shocked to read a revelation by The New York Times (NYT) that a top secret US cell known as Talon Anvil sidestepped safeguards and repeatedly ordered airstrikes that killed an untold number of civilians in Syria under the guise of targeting ISIS fighters.

According to the report published on 12 December, the shadowy group operated from anonymous rooms “cluttered with flat screens” in three shifts around the clock between 2014 and 2019.

Among US officials, Talon Anvil was known to disregard safeguard procedures to function at the “speed of war,” and obscured a countless number of civilian deaths including farmers trying to harvest, children in the street, families fleeing fighting, and villagers taking shelter in buildings.

The NYT report also claims that Talon Anvil played an “outsize role” in the dropping of over 100,000 bombs in the war-torn country.

“They were ruthlessly efficient and good at their jobs … but they also made a lot of bad strikes,” a former Air Force intelligence officer who worked on hundreds of classified Talon Anvil missions told the NYT.

Among the many bombing campaigns that Talon Anvil was responsible for is the 2019 airstrike in the eastern Syrian governorate of Dayr al-Zawr which killed over 60 civilians, including dozens of women and children. This particular attack has been described as being “part of a pattern of reckless strikes that started years earlier.”

US Air Force officials who spoke with the NYT on condition of anonymity said that over the years they notified their commanding officers several times about Talon Anvil’s disregard for civilian lives. However, the military leaders seemed reluctant to scrutinize the strike cell as it was “driving the offensive” on the battlefield.

According to Larry Lewis, a former Pentagon and State Department adviser, every year that Talon Anvil operated in Syria the civilian casualty rate increased significantly.

Lewis also claims that US military commanders “enabled the tactics by failing to emphasize the importance of reducing civilian casualties.” He singles out General Stephen J. Townsend, who commanded US troops in Syria in 2016 and 2017, as being “dismissive of widespread reports from news media and human rights organizations describing the mounting toll.”

Talon Anvil’s operations were highly classified and the strike cell as a whole never existed in an official manner. It was run by a classified Special Operations unit called Task Force 9, whose other tasks included training allied Syrian and Kurdish armed groups.

The strike cell reportedly worked out of “bland office spaces” both in Iraq and Syria and was in control of a “fleet of Predator and Reaper drones that bristled with precision Hellfire missiles and laser-guided bombs.”

They carried out most of their operations based on tips from allied forces, secret electronic intercepts, drone cameras, and other information to find enemy targets.

A former member of Talon Anvil told the NYT that the strike cell often decided that something was an enemy target with scant supporting evidence. But as suspicion mounted over their tactics, Talon Anvil began to classify nearly all of its attacks as defensive – even when targets were 100 miles away from the front lines.

“It’s more expedient to resort to self-defense,” said Lewis. “It’s easier to get approved.”

The drone operators were also known to turn away the drone cameras away from targets before launching bombs or missiles to avoid accountability.

The operators also pressured analysts, who watched drone footage after strikes had taken place, to report that they had seen weapons or other evidence that would justify a strike hit. If they refused, the cell would simply ask for another analyst.

 

 

Iran accuses US supporting ISIS in Afghanistan

Iran's special envoy for Afghanistan said on Monday that after the defeat in Afghanistan, the United States is trying to support the ISIS terrorist group.

"The aggressor country, which intended to rule Afghanistan for the past 20 years, is now trying to strengthen the takfiri groups in Afghanistan after its defeat," Hassan Kazemi Qomi said.

Arriving in Kabul, the Iranian diplomat told reporters that the purpose of his visit was to discuss political, economic, security and Afghan refugee issues with the officials of interim government.

"We respect the will of the Afghan people and our position is in line with the wishes of the Afghan people," Kazemi Qomi told a reporter when asked about recognizing the Taliban government.

Iran's special envoy for Afghanistan expressed hope that with formation of a strong government in Afghanistan, stability would prevail in the region.

The diplomat went on to say that "Afghanistan, like the Islamic Republic of Iran, is facing oppressive Western sanctions and the two countries will try to cooperate more by ensuring security in the borders."

The Iranian envoy in his remarks underlined that Iran had always stood by the people of Afghanistan and today stands by the people of Afghanistan in all aspects of security, economy and politics.

Referring to the US defeat in Afghanistan, the envoy said some countries are exploiting terrorism to launch a proxy war in Afghanistan.

Earlier, the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Kabul announced the trip. It said, "Kazemi is scheduled to talk with senior Taliban officials on various issues such as regional issues, refugees, humanitarian aid, formation of an inclusive government and especially economic issues. Helping the Afghan people is a priority before the cold season."

Speaking at his weekly press briefing on Monday, Saeed Khatibzadeh, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, said that Qomi’s trip to Kabul will address the current and future status of the people of Afghanistan.

He then said that Iran has tried to make the Afghan people bear the least impact from the developments in Afghanistan and the catastrophic departure of the United States from the country.

The diplomat noted that the responsibilities of this governing body will be discussed.

“We are concerned about extremism and terrorism, and we have witnessed the disgusting act of terrorism in attacking worshippers, and it is the direct responsibility of the governing body to protect the security of worshippers and the people of Afghanistan,” he insisted.

He then said that Iran has news of the presence of ISIS in Afghanistan, which is worrying and is one of the topics that will be discussed during the trip by the special envoy to Afghanistan.

ISIS has been targeting worshippers since the Taliban took power in August. Its suicidal attacks on worshippers in Kunduz (northern Afghanistan) on October 8 and Kandahar (southern Afghanistan) on October 15 were horrific.

It also attacked a military hospital in Kabul on November 2. At least 25 people were killed and more than a dozen were wounded during the attack.

The attack, which included armed gunmen and at least one suicide bomber, targeted the 400-bed Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan military hospital.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said the attack was carried out by several members of ISIS, including a suicide bomber who detonated his explosives at the gate to the hospital. A car full of explosives outside the hospital also exploded, wounding dozens, and several Taliban fighters were killed and wounded in the ensuing gun battle, Mujahid said.

Iran hosted the meeting of the foreign ministers of countries neighboring Afghanistan on October 27. The participants at the conference insisted on the need for security in Afghanistan and formation of an inclusive government among other issues.

Who attacked Iraqi Prime Minister?

Reports of a recent drone attack on the home of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi have caused a major escalation in the region. There is an increased use of drones as a strategic weapon, with the goal of intimidating the Iraqi Prime Minister just days after security forces clashed with pro-Iranian protesters.

It is apprehended that the attack was carried out by pro-Iranian militias as probably there exist no other culprits in Iraq who have drones that could or would attack the Iraqi Prime Minister.

While ISIS has used drones in the past, it’s not clear why they would suddenly emerge now to target the Iraqi leader and that leaves Iran-backed groups firmly in the frame.

While official reports have not yet specified which group was behind the attack and no one has yet taken responsibility for it, the trend of such attacks in the region points to Iranian-linked groups.

A drone was used to attack a US garrison at Tanf in Syria in October. In July, a drone was used to attack a commercial tanker in the Gulf of Oman, killing two crew members. In both instances, the US and other countries have pointed the finger at Iran.

In May, a drone was launched from Iraq, or possibly from Syria, targeting Israel during the 11-day war with Hamas. It is believed that Iran was also behind this attack.

For years, Iran has been building more sophisticated drones for surveillance and kamikaze-style attacks. The drones have become better at navigation and pre-programmed flight paths, or even real-time intelligence gathering. The fact they have targeted a moving ship is a clear indication of this.

An attack on the residence of Kadhimi is also a likely message by pro-Iran groups in Iraq that the Prime Minister is not immune.  

Iraqi armed forces announced the start of investigations to discover the location of the launch of the booby-trapped drone that targeted Kadhimi. Images showed the damage to the home, but it is unclear if drone fragments had been found that would link the design to any single country or entity.  

One of the reasons pro-Iran groups — including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis in Yemen — use drones, is that it is difficult to trace their launch site and to know who is behind them once they are launched.

Israel has, in the past, accused Iran of creating a drone training center. Drones from Iran and technology from Iran has been a key to aiding Houthi efforts to attack Saudi Arabia.

Since January, the pro-Iran militias in Iraq have increasingly used drones to target US forces. This has occurred even in Erbil where the pro-Iran militias used a drone in the spring of 2021 to target what US media called, at the time, a CIA hangar at Erbil airport. Pro-Iran groups have done parades with drones.  

But, the kind of drone used to attack the Iraqi Prime Minister may be smaller than some of the kamikaze drones, which tend to be larger than a human. Locating parts of the equipment will be important, but Iraq’s security services may be reticent to conclude that Iran or any of its proxy groups were behind the attack.

Because in previous incidents where Iraq’s prime minister has acted against pro-Iranian groups engaged in illegal attacks, they succeeded in freeing their jailed members as a result.

Now, the groups, most linked to the Fatah party in parliament and the paramilitary Hashd al-Shaabi, have been conducting a sit-in to demand the overturn of recent election results. This kind of election protest is designed to raise tensions and pressure the prime minister.  

The problem being faced by the Iraqi government is that the militias are often tied to official paramilitary forces because former Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider Abadi, pushed to give the militias a legitimate role.

The militias were given increased power in 2014, based on some existing pro-Iran units, to fight ISIS but after the war on ISIS ended, the militias refused to go home and Abadi, who was backed by the US, empowered the militias.

Long ten years of Syrian crisis

As Syrians mark the 10-year anniversary of the 2011 uprising, it is event that the crisis is far from over. After a decade of conflict that has been supported and proliferated by super powers, Syria is devastated. At least half a million are dead, over 100,000 are missing and 12.5 million — over half the population — are displaced.

With an economy crippled by years of war, over 90% of Syrians now live below the poverty line. More than half of Syria’s basic infrastructure has been destroyed or rendered unusable and reconstruction remains a distant fantasy.

Though, the nationwide hostilities appears to have subsided, Syria remains plagued by multiple conflicts — each driven by its own unique local dynamics.

Areas recaptured by Syrian regime in 2018, are now the most impoverished and violent, evident from more than 400 attacks recorded in Daraa Governorate in 2020. Though, ISIS’s territorial caliphate has been defeated in March 2019, the group is now undertaking a methodical resurgence across Syria’s central desert.

ISIS attacks have consistently increased in scale, scope, and potency since early 2020. Though, cease-fires remain largely in place in the northwest and northeast, a single spark could swiftly precipitate crippling violence. And above all of this, Israeli aircraft continue to confront a persistent Iranian campaign to convert its military gains in Syria.

This is only a glimpse of the true scale of destruction, chaos, violence, and human suffering that a decade of conflict has caused in Syria. The international community has failed in Syria, abandoning the country and its people to a level of violence and suffering not seen in decades.

In the early years, the response was indifference, indecision, and contradiction. The response mostly remained focused on tackling symptom of Syria’s crisis, but catalyzing emergence of new conflict. The efforts failed in removing the root cause of Syria’s crisis.

If there was one diplomatic line that has been repeated most often on Syria, “There is no military solution to the Syrian crisis.” The crisis is not a self-contained local dispute. In fact, the crisis has transformed the world in profoundly negative ways like no other conflict has done in decades

There is demand that the United States should try to resolve the crisis, but the super power does have the solution. Four years under President Donald Trump has debased American leverage. UN Special Envoy has rightly stressed that a new multilateral format is needed. Without the highest level of diplomatic investment, failure is again a guarantee.

Shunning Qatar is beginning of another proxy war

About two days back I had posted a link to one of my blogs “Arabs Falling in Deadly US Trap” posted as back as in July 2012. One of my critics asked the reason for my obsession for proxy wars. In my various blogs I have stated that after the World War II, superpowers have learn a lesson “fight a war away from their homelands”.

Termination of diplomatic relationship with Qatar by various Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia is aimed at achieving two objectives, dragging Iran into another proxy war and stopping energy supplies from Qatar to hike oil prices through geopolitical maneuvering. Let everyone remember that the biggest beneficiery of yet another proxy war will be the United States. If anyone doubts my words he/she should peep into the history of Iraq’s attack on Iran and Kuwait.

Another conspiracy theory is that the reason for making an attempt to isolate Qatar is the ongoing transmission of Al Jazeera TV, which is critical of the atrocities of Arab monarchs, particularly in Yemen and Bahrain.

The latest acquisition that Qatar is supporting the extremist groups does not look very different from the allegation of the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and OBL residing in Afghanistan. The allegation against Qatar also appears a hoax call. However, one just can’t rule out bloodshed in Qatar like it was done in Iraq and Afghanistan.

US troops to stay in Afghanistan forever

I started writing blogs under Geo politics in South Asia and MENA about five years back. The objective was to share my views with global readers, particularly the Think Tanks operating in the US. Most of the topics I picked up over the years were: 1) proxy wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, 2) imposition of economic sanctions on Iran for decades, 3) use of crude oil as weapon, 4) melodramas in the name of change of regime, 5) creations of phantoms like Taliban, Al Qaeda and ISIS and 6) dishonest western media.

The title of one of my second blog written in August 2012 was Will US pull troops out of Afghanistan? Despite having little knowledge about international relations or geopolitics at that time, my conclusion was that the US will never pull its troops out of Afghanistan. My conclusion was based on the fact that presence of the US troops in Afghanistan provides it a safe haven for undertaking cross border actions in Pakistan, Iran, China and some of the energy rich Central Asian countries.

I had deliberately avoided mentioning drug as one of the prime reasons for the US troops for occupying Afghanistan, but one of the readers of my blog was prompt in raising this point. If one thinks with a cool head this may be the key reason because it gives control on drug trade and also the money to be paid to militants for killing the innocents ruthlessly and to keep the world permanently under fear. It may also be said that Afghanistan has become a nursery for growing mercenaries and people from around the world get training in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan. They are also paid from the money earned from cultivation of poppy.

Having born and grown in war-ridden Afghanistan, the locals have become ‘blood thirsty’ and suffer from restlessness unless they kill a few people every day. Ironically they not only kill their own countrymen but also go to places where conflicts have been created by the super powers to satisfy their lust.

The conclusion of my today’s blog is that after fighting two world wars, super power have decided to fight proxy wars, sell arms to the governments where rebel groups have been created by them, use income from drugs and oil for buying arms. The job becomes easier through propagation of regime change mantra.

These super powers are among the sponsors of the UN, created for restoring peace in the world. However, now the only role of Security Council is to grant permission for attacking a country chosen for the proxy war. Two of the worst examples are Afghanistan and Iraq and many other countries are also the victim of super powers. Usually the military dictators are made head of state and often the drama of sham democracy is also staged.