President Assad

With ISIS Defeat Looming in Syria, Iraq, US Strategy Has to Define Next Step

American-backed ground forces are poised to recapture Mosul in Iraq and Raqqah in Syria, the Islamic State’s de facto capitals. But while U.S. commanders are confident they soon will vanquish the militant group from its self-declared caliphate after three years of fighting, Washington has not defined a strategy in the next step for stabilizing the region.

The Trump administration faces key decisions about safe zones, reconstruction, governmental control in the area, easing sectarian tensions and commitment of U.S. troops among other considerations.

Nor has the Trump administration set policy for how it will confront forces from Iran and Russia, the two outside powers that arguably gained the most in the bitter conflict — and that now are hoping to collect the spoils and expand their influence.
Iran, in particular, is pushing to secure a land corridor from its western border across Iraq and Syria and up to Lebanon, where it supports Hezbollah militants, giving it a far larger foothold in the turbulent region.
“Right now everyone is positioned” for routing Islamic State “without having the rules of the road,” said Michael Yaffe, a former State Department envoy for the Middle East who is now vice president of the Middle East and Africa center at the U.S. Institute of Peace. “That’s a dangerous situation.”
The risk of a broader confrontation was clear in recent weeks when a U.S. F/A-18 shot down a Syrian fighter jet for the first time in the multi-sided six-year war, provoking an angry response from Russia, which supports Syrian President Bashar Assad.
U.S. warplanes also destroyed two Iranian-made drone aircraft, although it’s not clear who was flying them. The Pentagon said all the attacks were in self-defense as the aircraft approached or fired on American forces or U.S.-backed Syrian fighters.
“What I worry about is the muddled mess scenario,” said Ilan Goldenberg, a former senior State Department official who now heads the Middle East program at the nonpartisan Center for a New American Security. “When you start shooting down planes and running into each other, it quickly goes up the escalation ladder.”
U.S. commanders say thousands of American troops should stay in Iraq to bolster the Iraqi army, which collapsed and fled when the militants first arrived on pickup trucks in 2014, three years after President Obama withdrew most U.S. troops from the country.
A tougher challenge lies in Syria, where the U.S. military has not been invited by the government and has no large fixed bases. The Pentagon has deployed hundreds of special operations forces and conventional troops to support the Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition of Kurdish and Arab rebel groups that oppose Assad.
If the U.S. military pulls out, it could give a green light to Assad and Iran’s forces to turn their firepower on the U.S.-backed militias, potentially a nightmare scenario.
Pressure is growing on Capitol Hill for the White House to articulate a longer-term strategy for when the Islamic State threat has been neutralized.

Routing the Islamic State out of those countries is the first step but there are other concerns once that is accomplished. Hezbollah which has sided with Assad’s forces in the civil war is emboldened now and is pushing to escalate the war by attacking Israel. There will be no easy answers for Washington as peace and stability in the region will be very hard to come by.

To read the entire article from The Los Angeles Times click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Syria, Russia Accuse US of “Provocation” in Chemical Weapons Attack

The latest war of words between Washington, Moscow, and Damascus occurred on Thursday. The Syrian government of President Assad along with their Russian allies accused the United States of manufacturing a “provocation” in Syria. This was to be blamed on Assad and his government of preparing a chemical weapons attack as an excuse for the US and the coalition troops to attack.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry described the US allegations as “misleading” and “completely baseless.” It strongly stated that they reject the US’ claims that Syria is preparing for another chemical attack. The Syrians claim, that they’ve never used chemical weapons at all.

It said the objective of such allegations was to “justify a new aggression on Syria under ill-founded pretexts,” similar to what happened in April when the U.S. struck a Syrian air base, which it said had been used to stage a chemical attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed nearly 90.
Earlier this week, the White House has warned that Assad is preparing for another chemical attack and said that the Syrian ruler will “pay a heavy price” if he unleashes it.
Also Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow has received information that Syrian rebels have already fabricated video materials to accuse Damascus of a chemical attack.
She said that according to the information Russia has, Syrian towns of Saraqib and Arihah could serve as venues for the “provocation.” Both towns are located in the province of Idlib in northwestern Syria and are controlled by the rebels.
She claimed that such action could be aimed at derailing the next round of Syria peace talks brokered by Russia, Turkey and Iran, which is set for next week in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana. The meeting is meant to determine specifics related to safety zones in Syria.
Zakharova’s strongly-worded statement reflect soaring tensions between Moscow and Washington even as U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin are expected to hold their first meeting at the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Germany.
The U.S. in April struck the Shayrat air base in central Syria, which it said had been used to stage a chemical attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun. The Pentagon said the preparations detected by the U.S. occurred at the same Shayrat air base which the U.S. named as the platform for launching the April attack.
The Syrian government has denied it ever used banned chemicals, and it rejected Washington’s latest allegations.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Larionov was asked by the press what the Russian response would be if the Syrians are indeed attacked again by the US, and he stated only “proportionate.”

To read the entire article from the ABC News, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Israel Hits Syrian Targets After Assad Troops Hit Israel With Artillery Fire

The Israeli’s wasted little time striking the military troops of embattled Syrian President Assad after the spillover from the civil war had the Syrians shelling Israeli territory. Israeli forces destroyed two tanks after the shelling hit on the Israel side of the Golan Heights.

“With the IDF action today, we are making our policy clear again,” Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu said. “We are not willing to accept any ‘drizzle’ [of fire] or ‘spillover’ on any front. We will react with force to any firing on our territory.”

“We react with force, determination, and discretion to every such incident, as the IDF did [today] on the Golan Heights. As far as we are concerned, the Assad regime is responsible for what is happening in its territory, and it will continue to bear the consequences if such events repeat themselves,” he said.
The IDF said spillover from the Syrian civil war is treated with the utmost severity and noted that it “will not tolerate any attempt to harm the sovereignty of the State of Israel and the security of its residents.”
It noted as much in a protest letter sent swiftly to UN Disengagement Observer Force following the incident.
Spillover fire from Syria on Saturday was reported by Israeli authorities less than an hour before Israel responded, the IDF confirmed.
Although no casualties or damage to property were reported in the incident, the IDF issued instructions to farmers and civilians near the Quneitra border crossing into Syria to avoid open fields.
Backpackers and hikers – who flock to the Golan at this time of year – were also evacuated from the area.

Besides the two tanks destroyed, the Israelis also hit the area where the shelling came from. In April, the Israelis shot down a Syrian drone that had also crossed the border.

To read the entire article from the Jerusalem Post click here:

Photos/Video Courtesy IDF