Iran: uninvited US forces must leave Syria immediately

Western media quick to accuse Syria of ‘bombing hospitals’ – but when TERRORISTS really destroy Syrian hospitals, they are silent

 Aleppo’s Al-Kindi hospital, one of the best cancer hospitals in the Middle East.

*Dec 2013: FSA & Al-Qaeda bomb and completely destroy Aleppo’s Al-Kindi hospital, one of the best cancer hospitals in the Middle East.

March 24, 2021, RT.com

-by Eva K Bartlett

As legacy media again bleat the unsubstantiated “Syria is bombing hospitals” chorus of its war propaganda songbook, let’s pause to review the relatively unknown (but verifiable) reality of terrorists bombing hospitals in Syria.

Following recent allegations of a hospital being targeted Al Atarib, western Aleppo, the US State Department repeated the claim, in spite of any clear evidence to back it up.

Instead, reports rely on highly questionable sources like the White Helmets, the USAID-funded Syrian American Medical Society and the usual unnamed “witnesses” and (clearly impartial!) “rebel sources,” as per a Reuters’ report on the recent claims.

In fact, Reuters even acknowledges being unable to verify the authenticity of videos purporting to show “a ward damaged and civil defence rescuers carrying bloodstained patients outside.”

Let’s recall that Idlib is occupied by Al-Qaeda in Syria – a fact emphasized (as I wrote) by the US’ own former special envoy, Brett McGurk, who deemed the northwestern Syrian province the “largest Al-Qaeda safe-haven since 9/11.”

The presence of Al-Qaeda and affiliated terrorist groups makes it impossible for independent, neutral bodies to assess what is going on.

Facts matter, they say. But really, not so much when it comes to war propaganda.

In Sarmada, Idlib countryside, one of the targets was a Tahrir al-Sham (Al-Qaeda in Syria) fuel market, the smuggled fuel tankers obliterated.

A White Helmets video supposedly filmed in Al-Atarib alleges a hospital was bombed there. It indeed shows what looks like a medical facility covered in dust, and a lot of bulky men of fighting age. Glaringly absent are women or normal looking civilians.

Given the White Helmets’ penchant for working only in areas controlled by terrorist factions, working with them and even numbering among them, dabbling in organ trade, and having lied many times in the past, the video proves nothing.

There is, on the other hand, a precedent for “hospitals” or medical centres being weaponized by terrorists. And not just once or twice, but repeatedly in terrorist-occupied areas throughout Syria.

I’ve seen them in Aleppo and eastern Ghouta.

The Eye and Childrens’ Hospitals, a large complex in eastern Aleppo, was militarized and occupied by terrorists including the Tawhid Brigade, Al-Qaeda and even IS (Islamic State, formerly ISIS). Prisoners were held, and tortured, in nightmarish prisons and solitary confinement cells deep below. 

As journalist Vanessa Beeley noted, in eastern Ghouta, medical centres, “provided treatment almost exclusively to extremist armed factions.” They were also built underground, “linked by a vast maze of tunnels that snaked below most of the districts controlled by the armed groups, providing cover for the fighters during SAA [Syrian Arab Army] military campaigns.” (An aside, see one of these massive tunnels in Douma, at the location of the underground “hospital.”)

In Idlib, a “hospital” that the New York Times claimed Russian warplanes bombed in May 2019 was a cave used as a terrorist headquarters. Another fortified cave in Khan Sheikhoun was well-stocked with weapons, medical supplies and gas masks, and a prison with solitary confinement cells.

'@RT_com tours the fortified underground caves in the Syria's Khan Sheikhun which terrirorists used as their command centre and drone-producing factory. It also has many prison cages & underground hospital – apparently used to stage and produce fake chemical attacks videos pic.twitter.com/qNDeuo0nIx

— Russia in RSA 🇷🇺 (@EmbassyofRussia) September 28, 2019

In areas liberated from terrorists, the Syrian Army routinely finds such caves, with tunnels connecting terrorist bases so they can avoid moving above ground.

In the past, Russia has provided satellite imagery when the question of a building allegedly being bombed arose. Until we have conclusive evidence either way, it is a question of he said, she said, although common sense (and the history of such lies) points to more media fabrications.

Hospitals bombed, media yawns

Since the media and pundits clearly care so much about Syrian hospitals being bombed, and even destroyed, it’s worth reviewing some of the major hospitals damaged or destroyed by terrorist factions.

However, unsurprisingly, not a lot of information is available. The following is a partial list, with me filling in details from attacked hospitals that I have gone to.

• The September 2012 Free Syrian Army (FSA) bombing of and complete destruction of Al-Watani Hospital in Qusayr, Homs province. 
• The September 2012 FSA bombing and complete destruction of two hospitals in Aleppo.
• The December 2013 FSA & Al-Qaeda bombing and complete destruction of Aleppo’s Al-Kindi hospital, one of the largest and best cancer hospitals in the Middle East.
• The April 2015 FSA bombing and siege of the National Hospital in Jisr al-Shughour, Idlib.
• The May 2016 IS horrific multiple suicide bombings in Jableh (and also in Tartous the same day), including inside Jableh’s National Hospital.
• The May 2016 attack outside Aleppo’s Dabeet maternity hospital, a missile hit a car parked outside, which then exploded, killing three women at the hospital and injuring many more. 

I went to Aleppo in July 2016 and spoke with the director, who confirmed his hospital was gutted in the blast, and noted that a week later terrorists’ mortars hit the roof of the hospital, destroying the roof and injuring construction workers.

In May 2018, before Daraa was fully liberated, I went to areas which were under fire from terrorists (including the day I went), and took a perilous high speed ride in the taxi I had hired in Damascus to the state hospital, down a road exposed to terrorist sniping from less than 100 metres away.

The hospital was battered and partially destroyed from terrorists’ mortars, and mostly empty of patients. The director showed me destroyed wards (dialysis and laboratory), and off-limits areas due to high risk of sniping (gynecology, operations, blood bank, nursing school, children’s hospital).

When I returned to Daraa in September, after the region was liberated, the hospital was full of patients, since it was finally possible to access without risk.

Behind the hospital, roughly 50 metres away, I saw a building when I was told had been occupied by terrorists. Hence the extreme risk of being sniped while inside the hospital.

I never saw any Western outlet speak of this hospital, although it serviced civilians and was quite visibly partially destroyed.

In November 2016, I met Dr. Ibrahim Hadid, former Director of Kindi Hospital, who said that he wanted medical colleagues and institutions to exert some of the concern they have for “hospitals” allegedly bombed in terrorist areas.

They, and Western corporate media, have done the opposite, of course.

Another chemical song and dance routine?

Meanwhile, Russia is warning of a possible new staged chemical provocation by Tahrir al-Sham in Idlib.

The Russian Center for Reconciliation says, “militants are plotting to stage a fake chemical attack near the settlement of Qitian,” to again accuse the Syrian government of using chemicals on the people.

As anyone following the war on Syria knows, although the West desperately wants to prove Syria committed one or more chemical attacks, it has failed, to the point where even OPCW experts spoke out, contradicting the claims.

As I wrote last week, in spite of incessantly lying about Syria for ten years, Western (and Gulf) media, pundits and politicians steam ahead with more lies – recycled accusations and war propaganda.

So, it is likely the “hospitals bombed” theme will surge anew, and then the “chemical attacks” theme. And then maybe we’ll have another new Bana al-Abed to ask Biden to bomb Syria or “holocaust” Idlib…

On and on it goes, ceaseless war propaganda.

The irony is of course, as I feel the need to make clear nearly every time I write, those script-readers claiming that Syria (and Russia) are bombing hospitals, or using chemicals, or whatever lie is next recycled, don’t actually care about the lives of Syrians. 

"terrorist organizations supported by the Turkish occupation in the west countryside of #Aleppo targeted Al-Salihin & Al-Firdous neighborhoods, east of Aleppo, with rocket-propelled grenades, causing the death of 2 civilians…"https://t.co/0WiJtKfaho pic.twitter.com/xJqUCCF2dS

— Eva Karene Bartlett (@EvaKBartlett) March 22, 2021

If they did, they would stop whitewashing terrorism in Syria, aid the country and its allies in liberating Idlib and the Aleppo countryside, stop pillaging its oil, leave Syria, and lift the sanctions.

RELATED:

–Liberate Syria’s Idlib, precisely for the civilians that America fakes concern over

–No attack, no victims, no chem weapons: Douma witnesses speak at OPCW briefing at The Hague

–Organ theft, staged attacks: UN panel details White Helmets’ criminal activities, media yawns

–In the Western Media Narrative, SAA-Targeted Underground Bunkers and Terrorist-Run Prisons Become “Hospitals”

–Syria War Diary: What Life Is Like Under ‘Moderate’ ‘Rebel’ Rule

–Israel violates international law anew, again bombing Syria…to further indifference of Western media

–Liberate Syria’s Idlib, precisely for the civilians that America fakes concern over

–US sanctions are part of a multi-front war on Syria, and its long-suffering civilians are the main target

–It’s 10 years since the war in Syria began, and Western media & pundits are still eager to keep it going

ABOUT ME

Eva Bartlett is an independent writer and rights activist with extensive experience in Syria and in the Gaza Strip, where she lived a cumulative three years (from late 2008 to early 2013). She documented the 2008/9 and 2012 Israeli war crimes and attacks on Gaza while riding in ambulances and reporting from hospitals. In 2017, she was short-listed for the prestigious Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism. The award rightly was given to the amazing journalist, the late Robert Parry [see his work on Consortium News]. In March 2017, she was awarded “International Journalism Award for International Reporting” granted by the Mexican Journalists’ Press Club (founded in 1951). Co-recipients included: John Pilger and political analyst Thierry Meyssan. She was also the first recipient of the Serena Shim award, an honour shared with many excellent journalists since. https://serenashimaward.org/laureates/ Since April 2014, she has visited Syria 14 times, the last time being from March to late September, 2020. All of her writings and videos on which can be found here: https://ingaza.wordpress.com/syria/syria-my-published-articles-from-and-on-syria-2014-2017/ and here: https://www.youtube.com/user/InGazaUpdates/videos A more detailed account of her activism and writings can be found here: https://ingaza.wordpress.com/about-me/ Her social media sites: https://linktr.ee/evakarenebartlett

After 10 Years of Civil War in Syria, US (Quietly) Declares Defeat but Won’t Go Home

March 25th, 2021

By Alan Macleod

Source

After a decade of bombing, invasions, exoduses and economic strife, it is clear that there are precious few winners in the Syrian Civil War — or from the rest of the Arab Spring, for that matter.

DAMASCUS, SYRIA — This March marks the 10-year anniversary of the Arab Spring and the protests that rocked Syria, which were a starting point for the ongoing civil war. That conflict has led to over half a million deaths and nearly 13 million people displaced, according to some estimates.

Now, after 10 years of attempts to topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad, it appears that many in the U.S. government and media are quietly conceding defeat.

“We tell Syria’s human stories so that the ‘victors’ don’t write its history,” ran the headline of a CNN article marking the anniversary. Who the victors are is not spelled out explicitly, although it is clear that the reference is to the Syrian government. In explaining the reasons for the violence, the article tells us:

The Assad regime gunned down those who called for a peaceful transition to democracy. Gulf countries sent in suitcases of cash with a wink and a nod towards more religiously conservative fighting units. Assad let former al-Qaeda members and other criminals out of jail. The U.S., at the peak of its involvement, half-heartedly trained some ‘moderate’ rebels, many of whom went on to join the ranks of extremist groups.

Thus, Assad is presented as an ally of al-Qaeda, while forces the U.S. and its allies “half-heartedly” supplied and trained register merely as “religiously conservative fighting units” and “moderate rebels,” inverting reality on its head.

The New York Times was less cryptic in its description of the outcome of the conflict, its headline reading “Having Won Syria’s War, al-Assad Is Mired in Economic Woes.” While accepting military defeat in Syria, the U.S. appears to be using its economic power to make sure there can be no clear victory for Assad, enacting waves of sanctions that have crushed the country’s economy, leading to power outages, food shortages, inflation and falling wages.

In its article covering a potential change in Syria policy by the Biden administration, the Minneapolis Star Tribune quoted one former Obama official who said the international take-home message is that “the Syria war is over, Assad has won, Assad will be in power as long as he is breathing oxygen.”

Those in the current administration are more tacit in their acceptance of the situation on the ground. A joint statement from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his European counterparts last week asked for a nationwide ceasefire, promising that they were not “abandoning” the conflict or Syria’s people, whatever it might look like. The statement also condemned the fast-approaching presidential elections as neither free nor fair, historically a very good indicator that they expect the result to go against their interests. “It’s clear that the regime will leverage the upcoming presidential elections in May to unfairly claim Assad’s legitimacy,” said the United States’ acting deputy ambassador to the UN, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, last week. “The United States will not recognize these elections unless they are free, fair, representative of Syrian society, and supervised by the United Nations,” he added.

The prospect of holding a proper election in a country destroyed by ten years of constant war is indeed very dim. With food prices rising, millions displaced, and millions more having fled abroad, just surviving is a task enough for many. Last month the World Food Program warned that a record 12.4 million Syrians — more than half of the population — are currently food insecure. This is an increase of around 4.5 million from last year. Over the past 12 months, the price of basic foodstuffs has increased by an average of 236%. Some of this is down to U.S. sanctions, with Washington apparently deciding that — as in Venezuela, Cuba and other nations — if the U.S. cannot overthrow the government, it will fall back on starving the country as a punishment.

Ten years of violence

While the conflict is universally described as a civil war, from the outset it has been dominated by foreign groups. March 15, 2011 saw the Arab Spring spread to Syria, with large demonstrations against Assad’s rule in many major cities. However, this unrest was quickly overtaken by armed groups whose goal was to take the country by force. In July of that year, the Free Syrian Army was established, quickly receiving considerable Western backing. Almost immediately, the country of 21 million people became a proxy war for various regional and world powers, including Turkey, the United States and its European allies, Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia. At one point, the CIA was spending almost $1 billion per year training and fielding an army of jihadists. Fighters came from as far afield as Libya and Xinjiang province in China to join their ranks.

A US-backed anti-government fighter mans a heavy machine gun next to a US soldier in al Tanf. Hammurabi’s Justice News | AP

The bitter fighting and terrible violence on all sides led to a refugee crisis for a country that had historically been a haven for victims of war in the region. The famously secular nation also became a stronghold for the Islamic State. With the help of Russian forces, ISIS was beaten back, but to this day, a number of foreign powers continue to occupy the country militarily. One of them is the United States, which last month launched a strike on a town on the Syria/Iraq border, dropping 1.75 tons of explosives and reportedly killing 22 people. Between 2014 and 2019, the U.S. and its allies dropped at least 118,000 bombs and missiles on Iraq and Syria. The U.S. also continues to militarily occupy Syria’s oil fields, hamstringing the nation’s efforts to recover economically.

A short spring, a long winter

Unfortunately, Syria is far from the only country that has been left in a much worse state than what it was in ten years ago. In 2011, the Arab Spring sparked hope across the Middle East, capturing the world’s attention for months as, one after another, movements arose challenging the power of undemocratic governments. Yet few, if any, can be said to have succeeded.

Egypt was the centerpiece of the uprising, as hundreds of thousands of people poured into Tahrir Square in Cairo. Dictator Hosni Mubarak was forced to resign and Mohamed Morsi was elected president in a democratic election. Yet barely a year later many were in the streets again, begging the military to overthrow him. The resulting coup brought General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to power, establishing a dictatorship every bit as brutal as Mubarak’s. Sisi has signalled his intent to remain in power until at least 2034, which, considering his age, is effectively a lifetime appointment.

In Libya, protests against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s rule were used as a pretext by NATO for regime change, sparking a bitter civil war, Gaddafi’s assasination, and the rise of Al-Qaeda and other jihadist forces that turned the once-rich country into a failed state, replete with slave markets.

Meanwhile, Yemen is now commonly described as the “world’s worst humanitarian crisis,” where 24 million people need assistance, including 20 million with little or no access to clean water. Yesterday, Oxfam warned that the country is reaching a tipping point, amid a massive spike in COVID-19 cases and a feared outbreak of cholera. The cause for the crisis is clear: the Saudi-led onslaught against the country, which, in turn, has its roots in the constitutional crisis sparked by the Arab Spring protests.

Few remember that the Arab Spring actually started in Western Sahara. But over the past 10 years, the country is being progressively eroded, as Morocco continues to occupy it militarily, building a succession of walls and annexing its most valuable land. As a result, the fortunes of the Sahrawi people are as bad as ever.

After a decade of bombing, invasions, exoduses and economic strife, it is clear that there are precious few winners in the Syrian Civil War — or from the rest of the Arab Spring, for that matter. There are, however, millions of losers. Chief among them are the people of Syria, who have seen their country torn apart as foreign powers, great and minor, wrestle for control of their nation. While the U.S. and its media might be tacitly conceding defeat, few are proclaiming victory.

Nasrallah: CIA Director demanded release of top al-Qaeda leader in Yemen

March 26, 2021

From Sayed Hassan, Resistance NewsCONTAINS THE LEAKED PHONE CALL BETWEEN CIA DIRECTOR GEORGE TENET AND YEMENI PRESIDENT SALEH, WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

ISIS, Al-Nosra and Al-Qaeda are tools of US imperialism

Speech by Secretary General of Hezbollah, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, on March 18, 2021, on the occasion of the celebration of the Day of the Wounded of the Resistance, celebrated each year on the 4th day of the Islamic month of Sha’ban, which saw the birth of Abu Fadhl al-Abbas, half-brother of Imam Hussein who was horribly mutilated and killed in Karbala.

Source: video.moqawama.org

Translation: resistancenews.org

Vidéo: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8066et

Transcript:

[…] Those (Hezbollah fighters) war-wounded who fought and made sacrifices, as well as the wounded people who bore the burden of these struggles —I am talking about the many wounded civilians affected by Israeli aggressions and abuses by collaborators during the occupation (of Lebanon), whether they are war-wounded among combatants or civilians due to the consequences of the battle against Takfiri (terrorist) groups, those who were injured by the car bombs that were sent to our towns and villages in previous years, or even during the Israeli occupation, because (the Zionists) also used car bombs against our towns and villages to kill our cadres and our fighters…

Anyway, day after day, these war-wounded become more lucid, as is the case of the families of martyrs, and of all the resistance fighters, mujahideen and supporters of this path (of Resistance): their awareness, understanding and faith are constantly increasing thanks to (new) facts and (new) data, confirming and convincing them that the struggle in which they entered, fought and were injured, that the place where they were injured, paying the price for their stance (in favor of Resistance), was rightful and appropriate. Regarding the fight against Israel, the legitimacy of this fight is clear, and concerning (the fight against) the terrorist takfiri groups, I will limit myself to pointing out only one thing before evoking the internal situation (in Lebanon): day after day, as we now commemorate the tenth anniversary of the outbreak of the universal war against Syria, the role and true identity of these armed Takfiri terrorist groups appear day after day with ever greater clarity, as well as the role and identity of those who use them, direct them, protect them, support them and push them to act (in such and such a direction).

In addition to the confessions and previously revealed documents that prove all of this, new evidence is emerging day by day, and I hope that despite the attention of the Lebanese being monopolized by (the acute economic crisis of the) dollar and its parity with the Lebanese pound (which has reached its lowest threshold in history), the Lebanese people and peoples of the region will take into consideration what was published yesterday in the media by our brothers in Yemen, in Sana’a.

Living evidence, a sound recording, shows that the Director of the CIA himself (George Tenet), expressed concern for the fate of a well-known al-Qaeda leader (Anwar Al-Awlaki), who was detained in Sana’a during the time of the former President of Yemen (Saleh), to the point of contacting the latter directly to ask him to release this top leader of the Al-Qaeda organization. And this while it is a terrorist group, and that you (Americans) have torn apart the whole Middle East from (the invasion of) Afghanistan (in 2001) to (the invasion of) Iraq (in 2003) and the whole world on the pretext of fighting Al-Qaeda. But that does not prevent Tenet from demanding the release of this terrorist leader, demanding that he be handed over (to US forces). Of course, (Anwar Al-Awlaki) was released, and for a while he carried out a lot of (terrorist) operations. Then when they no longer needed him they killed him. All of this is clearly said in an explicit sound recording.

This rare audio (with English subtitles) recording gives us an eloquent glimpse into how the CIA operates behind the scenes, even with heads of States who have no choice but to oblige to any kind of request. The fact that this sensational revelation has been completely ignored by the Western media is indicative of the invincible omerta imposed on the so-called “War on Terror”, which is only an instrumentalisation of terrorism to justify the perpetual military occupation of the Middle East. That the al-Qaeda attack referred to in this phone call, a suicide bombing attack on the USS Cole on October 12, 2000, killed 17 US Marines and injured 39 others, shows the extent of US cynicism. For more details about Anwar al-Awlaki, the first Muslim in history to conduct a prayer service in the U.S. Capitol in 2001, see Did the CIA pressure Yemen to release al-Qaeda propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki?

Other new documents were (recently) released indicating that the US secret services recruited prisoners who were being held in US prisons in Iraq, in order to create what has been called the Islamic State in Iraq, then the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) and finally the Islamic State Organization. The role of the US secret services in recruiting, (training) and releasing leaders from what would become ISIS (has been proved in new documents), as well as their role in the creation of the Front al-Nosra, resulting from a split with ISIS. And until now, the role of the American secret services in the release of ISIS members who were prisoners of the Qasad militia (Syrian Democratic Forces, Kurdish separatists and pro-Americans) east of the Euphrates, and sending them to Iraq to revive ISIS there, while others were brought to the US base in al-Tanf in Syria, near the Jordanian border, to push them towards the Badia (a vast semi-desert region in central Syria) and to perpetrate the (terrorist) actions that we see almost daily in this region.

Therefore, they are by no means Islamic / Islamist groups, nor groups that aspire to justice, welfare, (political) participation, democracy or elections. We are facing armed Takfiri terrorist groups that are created, trained, armed, supported, directed and financed by the American secret services, which organize and facilitate their travel, and advise and guide them in their various actions aimed at destroying armies, destroying peoples, destroying societies, and enabling US hegemony in the region, so that Israel would be the refuge, the hope, the pearl, the jewel of the Middle East (while all other countries would be ablaze). This is the old and new project of successive American administrations.

I only wanted to recall this and say that these war-wounded (Hezbollah fighters and supporters), who are in very large numbers, and who took part in this battle (against ISIS, Al-Nosra, etc.), contributed to defend Syria, of course, but also to defend Lebanon, the Resistance, Palestine and the future of this region and this Umma (Muslim community), especially since these documents speak clearly of the purpose of the creation of these (terrorist) groups during these last decades. And these goals are still relevant today.

Anyway, on this day of yours, O my dearest war-wounded, O my brothers and sisters, I address you and your noble families, especially the mothers and wives of the wounded. To all these noble families, I address my congratulations on this day, on this occasion and on this commemoration of the birth (of Abu Fadhl al-Abbas, half-brother of Imam Hussein). […]

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سورية … روسيا تعلن التوصل إلى اتفاق مع تركيا حول إدلب وحلب

مدارات عربية –

الأربعاء 24/3/2021 م …

أعلنت وزارة الدفاع الروسية عن توصلها إلى اتفاق مع الجانب التركي لإعادة فتح 3 معابر في منطقتي إدلب وحلب شمال سورية لتخفيف صعوبة الأوضاع الإنسانية في الأراضي الخاضعة لسيطرة تركيا.

وقال نائب مدير مركز حميميم لمصالحة الأطراف المتناحرة في سوريا والتابع لوزارة الدفاع الروسية، اللواء البحري ألكسندر كاربوف، خلال مؤتمر صحفي عقده الأربعاء، إنه “بهدف رفع حالة العزل وعمليا إزالة الحصار الداخلي للمدنيين، تم اتخاذ قرار لفتح” معبري سراقب وميزناز في منطقة إدلب لخفض التصعيد ومعبر أبو زيدين في منطقة مدينة حلب.

وأضاف كاربوف: “نعتقد أن هذا الإجراء يمثل عرضا مباشرا لالتزامنا بالتسوية السلمية للأزمة السورية على المجتمعين المحلي والدولي”.

وأوضح نائب مدير مركز حميميم أن هذه الخطوة ستسهم “في تحسين الأوضاع الاجتماعية وإزالة التوتر في المجتمع بسبب انقطاع الاتصالات العائلية وصعوبة الأحوال المعيشية”.

وتخضع مناطق واسعة شمال سوريا تطال محافظات إدلب وحلب والرقة والحسكة لسيطرة القوات التركية والتشكيلات المتحالفة معها نتيجة عمليات عسكرية شنتها تركيا منذ عام 2016، قالت إنها ضد تنظيم “داعش” و”وحدات حماية الشعب” الكردية وكذلك في إطار اتفاقات مع روسيا حول نظام وقف إطلاق النار.

وشهدت هذه الأراضي خلال الأسابيع الأخيرة احتجاجات للسكان المحلية على خلفية تدهور الأوضاع الإنسانية تم فضها من قبل التشكيلات الخاضعة لتركيا.

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THE U.S. CONTINUES TO SMUGGLE OIL WHILE TURKEY COMPLAINS TO RUSSIA IT CAN’T

South Front

You can read this article in German. LINK

The intensity of the conflict in Syria’s northeast refuses to die down, as more and more strikes are carried out targeting each involved party’s  interests.

For its part, MSM reports on all of these, but many of them are presented in a light, much different from reality.

On March 23^rd, a video emerged showing the Damascus government forces conduct a strike on Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

The shelling targeted the terrorist fortifications and depots. MSM, in conjunction with various Western-backed organizations such as the “International Rescue Committee”, shifted the story and claimed that a civilian hospital had been struck.

As such, the narrative is this – the “Bloody Assad Regime” is back at it, targeting civilians and killing its own people.

As might be expected this media campaign is part of the attempts by the US to rebrand HTS as a “former terrorist” and now reformed organization, in order to have another ally, in a different part of Syria.

The Damascus government’s recent punishment of HTS and the Turkish-backed militants in northeastern Syria is happening with Russian support and is part of a wider push to liberate more areas of Syria.

Ankara is dissatisfied with this, even summoning the Russian Ambassador to complain about the severe strikes that Moscow had carried out on terrorist targets.

The Turkish side insists that artillery and air strikes on positions and infrastructure of Turkish-funded terrorists in Greater Idlib violated the ‘de-escalation agreement’. No mentions were made of the violations that are frequently carried out by these same terrorists.

Turkey would like to continue to enjoy the smuggled oil it used to receive from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

The United States, still benefits from that smuggled oil. On March 23^rd, a convoy of more than 300 tankers left Syria’s Hasaka region and entered Iraq.

Washington’s oil repatriation is not proceeding without a hitch either. On March 23^rd, several rockets hit a US military base near the Conico oil field in the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor. Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen TV reported that the US suffered casualties. Little else is known.

Being subject to rocket strikes, and having convoys hit by IEDs was commonplace in Iraq, but it appears that it has now also come to plague Washington’s forces in Syria.

The profits from that smuggled oil could potentially be used to cover a recent loss by the US – an MQ-9 Reaper was downed in Yemen, by Ansar Allah.

Despite officially not supporting the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, the Biden Administration appears to still be up to Washington’s old activities.

The Houthis, as Ansar Allah is commonly known, are riding high due to their recent successes and continue their regular drone strikes on various Saudi positions and infrastructure behind enemy lines.

The Abha Airport, alongside other locations in the south of the Kingdom, is subject to frequent attacks.

Riyadh is providing ample opposition, carrying out approximately 30 or more airstrikes each day. Still, it would seem that the Saudi-led coalition is being steadily pushed back.

التحالف السعودي يطوي عامه السادس منهاراً.. وصنعاء حارسة دمشق وبيروت

الكاتب: عباس الزين

المصدر: الميادين نت

24 آذار 18:26

فشل العدوان السعودي على اليمن بات أمراً مفروغاً منه، والحديث لم يعد يتعلق بما تخطط له الرياض عسكرياً لحسم المعركة لصالحها، بل حول الطريقة التي يجب أن تخرج بها من الحرب.

ينتهي العام السادس من العدوان، والسعودية غير قادرة على منع القوات اليمنية من استهداف منشآتها الحيوية

في تاريخ 21 نيسان/أبريل عام 2015 أي بعد حوالى شهر من بداية العدوان السعودي على اليمن، خرج المتحدث باسم “التحالف” حينها أحمد العسيري، ليعلن في مؤتمر صحفي أن “عاصفة الحزم” حققت جميع أهدافها الموضوعة.

وبمعزل عن أن الهدف الرئيسي والذي كان إعادة ما تصفها الرياض بـ”الشرعية” إلى العاصمة صنعاء لم يتحقق حينها ولا يزال، فإن “التحالف” أشار أيضاً إلى أن منع حكومة صنعاء من تهديد “دول الجوار وعلى رأسها السعودية” قد تحقق.. وها هي القوات اليمنية تختتم العام السادس من العدوان باستهداف ميناء “راس تنورة” ضمن عملية “توازن الردع السادسة”، وهو أكبر ميناء نفطي في العالم، تصدّر من خلاله السعودية ما يزيد عن 80% من صادراتها النفطية.

وبالعودة إلى الهدف الرئيسي لإعلان الحرب والمتعلق بإعادة حكومة عبد ربه منصور هادي إلى صنعاء وإسقاط “حكومة الإنقاذ”، فإن العام السادس ينطوي في الوقت الذي تخسر فيه حكومة هادي وحلفاؤها وقوى التحالف آخر معاقلها في شمال اليمن، باقتراب القوات اليمنية من حسم معركة محافظة مأرب لصالحها، مع الأخذ بعين الاعتبار أهمية هذه المحافظة من النواحي الاستراتيجية والأمنية والاقتصادية، إلى جانب كونها الثقل العسكري لقوى التحالف في اليمن.

فشل العدوان السعودي على اليمن في تحقيق أهدافه بات أمراً مفروغاً منه، لأعداء السعودية وحلفائها، والحديث لم يعد يتعلق بما تخطط له الرياض عسكرياً لحسم المعركة لصالحها، بل يتركز حول الطريقة التي يجب أن تخرج بها من هذه الحرب، بعد استنفاد جميع الطرق والوسائل التي يمكن لأي طرف استخدامها في أي حربٍ يخوضها. فالسعودية حشدت برياً وحاصرت من البحر والجو، وشنت عشرات آلاف الغارات واستخدمت مختلف أنواع الأسلحة والصواريخ والآليات، ولم تستطع ليس فقط التقدم في مشروعها، بل خسرت معظم مكتسبات حلفائها بفعل التوسع الجغرافي للقوات اليمنية واللجان الشعبية.

تحرير مأرب مقدمة لتحرير محافظات أخرى

وبعد انقضاء العام الخامس من الحرب بـ”صنعاء آمنة” على إثر صد القوات اليمنية واللجان الشعبية لأوسع هجوم على العاصمة نهاية العام الماضي، دخل التحالف السعودي العام السادس مثقلاً بالإخفاقات، وها هو يدخل عامه السابع من الحرب منهاراً في مختلف جبهات القتال لا سيما في مأرب، فيما تؤكد “حكومة الإنقاذ” أنها مستمرة في عملية تحريرها لمختلف المحافظات اليمنية، محددةً وجهات جديدة كـ شبوة وحضرموت، كما جاء على لسان عضو المجلس السياسي في اليمن سلطان السامعي، خلال حديثه للميادين منذ أيام.

وأمام هذا المشهد، خرجت السعودية مؤخراً بما وصفته “مبادرة سلام”، واللافت أن الأخيرة طرحت مبادرتها وكأن ما يحصل هو حرب في اليمن، لا حرب على اليمن تقودها هي، بمعنى أن الرياض وضعت نفسها في مكانة الدولة “الراعية للسلام” في اليمن، بينما هي طرف أساسي في الحرب.

وسريعاً، سحبت حكومة صنعاء البساط من تحت المبادرة السعودية بهدف تعريتها وإظهارها كما هي، من خلال ما قاله رئيس وفد صنعاء المفاوض محمد عبد السلام، بإن “السعودية جزء من الحرب ومبادرتها لا تتضمن شيئاً جديداً”، لا سيما وأن وزير الخارجية السعودي فيصل بن فرحان آل سعود، تحدث عن فتح مطار صنعاء لبعض الوجهات، وعن تخفيف الحصار عن ميناء الحديدة، مقابل إقدام حكومة صنعاء على تنازلات سياسية، أي أن السعودية تريد مقايضة الملف الإنساني الذي تُمسِك به جرّاء حصارها المستمر، مقابل أهداف سياسية، ومن دون أي ضمانات حتى، وهذا بحد ذاته ينفي صفة “السلام” عن أي مبادرة.

الخلافات بين الحلفاء

بانتقال الحرب إلى الداخل السعودي، وتحول المرافق الحيوية من منشآت نفطية وعسكرية وأمنية لأهداف لدى القوات اليمنية، وتوسع تلك الأهداف مع مرور سنوات الحرب والتطور الذي رافق استهدافها من الناحيتين اللوجستية والعسكرية، تكون الرياض قد فقدت عامل المبادرة كطرف قادر على لعب دور بين الأطراف اليمنية، وباتت الطرف الملزم بتقديم تنازلات لا بفرضها على الآخرين، إذ أن معادلات الردع اليمنية لم تكن موجهة ضد حلفاء التحالف في الداخل اليمني، بل ضد قيادة التحالف وتحديداً السعودية.

وبالحديث عن حلفاء السعودية في الداخل اليمني، لا بد من التطرق إلى الهشاشة والتضعضع الذي لا يزال التحالف السعودي يعانيه بعد معارك دامية، ومع استمرار الخلافات، بين سلطة هادي وحزب الإصلاح من جهة، والمجلس الانتقالي المدعوم إماراتياً من جهةٍ أخرى.

فرغم تشكيل حكومة جديدة موالية للتحالف في كانون الأول/ديسمبر تضم “الانتقالي” ضمن ائتلاف جديد انبثق عن “اتفاق الرياض”، إلا أن التباينات والصراعات بين المكونات اليمنية التابعة للتحالف لا تزال مستمرة، والتي كان آخرها اقتحام متظاهرين موالين للانتقالي قصر “المعاشيق” الرئاسي في عدن، من دون أي مواجهة مع القوات الموكل إليها حماية المجمع الرئاسي، وهي قوات “الحزام الأمني” التابعة للانتقالي، والتي سهلت بدورها عملية الاقتحام.

صنعاء والأهمية الجيوسياسية

ينتهي العام السادس من العدوان، والسعودية غير قادرة على منع القوات اليمنية من استهداف منشآتها الحيوية، وعلى منعها من التقدم الجغرافي على الأرض وتحرير المحافظات، وغير قادرةٍ أيضاً على إعادة التماسك لحلفها المتضعضع بين فريقين أحدهما مدعوم من شريكها الإماراتي. هي حقائق تظهرها الوقائع الميدانية والسياسية، بعد أن كان ولي العهد السعودي محمد بن سلمان يسعى لفرض نفسه زعيماً إقليمياً من بوابة الحرب على اليمن.

وهنا، نعود إلى مجموعة من المقالات والتقارير، ومن ضمنها مقال نشر في صحيفة “الحياة” السعودية في 22 نيسان/أبريل عام 2015 تحت عنوان “وجاء دور دمشق”، تحدثت جميعها عن مرحلة ما بعد “عاصفة الحزم”. هذا المقال المذكور تحديداً، أوضح بطريقة غير مباشرة الأهمية الجيوسياسية لصنعاء في العالم العربي بمرور سنوات الحرب، لما يكشفه من مخططات كانت مرسومة، باعتبار أن الإعلام السعودي الناطق بلسان النظام، والذي كان يعد العدة لـ”عاصفة الحزم 2″ في دمشق وبيروت، بعد صنعاء، بدأ الترويج لهذه السردية بكثافة وفحواها أن “عاصفة الحزم” تتعدى صنعاء لتطال عواصم عربية أخرى. لكن، وبعد سنوات ست، لا يزال الإعلام السعودي ومعه “التحالف”، عاجزاً عن تجاوز “المستنقع اليمني”.

لم تدافع صنعاء عن نفسها ومكانتها العربية فقط، بل كانت العمق الاستراتيجي لعواصم عربية أخرى وضعت ضمن دائرة الاستهداف السعودي بسبب تموضعها في المواجهة الإقليمية. بناءً عليه، فإن صمود اليمن وانتصاره لا يقرَأ كما تحاول السعودية إظهاره على أنه صراع داخلي وحرب أهلية، بل يتعدى ذلك إلى كونه يفتح مرحلة جديدة على صعيد الإقليم، تحولت خلالها اليمن إلى لاعبٍ أساسي ومؤثر في الصراع الدائر.. وهكذا، كانت صنعاء حارسة دمشق وبيروت!

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صاحب المعجزة الاقتصادية التركية عاجز .. الليرة التركية تستغيث اذ تستعد لليلة;الدخلة

نارام سرجون

بتاريخ 2021/03/23 

naram.serjoonn نارام سرحون

كنت أفشل فورا كلما حاولت ان أشرح للاسلاميين ان الفقاعة الاقتصادية التركية غير حقيقية لانها مثل الجسد المحقون بالكورتيزون الطبي حيث ينتفخ ويتورم ولكن العلة لاتزال فيه .. الاستثمارات في البورصة التركية جاءت بشكل مريب مثل لعبة القمار ورفعت الاقتصاد بشكل سريع .. ونسب هذا النهوض الى فكرة (الاسلام هو الحل) الذي جاء به الاسلاميون الاتراك .. ويسهب المتحدثون المتحمسون المعجبون بالتجرية التركية في الحديث عن الرقم السحري لترتيب الاقتصاد التركي الذي وصل الى المرتبة 17 في العالم .. وكلما فتح احد فمه للاعتراض والتشكيك تعالت الأصوات الساخطة الساخرة والهابطة .. (شو عم يحكي هاد؟؟ خلوه يسكت موفهمان شي) .. رغم ان رقم 17 في الترتيب الاقتصادي العالمي كان يذكرني بترتيب الجيش العراقي الذي دخل الكويت الذي صنف على انه الجيش الرابع في العالم .. وتبين ان النفخ في الجيش الرابع في العالم كان لتبرير ضربه بقسوة فائقة وتدميره .. فالجيش الرابع في العالم يجب ان يضرب بسلاح فائق التدمير وبلا رحمة ولاتوقف .. وتبين ان الجيش الرابع في العالم كان بالعدد فقط رابعا ولكن من غير طيران ولاتكنولوجيا ولاعدة متطورة .. وحكاية الاقتصاد السابع عشر في العالم قصة مضخمة تشبه حكاية الجيش الرابع في العالم .. رغم محبتي واحترامي للجيش العراقي لكنه لم يكن الجيش الرابع في العالم ولا الرابع عشر عندما تم نقخ الدعاية الغربية لغاية في نفس بني اسرائيل ..

لايوجد اقتصاد بهذه المرتية في العالم دون صناعات ثقيلة وأسواق واسعة تستوعبه او اسواق مال كبيرة .. فلا هو دخل اوروبة ولاامريكا .. وأسواق استرالي وامريكا الجنوبية او أفريقيا.. فالاقتصاد الحقيقي هو بقيمة السلع الحقيقية التي يطرحها .. ولكن الاقتصاد التركي لم يقدم لنا سيارات ولا طيارات ولا كومبيوترات ولا اي شيء .. سوى السياحة والمسلسلات التركية .. وهذه ليست اقتصادا كاملا بل جزءا من اقتصاد ..

بل ان افضل مرحلة انتعش فيها الاقتصاد التركي هي عندما انفتح على الجنوب بتسهيلات سورية حيث لأول مرة انتعش اقتصاد الاناضول بشكل حقيقي على حساب اقتصاد تركيا في الجانب الاوروبي بسبب النقلة الكبيرة في التسهيلات السورية للتجارة التركية ..
تركيا الغبية لم تستمع لصوت العقل عندما عرض الرئيس الأسد مشروع البحار الخمسة التي تضم العرب وايران وتركيا .. ولو نفذ هذا المشروع لكان انقاذا حقيقيا للاقتصادات الثلاثة .. عقل اردوغان المحشو بالعثمانيات لايؤمن الا بالنجاح العثماني الصرف والبطولة الفردية .. وظن ان اميريكا واوروبة ستعطيانه الشرق الاوسط ليصبح قوة عظمى ويصبح قادرا على فرض شروطه على الغرب .. هذه العقلية الأنانية تسببت في مشاكل تركيا التي لن تجد لها حلا .. الحل كان في الجنوب والبواية السورية العراقية .. وهذا انتهى الى الابد .. ولن يفتح الباب جنوبا طالما ان حزب العدالة والتنمية في السلطة وطالما ان اردوغان في الحكم .. وعلى تركيا ان تدفع ثمن جنون العظمة .. ..

الاقتصاد التركي يترنح .. والاستثمارات الأجنبية تتراجع وتهرب .. والاسلام التركي لم يجد الحل .. ومعادلة الاسلام هو الحل تبين انها خدعة وكذبة اخوانية .. والاموال التي تدفقت في عروق البورصة التركية تتسلل خلسة اليوم من البورصة التركية .. وهذه مؤشرات سحب الدعم الغربي عن زمن حزب العدالة والتنمية .. رغم ان اردوغان يحاول جهده في بث الثقة بالاقتصاد والليرة التركية ولكن عبثا .. فكل ماسرقه من أموال ومعامل السوريين لايعتبر اقتصادا ثابتا والتلاعب بالسعوديين وابتزازهم بقصة الخاشقجي ارتدت عليه لأن مستوردات السعودية والخليج من البضائع التركية انخفضت بنسبة 90% ..

وفي يوم واحد انهارت العملة التركية وخسرت 10% من قيمتها بسبب قرارات اردوغان المتخبطة ..

مرة يقترب اردوغان من مصر ومرة من نفط ليبيا ومرة يتهاوش مع اليونانيين ومرة يريد ان يساعد في نقل الغاز الروسي .. كلها أعمال فوضوية ومرتبكة .. والليرة في حضن أردوغان مثل الطفلة في يد ابيها وهي تحتضر وتموت .. وهو يحس بالذنب لأنه لم بعطها الدواء الصحيح بسبب عجرفته وطيشه وجشعه ..

ماذا يفعل اردوغان سوى ان يحفر قبرا لليرة التركية .. ويعلن نهاية الفقاعة ونهابة المغامرة .. والاقتصاد التركي سيهتز اكثر .. ومايخشى ان اموال السوريين المهربة الى تركيا وكل استثماراتهم وكل ماسرقه المعارضون واللصوص الاتراك سيقع ايضا مع وقوع الاقتصاد التركي قريبا .. وستكون افضل نصيحة لهم أن يهربوا بأموالهم من تركيا .. ولو كان فيهم عقل لاعادوا اموالهم الى بلادهم .. لأن الليرة السورية ليست مثل الليرة التركية .. فالازمة الحالية لليرة السورية ليست حقيقية وليست تعكس الا حالة نفسية للاسواق والمضاربات والشائعات .. وهذه ستنتهي بمجرد ان يحدث تراجع خفيف في التشنج الامريكي او في الوجود الامريكي او التركي في سورية وبمجرد تحرك الجبهات واسترداد قطاعات الانتاج التي تسيطر عليها اميريكا ..اما ازمة الليرة التركية فهي حقيقية وعميقة رغم انها غير محاصرة ولاتوجد قطاعات انتاج معطلة لان قيمتها التي نفختها منذ سنوات ليس حقيقية وهي كانت تتحرك بقيمة اعلى من رصيدها الذهبي ومن قيمة انتاج السلع التركية .. ولن تعود الليرة الى سابق عهددها .. خاصة ان تركيا ستشهد خضات كثيرة .. والسبب ليس ان الغرب يتأمر على تركيا الاسلامية بل لان الغرب سحب دعمه عن المشروع الاسلامي التركي بكل بساطة بعد ان احترقت اوراقه ..
اردوغان ينزف ببطء .. ولن تنفعه كل الصلوات .. ولن تنفعه كل دعوات المؤمنين .. ولن ينفعه السجود في أياصوفيا .. وكما يقول فلاديمير بوتين لخصومه ساخرا ومهددا بخشونة .. (مهما فعلت المرأة في يوم دخلتها .. فلن تبقى عذراء) .. واردوغان مهما فعل فانه ينطبق عليه مثل بوتين .. عليه وعلى ليرته التي سيدخل بها اليورو والدولار مهما فعلت ومهما سرق لها اردوغان من نفط وقمح وزيتون ومعامل سورية ..

لو تنطق الليرة التركية اليوم لقالت عن اردوغان: انه قاتلي ومغتصبي ..

Russian Jets Bomb another Market for Stolen Syrian Oil, Erdogan Upset

 ARABI SOURI MARCH 23, 2021

A Russian airforce bombing targeted another illegal market run by Al Qaeda for stolen Syrian oil near the borders with Turkey, the regime of Erdogan called on the Russians to stop.

A Russian Su-34 bomber is said to target the make-shift oil market at Bab Al Hawa border crossing with a missile that destroyed dozens of oil tankers and shipment lorries at the site, members of Al Qaeda terrorists wearing the ‘White Helmets’ designated uniforms after taking off their suicide vests were seen rushing to the site to try to extinguish the fire, an effort that would take from them several hours.

No casualties were reported from the bombing or the fires, Al Qaeda only reports its killed members after they arrange replacements if the killed were commanders or they would use the propaganda on the rare occasions when its killed members were locals.

Bab Al Hawa border crossing with Turkey is one of the main crossings used by the Turkish intelligence to smuggle weapons and terrorists for Al Qaeda’s assorted factions in northern Syria in exchange for oil machinery and stolen Syrian crude oil stolen from oil fields under the Turkish / Al Qaeda occupation in northern Syria.

The same Turkish intelligence run by the pariah Hakkan Fidan mostly known for his ‘false-flag’ operations one of which was to bomb a tomb of an Ottoman sultan within Syrian borders to justify a Turkish military invasion in the early days of the US-led war of terror on Syria.

Russian and Syrian military units intensified the targeting of these Erdogan family’s side lucrative business in the past couple of months. Despite many warnings to the Turkish madman, Erdogan continues to carry out this illicit business stealing Syrian oil, selling it mostly to Israel, and using the returns to fund his Al Qaeda terrorists in his military adventures around the region.

Some reports put the number of oil tankers sold by the US-sponsored Kurdish SDF terrorists to their supposed to be enemies the Turkish-sponsored Al-Qaeda at 275 oil tankers with an estimated value of 600 million dollars annually, in return, the Kurds buy gas and gasoline (petrol) from a company owned by Erdogan’s son Bilal Erdogan.

SAA Decimates Stolen Syrian Oil Facilities Run by Erdogan and al-Qaeda

https://syrianews.cc/saa-decimates-stolen-syrian-oil-facilities-run-by-erdogan-and-al-qaeda/embed/#?secret=K7Ps0UIZFQ

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دور الولايات المتحدة في الانهيار المالي

 زياد حافظ

الانهيار المالي في لبنان يعود إلى الانهيار الاقتصادي الذي يشهده الوطن بشكل مبرمج وتدريجي وذلك منذ 1993. لقد أوضحنا في أوراق ومحاضرات عديدة الأسباب البنيوية التي أدّت إلى ذلك الانهيار وهي منشورة في صحيفتي «البناء» و»الأخبار» وعلى موقع منبر التواصل، وبالتالي لسنا مضطرّين لتكرارها. نكتفي بعرض الخطوط العريضة حيث الخيار آنذاك كان جعل اقتصاد لبنان اقتصاداً خدماتياً ريعياً يرتكز إلى القطاع المصرفي الذي يتحكّم بالقطاع العقاري والسياحي. فالاقتصاد المشوّه وسياسات الاستدانة المفرطة بفوائد ربوية لا مبرّر لها اقتصادياً وحتى مالياً وربط سعر صرف الليرة بالدولار بينما معظم التجارة الخارجية اللبنانية كانت مع دول خارج إطار الدولار، فكلّ ذلك أدّى إلى انكشاف تجاه الخارج وسياسة استهلاك مفرط عبر الاستيراد ما أدّى إلى عجز كبير في الميزان التجاري والطلب غير المشروع على العملة الأجنبية. والفوائد الربوية التي فُرضت قتلت أيّ مبادرة لتشجيع الصناعة والزراعة وتخفيف اللجوء إلى الاستيراد أو عجز الميزان التجاري. وإذا أضفنا عامل جائحة كورونا والضغط على البنية التحتية الصحية والإقفال القسري للعجلة الاقتصادية والتداعيات لتفجير مرفأ بيروت فنفهم حجم الأزمة القائمة. بمعنى آخر، فإنّ الأزمة المالية إنْ لم نقل الكارثة، كانت حتمية وذلك لأسباب موضوعية بغضّ النظر عن أيّ دور خارجي الذي لا يمكن إغفال دوره في تسريع وقوع الكارثة. هذه هي الخطوط العريضة التي تحكم المقاربة المقدّمة.

ما يهمّنا في هذه المداخلة هو إلقاء الضوء على المسؤولية التي يتحمّلها العامل الخارجي في تسبّب الأزمة المالية القائمة كما على دور العامل الداخلي. العامل الخارجي تقوده الإدارة الأميركية منذ بداية التسعينات عند إطلاق العولمة بعد سقوط المنظومة الاشتراكية وتفكيك الاتحاد السوفياتي. الهدف كان تحويل الدول في العالم إلى قطاعات استهلاكية فقط دون أيّ سيادة سياسية واقتصادية على مقدرات الأوطان. العولمة تزامنت مع تصاعد التوجّهات النيوليبرالية التي ركّزت على أمولة (financialization) رأس المال والاقتصاد الافتراضي. ومن أدوات ذلك التحوّل ترويج سياسة الاقتراض بحجة أنّ الدين هو الرافعة الاقتصادية لجني أكبر حصة من المردود على الرأس المال. العامل الداخلي متعدّد الأطراف ولكن القوّامة هي للقطاع المصرفي الذي حصل على الغطاء السياسي العربي والدولي في المهمة المشبوهة.

مقاربة الدور الأميركي في الانهيار المالي في لبنان تتطلّب قراءة في الاستراتيجية الأميركية في المشرق بشكل عام والمشرق العربي بشكل خاص. قراءتنا لمجمل الإجراءات التي اتخذتها الإدارة الأميركية منذ عقود تقودنا إلى أنها كانت وما زالت تستهدف سورية في المرتبة الأولى وذلك خدمة للكيان الصهيوني. فالسبب هو حماية الكيان والهدف هو سورية بشكل عام واستراتيجي والمقاومة في لبنان بشكل خاص. أيّ بمعنى آخر، فإنّ الإجراءات الأميركية عبر سلسلة العقوبات التي فرضتها على عدد من الشخصيات والقوى السياسية في لبنان، وعلى عدد من المؤسسات المالية، تأتي في ذلك السياق، أيّ استهداف المقاومة واستهداف سورية في آن واحد.

أضف إلى ذلك في ما يتعلّق في لبنان كان الرهان للنخب الحاكمة آنذاك أنّ السلام سيحّل في منطقة شرق الأوسط خاصة بعد مؤتمر مدريد، واتفاق أوسلو، واتفاق وادي عربة. وهذا الرهان، بوحي أميركي وأدوات عربية ولبنانية، هو سبب الخيار على تحويل لبنان إلى مركز مالي عبر تضخيم دور المصارف. فتمّ ذلك عبر الاستدانة المفرطة والعشوائية وغير المرتبطة بمشاريع إنمائية بل فقط لتسديد الدين المتراكم بشكل مصطنع (فوائد باهظة على سندات خزينة قصيرة الأجل لتمويل مشاريع طويلة الأجل على حدّ زعم المسؤولين آنذاك!). كل ذلك كان بتشجيع الولايات المتحدة والمؤسسات المالية الدولية التي تطالب الآن بـ «إصلاحات»! تغيّرت الأمور بعد 2001 فكان قرار الولايات المتحدة احتلال أفغانستان ومن ثم العراق. فالغطاء الدولي (الأميركي الفرنسي) والعربي (سورية وبلاد الحرمين) لم يعد قائماً، فدخلت البلاد مرحلة عدم استقرار هدفها إخراج سورية من لبنان (2005) وفي ما بعد نزع سلاح المقاومة بعد عملية عسكرية في 2006 إلاّ أنها فشلت فشلاً ذريعاً.

بدأ الضغط يتصاعد تجاه سورية في منتصف شهر آذار/ مارس 2011 خاصة بعد إطلاق ما سُمّي بالربيع العربي. استمرّ ذلك التصاعد في ولايتي الرئيس أوباما وخاصة في ولاية الرئيس السابق دونالد ترامب وبشكل أدقّ منذ النصف الثاني من ولايته تحت رعاية وزير خارجيته ومكتب مراقبة الأصول الخارجية «أوفاك» (Office of Foreign Assets Control) التابع للخزينة الأميركية والتي يسيطر عليها بشكل شبه مطلق اللوبي الصهيوني. ويشارك الولايات المتحدة كل من الاتحاد الأوروبي كمجموعة وكدول إضافة إلى المؤسسات المالية الدولية التي تهيمن عليها الولايات المتحدة.

دور الولايات المتحدة وشركائها الدوليين والعرب في الانهيار المالي في لبنان يعود إلى الموافقة والإشراف على الخيارات البائسة والسياسات الخاطئة منذ 1993 بشكل محدّد وصولاً إلى 2010. وهذه الخيارات أدّت إلى الانهيار الذي نشهده اليوم وإنْ بدأ فعلياً وعلناً عبر عقد مؤتمر باريس 1، وثم باريس 2، وثم باريس 3، وثم مؤتمر «سيدر» بدلاً من مؤتمر باريس 4! لكن خلال تلك الحقبة استطاعت الولايات المتحدة التساكن مع سورية والمقاومة في لبنان خاصة بعد اتفاق 1996. لكن تغيّرت الأوضاع بعد 2010 مع قرار استهداف الولايات المتحدة لسورية مباشرة فبدأت الإجراءات عبر محاصرة سورية من لبنان في الشقّ المصرفي حيث كان النظام المصرفي اللبناني يؤمّن التمويل للاستيراد السوري. معدّلات «النمو» في لبنان كانت حتى ذلك الحين مقبولة نسبياً وفي إطار المساكنة مع حزب الله. لكن مع «سياسة النأي بالنفس» المتكاملة مع فريق من اللبنانيين في دعمه لزعزعة الاستقرار في سورية بدأ التراجع السريع في الاقتصاد اللبناني وماليته. فكان الوقف بالتعامل مع الحسابات السورية في المصارف اللبنانية. وهذه التطورات كانت الترجمة الفعلية لانصياع الدولة للقرار الأميركي مع استمرار المساكنة الأميركية مع وجود حزب الله في الحكومة. لكن مع وصول دونالد ترامب للسلطة وتولي محمد بن سلمان ولاية العهد في بلاد الحرمين تناثرت المساكنة للتحوّل إلى هجوم ممنهج على لبنان عبر استهداف القطاع المصرفي. والاستراتيجية المتبعة من قبل الولايات المتحدة كانت «تجفيف» مصادر السيولة للبنان للضغط على المسؤولين ولافتعال أزمات اقتصادية ومالية تجلّت في ما بعد في انتفاضة 17 تشرين الأول 2019.

إرهاصات ما حصل قد ظهرت مع «احتجاز» رئيس الحكومة سعد الحريري في الرياض بعد أن تولّى محمد بن سلمان ولاية العهد. منذ ذلك الحين كان الضغط الخليجي على لبنان يزداد عبر تجنّب المواطنين التابعين لمجلس التعاون بالحضور إلى لبنان. من جهة أخرى كانت ملاحقة متموّلين لبنانيين في العديد من الدول وخاصة في غرب أفريقيا على أساس أنهم من مموّلي المقاومة كما تمّ الضغط على عدد من المصارف المحسوبة على البيئية الحاضنة للمقاومة فتمّت تصفية مصرفين (اللبناني الكندي وجمّال تراست) بحجج واهية.

البنية الاقتصادية والخيارات وثم السياسات المتبعة بتشجيع أميركي لأهداف تخدم استراتيجيتها الكبرى ليس في لبنان فحسب بل في المنطقة بأكملها هي التي تفسّر الانهيار. الدور الأميركي هو دور تفعيلي وتسريعي للانهيار ولكن ليس المسبّب لها. فإجراءات أكثر فظاظة للإدارات الأميركية المتتالية في كلّ من الجمهورية الإسلامية في إيران، وفنزويلا، وكوبا لم تفلح لأنّ البنى الاقتصادية كانت أمتن مما هي عليه في لبنان وبسبب حرص المسؤولين في تلك البلاد على الحفاظ على استقلالية القرار السياسي والاقتصادي والتفاف شعوب هذه الدول حول قياداتها. بينما الخيارات والسياسات التي اتبعت من قبل المسؤولين اللبنانيين أدّت إلى تبعية شبه مطلقة لا تقيم وزناً للحدّ الأدنى للكرامة الوطنية وتعطي للقرار الأميركي الأولوية. التقرير الأخير الصادر عن الأمم المتحدة يدين التدخّل السافر في الشأن الاقتصادي الفنزويلي حيث الدولة البوليفارية فقدت وفقا للتقرير ما يوازي 99 بالمائة من وارداتها من جرّاء الحصار الأميركي، ورغم ذلك لم تفلح الإدارة الأميركية في تحقيق أهدافها. لكن هذا لا يعني أنّ التدخل الأميركي في لبنان وإنْ كان أقلّ شراسة لا فعّالية له بل العكس هو المسرّع للانهيار المالي في لبنان.

الاستراتيجية الأميركية التي تستهدف سورية تطلّب الضغط على القطاع المصرفي لتجفيف مصادر التمويل الاستيرادي لسورية. فالبضائع المستوردة لصالح سورية كانت تموّل من القطاع المصرفي في لبنان ومن بعد ذلك يتمّ إيصالها إلى سورية. البعض اعتبر ذلك «تهريباً» لسورية بينما هو في الفعل بضائع لسورية دفعت بأموال سورية. «التهريب» دفع الجيش الأميركي لفرض أبراج مراقبة على الحدود اللبنانية بينما في الأساس هو لضبط التواصل بين سورية والمقاومة من جهة ومنع إيصال البضائع لسورية. شركة «بارسون» حازت على مناقصة عرضتها الوكالة الأميركية (DTRA) وهي وكالة حكومية أميركية موكلة بتخفيف مخاطر الدفاع كما أورده الصحافي حسن علّيق، وذلك لتعزيز مراقبة الحدود اللبنانية السورية. تمّ ذلك دون علم الحكومة اللبنانية إلاّ قائد الجيش!

الهدف من الضغط على القطاع المصرفي في لبنان وصولاً إلى تجفيف السيولة هو خلق حالة من الفوضى تؤدّي إلى تأليب الرأي العام داخل البيئة الحاضنة للمقاومة للانتفاض عليها ونزع سلاحها. هذا فشل وبالتالي بعض العقول الأميركية حذرت من تلك المخاطرة كجيفري فيلتمان الذي نصح بالضغط على حلفاء المقاومة وتحميلهم المسؤولية لتردّي الأوضاع الاقتصادية والمعيشية خاصة على ذلك الحليف المسيحي وهذا ما حصل بالفعل وهو ما نشهده في هذه الأيام. هناك تناس متعمّد لمسببّي الفساد والانهيار لأنّ الهدف الأساسي هو محور المقاومة عبر استهداف الحلقة الأضعف في ذلك المحور، البيئة الحاضنة لحلفاء المقاومة.

استجابة القطاع المصرفي للضغط الأميركي تلازم مع «فرصة» اقتناص الأموال المودعة عبر التحويل إلى الخارج لمستويات كبيرة من الودائع ما أدّى إلى انخفاض الاحتياط بالدولار. الأزمة السياسية المزمنة أعطت الفرصة للقطاع المصرفي لتحقيق أرباح سريعة وعلى حساب المودع كما أنّ عجز الدولة في تسديد التزاماتها تجاه حاملي السندات تلازم مع رفض المصارف في تسديد مطالب المودعين بحجة الوضع المالي الحكومي. طبقة سياسية فاسدة، وحكومة عاجزة، وقطاع مصرفي متوحّش في مناخ من التشجيع الأميركي للمزيد من التراجع وصولا للانهيار هو سمة المشهد الحالي.

لكن ما ينهار في لبنان هو أيضاً البيئة والقوى المؤيّدة للسياسة الأميركية. فانهيار قطاع المصارف في لبنان لا يخدم الولايات المتحدة بل العكس لأنها تفقد بذلك الانهيار أداة فاعلة للسيطرة على المواطن اللبناني والسياسة اللبنانية. لكن في المقابل فإذا كانت كلفة المواجهة مع سورية هي انهيار القطاع المصرفي في لبنان فليس هناك في الإدارة الأميركية من سيترحّم عليه، وهذا ما لا تستطيع أدراكه النخب المصرفية التي تصرّفت بشكل انتحاري وموهومة بانها ستنجح في سرقتها الموصوفة لودائع اللبنانيين دون أيّ مساءلة ومحاسبة. وهنا يكمن الخطأ الفادح في التقدير عند تلك النخب.

هذه القراءة الخاطئة لموازين القوّة عند النخب المصرفية والحاكمة في لبنان تفسّر «نجاح الضغوط» عبر التدخّل السافر الأميركي في الشأن الداخلي اللبناني. والبيئة الحاضنة لذلك التدخل ليس فقط ضمن المنظومة الحاكمة ولكن ضمن الثقافة والوعي لشرائح واسعة من المجتمع اللبناني التي تريد تحميل مسؤولية تراجعها وتهميشها إلى المقاومة ومن يدور في فلكها. ولكن من جهة أخرى هذه الشرائح ونخبها لا تشعر بالحدّ الأدنى من الكرامة الوطنية. فعندما يتجرّأ قاض لبناني على تصرّفات السفيرة الأميركية في لبنان تتمّ إقالة القاضي الشجاع الذي لا ينتمي إلى أيّ حزب ألاّ أنّ لديه فائضاً من الكرامة غير الموجودة عند هذه النخب. ويمكن أن نسترسل في ثقافة التغريب وجدوى التبعية المفرطة للقرار الخارجي واعتبار أنّ كلّ شيء غربي ممتاز بما فيه التحكّم بمصير الشعوب ولكن هذا حديث آخر.

ما يهمّنا التأكيد عليه أنّ الإجراءات والضغوط الأميركية لم تكن لتنجح لولا استعداد تلك البيئة لتقبلها دون أيّ مقاومة كي لا نقول بكلّ ترحيب. فما وصلنا من أخبار للوفود اللبنانية لواشنطن للتفاوض مع الخزينة الأميركية حول الإجراءات التي كانت تنوي اتخاذها بشأن بعض المصارف تفيد بأن بعض المصرفيين في لبنان كانوا يزايدون على الخزينة الأميركية للضغط على المقاومة وبيئتها.

الأزمة المالية ارتبطت الآن بالأزمة السياسية وتشكيل الحكومة. وما شهدناه من تبادل في الاتهامات يوحى أنّ الأزمة مستمرّة ومتفاقمة. فالتمويل الخارجي لن يأتي إلاّ بشروط تعجيزية ومن يطالب بتلك الشروط من اللبنانيين ليس معنياً بالمصلحة الوطنية بل فقط بالعودة إلى حالة ما قبل الانفجار الاقتصادي والمالي، وفي ما يتعلّق بتفجير مرفأ بيروت فحتى الساعة لا نعرف من هو المسؤول.

في الختام نقول إنّ مسؤولية الانهيار في لبنان تعود إلى العامل الداخلي وإلى العامل الخارجي وإنْ كنّنا نرجّح قوّامة العامل الداخلي وخاصة القطاع المصرفي على العامل الخارجي. فالتدخل الخارجي لم يكن لينجح لولا «استعداد» شريحة كبيرة من النخب الحاكمة لتقبّل ذلك التدخل إنْ لم تطلبه بشكل صريح. والدعوات الأخيرة لتدويل البلاد تدعم ما نقوله. فالوطنية عند هؤلاء هي آخر في المطاف وجهة نظر فقط!

*مداخلة في ندوة «كرامة وطن» في بيروت عبر «الزوم» في 18/3/2021

كاتب وباحث اقتصادي سياسي والأمين العام السابق للمؤتمر القومي العربي

HTS terrorists plan yet another false flag chemical attack in Syria’s Idlib

Maria Saadeh, former independent Syrian MP, on the blockade of Syria

Presentation at the London webinar ‘A Decade of War on Syria – Future Trajectories’, hosted by The European Centre for Extremism Studies [www.eurocse.org] in Cambridge’s #Syria​​ Program.

Speech by Prof. Bouthaina Shaaban Political and Media Advisor Syrian Presidency At the Shiller Institute Online Conference “World at a Crossroad: Two Months in the New US Administration” March 20-21, 2021

Her Excellency Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban: Reconstruction with Syrian characteristics — rebuilding a truly diverse and more secure world based on the lessons of the Syrian experience

Transcript

Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban is a political and media advisor to President AssadYOUTUBE/SCHILLER INSTITUTE

Good morning.

Allow me first to thank the Schiller Institute, and in particular, to thank Helga Zepp-LaRouche, for inviting me to this very important conference and for allowing me to contribute to this very important panel.

But before I begin my paper, I would like to pass on a few notes that lead me to the conclusion which I would love to conclude for this panel, and for this conference at large.

One of the major problems we face in our country, is that today, Western countries approach our countries with the feeling of exceptionalism or a feeling of righteousness, that whatever Western countries see appropriate or good, should apply to our countries without any question. The first action that was taken by Western countries, when the war on Syria started, was to withdraw their ambassadors from Syria. The question is, isn’t it the job of the ambassadors to convey the reality on the ground, and to help in opening channels of communication between countries instead of closing them?

This leads me to the role of corporate media during the war on Syria. Unfortunately, most Western media rely on Al Jazeera, Qatar-funded, and Al Arabiya, Saudi-funded, to report on events in Syria, even though both channels, Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, withdrew their correspondents and relied on what are called “eyewitnesses,” which could be anybody, anywhere. This applies also to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is run by one person in Coventry, U.K., Rami Abdel Rahman.

These media outlets choose to focus on what they find which fits their agenda, ignoring the reality on the ground. For example, even the terrorist acts in Tartus and Jableh recently, which claimed the lives of 200 innocent civilians, were not noticed by Western media, and certainly did not therefore evoke any Western sympathy.

What I would like to say is that the false narrative propagated about Syria was as dangerous to the Syrian people and to the safety and security of Syrians, as the acts perpetrated by terrorists, because it isolated the reality in Syria from the public understanding in the West and in the world at large, and it prevented the creation of a level of understanding between Western countries and the Syrian people about what is going on.

Terrorism and ‘Democracy’

But before we can begin to talk about reconstructing Syria, we still face the monumental challenge of eradicating terrorism in Syria, Iraq, and the region. We have to eradicate this terrorism. And when I say “we,” I do not mean the Syrians or the Iraqis alone, but I mean the world at large, because, as we have seen, in Paris, Brussels, Orlando, and lastly, the U.K., terrorists can strike anywhere in the world; it’s a cancer that can spread anywhere in the world. However, is the world, and in particular, are Western powers, doing all they can to face this danger? This is the question that I would like to ask.

Of course if we separate out what is promoted in the media and look at actions and deeds, rather than words, we see that in the case of Syria, Western countries are not doing what needs to be done to eliminate this danger, both from Syria and from the world at large. And I would like to give you one example: On December 17, 2015, the Security Council adopted Resolution 2253, under Chapter 7, which dictates stopping the financing, arming, and facilitating of terrorists into Syria. The Vienna Group, afterwards, interpreted this resolution, that it should include closing the Turkish border and not allowing armaments and finances to cross to the terrorists. On December 18, the Security Council issued Resolution 2254, which calls for a political solution in Syria.

Now, you see that the entirety of humanity focusses on 2254, without dealing with 2253, which is a logical prerequisite for 2254, that is, for finding a political solution in Syria.

The same thing can be said about humanitarian assistance. Instead of focussing on ending the war in Syria and restoring peace and security in Syria, we see that the entire corporate media is speaking about humanitarian assistance, as if this is the issue! Syria, before this war, was able to host 2 million Iraqis and to feed itself, and to export food to 84 countries in the world. It is since the 1970s that the Syrian people have adopted the motto, “We eat from what we produce, and we wear from what we manufacture,” which means that Syria does not need humanitarian help if there is peace and stability, and if the Syrian people are able to develop their crops and attend to their factories.

Today we hear a lot of talk from the Western alliance about “containing” ISIS, “limiting” ISIS; and lastly, you all heard the speech of CIA Director John Brennan, who said that we did not succeed even in limiting the influence of ISIS. Why? Because there is no real desire and wish, really, to get rid of ISIS. There were two elements: The Russian government had called on Western countries to join efforts to defeat ISIS both in Syria and Iraq, and the agreement in Vienna was that the Turkish borders should be closed. Neither of these two elements received a positive response from the United States or the Western powers. The question is, why?—if there is a real will to fight ISIS.

The other question is, that we in Syria feel that what is needed is a real will in the international community to fight terrorism and to build real bridges. When I say “real bridges,” I mean, on an equal basis, on a basis of parity. The problem with promoting “democracy”—in quotation marks—in our part of the world, is that Western countries believe that liberal democracy is the only issue, or the only copy, or the only formula that should be applied to our countries. And this is not true, because we all have different cultures.

We have different identities, we have different habits, we have different ways of life, and I can give an example: China, India, the Persian culture, Arab culture have contributed a great deal to the world, but on a human basis, and on a basis of parity. In fact, here I would like to make an important point, that the Western world believes in opening markets to the entire world, but only to export its own goods! But not to allow other countries to export to the West, on an equal basis. And every day they invent different formulas in order not to allow equal treatment—tariff constraints and other constraints.

Intellectual Silk Road

The same thing applies to politics. The concepts, values, and ideas, coming from the West should be respected and implemented in our countries, but there is no other road that takes our culture, and our values and our ethics to the West. If we need to create a world for all, if we need to create a peaceful world, if we need to create a prosperous world for all, we need to create a conceptual, intellectual concept of one world; we need to create a conceptual concept of a Silk Road. Not only an actual Silk Road, but an intellectual Silk Road. All of you know that Aleppo and Syria were extremely crucial in the ancient Silk Road that connected Asia to Europe. Syria and the Syrian people will be more than happy to be very active also in a New Silk Road and in a political, social, intellectual Silk Road that connects Asia to the West, that connects Eurasia to the West.

The other byproduct of this war on our countries, and the other byproduct of promoting only Western exceptionalism in our country, is the distortion of the image of Islam in Western eyes. Islam, like any other religion, is a religion of love, a religion of humanity. We, as Muslims, were hardly ever, if ever, addressed in our Quran as Muslims. We are addressed as “ye human beings”: We are part of the human community. And therefore, those who kill in the name of Islam, those who destroy in the name of Islam, are not Muslims at all. They have nothing to do with Islam.

We have to address the concept that the terrorists are promoting, and the lack of dialogue that the corporate media are causing, if we want to create a truly prosperous Silk Road, not only physical, but also intellectual, social, and political. And here, I would like to conclude by thanking Russia and China, who right from the beginning of the war on Syria, took four vetoes against Western attempts to try to strike Syria militarily. And Russia, and China, and Iran, continue to support the Syrian people, to try to find a political solution.

In brief, what I would like to say here is that, in order to build these Silk Roads, we have to deal with each other on an equal basis, on an equal human basis, and dealing otherwise, as superior and inferior, as white and black, as important and less important, is producing extremism, is producing racism which is striking not only in Syria, but in Brussels, in Paris, in Orlando, and last of all in the U.K. Thus, it is in the interests of humanity to think as human beings, to think of the world as truly a human village, where people live equally, and have mutual respect for each other, and deal on the basis of parity.

But this requires a huge change in the mindset of the West, that probably requires another conference, to speak not only about the very important idea launched by China, of building a Silk Road, but to speak about the intellectual, social, and political Silk Road, that thinks and deals with all of us, as human, as brothers and sisters, rather than as superior and inferior. Thus, we can build a new world, and one world, and a much better world than the one we live in. We have an obligation to our grandchildren, wherever they are born, to leave them a better world than this one in which we live now.

Thank you very much.

RUSSIAN AIRSTRIKES WIPE OUT MILITANT COMMUNICATION CENTER IN GREATER IDLIB

An Su-24 taking off from Hmeimim air base in 2015. IMAGE: Russian Ministry of Defense

South Front

A communication center operated by militants and foreign intelligence was destroyed in the recent Russian airstrikes on the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib, RusVesna.SU claimed on March 20.

Warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) targeted the militants’ communication center, which was located in the town of Benin in southern Idlib, with FAB-500 free-fall bombs in the morning of March 20.

The communication center was completely wiped out as a result of the Russian airstrikes, as seen in a video released by RusVesna. A number of militants who were guarding the facility were allegedly killed.

On March 20, Russian warplanes also struck the outskirts of the town of Bkafla in western Idlib. The target has not been revealed yet.

In the last few months, VKS warplanes destroyed many headquarters, ammunition depots and communication center in Greater Idlib. Most of the targeted positions belonged to al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, the de-facto ruler of the region.

The recent Russian airstrikes on Greater Idlib were a response to the militants’ repeated violations of the ceasefire in the region. The ceasefire was brokered by Russia and Turkey on March 5 of 2020.

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• Desperate ISIS Terrorists Murder Truffle Hunters In Syria’s Homs
• Russian Forces Unleash Hell On Greater Idlib After Deadly Rocket Attack On Aleppo City (Videos, Photos)
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• A child martyred, four civilians wounded in shelling by Turkish occupation and its mercenaries on areas in Raqqa countryside
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• Syria calls on UN not to recognize any legal status resulting from the illegal Israeli measures
• Turkey is a main transit country for foreign terrorists towards Syria

حرب بايدن مع بوتين.. إردوغان مع من؟….بقلم حسني محلي

2021-03-20

بانتظار أن يهاتف بايدن إردوغان سوف يتخذ الطرفان الروسي والأميركي كل التدابير والإجراءات لضمان انحياز الرئيس التركي إلى جانبه أو على الأقل البقاء على الحياد.

فاجأ الرئيس التركي الجميع عندما اتخذ (الجمعة) موقفاً متضامناً مع “حليفه الجديد” فلاديمير بوتين في الحرب الكلامية بينه وبين الرئيس الأميركي جو بايدن الذي لم يتصل بإردوغان حتى الآن. فرداً على سؤال يبدو أنه كان معداً مسبقاً قال إردوغان: “في الحقيقة ليس ممكناً القبول بما قاله رئيس دولة ضد رئيس دولة أخرى كروسيا، وليس سهلاً على أحد هضم هذه العبارة التي استخدمها بايدن، وفي رأيي لقد قام بوتين بما يجب القيام به حيث رد على بايدن بشكل ذكي ولائق جداً”.

كلام إردوغان هذا أثار نقاشاً واسعاً في الأوساط السياسية والإعلامية التركية. هناك من أيّد وهناك من شكّك لا سيما أن تصريح إردوغان جاء بعد ساعات قليلة من سماح أنقرة لحاملة الصواريخ الموجهة الأميركية بالمرور عبر مضيق البوسفور باتجاه البحر الأسود الذي يشهد توتراً خطيراً بين روسيا وبين أميركا وحلف الأطلسي الذي يسعى إلى ضم جورجيا وأوكرانيا للحلف الساعي إلى محاصرة موسكو من خلال بناء قواعد بحرية في هاتين الدولتين وفي كل من بلغاريا ورومانيا. 

وجاء حديث السفير الأميركي في أنقرة ديفيد ساترفيلد مع مجموعة من الصحافيين بعد كلام إردوغان بساعتين ليثبت استمرار الموقف الأميركي تجاه أنقرة، حيث لوح ساترفيلد بعقوبات جديدة على تركيا في حال استمرارها بموقفها الحالي في ما يتعلق بصواريخ اس-400 الروسية. 

ورغم أن ساترفيلد لم يتطرق إلى كلام إردوغان في ما يتعلق بالحرب الكلامية بين بايدن وبوتين، إلا أن الأوساط الدبلوماسية في أنقرة تتوقع رداً أميركياً قريباً على كلام إردوغان، ويعرف الجميع أن واشنطن تستعد لحربها معه في مجالات عدة داخلية وخارجية. ويفسر ذلك رد الفعل الأميركي على رفع الحصانة البرلمانية عن أحد اعضاء حزب الشعوب الديمقراطي (الكردي) ومساعي النيابة العامة لحظر نشاط الحزب بشكل نهائي. 

وبانتظار المكالمة الهاتفية التي أعلن بايدن “أنها ستكون في الوقت المناسب” مع بوتين، يبدو واضحاً أن الطرفين الروسي والأميركي يحسبان الكثير من الحسابات لموقف الرئيس إردوغان المحتمل في حال استمرار هذه الأزمة وانعكاساتها على العلاقات الاستراتيجية بين العدوين التقليديين روسيا وأميركا المدعومة من بعض الحلفاء الأوروبيين. 

ومن دون العودة إلى العلاقات التاريخية بين روسيا والدولة العثمانية والتي بدأت قبل خمسمئة سنة تقريباً وتخلل معظمها خلافات وصراعات وحروب، فالجميع يعرف أن علاقات موسكو مع أنقرة دخلت في مسار جديد بعد أن اعتذر إردوغان في حزيران/يونيو 2016 من الرئيس بوتين عن إسقاط الطائرة الروسية في سوريا في 24 تشرين الثاني/ديسمبر 2015. وسمح بوتين بعد ذلك للجيش التركي بدخول جرابلس السورية في 24 آب/أغسطس 2016، أي في ذكرى مرور 500 عام على معركة مرج دابق التي دخل منها السلطان سليم سوريا ثم مصر ليعود منها خليفة على المسلمين. وتطورت العلاقة بعد ذلك بين بوتين وإردوغان لتشمل العديد من مجالات التعاون العسكري والاقتصادي والتجاري والسياحي (6 ملايين روسي زار تركيا عام 2019) بل وحتى المجال النووي، حيث تقوم روسيا ببناء مفاعلات نووية في تركيا بقيمة ثلاثين مليار دولار. ومع جميع حالات المد والجزر التي شهدتها العلاقات بين الطرفين وخاصة في سوريا وأحياناً في ليبيا ومنطقة القوقاز، فقد نجح بوتين في إبقاء إردوغان ضمن “الحلبة الروسية”، وذلك على الرغم من نقاط الخلاف الكثيرة والجدية مع أنقرة في موضوع سوريا وبشكل خاص في إدلب. 

وكان فيه الدعم الذي قدمه باراك أوباما ومن بعده دونالد ترامب والآن جو بايدن إلى وحدات حماية الشعب الكردية السورية الهم الأكبر بالنسبة إلى إردوغان الذي سمح له ترامب ومعه بوتين بإرسال قواته إلى شرق الفرات في 9 تشرين الأول/أكتوبر 2019 لامتصاص غضبه. وكانت هذه الموافقة ومن قبلها موافقة بوتين كافية بالنسبة إلى إردوغان الذي تحول من خلالها إلى عنصر أساسي في المعادلة السورية المعقدة بكل أطرافها الإقليمية والدولية. ويعرقل ذلك التوصل إلى حل نهائي للأزمة السورية إلا برضا أنقرة التي قال عنها إردوغان قبل أيام “إن موقفها منذ بداية الأزمة لم يتغير ولن يتغير”. 

وليس واضحاً كيف سيوازن بوتين بين موقف إردوغان هذا في سوريا وبين المصالح الروسية المتشابكة مع تركيا التي تستورد أكثر من خمسين بالمئة من غازها من روسيا التي باعت أنقرة صواريخ اس-400.

وكانت هذه الصواريخ وما زالت سبباً كافياً للتوتر بين تركيا والحليف الاستراتيجي التقليدي واشنطن التي لها 12 قاعدة في تركيا وأهمها أنجيرليك التي تضم حوالى 50 قنبلة نووية. 

وبانتظار أن يهاتف بايدن إردوغان، وهي مكالمة يعرف الجميع أن إردوغان ينتظرها بفارغ الصبر، سوف يتخذ كل من الطرفين الروسي والأميركي كل التدابير والإجراءات لضمان انحياز إردوغان إلى جانبه أو على الأقل البقاء على الحياد، وهو أمر شبه مستحيل بسبب الموقع الجغرافي الاستراتيجي لتركيا ومن ثم تداخل السياسات التركية في العديد من مناطق العالم مع سياسات العدوين المذكورين. فقد مثّلت تركيا بعد نهاية الحرب العالمية الثانية خندقاً أمامياً للدفاع عن “العالم الديمقراطي المتحضر” ضد خطر الاتحاد السوفياتي الشيوعي، ولولا مؤسسه لينين لما استطاع مصطفى كمال أتاتورك أن ينتصر على دول العالم المذكور، أي فرنسا وبريطانيا وإيطاليا واليونان، ويؤسس جمهوريته المستقلة في 29 تشرين الأول/أكتوبر 1923. وبقيت تركيا ثابتة في خندقها لمنع السوفيات والشيوعية من النزول إلى المياه الدافئة في المنطقة العربية الإسلامية، وتحالفت معها أنظمة الخليج المعروفة التي تآمرت دائماً، وما زالت تتآمر، على المد الوطني والقومي العربي، كما هو الحال في ما يسمى بالربيع العربي. 

وجاء سقوط الاتحاد السوفياتي بداية التسعينات من القرن الماضي ليدفع أنقرة وبتشجيع من واشنطن إلى الحديث عن المد القومي التركي من البوسنة وحتى حدود الصين مروراً بالجمهوريات الإسلامية ذات الأصل التركي في القوقاز وآسيا الوسطى. 

ولم تغير مجمل التطورات التي شهدها العالم خلال الأعوام الثلاثين الماضية من أحلام إردوغان وهو سائر على طريق الرئيس الراحل تورغوت أوزال الذي رفع شعار “أمة تركية واحدة من الأدرياتيكي إلى حدود الصين”، وسعى بعد حرب الكويت 1991 لضم الشمال العراقي إلى تركيا، الأمر الذي فكر به الرئيس  إردوغان أكثر من مرة غداة أحداث ما يسمى بالربيع العربي عندما تحدث عن حدود الميثاق الوطني الذي يضم الشمال السوري مع ولاية الموصل، التي تعني في العرف التركي الموصل وأربيل والسليمانية وكركوك.

في جميع الحالات وحتى وإن كانت احتمالات المواجهة الساخنة بين واشنطن وموسكو ضعيفة، فالجميع يعرف أن بايدن لن يبحث بعد الآن عن حلول وسط في علاقته مع إردوغان، ولكنه في نفس الوقت لن يضحي بتركيا بسهولة. فالرئيس بايدن معروف بمواقفه السلبية تجاه إردوغان على صعيد السياستين الداخلية والخارجية، كما معروف عنه أنه لا يملك الشجاعة الكافية للاستمرار في مواقفه هذه. فبعد أن اتهم في تشرين الأول/أكتوبر 2014 كلاً من تركيا ومعها السعودية والإمارات بدعم التنظيمات الإرهابية في سوريا ومنها داعش والنصرة، زار بايدن بصفته نائب الرئيس أوباما اسطنبول واعتذر من إردوغان بعد أن زاره في منزله وتمنى له الشفاء العاجل بعد عملية جراحية خضع لها في الأمعاء. 

والسؤال هو: هل وكيف سيرد بايدن على تضامن إردوغان مع الرئيس بوتين ضده؟ في حين أن بوتين لن يتأخر في البحث عن مجالات جديدة للتعاون مع إردوغان وتقديم تنازلات جديدة له في سوريا وكاراباخ وليبيا وأماكن أخرى لمنع واشنطن من اختراق تحالفه مع أنقرة.

ولن يبقى أمام بايدن في هذه الحالة إلا خيارين فقط لا ثالث لهما:

الأول: استخدام القوة السياسية والاقتصادية والتجارية بل وحتى العسكرية للتخلص من إردوغان من خلال تضييق الحصار عليه خارجياً (دعم كرد سوريا) في ظل استمرار أزماته الداخلية الخطيرة. 

الثاني: الاتصال بإردوغان بأقرب فرصة لكسب وده وتلبية كل شروطه ومطالبه للعودة إلى التحالف التقليدي بين تركيا وأميركا وفيها العديد من القوى التي تطالب بايدن بمحاسبة إردوغان على خلفية أقواله وأفعاله التي باتت تهدد المصالح الأميركية “ومفاهيم الحضارة الغربية الديمقراطية”. 

وفي كلتا الحالتين سيكتشف الجميع كيف سيواجه إردوغان الاحتمالات القادمة وإذا ما كان سيعالجها بنجاح يضمن بقائه في السلطة وربما إلى الأبد، أو أنه سيجد نفسه في دوامة التجاذبات الصعبة بين حليفه التقليدي أميركا والحليف الجديد روسيا، من دون أن يتجاهل “صداقة” بكين (عدو بايدن الحقيقي)، ولولاها لما تم تطعيم الشعب التركي ضد كورونا!

المصدر: الميادين نت

THE SYRIAN ARAB ARMY IN THE WORLD’S MOST VOLATILE GAME OF WHACK-A-MOLE

South Front

You can read this article in German. LINK

It is as if the Syrian Arab Army were involved in a giant game of whack-a-mole.  Each time it carries out a successful operation on one of its numerous battlefields, it gets punished elsewhere.

On March 16^th, a convoy of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) elite 4th Division was ambushed in the countryside of Daraa. Despite heavy fire from the SAA, the gunmen were able to escape after killing 22 service members and injuring at least five others.

The situation in Daraa is quite complicated. In February, the SAA was preparing to launch a large-scale operation to arrest a group of wanted militants in western Daraa.  However former rebel leaders expelled the group from the area and accepted a new reconciliation agreement. The operation was thus avoided, but there has been no cessation of hostilities.

The time may have come for another operation in Daraa, keeping in mind the recent progress in actions in the northeast against Turkish proxies, who had been smuggling oil.

Sure enough, Russian Military Police also completed their deployment to the vicinity of the ancient city of Busra in the southern Syrian governorate. Wherever a Syrian operation is about to happen, Russian support is always nearby.

Meanwhile, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) resumed oil and wheat shipments to areas held by the Damascus government. This is an expected result of continuous pressure from Damascus and its Russian support. The Russians even regained control of an oil field and a gas field in nearby Raqqah.

This, of course, comes in addition to the heavy punishment meted out by the SAA to the Turkish proxies in the northeast, who have been exploiting the situation and trafficking resources for Ankara.

More than likely the SDF took the decision to resume shipments 35 days after halting them after considering the developments of the last several days and weeks.

In central Syria, a testament to the progress made in pushing back ISIS is likely the 140 km long trench being dug by the Iraqi Armed Forces. Being pounded by both the SAA and the Russian Armed Forces, ISIS cells are attempting to move into Iraq and carry out their activities there. The Iraqi Army is attempting to pincer them and to both stop their movement in that direction and entrap the terrorists.

The SAA is making progress on many fronts throughout Syria, and large-scale operations are expected in the northeast. Time will tell which issue is more pressing – the Turkish proxies in the northeast, the terrorists in the central region, the “moderate opposition” in Greater Idlib or the insurgency in Daraa.

Threatening Syria’s First Lady Shows NATO’s Depravity

Former editor and writer for major news media organizations. He has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages

Finian Cunningham

March 18, 2021

Threatening Syria’s First Lady – a national heroine – with prosecution for war crimes is NATO powers reaching into the gutter, Finian Cunningham writes.

This week marks the 10th anniversary since the United States and its NATO allies launched a devastating covert war of aggression for regime change in Syria. Ten years on, the Arab nation is struggling with war reconstruction, a struggle made all the more onerous because of economic sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union.

Syria and allied forces from Russia, Iran, Iraq and Lebanon’s Hezbollah won the war, defeating legions of mercenary terrorist fighters who were armed and infiltrated into Syria by NATO. Nearly half a million Syrians were killed and half the pre-war population of 23 million was displaced.

But tragically the war is not over yet. It has moved to new hybrid phase of economic warfare in the form of Western sanctions and blockade on Syria.

The barbarity of Western sanctions on Syria have necessitated the cover of distractive media narratives.

This explains the sensation of British media reports that Asma al-Assad, the wife of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is being investigating by London’s Metropolitan police for war crimes. Asma (45) was born in London, was educated there and holds British nationality. Although she has Syrian heritage.

Now British authorities are mulling stripping her of nationality and seeking her extradition over charges that she aided and abetted war crimes, including preposterously, the use of chemical weapons against civilians. There is practically no chance of a prosecution, but that’s not the British aim. Rather it is all about smearing the Syrian leadership and distracting the world’s attention from the real issues: which are the criminality of NATO’s war on Syria and the ongoing economic warfare to destroy the nation into submission.

Irish peace activist and author Declan Hayes who has travelled extensively in Syria during the past decade commented: “Britain’s legally ludicrous accusations against Asma al-Assad have a number of objectives in mind. They are there to delegitimize Syria’s 2021 presidential elections; they are there to scare expatriate Syrians and British humanitarians; they are there to deflect from NATO’s well documented war crimes; and they are there to deflect from the mercenary collusion of a cast of media, political and NGO characters in NATO’s war crimes in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen.”

Asma married Bashar in 2000. Before the war erupted in March 2011, she was eulogized in Western media as the “desert rose” owing to her feminine beauty and quietly spoken graceful persona. The daughter of a cardiologist and having had a career in investment banking before she become Syria’s First Lady, Asma al-Assad later showed herself to be no wilting flower. She refused to leave Damascus and go into comfortable exile with her children when the war was raging.

She remained loyally by her husband’s side and took on the role of consoling the nation, often visiting families of slain soldiers and civilian victims of NATO’s terror gangs.

No doubt the stress resulted in Asma suffering from breast cancer for which she was successfully treated in 2018.

President Assad and his wife stood by the Syrian nation when the jaws of defeat were looming during the early years of the war. When Russia intervened in support of its historic ally in October 2015, the tide of the war turned decisively against the NATO plan for regime change. Assad was singled out for regime change because of his anti-imperialist position against the U.S., Britain, France and Israel. His alliance with Russia, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah put a target on his back for destruction, as former French foreign minister Roland Dumas disclosed. Dumas revealed that the British government had war plans on Syria two years before the violence erupted in March 2011. In this context, the so-called “uprising” was a carefully orchestrated false flag.

The mysterious shootings of police and protesters in the southern city of Daraa – which served to smear the Assad government internationally – were the same modus operandi used by NATO covert forces which carried out the sniper murders in Kiev’s Maidan Square triggering the February 2014 coup d’état in Ukraine.

Western media headlines this week marking the 10th anniversary since the beginning of NATO’s war on Syria have been ghoulish and nauseating.

There is a sense of gloating over the misery and hunger that the nation is facing.

A headline in Associated Press labels Syria as the “Republic of Queues”, reporting almost gleefully on how civilians are struggling with food and fuel shortages.

Nowhere in the media coverage is there a mention of how the American CIA and Britain’s MI6 ran Operation Timber Sycamore to arm and direct mercenaries to terrorize Syrians. Absurdly, Western media still claim that Syria’s war rose out of “pro-democracy uprisings” which were crushed by a “ruthless Assad regime”.

Barely acknowledged too is the fact that the United States, Britain and the European Union are strangling a war-torn nation with barbaric sanctions preventing reconstruction. The criminality of economic terrorism is the corollary of a failed criminal covert war of aggression.

The abominable reality of Western policy towards Syria has to be covered up. Threatening Syria’s First Lady – a national heroine – with prosecution for war crimes is NATO powers reaching into the gutter.

ISRAEL IS BACK WITH AIRSTRIKES AS TURKEY SCRAMBLES TO SALVAGE SOME OIL IN SYRIA

South Front

As has become customary in recent weeks, after the relative success of the Axis of Resistance on battlefields across the Middle East, Israel delivered a reminder of its interest in Syria.

On March 16^th, Damascus’ air defense repelled a missile barrage, which was heading towards targets surrounding the Syrian capital.

A statement by the Syrian Arab Army said that the missiles had been launched from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights and targeted undisclosed positions around Damascus. Most of the missiles were reportedly intercepted and no casualties were observed. There was minimal damage.

Strikes such as these are commonplace and happen somewhat regularly, especially now in 2021, when Tel Aviv considers its interests under even more threat than usual due to the Biden Administration’s relative passivity towards Iran.

The Israeli strike was not the only attack on Damascus in recent days. On March 15^th, Syrian security forces foiled a terrorist attack intended to target unspecified areas in Damascus. As a result, three terrorists were killed and three were arrested. All six were wearing explosive belts.

Separately, in what is likely a positive development for Damascus, Russian forces moved into an oil field and gas field in the northeast Raqqah governorate.

Russian military reinforcements alongside units from the Russian-backed Fifth Armored Division arrived at al-Thawra oil facility which produces around 2,000 bpd.

Earlier, on March 12^th, Russian forces entered the Toueinane gas field, also in the same area.

This is a small, but notable shift highlighting a change in the balance of power in northern Syria. Since Russia is allied with Damascus, prior to that most of Syria’s oil went to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces or various Turkish proxies.  Most of the oil still goes out of Syria, but this is a movement in another direction.

In addition, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that Turkish forces are carry out military movements and acts in Raqqa countryside in violation of a Memorandum of Understanding that Ankara signed with Moscow.

According to a statement, the Russian side is extremely worried about transporting military equipment affiliated to the Turkish armed forces and establishing fortifications and support points in the suburbs of Ain Issa.

This is an attempt at a Turkish response to recent shelling by the Syrian Arab Army in the area surrounding Aleppo, and other positions where Turkish proxies operate. Ankara can’t afford to lose access to all of its cheap oil, and as such needs to provide some semblance of resistance before losing access to it.

It’s 10 years since the war in Syria began, and Western media & pundits are still eager to keep it going

*Media headlines at the 10 year anniversary of the war on Syria.

March 15, 2021, RT.com

-by Eva K Bartlett

After many wars built on lies over the decades, people might have developed a good BS radar. Instead, in March 2011, when media and human rights groups pushed propaganda about Syria, the public once again fell for it.

Front page, round-the-clock headlines were pumped out, and transparently hollow Western pundits tut-tutted Syria’s president and claimed the Syrian government was cracking down on “peaceful protesters.”

But this is March 2021, and while Western lies and fake concern have dominated news on Syria, Syrians deserve to have the reality – their suffering under some of the most heinous terrorism the world has known – highlighted instead.

In reality, March 2011 in Syria saw well-armed thugs attacking not only government buildings, but killing soldiers and civilians too.

In the months and years that followed, some of those who had been dubbed as “peaceful protesters” committed massacre after massacre of Syrian civilians and security forces.

Independent observers like Homs-based Dutch priest Father Frans van der Lugt witnessed “armed demonstrators who began to shoot at the police first.”

Flemish priest Father Daniel Maes, based in Damascus’ countryside, said:

“I have seen with my own eyes how agitators from outside Syria organized protests against the government and recruited young people. Murders were committed by foreign terrorists, against the Sunni and Christian communities, in an effort to sow religious and ethnic discord among the Syrian people.”

From my own fourteen visits from April 2014 and over the next seven years, what I’ve heard and experienced in Syria only confirmed my early suspicions that what Al Jazeera and Western media were purporting were lies.

– While people did aspire to political change (and the government made changes), from the start there was violence from well-armed “protesters.”

– Contrary to what the media would have us believe, there wasn’t wide support for what was dubbed a “revolution,” and it wasn’t actually a revolution. Predominantly Sunni Aleppo rejected the non-revolution.

– The core message of the protesters who continued beyond the first few protests was not about democracy but about driving out Christians to Beirut and killing Alawites. A sectarianism promoted by the West and its Gulf allies.

Although mass media attempted to paint events in Syria as a “civil war,” both Israel and Western nations have long been supporting terrorists in Syria, including Al-Qaeda in Syria (reportedly providing them medical treatment), and even Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS).

And as I detailed, the West has long been working to change the government of Syria, even decades prior during Hafez al-Assad’s time.

How I saw Syria vs. what it looks like through al-Qaeda-tinted glasses

In April 2014, I met an American living in Latakia who recalled reading a LA Times blog post alleging a protest which had turned violent in her city three years prior, but which never happened. According to her, she had been to the places mentioned in the report that day, and there was no unrest.

Years later in Damascus, I met and interviewed a Syrian doctor who had been based in Dara’a province in March 2011. He described how his hospital operated at normal capacity at the time. At the same time he says he saw a repeated report on another mainstream outlet that said the facility was overwhelmed, not enough doctors were available, and moreover, that the hospital was denying treatment to civilians, when in fact the hospital directives were to treat civilians before soldiers.

Since a core message in regime-change reporting on Syria has been that the people want the president gone, it’s worth noting that President Assad is actually quite popular among Syrians. In fact, I was surprised to come across a January 2012 admission of this, one of the worst purveyors of lies and war propaganda on Syria.

Assad’s popularity has only steadily grown. From the early months of 2011 to late 2011, 2012, and beyond, Syrians held mass demonstrations in support of their president.

In Lebanon in 2014, I witnessed a mass show of support during the presidential election. These were people determined to vote, and people I spoke with proudly declared their support for Assad.

From 2014 to my last visit in 2020, Syrians have maintained to me that while there are a host of changes they do want for the country, seeing President Assad step down is not one of them.

The Syrian government issues visas to journalists from the worst propaganda outlets (including the BBC, Channel 4, the New York Times, CBC). Yet, they have reported a vastly different Syria than that which I or my colleagues know.

In their Syria, the suffering of civilians in government-controlled areas doesn’t exist. If mentioned, they are dubbed “regime supporters,” thus somehow deserving of the shelling and other abuse perpetrated by terrorist factions.

The outlets don’t take into account the millions of internally displaced Syrians who have fled terrorism or fighting elsewhere in Syria and taken shelter in government-controlled areas, frequently coming under attacks of terrorists.

When greater Aleppo, with around 1.5 million people, were for years being attacked with gas canister bombs, mortars, grad missiles and sniping by terrorists occupying areas of the city (by November 2016 resulting in the deaths of nearly 11,000 civilians), media downplayed this, or simply didn’t mention it at all.

*From my February 2015 “University Hospital, Damascus: Meeting Victims of Western-backed Mortar and Rocket Terrorism“

Even when mixed Christian and Muslim areas of Old Damascus were shelled by terrorists occupying eastern Ghouta—and they were shelled for years, until Ghouta’s liberation—this terrorism, and the many maimed and killed, was underreported, if reported at all.

In one instance, after an elementary school was mortared (killing one child and injuring over 60 more) the BBC’s reporter later disingenuously wrote, “the government is also accused of launching [mortar shells] into neighborhoods under its control.”

In summer of 2016, I travelled around Syria, meeting Syrians who had started their lives anew, displaced by terrorists, and meeting Syrians who had survived terrorist attacks only to be living within a few hundred metres proximity and daily at risk of sniping and shelling.

And all the while, the same war propagandizing, script-reading, media glossed over the horrific realities of life under terrorist rule, which included imprisonment, torture, starvation, rape of women, and public executions of civilians by sword or point-blank assassination.

‘Fallen’ cities, ‘chemical attacks’ and other lies

I’ve gone to many key cities and towns post-liberation from terrorist factions. Western media inevitably said these areas had “fallen,” bizarrely trying to claim that life under the government would be worse than life under the extremists who easily and routinely murdered civilians in the street.

Civilians under terrorist rule were starving—not by the Syrian government, but by the terrorists—and were often imprisoned in ghastly often underground prisons.

From the old city of Homs, to the ancient Aramaic-speaking village of Maaloula, to eastern Aleppo, to Madaya and al-Waer, to eastern Ghouta and even areas of Idlib province, civilians I met spoke of the hell they had lived under terrorist rule, and of their relief at being liberated.

When mass media said those areas “fell,” they were lying. Those areas returned to peace and stability.

UN representatives may feign concern and neutrality in matters Syria, but the UN has been complicit in ignoring terrorists’ shelling of Damascus. And in silencing the voices of suffering civilians and Syrian representatives at the UN.

Then there is the issue of the alleged and never proven “chemical attacks” by the Syrian army.

I’ve written about the chemical weapons accusations, noting even a lead member of the UNHRC commission of Inquiry, blamed the “rebels.”

Many journalists, including myself, have gone to Douma, the location of the latest alleged chemical attack, and interviewed medical staff and civilians, concluding that a chemical attack did not take place.

Douma witnesses spoke at The Hague, including a boy featured in Western media’s claims. Instead of considering these Syrian sources, pundits and media sneered “obscene mascarade” regarding the testimonies.

Yes, the same media which uncritically endorsed the Twitter account of a seven year old English-illiterate Aleppo girl as gospel in the lead up to the liberation of Aleppo refused to consider the testimonies of seventeen civilians from Douma.

Irrefutable proof that Bana does not know any English. Not even the simplest possible English. What a scam! #Syria pic.twitter.com/ytOc9ieb4R

— Ibn Walid (@walid970721) February 3, 2017

The same media refused the revelations of OPCW whistleblowers who spoke out, damning the final OPCW report for its glaring omissions—omissions that completely changed the narrative around Douma.

In October 2020, the UN Security Council itself refused to allow José Bustani, former General Director of the OPCW, to speak. I urge people to read Bustani’s words on the cover up of OPCW expert findings around the Douma allegations.

*Screenshot I took in 2020 when seeing CNN recycling their lies of 2018–as though it was happening in 2020

Still lying after all these years

Even now, five years after his image was plastered across global media as the “face of suffering in Syria,” allegedly hurt in a Russian or Syrian airstrike, the UK’s Independent has a photo of Aleppo boy Omran Daqneesh as its Twitter cover photo.

The Independent's cover photo is a propaganda story that I debunked in 2017, by actually going to Aleppo & speaking to the father of the boy in question.

Says a lot to about credibility (lack thereof) & integrity (lack thereof) of The Independent. https://t.co/x9iWhGTNaI pic.twitter.com/W2J67dwetU

— Eva Karene Bartlett (@EvaKBartlett) March 9, 2021

But this was a narrative debunked in mid-2017, when I met a healthy Omran and his father. The father specifically said there was no airstrike.

Still other lies that were debunked years ago are being recycled anew, in the West’s ceaseless attempt to criminalize Bashar al-Assad and legitimize the US coalition’s illegal presence in Syria.

But none of the media or pundits who claim to care about Syrians’ well-being address the actual causes (including terrorists) of their suffering, chief among which, the brutal Western sanctions against Syria, which directly impact on Syrian civilians’ ability to live and procure medicine, much less rebuild.

Also impacting on Syrians’ economy and sufficiency, the US’ theft of Syrian oil and cotton, and burning of wheat. And this, along with other US illegal polices in Syria, will only get worse under the Biden administration.

And if you peruse recent headlines, you’ll see the same old Western insistence that things won’t change until Bashar al-Assad is gone. They’ve blatantly said sanctions will continue until then.

And now they’re going after the first lady, a woman who is well-liked on the ground in Syria for dedicating her work to helping the country’s poorest through development and microfinance projects.

The West would have us believe she has, “incited and encouraged terrorist acts,” a claim, emanating from the UK (which most definitely incited and encouraged terrorism), that would be laughable were it not so revolting.

Russia has called this, “psychological pressure on the eve of the presidential election.”

A look at the legal entity behind the absurd allegations reveals this isn’t the first time they’ve attempted a legal attack against the Syrian government.

To adequately write about the past ten years of war on Syria would take volumes. For the sake of brevity: it need never have happened, nor the deaths and destruction accompanying it.

This was a premeditated and cruel war on the people of Syria, spurned forth by media who truly do not care about the lives of Syrians.

To quote Father Daniel:

“The media can either contribute to the massacre of the Syrian people or help the Syrian people, with their media coverage. Unfortunately, there are too many followers and cowards among journalists.”

RELATED LINKS:

–Deconstructing the NATO Narrative on Syria

–The Terrorism We Support in Syria: A First-hand Account of the Use of Mortars against Civilians

–Absurdities of Syrian war propaganda

–Western media ignoring reality on the ground in Syria

–Liberated Homs Residents Challenge Notion of “Revolution”

–Overcoming Savagery and Treachery, Maaloula’s Heroic Defenders Fight for the Future

–Where is the West’s compassion & condemnation following terror attacks in Middle East?

–Torture, starvation, executions: Eastern Ghouta civilians talk of life under terrorist rule

–Syria War Diary: What Life Is Like Under ‘Moderate’ ‘Rebel’ Rule

–Order Returns To Western Cities as Syrian Civilians Recount Horrors Of ‘Rebel’ Rule

–Liberate Syria’s Idlib, precisely for the civilians that America fakes concern over

–Scoundrels & gangsters at UN: Silencing the Syrian narrative

–The UK & US alliance brings the UNSC into disrepute by banning Syria chemical weapons briefing from ex-OPCW head

–Statement of Concern: The OPCW investigation of alleged chemical weapons use in Douma, Syria

–US sanctions are part of a multi-front war on Syria, and its long-suffering civilians are the main target

–As Syria Struggles Under COVID-19 Lockdown, America’s Scorched Earth Policy Ensures Food Insecurity

–Syria, Venezuela sanctions

–Joe Biden Unlawful Aggression in Syria Signals the Endgame in the Region

–Impressions From An Informal Meeting With Asma al-Assad, Syria’s First Lady

Terrorism is a Western industry to destabilize independent countries and plunder their wealth

Source

For decades, Western countries, led by the United States, have been creating an appropriate climate for investment in terrorism and making it a means and pretext for waging wars.

After the attacks of September 11, 2001, Washington took advantage of the international circumstances that were formed after the attacks to form multiple alliances under the pretext of combating terrorism.

The US-led collation occupied Afghanistan and waged the wars and interventions against Iraq, Libya, Syria and other countries in the world.

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton published her book “Hard Choices” in 2016. In this book, Clinton admitted that “ the US administration established the terrorist organization ISIS in the region with the aim of destabilizing its countries”.

During his 2016 election campaign, former US President Donald Trump announced to a crowd of his supporters in Florida that former US President Barack Obama was the founder of “ISIS”.

A former employee of the US National Security Agency Edward Snowden, published documents in ‘The Intercept’ in 2014.

The document said that “the Institute of Intelligence and Special Tasks, in cooperation with British intelligence MI6, the Israeli Mossad and the US National Security Agency, paved the way for the emergence of the terrorist “ISIS” organization in the Middle East.”

Many press reports documented that ISIS was formed and its leaderships prepared in Bucca prison in southern Iraq, which was run by the American occupation forces after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Last September, the Gray Zone, an independent news website, revealed how Western intelligence manipulated Arab and international media outlets in order to create misleading media coverage about the situation in Syria and the war against it.

Last year, the British ‘Middle East Eye’ website leaked documents showing the involvement of the West in general and the British government in particular in supporting and financing terrorist organizations in Syria under the name of ‘moderate opposition’.

British writer Mark Curtis, who published these documents, said , that Britain began clandestine operations against Syria in early 2012, that is, since the start of the terrorist war against it.

Britain was closely involved in smuggling weapons shipments to terrorists, training and organizing them in a years-long process in cooperation with the United States and the Saudi regime.

O. al-Mohammad

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