Washington’s Dollar-and-Stick ploy with Iraq

February 16 2023

Source

Iraqi officials are in Washington to discuss “economic reforms” but are in fact being pressured to shun Iranian energy imports in the hope of having US sanctions and dollar rations lifted.

Photo Credit: The Cradle

By Zaher Mousa

On 8 February, 2023, an Iraqi delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein arrived in Washington to discuss easing the recent US Treasury measures that have restricted the supply of dollars to Baghdad and imposed sanctions on the Central Bank of Iraq.

The high-level delegation, which includes several government officials, has indefinitely extended its stay in Washington for the “difficult” negotiations, indicating Iraq’s limited options in these talks. If the discussions fail and Washington does not ease its punishing measures, a major crisis could erupt in Iraq – resulting in the collapse of the dinar’s value because of high demand and limited supply.

A Washington Institute report suggests that the US is exerting “severe” pressure on Baghdad to redirect its energy sector away from Iran and to address allegations that its banking sector assists the Islamic Republic in evading western sanctions. These demands are likely to be challenging for Iraq to meet, given its vital ties to Iran and the importance of the energy sector to its economy.

New government, old challenges

The Iraqi visit takes place 100 days after the formation of the government of Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, which had to immediately grapple with the imposition of US sanctions on three Iraqi banks, and restrictions on dollar transfers from Iraq’s oil revenue account in New York to the Central Bank of Iraq.

These measures were put in place to ensure that Iraq did not violate US sanctions on Iran and Syria, which led to a significant decrease in the supply of dollars and a decline in the value of the dinar. This, in turn, stirred up discontent within a population already facing financial hardships.

Sudani’s new government responded by implementing quick measures: subsidizing some basic commodities, launching a campaign of arrests against dollar smugglers, and reducing the official exchange rate from 1,450 dinars to 1,300 dinars per dollar.

However, these steps were unable to control spiraling prices, and only resulted in a slight decrease in the dollar value in the parallel market. This situation has made negotiations with US officials even more critical for the Iraqi delegation, as failure to ease the US measures could have dire consequences for Iraq’s already fragile economy.

‘Forced to negotiate’

Sources in Iraq’s cabinet confirmed to The Cradle that the US did not want Prime Minister Sudani to lead the delegation to Washington, and requested a lower level of representation. As a result, Baghdad carefully selected the members of the visiting team, which is currently led by Fuad Hussein from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), who is considered an “old friend” of the US.

The Iraqi delegation also includes Adnan al Zarfi, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee (PFC), who was previously nominated for the prime ministerial position. Zarfi maintains good relations with Washington officialdom, and has held US citizenship since 2003, making him a strategic choice for inclusion in the Iraqi mission.

Hussein Muanis, a PFC member and head of the Huqouq movement – which is close to Iran-supported Kataeb Hezbollah – tells The Cradle that Iraq was “forced to negotiate:”

“Negotiations should have been based on the strategic framework agreement [which the two countries signed in 2008]. What has been leaked from it so far indicates that the talks were not limited to the economic issues, and that the Iraqi delegation heard American diktats.”

However, Muanis denies that the US had placed a veto on the participation of any Iraqi political personages in the delegation. He emphasized that the PFC had unanimously selected Zarfi as a representative of the legislative authority: “we understand the position of a large part of the political parties regarding relations with Washington.”

Hard bargaining by the US

Thamer Dhiban, a member of the PFC for the Al-Fateh Alliance, which opposes the US presence in Iraq and includes Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq and the Badr Organization, confirmed that the “Coalition for State Administration,” the largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament, supports these negotiations. Dhiban added that “what we have heard so far is positive in principle.”

He tells The Cradle: “There was an agreement to send another delegation to delve into the details of the economic issues, and we were not informed that the negotiations discussed political or military matters,” adding:

“The conditions for financial compliance and connection with the SWIFT system are in the interest of Iraq in the first place, and we will not allow the repetition of the economic blockade that was imposed on Iraq previously.”

Other sources suggest that the meeting between Central Bank Governor Ali al-Alaq and the US Treasury Department only discussed the conditions of the US Federal Reserve regarding financial transfers in dollars and Baghdad’s plans to reform the economic and financial sector.

However, during Hussein’s meeting with his US counterpart Anthony Blinken, political issues were also on the table. According to a Kurdish source who insisted on confidentiality, these included:

“Iraq’s accession to the Abraham Accords, normalization with Israel (which is currently criminalized in Iraq), urging Baghdad to find alternatives to Iranian energy imports, implementing electrical interconnection with Persian Gulf states and Jordan, facilitating the extension of the oil pipeline from Basra to Aqaba, and accelerating the export of gas. The Americans also requested that the ISIS-fighting and pro-Iran Popular Mobilizations Units (PMUs or Hashd al-Shaabi) be repositioned far way from US military bases in Iraq.”

Sources close to Iraq’s pro-Iran political factions, however, believe that “the idea of dissolving the PMUs will be impossible to implement due to legal obstacles on the one hand, and an urgent need for its existence, in addition to the difficulty of integrating it into the regular army.”

Regarding normalization with Tel Aviv, the sources say that the law criminalizing any interaction with Israel – approved by Iraq’s parliament in 2022 – blocked this project.

The sources also say one possible solution toward brokering the US dollar-control issue in Iraq is to resolve Baghdad’s tensions with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Erbil, as the latter is a trusted US intermediary in Iraq. If Baghdad accepts to pay Erbil’s public salaries, for instance, this may smooth the way for the US to reduce pressures.

Ditching the dollar

Iraq is facing a multitude of crises, from political divisions to economic struggles. Due to its vast oil and gas resources, it has become an object of interest for both global and regional powers. Hours before the Iraqi delegation headed to Washington, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Baghdad and held talks with Iraqi officials about the dollar crisis and ways to enhance energy cooperation.

One of the proposals discussed was for Iraq to join a system that uses the Chinese yuan to facilitate trade with Tehran and Moscow, which are both subject to US sanctions. This move could provide Iraq with an alternative to the US dollar and help to mitigate the effects of the sanctions.

According to Kuwaiti newspaper, Al-Jarida, some Iraqi experts described this particular Lavrov proposal as returning Baghdad to the era of “barter trade,” when the administration of Saddam Hussein entered into a food-for-oil exchange. For them, any payments outside the exalted dollar currency cannot build a proper economy.

But this is only one view from inside Iraq. According to official sources in Sudani’s media office, Baghdad does in fact “aspire to obtain membership in the Asian Development Bank and deposit the financial surplus in it instead of buying US bonds or increasing the financial reserves of the dollar.” The Asian Bank, the sources say, grants larger loan amounts with fewer conditions and lower interest rates than the World Bank.

Likewise, Iraq plans to submit membership requests to join the multipolar BRICS+ group of countries and the Chinese-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

As of this writing, the Iraqi delegation is still in Washington, but holding fewer official meetings and at a lower level.

Hezbollah: US sanctions nothing less than war as civilians, infrastructures targeted

Sunday, 19 February 2023 9:03 AM  [ Last Update: Sunday, 19 February 2023 9:22 AM ]

Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, head of the Executive Council of Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement

A high-ranking official with Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement has slammed the illegal sanctions imposed by the United States on the countries that are opposed to Washington’s policies, saying the restrictive measures are a “crime” with the same destructive effects of a “military operation.”

Speaking in Beqaa province, head of Hezbollah Executive Council, Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, stressed that the US bans are aimed at killing people and bringing about destruction.

“The US sanctions slapped on Lebanon and other countries that are not aligned with Washington are a crime not less than a military operation, because the objective is to kill people and bring about destruction and devastation,” he noted.

Safieddine further criticized the Lebanese who offer giving up to the US, saying such proposals cannot set the Arab country free from its problems.

“This approach can neither resolve the presidential case nor help the economy. The solution lies in lifting the US sanctions against Lebanon.” 

Lebanon has been without a president since last October, when Michel Aoun’s mandate expired. A caretaker cabinet with limited capabilities has been overseeing the government’s responsibilities in the Middle Eastern country.

Also in his remarks, the Hezbollah official noted that the Lebanese resistance will counter the sanctions through the programs, which the Americans are well aware of.

“The main goal of Hezbollah is to protect human dignity and raise its status… Hezbollah has mobilized all its capabilities for the nation and does not stop serving the people even for a moment.”

Lebanese lira falling to record low part of US plan: Analyst–Lebanon

Lebanon is contending with its worst financial and economic crisis since its 1975-90 civil war. The Lebanese currency has lost more than 90 percent of its value since fall 2019 and the prices of basic goods have skyrocketed.

The US has exacerbated the woes by putting Lebanon under siege and adopting the so-called Caesar Act, which has hindered the Arab country’s economic cooperation with its neighbors.

Creditors under the US influence such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have conditioned the release of billions of dollars in emergency loans to specific reforms

---

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir

www.presstv.co.uk

LATEST NEWS

• Hezbollah downplays ‘US Syria sanctions waiver’
• Tehran denounces ‘shameful’ Western silence vis-à-vis new Israeli aggression on Syria
• Record number of Britons turning to food banks amid cost-of-living crisis3hr
• US, South Korea stage joint air exercise after North’s ICBM launch
• Iran to unveil unmanned Qaher fighter jet next year: IAIO
• Europe grapples with industrial action
• VIDEO | Press TV’s new headlines 3hrUS gun violence: Mass shooting leaves 9 children wounded in Georgia
• Hezbollah sends quake aid to Syria, raps West’s ‘fake support’ for human rights
• Calls mounting for US to lift sanctions on quake-stricken Syria

Syria and US War Crimes: The Reckoning is Coming

JANUARY 23, 2023

Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° 

Christopher Black
In an article published here in November 2018, I referred to the statement of the UK representative of a UN organisation named the International, Impartial, Independent Mechanism to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of Persons Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes under International Law Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011.

I will repeat that statement because it is relevant to the current situation in Syria. That person stated,

“We must demonstrate that those who have committed the most serious crimes of international concern can have no place to hide. There must be no impunity for the horrendous acts taking place on a daily basis in Syria. There must be justice for the victims.”

The UK representative said this without any sense of irony, without any sense of shame, for, of course, it is the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada and their gang who have committed war crimes, and crimes against humanity beyond number in Syria since they instigated the uprisings against the government of Syria, beginning in 2011, supported their allied terrorists groups to attack Syrian armed forces and civilians, and imposed their illegal sanctions on the people of Syria.

The history of the war against Syria by the US and UK, Israel and their allies is well-known, the cruel sanctions, the aerial bombings, the missile attacks, the assassinations, the torture, the illegal occupation of the Golan Heights by Israel with US support, and, finally, the US invasion of Syria that began in 2015 with US special forces raids into its territory on a number of occasions that year and 2016 and the formal entry of US forces on March 8, 2017. Their invasion has continued to this day.

During the summer of 2017 US forces laid waste the city of Raqqa, Their carpet bombing of the city, their heavy artillery strikes and use of white phosphorous shells, banned under international law, killed hundreds of civilians, and today Raqqa lies in ruins.  Their terrorist allies laid waste Aleppo, Damascus and numerous other cities and towns and villages with a savagery as common to US trained groups, as it is to the US forces themselves.

The Americans gave all sorts of pretexts for this invasion, none of which were true and none of which gave them any legal basis for their aggression, for that is what their actions were; direct and brutal aggression against a sovereign nation in violation of the Nuremberg Principles established in 1946, in violation of the Kellog-Briand Pact of 1928, in which all these nations agreed not to attack any other nation, and in violation of the UN Charter, all of which the aggressor nations were subject to as part of international law and their own domestic law.

The invasion ordered by President Obama, making him a war criminal, expanded in scope until President Trump ordered American forces to be pulled out in 2019.  But US forces still remain in occupation of the northeastern parts of Syria. Their exact number is not known but it is at least one thousand and probably higher than that as they continue to build bases controlling the important oil fields that provide much of Syria’s energy needs and cash for exports as well as areas of wheat production vital to the survival of the Syrian state and its people.  The Americans continue to provide their usual pretexts for this, such as “fighting terrorism” “containing Russian influence in the Middle East, or supporting the Kurdish forces opposing both Syria and Turkey.

On January 10, 2023, in the magazine Defense One, William Roebuck, an American with the long title of Former Deputy Envoy for the Global Coalition against ISIS, repeated all these pretexts as justification for the American invasion but added, in calling for the invasion to continue,

“Our presence also blocks Russian consolidation of its military mission in Syria, undercutting one of the key sources of Moscow’s surprisingly resilient prestige in the region and hence lending support to our Ukraine policy efforts,”

thereby linking the US invasion and occupation of Syria to the US-NATO aggression against Russia in Ukraine.

Of course Mr. Roebuck could not cite any legal reasons or justifications as to why the US should be able to continue its occupation, because there are none, but as is common with all American and NATO governments and their officials, they could not care less about the law or morality.

The Syrian government states the situation clearly.

Om January 12, the Syrian Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, Muhammad Hassan Qatana, affirmed that the exceptional circumstances that Syria is passing through because of the terrorist war, instigated by the United States, and unilateral coercive measures have badly affected achievements of many years of sustainable development and caused large losses.

On January 13, Syrian Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister, Bassam Tu’ma, said that the US occupation of parts of the Syrian territory, including oil resources, and the illegal sanctions imposed by Washington on Syria, cause great suffering on the Syrian People.

These statements follow the August 22, 2022, report in Tass that,

“According to the Syrian Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, U.S.-led entities illegally export up to 66,000 barrels of oil daily, representing 80% of the daily production of hydrocarbons. The scale of Washington’s oil theft has reached a peak. Because of this the humanitarian situation in the country remains difficult, millions of Syrians face energy, food and water shortages and are in need of basic necessities.”

“Russia and Syria strongly condemn the plundering of the natural resources. The US-backed Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces currently control most of Syria’s eastern and northeastern Al-Hasakah, Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa provinces. The US military command has established nine military bases there since 2015. Damascus views the US military presence in Syria as an illegal occupation.”

On December 14, 2022, the Syrian government in a statement to the Security Council stated,

“Syria condemns the actions of the US occupation forces and demands an end to the illegal US military presence on its territory.

“Syria draws the attention of the international community to the systematic plundering of the natural resources of the Syrian people by the United States and associated paramilitary units,” the statement said.

“Damascus,” it said, “demands the return to the Syrian state of the captured oil and gas fields and the payment of compensation for the stolen resources.” The ministry’s statement provides data on the losses that Syria has suffered in recent years from the theft of its oil, gas and other minerals, as well as wheat. They are estimated by Syria at $19.8 billion. In addition, the bombing by the Air Force of the Western coalition caused the country damage worth $2.9 billion.”

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said “further silence of the UN Security Council on the aggressive policy of the United States and the violation of the principles of international law is unacceptable.”

“It’s impossible to ignore the suffering of Syrians as a result of the sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union, which have disastrous consequences for the daily lives of citizens and don’t allow them to receive the necessary services, fuel, household gas, electricity, especially in winter,” the statement said and concluded with,

“the blockade and coercive measures of the West against Syria are tantamount to war crimes, they increase the suffering of the people and slow down the process of post-war reconstruction.”

War crimes they are, yet, as the Syrians noted, nothing is said in the collective west in defence of Syria.  Nothing is said about the crimes of the Americans and their allies, either by their governments, or their media. How can we expect them to since they are all complicit in these crimes?

Since the Americans will not leave unless forced to, it will take operations by the Syrian Army to drive out the invader, but that is complicated by the continuing incursions and occupation of parts of northern Syria by the Turks intent on ridding themselves of the Kurdish threat. Hopefully the on-going talks between Turkey and Syria with the participation of Russia will lead to a resolution of that issue so that Syria can, with the help of its allies, finally take action against the invading US forces.

All the while the US and its NATO allies along with their puppets in Kiev rant on about “Russian war crimes” in Ukraine and call for international tribunals.

Yet it is they who should face trial and punishment for the war crimes committed by them over the years, including the nuclear attacks on Japan in 1945 for which the Americans have never been brought to account, a crime which, as President Biden said on January 13, in a surreal meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister, referring to the the use of nuclear weapons, is “a crime against all humanity.”

The world will not forget Hiroshima and Nagasaki, even if the Japanese government pretends to, nor the American and allied crimes and the millions of dead in Korea, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, and all the other crimes, too many to list here, that they have committed around the world to support their interests.

Who will try them? Who will bring them to justice?  Only the future can provide the concrete answer, but the reckoning is coming, of that we can be sure.

By the numbers: The de-dollarization of global trade

Data suggests that US dollar reserves in central banks are dwindling, as is the influence of the US on the world economy. This presents a unique opportunity for regional currencies and alternative payment systems to enter the vacuum.

January 13 2023

Photo Credit: The Cradle

By F.M. Shakil

The imposition of US trade restrictions and sanctions against a number of nations, including Russia, Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Iraq, and Syria have been politically ineffectual and have backfired against western economies. As a result, the US dollar has been losing its role as a major currency for the settlement of international business claims.

Because they do not adhere to the policies of the US and other western powers, over 24 countries have been the target of unilateral or partial trade sanctions. These limitations, nevertheless, have turned out to be detrimental to the economies of the Group of Seven (G7) nations and have begun to impact the US dollar’s hegemony in world trade.

In its space, a “new global commercial bloc” has risen to the fore, while alternatives to the western SWIFT banking messaging system for cross-border payments have also been created.

Geopolitical analyst Andrew Korybko tells The Cradle that the west’s extraordinary penalties and seizure of Russian assets abroad broke faith in the western-centric paradigm of globalization, which had been declining for years but had nonetheless managed to maintain the world standard.

“Rising multipolar countries sped up their plans for de-dollarization and diversification away from the western-centric model of globalization in favor of a more democratic, egalitarian, and just one – centered on non-western countries in response to these economic and financial disturbances,” he adds.

Dwindling dollar reserves  

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recorded a decline in central bank holdings of US dollar reserves during the fourth quarter of 2020—which went from 71 percent to 59 percent—reflecting the US dollar’s waning influence on the world economy.

And it continues to worsen: Evidence of this can be seen in the fact that the bank’s holdings of dollar claims have decreased from $7 trillion in 2021 to $6.4 trillion at the end of March 2022.

According to the Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER) report by the IMF, the percentage of US dollars in central bank reserves has decreased by 12 percent since 1999, while the percentage of other currencies, particularly the Chinese yuan, have shown an increasing trend with a 9 percent rise during this period.

The study contends that the role of the dollar is waning due to competition from other currencies held by the bankers’ banks for international transactions – including the introduction of the euro – and reveals that this will have an impact on both the currency and bond markets if dollar reserves continue to shrink.

Alternative currencies and trade routes

To boost global commerce and Indian exports, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) devised in July last year a rupee-settlement mechanism to fend off pressure on the Indian currency in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and US-EU sanctions.

India has recently concluded agreements for currency exchanges of $75.4 billion with the UAE, Japan, and various South Asian nations. New Delhi has also informed South Korea and Turkey of its non-dollar-mediated exchange rates for each country’s currency. Currently, Turkey conducts business utilizing the national currencies of China (yuan) and Russia (ruble).

Iran has also proposed to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) a euro-like SCO currency for trade among the Eurasian bloc to check the weaponization of the US dollar-dominated global financial system.

Mehdi Safari, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for economic diplomacy, informed the media earlier in June last year that the SCO received the proposal nearly two months ago.

“They must use multilateral institutions like BRICS and the SCO to this aim – and related ones, such as currency pools and potentially even the establishment of a new currency whose rate is based on a basket of their currencies, to mitigate the effects of trade-related restrictions,” Korybko remarked.

The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is being revived as a “sanctions-busting” project by Russia and Iran. The INSTC garnered renewed interest following the “sanctions from hell” imposed by the west on Moscow. Russia is now finalizing regulations that will allow Iranian ships free navigation along the Volga and Don rivers.

The INSTC was planned as a 7,200 km long multimodal transportation network including sea, road, and rail lines to carry freight between Russia, Central Asia, and the Caspian regions.

Ruble-Yuan Payment System

On 30 December, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping held a video conference in which Putin reported that bilateral trade between the two countries had reached an all-time high with a 25 percent growth rate and that trade volumes were on track to reach $200 billion by next year, despite western sanctions and a hostile external environment.

Putin stated that there had been a “substantial growth in trade volumes” between January and November 2022, resulting in a 36 percent increase in trade to $6 billion. It is likely that the $200 billion bilateral trade target, if achieved by next year, will be conducted in Russian rubles and Chinese yuan, even though the details of the bilateral trade settlement were not specified in the video conference broadcast.

This is because Moscow and Beijing have already set up a cross-border interbank payment network similar to SWIFT, increased their gold purchases to give their currencies more stability, and signed agreements to swap national currencies in several regional and bilateral deals.

In addition, both Russia and China appear to have anticipated a potential US seizure of their financial assets, and in 2014 they collaborated on energy-centered treaties to strengthen their strategic trade links.

In 2017, the ruble-yuan “payment against payment” system was implemented along China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In 2019, the two countries signed an agreement to replace the dollar with national currencies in cross-border transactions and converted their $25 billion worth of trade to yuan (RMB) and rubles.

Independence from the dollar

This shift decreased their mutual reliance on the dollar, and currently, just over half of Russia’s exports are settled in US dollars, down from 80 percent in 2013. The bulk of trade between Russia and China is now conducted in local currencies.

Xinjiang in western China has also established itself as a key cross-border settlement center between China and Central Asia, making it a major financial hub in the region. Cumulative cross-border yuan settlement handled in Xinjiang exceeded 100 billion yuan ($14 billion) as early as 2013 and reached 260 billion yuan in 2018.

According to analyst Korybko, significant progress has been made in reducing reliance on the US dollar in international trade, but there is still much work to be done. He notes that the US is not likely to simply accept the challenges to its financial hegemony and is more likely to act to defend it.

“For this reason, it is expected that the US will try to enlist the support of key players by offering them preferential trade deals or the promise of such deals, while simultaneously stoking tensions between Russia, China, India, and Iran through information warfare and possibly threatening to tighten its secondary sanctions regime as ‘deterrence’.”

Eurasian Economic Union

Russia has been working to establish currency swap agreements with a number of trading partners, comprising the five-member Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), which includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.

These agreements have enabled the Russian Federation to conduct over 70 percent of its trade in rubles and other regional currencies. With a population of 183 million and a GDP over $2.2 trillion, the EEU poses a formidable challenge to western hegemony over global financial transactions.

Iran and the EEU have recently concluded negotiations on the conditions of a free trade agreement covering over 7,500 categories of goods. When the next Iranian year begins on 21 March, 2023, a market with a potential size of 700 billion dollars will become available for Iranian goods and services.

BRICS is driving de-dollarization

The trend towards de-dollarization in international trade, particularly among the BRICS nations, has gained significant momentum in recent years – together they represent 41 percent of the world’s population, 24 percent of its GDP, and 16 percent of its commerce

In 2015, the BRICS New Development Bank, recommended the use of national currencies in trade. Four years later, the bank provided 25 percent of its $15 billion in financial assistance in local currencies, and plans to increase this to 50 percent in the coming years.

This shift towards de-dollarization is an important step for emerging economies as they seek to assert their role in the global economic system and reduce their reliance on the US dollar. While the adoption of de-dollarization may present some challenges and uncertainties, it is an important step towards a more diverse and balanced global economy.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of The Cradle.

Major news day for Russia: In conclusion of his working visit to Iran, Vladimir Putin answered questions from the media.

July 20, 2022

In conclusion of his working visit to Iran, Vladimir Putin answered questions from the media.

Question: Mr President, some would think the world has forgotten about Syria amid the numerous issues on the international agenda. But we have seen today that this is not so.

We would like to hear your views on the situation on the ground in Syria. A great deal has been said today about points of contact, but there are many differences as well. Have you discussed or coordinated any fundamentally new solutions today? I am referring primarily to these differences.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: What I would like to begin with is not the differences but the fundamental issues that allow us to work and continue our efforts in the trilateral format. All of us believe that it I necessary to guarantee the territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic and to eliminate all sorts of terrorists, which I will not enumerate here. This is the fundamental and the most important thing, as we have pointed out again in our joint statement. I believe that this is very important.

Yes, there are certain differences, which is obvious, but all of us support the constitutional process. Thanks to our efforts, we have brought together various conflicting parties at one negotiating platform, including the opposition and the official authorities of the Syrian Arab Republic, experts and representatives of public organisations, as well as the UN. I believe this is extremely important. This is the first point.

The second. Humanitarian aid is being provided to Syria, for which there is particularly great demand today, because the sanctions imposed on Syria and the Syrian people have produced a deplorable result: nearly 90 percent of people in Syria are living below the poverty line. The situation in Syria is extremely serious.

Of course, it would be unfair to give priority attention to certain groups, to politicise humanitarian aid.

Third. There are different approaches to organising humanitarian aid. We have always believed that it should be organised in full compliance with international humanitarian law. This means that all humanitarian aid must be provided through the official Syrian authorities, through Damascus. However, we have agreed to extend the existing procedure for six months, including for deliveries to the Idlib zone, so as to have more time for coordinating our positions.

There is some disagreement about what is happening in Northern Syria. Incidentally, we also have some common ground here: all of us believe that US troops should leave this area. This is the first point. And they should stop looting the Syrian state, the Syrian people, taking their oil illegally. But there is disagreement about how to organise and stabilise the situation in that region. As you know, Russian-Turkish observation convoys are working there together.

However, in our view, in order to ensure a long-term, stable situation there it is necessary to transfer the entire territory under the control of the official authorities in Damascus, under the control of the Armed Forces of the Syrian Arab Republic, and then it will be possible to hold a dialogue with those who are responsible – in this case the official Syrian authorities. I believe it would greatly stabilise the situation there.

But in general, it is work in progress. As I have said many times and would like to stress once again, the work of this tripartite group – Russia, Turkiye and Iran – this joint effort to search for compromises and find these compromises has led to the fact that over 90% of Syria is now under official government control and, as we say in such cases, we have broken the back of international terrorism there. This is a great result of this joint work.

Question: Mr President, you had three one-on-one meetings today, first with Mr Raisi, then with Mr Khamenei, and then with Mr Erdogan, and there were no news conferences after these meetings. All we know is the topic you were discussing, the official part.

In particular, you said that you discussed the grain issue with your Turkish counterpart, the issue of supplying Russian and Ukrainian grain to international markets. Could you tell us some more about that, please?

Vladimir Putin: There are no secrets here; in fact, almost everything is known. There are some subtleties; maybe I do not always have time to follow what is happening in the information field. I will tell you how I see it.

First, what was the highlight of the three meetings? At each meeting, there were issues that could be considered central to a particular bilateral meeting.

For example, as I said at the news conference, in my press statement, the main theme at the meeting with the Spiritual Leader of Iran was strategic issues, including developments in the region. This is natural, as it is the sphere of his activity. It was very important for me to hear his opinion, his assessment. I have to say that we have very similar views with Iran on many aspects. So, it was very important and very useful.

As for my meeting with President Raisi, we discussed primarily economic matters. I would like to note that Russian-Iranian trade has grown by 40 percent over the past six months. This is a very good indicator.

There are promising spheres for our cooperation, and there is a great variety of them, like infrastructure development. You may know that a deputy prime minister of the Russian Government chairs a group that is responsible for developing relations in the South Caucasus, including infrastructure projects in the South Caucasus, that is, in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia. A great deal can be achieved in this sphere in cooperation with Iran.

As you know, the first pilot train is travelling along the North-South Railway line. It is a short route to ports in the south of Iran, which further leads to the Persian Gulf and India.

There is a practical project: the Rasht-Astara railway is a short 146-kilometre line across Iran. Azerbaijan is interested in its construction. I recently met with President Aliyev during the Caspian Summit, and we discussed this matter. Iran is interested in this as well, as our Iranian partners have told us just now. Russia is interested in this, because it will connect Russia’s northern region, St Petersburg, directly to the Persian Gulf. It is a very interesting and promising project. The task now is to build this line, which is only 146 kilometres. Russia is ready to do this.

We need to coordinate the conditions of this construction project. We have discussed its general outlines with our Iranian partners and friends, and we have coordinated it with Azerbaijan. I hope we will get down to business now. And then, it will be an interesting job for us. It actually amounts to exporting the services of Russian Railways (RZD). This is one of the relevant examples.

There are other spheres. There are security issues relevant to Iran’s nuclear programme. It was very important for us to understand the sentiments of the Iranian party regarding this work. It also involves Russia, which is contributing to the joint efforts aimed at relaunching interaction between Iran and the IAEA. I will not speak about this now, but Russia is playing a considerable role in this.

The grain issue. It is what we discussed with the President of Turkiye. I have already said that the Republic of Turkiye and personally President Erdogan have done a great deal to facilitate the agreement on Ukrainian grain exports. But initially we suggested that it should be adopted as a package, that is, we would facilitate the Ukrainian grain exports provided all the restrictions on the potential exports of Russian grain are lifted. This is what we initially agreed upon with international organisations. They pledged to formulate this as a package solution. Nobody has so far raised any objections, including our American partners. We will see what comes of it in the near future.

As you know, the Americans have actually lifted restrictions, for example, on the delivery of Russian fertilisers to the global market. I hope this will also happen with regard to the export of Russian grain if they really want to improve the situation on the global food markets. As I have said, we are ready to do this right now. We can export 30 million tonnes of grain, and our export potential based on this year’s harvest will be 50 million tonnes.

Question: Mr President, a serious energy crisis is developing in Europe, which is discussing the possibility of Gazprom cutting off gas deliveries. The company has allegedly issued an official notification to one of its German clients, citing force majeure circumstances.

Are there grounds for accusing Russia of causing this energy crisis? Will Gazprom continue to honour its obligations

Vladimir Putin: First of all, Gazprom has always honoured, and will continue to honour its commitments.

There are no grounds at all for the attempts by our partners to shift or try to shift the blame for their own mistakes on Russia and Gazprom.

What is the situation with energy deliveries? In 2020, in the first half of 2020, gas cost 100 euros per 1,000 cubic metres in Europe. The price rose to 250 euros in the first half of 2021. Today it is 1,700 euros per 1,000 cubic metres of gas.

What is happening? I have spoken about this on numerous occasions, and I do not know if we should go into detail regarding the energy policies of European countries, which underrate the importance of traditional sources of energy and have put money on non-traditional energy sources. They are big experts on non-traditional relations, and they have also decided to make a bid for non-traditional energy sources like the sun and wind.

Last winter was long, there wasno wind, and that did it. Investment in the fixed assets of traditional energy producers has decreased because of previous political decisions: banks do not finance them, insurance companies do not insure them, local governments do not allocate land plots for new projects, and pipeline and other forms of transportation are not developing. This is a result of many years, probably a decade of this policy. This is the root cause of price hikes rather than any actions by Russia or Gazprom.

What is going on today? Until recently, we supplied gas to Europe without Turkiye: we supplied around 30 billion cubic metres a year to Turkiye, and 170 billion to Europe, 55 billion via Nord Stream 1, and, if memory serves me, 33 billion were supplied via Yamal-Europe, via the two strings that run through Ukraine. About 12 billion were delivered to Europe through Turkiye via TurkStream.

Ukraine suddenly announced that it was going to close one of the two routes on its territory. Allegedly because the gas pumping station is not under its control but on the territory of the Lugansk People’s Republic. But it found itself under the control of the Lugansk People’s Republic several months before, and they closed it just recently without any grounds. Everything was functioning normally there, no one interfered. In my opinion, they closed it simply for political reasons.

What happened next? Poland imposed sanctions on Yamal-Europe, which supplied 33 billion cubic metres of gas. They used to take 34, I think, 33–34 million cubic metres a day from us. They shut it down completely. But then we saw that they turned on the Yamal-Europe pipeline in reverse mode, and they started taking about 32 million a day from Germany. Where is the gas from Germany coming from? It is our Russian gas. Why from Germany? Because it turned out to be cheaper for the Poles. They used to get it from us at a very high price, closer to the market price, whereas Germany gets it from us 3–4 times cheaper than the market price under long-term contracts.

It is profitable for German companies to sell it to the Poles at a small premium. It is profitable for the Poles to buy it because it is cheaper than to buy it directly from us. But the volume of gas in the European market has decreased, and the total market price has gone up. Who has won? All Europeans only lost. This is the second point: Yamal-Europe.

So, first one of the routes in Ukraine was shut down, then Yamal-Europe was shut down, now Nord Stream 1, which is one of the main routes – we pump 55 billion cubic metres a year through it. There are five Siemens gas compressor stations working there, and one is on standby. One compressor had to be sent out for repairs. A repaired compressor was supposed to come from Canada, from the Siemens plant in Canada, to replace it. But it ended up under sanctions in Canada. So, one pumping station, just one piece of equipment was out of order because of scheduled maintenance work and it has not been returned from Canada.

Now we are being told that the unit will be delivered from Canada soon, but Gazprom does not have any official documents yet. We must certainly obtain them, because this is our property, it is the property of Gazprom. Gazprom should receive not only the hardware, not only the gas pumping unit, but also the accompanying documents, both legal and technical documentation. We must be able to see what Gazprom is taking – the turbine’s current condition as well as its legal status, whether it is under sanctions or not, what we can do with it, or maybe they are taking it back tomorrow. But that is not all.

The problem is that at the end of July, on July 26, I think – we can ask Gazprom – another turbine should be sent for routine maintenance, for repairs. And where will we get a replacement from? We do not know.

One more turbine is actually out of order because of some crumbling of its internal liner. Siemens has confirmed this. That leaves two operational units, which are pumping 60 million per day. So, if one more is delivered, fine, we will have two in operation. But if it is not, only one will be left, and it will pump only 30 million cubic meters per day. You can count how much time it will take to pump the rest. How is this Gazprom’s responsibility? What does Gazprom even have to do with this? They have cut off one route, then another, and sanctioned this gas pumping equipment. Gazprom is ready to pump as much gas as necessary. But they have shut everything down.

And they have fallen into the same trap with the import of oil and petroleum products. We hear all sorts of crazy ideas about capping the volume of Russian oil imports or the price of Russian oil. This is going to lead to the same situation as with gas. The result (I am surprised to hear people with university degrees saying this) will be the same – rising prices. Oil prices will spiral.

As for gas, there is another route we are ready to open, which is Nord Stream 2. It is ready to be launched, but they are not launching it. There are problems here as well, I discussed them with the Chancellor about six or maybe eight weeks ago. I raised this issue; I said that Gazprom had reserved the capacity, and that this capacity needed to be used, and it cannot be suspended in mid-air indefinitely.

The answer was that there were other issues on the agenda, more important things, so it is difficult for them to deal with this right now. But I had to warn them that then we would have to redirect half of the volume intended for Nord Stream for domestic consumption and processing. I raised this issue at the request of Gazprom, and Gazprom has actually already done it. Therefore, even if we launch Nord Stream 2 tomorrow, it will not pump 55 billion cubic meters, but exactly half that amount. And given that we are already halfway through this year, it would be just a quarter. Such is the supply situation.

But – I said this at the beginning of my answer to your question and I want to end with this – Gazprom has always fulfilled and will always fulfil all of its obligations, as long as, of course, anyone needs it. First, they themselves close everything, and then they look for someone to blame – it would be comical if it were not so sad.

Question: You spoke with Mr Erdogan today. He has repeatedly stated his readiness to arrange talks between you and Vladimir Zelensky. Has this issue surfaced today? Are you ready to meet with the President of Ukraine?

Vladimir Putin: President Erdogan is making a lot of efforts to create the necessary conditions for normalising the situation. It was during our talks in Istanbul that we actually reached an agreement, and it only remained to initial it. But, as you know, after that, when our troops, in order to create the right conditions, withdrew from central Ukraine, from Kiev, the Kiev authorities backed off on those agreements. These were agreements that had actually been achieved. So, you see that the final result depends, of course, not on intermediaries, but on the parties’ commitment to fulfil the agreements reached. And we can see today that the Kiev authorities have no interest in that.

As for Turkiye’s efforts, as well as other countries’ proposals – Saudi Arabia has offered its mediation services, and the United Arab Emirates, and they do have such capabilities – we are grateful to all our friends who are interested in resolving this crisis for providing their opportunities. Even their willingness to make some contribution to this noble cause is worth a lot. We are deeply grateful for that.

Meeting of the guarantor states of the Astana process to facilitate the Syrian settlement + Speech by President Vladimir Putin

July 20, 2022

Joint Statement by the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the President of the Russian Federation, and the President of the Republic of Turkiey, Tehran

July 19, 2022

President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, H.E. Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, President of the Russian Federation, H.E. Vladimir Putin, and President of the Republic of Turkiey, H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdogan gathered in Tehran on 19 July 2022 for a Tripartite Summit within the framework of Astana format.

The Presidents:

1. Discussed the current situation on the ground in Syria, reviewed the developments following the last virtual summit on 1 July 2020 and reiterated their determination to enhance the trilateral coordination in light of their agreements as well as conclusionsof foreign ministers and representatives’ meetings. Also, examined the latest international and regional developments and emphasized the leading role of the Astana Process in peaceful and sustainable settlement of the Syrian crisis.

2. Emphasized their unwavering commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic as well as to the purposes and principles of UN Charter. Highlighted that these principles should be universally respected and that no actions, no matter by whom they were undertaken, should undermine them.

3. Expressed their determination to continue working together to combat terrorism in all forms and manifestations. Condemned increased presence and activities of terrorist groups and their affiliates under different names in various parts of Syria, including the attacks targeting civilian facilities, which result in loss of innocent lives. Highlighted the necessity to fully implement all arrangements related to the north of Syria.

4. Rejected all attempts to create new realities on the ground under the pretext of combating terrorism, including illegitimate self-rule initiatives, and expresses their determination to stand against separatist agendas aimed at undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria as well as threatening the national security of neighboring countries including through cross-border attacks and infiltrations.

5. Discussed the situation in the north of Syria, emphasized that security and stability in this region can only be achieved on the basis of preservation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country and decided to coordinate their efforts to this end. Expressed their opposition to the illegal seizure and transfer of oil revenues that should belong to Syria.

6. Reaffirmed the determination to continue their ongoing cooperation in order to ultimately eliminate terrorist individuals, groups, undertakings and entities, while ensuring the protection of the civilians and civilian infrastructure in accordance with the international humanitarian law.

7. Reviewed in detail the situation in the Idlib de-escalation area and underscored the necessity to maintain calm on the ground by fully implementing all agreements on Idlib. Expressed their serious concern over the presence and activities of terrorist groups that pose threat to civilians inside and outside the Idlib de-escalation area. Agreed to make further efforts to ensure sustainable normalization of the situation in and around the Idlib de-escalation area, including the humanitarian situation.

8. Expressed grave concern at the humanitarian situation in Syria and rejected all unilateral sanctions which are in contravention of international law, international humanitarian law and the UN Charter including, among other things, any discriminatory measures through waivers for certain regions which could lead to this country’s disintegration by assisting separatist agendas. In this regard, called upon the international community, particularly the UN and its humanitarian agencies and other governmental/non-governmental international institutions to increase their assistance to all Syrianswithout discrimination, politicization and preconditions and in a more transparent manner.

9. Reaffirmed their conviction that there could be no military solution to the Syrian conflict and that it could only be resolved through the Syrian-led and Syrian-owned, UN-facilitated political process in line with the UN Security Council Resolution 2254. Emphasized in this regard the important role of the Constitutional Committee, created as a result of the decisive contribution of the Astana guarantors and the implementation of the decision of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi. Reaffirmed the readiness to support the continuous interaction with its members and the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen, as facilitator, in order to ensure the sustainable and effective work of the next sessions of the Constitutional Committee. Expressed the conviction that the Committee in its work should respect the Terms of Reference and Core Rules of Procedure to enable the Committee to implement its mandate of preparing and drafting for popular approval a constitutional reform as well as achieving progress in its work and be governed by a sense of compromise and constructive engagement without foreign interference and externally imposed timelines aimed at reaching general agreement of its members. Underlined the necessity that it should conduct its activities without any bureaucratic and logistical hindrances.

10. Reaffirmed their determination to continue operations on mutual release of detainees/abductees within the framework of the respective Working Group of the Astana format. Underscored that the Working Group was a unique mechanism that had proved to be effective and necessary for building confidence between the Syrian parties, and decided to further continue its work on the release of detainees and abductees and in line with its mandate on handover of bodies and identifications of missing persons.

11. Highlighted the need to facilitate safe and voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their original places of residence in Syria, ensuring their right to return and right to be supported. In this regard, they called upon the international community to provide appropriate contributions for their resettlement and normal life as well as to undertake greater responsibility in burden-sharing and to enhance their assistance to Syria, inter alia by developing early recovery projects, including basic infrastructure assets – water, electricity. sanitation, health, educations, schools, hospitals as well as the humanitarian mine action in accordance with international humanitarian law.

12. Condemned Israeli military attacks in Syria including to civilian infrastructures. Considered it as violating the international law, international humanitarian law, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria, and recognized it as destabilizing and intensifying the tension in the region. Reaffirmed the necessity to abide by universally recognized international legal decisions, including those provisions of the relevant UN resolutions rejecting the occupation of Syrian Golan, first and foremost UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 497, which also consider all decisions and measures taken by Israel in this regard null void and have no legal effect.

13. In addition to the Syrian issue, they confirmed their intention to strengthen trilateral coordination in different fields in order to promote joint political and economic cooperation.

14. Agreed to assign their representatives with the task of holding the 19th International Meeting on Syria in the Astana format by the end of 2022.

15. Decided to hold the next Tripartite Summit in the Russian Federation upon the invitation of President of the Russian Federation, H.E. Vladimir Putin.

16. The Presidents of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkiye expressed their sincere gratitude to the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, H.E. Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi for graciously hosting the Tripartite Summit within the framework of Astana format in Tehran.

---

Speech by President of Russia Vladimir Putin at the summit of the guarantor states of the Astana process

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Raisi, Mr Erdogan, colleagues,

First, I would like to thank President Raisi for inviting us to visit Tehran for our today’s meeting in the framework of the Astana process. Of course, it is best to talk in-person in this format, and now we have the opportunity to do so.

We hope to discuss in a practical and business-like spirit the urgent issues of stabilisation in Syria, and there are quite a few of them at present.

Overall, the joint efforts of Russia, Iran and Turkiye to facilitate the comprehensive settlement of the crisis in the Syrian Arab Republic are highly productive. Owing to the assistance and support of our countries, the level of violence in Syria has decreased significantly; peaceful life is returning and the country is gradually rebuilding its economy and social sphere.

And no less important, the real political and diplomatic process has been launched in line with Resolution 2254 of the UN Security Council. We believe the Astana Troika must continue playing a key role in the efforts to achieve complete normalisation in Syria and establish durable peace and civil accord in the country.

Importantly, Russia proceeds from its firm commitment to the fundamental principles of unconditional respect for the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic.

We support the draft joint statement prepared for approval following the summit, which determines the priorities of cooperation in this trilateral format.

We believe our task for the near future is to agree on specific steps to promote the intra-Syrian inclusive political dialogue, that is, to implement our agreement on creating conditions that will allow the Syrians to determine their future themselves, without outside interference.

In fact, this is why our three states initiated the adoption of the decision to establish a Constitutional Committee at the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi in 2018. The Syrian parties achieved noticeable progress with support from Russia, Iran and Turkiye, and the participation of the UN Secretary-General’s special envoy for Syria. Importantly, the Syrians showed a willingness to come to terms, to search for and find consensus solutions on priority issues related to the future arrangement of their sovereign state.

I am convinced that our countries will continue promoting cooperation in the interests of the ultimate elimination of the remaining hotbeds of international terrorism on Syrian territory. It is necessary to put an end, once and for all, to the presence of ISIS and other extremist groups in Syria.

Let me stress that the situation on the territories outside the control of the Syrian government is particularly concerning. We see real threats of crime, extremism and separatism coming from those regions. This is largely allowed through the destructive policy of the Western states led by the US which are using a broad arsenal of political and economic measures, are strongly encouraging separatist sentiment in some areas of the country, as the President of Iran just mentioned, and plundering its natural resources with a view to ultimately pulling the Syrian state apart. So, it would be best to take extra steps in our trilateral format aimed at stabilising the situation in those areas and at returning control to the legitimate government of Syria.

I think it is important that Russia, Iran and Turkiye are making concerted efforts to render support to the Syrian people in the post-conflict recovery. We believe that everything needed must be done to restore the economy and social sphere, to return refugees and internally displaced persons to their homes, and to create conditions for safe and unimpeded access to humanitarian aid for those who need it. And these activities must be continued, of course.

In addition, it is necessary to see that other members of the international community, the respective UN agencies, and international development institutions play a more substantial role in providing Syria with assistance without politicisation or any preconditions.

To conclude, I would like to express confidence that our talks will be useful and productive and the results will serve to enhance stability and security not only in Syria but also in the Middle East in general.

I would also like to note that the next Astana Troika summit is scheduled to be held in Russia, and we will definitely be happy to see all of you there.

Thank you for your attention.

Boomerang Sanctions

March 12, 2022

Source

by Ghassan Kadi,

Do Western sanctions have any chance of achieving their objectives? Perhaps we need to look back at history and see how the earliest recorded sanctions were implemented.

Before the age of electronic transfers and massive international trading and complex technology came into existence, warring factions enforced sanctions on each other by way of imposing sieges, and therefore cutting off food and water supplies to heavily fortified cities. Those cities had to ration out their supplies, and when they ran out, they often capitulated.

Much has changed since, but the only way for any sanction to work now is in the ability to deprive a nation from goods and services that are essential. But this is now easier said than done.

In today’s age of technology and all what comes with it, the world depends on a huge array of manufactured goods for its economy and the services that support that economy to run. Manufactured good are themselves made of parts often made in different countries and assembled together somewhere else. Many, if not most of those goods and parts, are made in China, and this is fact.

How do we know that the manufacturers of American/NATO military hardware do not use parts and components that are made in China and no longer made in the West? They can be as simple as special size or shape screw, but without it, the strategic weapon cannot be assembled. And if one of the suppliers of hardware to the Pentagon suddenly wakes up to the realization that it needs the part that is made in China to put together a strategic defence weapon, what will happen then? Alternative Western productions lines can be put to work, but these things take time, and time is precious commodity in the event of a military blitz.

But here is more. Even if in peacetime an American buys a T-shirt made in America from American grown cotton, the cotton crop is highly likely to have been fertilized with urea imported from China. As a matter of fact, China controls a huge sector of the global fertilizer market, and when one controls food and its production, no other leverage becomes comparable in magnitude. Having control of the food supply is tantamount to the ancient city sieges.

The dependence of the West on China therefore is alarming, and the examples mentioned above, have been selected to demonstrate that Western sanctions against China, if ever implemented, would boomerang and hit the West in the guts.

The whole world and particularly the West are reliant on and addicted to Chinese goods. All the way from T-shirts to iPhones, a huge percentage of global consumable goods are made in China.

China is therefore the ultimate example of where American sanctions would fail abysmally. As a matter of fact, if anything at all, a Chinese export sanction against America would bring the latter to its knees in a few weeks if not less.

What about Russia? Are American sanctions effective against Russia? Thus far, they haven’t been. Time will tell if new ones will, but Russia does not ‘need’ any American imports or franchises. Russia does not need either McDonald’s or Starbucks. It doesn’t need those fast-food chains that litter its streets. Honestly, what a manner to sanction Russia with? What is next, the Disney Channel?

It is America that needs Russian rocket engines and not the other way around. Fancy this, comparing rocket engines to hamburgers.

And with its ties with China, Russia has a huge export market of gas and petroleum crude, all the while Western EU slumps into cold nights or enormous power bills. In the last couple of days alone, the price of gas has nearly doubled.

What is pertinent here is going back to the basics and remembering that any talk of sanctions can only be effective if based on depriving an adversary from what its people 1) need and 2) want. Currently, there is no product, no commodity, no technology, absolutely nothing that is essential for the rest of the world, that the West exclusively produces and the rest of the world cannot.

The current Western sanctions on nations that refuse to follow the directives of the West do not carry any weight at all; or anything that comes close. Non-Western countries can survive without Tesla, Porsche and Ferrari cars. Earth will continue to spin without French perfumes and champaign.

With those facts known though unspoken, the USA continues to impose sanctions on other nations by utilizing the power of the Greenback, ie US Dollar of USD for short.

But this approach is foolish to say the least, and it is bound to backfire.

America is determined to keep the stature of the USD as the single reserve world currency. But to maintain this stature, America must make sure that the rest of the world needs to use the USD and that it has no other alternative. But when successive American administrations impose sanctions on other nations that prevent them from using the USD, they are effectively shooting their last and only remaining asset in the foot.

This is not a complex issue that requires a PhD in macro-economics to understand. It is very simple in fact. You cannot coerce people to do something by way of banning them from doing it. This is a simple logical contradiction that even children can understand.

This oxymoronic comedy of errors appears more ludicrous when we see that the USD is the only asset left that the USA can use to impose sanctions with. Do successive American administrations really believe that sanctioned and potentially sanctionable nations, are going to sit idle and starve themselves to death without taking pre-emptive measures to avert this?

If anything, sanctions over the years have taught even small and developing countries like Cuba, Syria and Iran to be self-reliant and innovative. Those countries have produced whole ‘armies’ of technicians who are able to manufacture spare parts even for old American cars. When you see photos of 1950’s Chevvies in Cuba, rest assured that there are hardly any original made-in-America parts left in them. If an American owns such an antique model and cannot find parts for it in the US, he/she may be able to find them in Cuba.

What makes the situation more farcical is that America knows well that China and Russia are intent to replace the USD as the single global reserve currency with China having a good chance to have it replaced by the Renminbi. It is also no secret that both Russia and China have been buying huge amounts of gold, and this is not to mention that they already have an alternative to the SWIFT system (СПФС or SPFS) of international banking transfers.

Back in the days of city sieges, the Athenians built their infamous horse, the original horse that coined the term ‘Trojan Horse’ and tricked the Trojans to take it into Troy. But in the West right now, there are no such strategists.

The current soaring fuel prices at service stations world-wide are not an outcome of the Russian action in Ukraine. They are the outcome of the sanctions.

These sanctions can only turn back and hurt the hand that created them. They are not arrows aimed at targets. They are boomerangs, but even boomerangs are meant to return to the hand that launched them when they miss the target. But Western sanctions are sharply-pointed boomerangs that can only hit back, and hit with vengeance, and the soaring fuel prices may just be only the beginning.

Bouthaina Shaaban: ‘US Working With ISIS to Partition Syria!’

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

US working with ISIS to partition Syria!’ – political adviser to President Assad

Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° 

We speak to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s political advisor Bouthaina Shaaban. She alleges that the US has been working with ISIS to demographically change Syria and make way for a Syrian Kurdistan, the US’ theft of Syrian oil and natural resources, Israeli bombing of Syria, Syria’s inclusion into China’s Belt and Road Initiative and much more.

سورية وأولوية استعادة خط الترانزيت الأوروبي وحقول النفط

أكتوبر/تشرين الأول 1, 2021

 ناصر قنديل

–

بينما لا يزال المسؤولون اللبنانيون يضربون الأخماس بالأسداس عند كل خطوة بسيطة تستدعي تواصلاً مع سورية، تجري المياه الدولية في النهر السوري بصورة متسارعة، تحت عنوان ترجمة معادلات نهاية الحرب قبل الإعلان الرسمي عن نهايتها، وأولوية العودة بالمفرق إلى سورية على العودة بالجملة لما تتضمنه من إحراج إعلامي. ولعل ما قالته واشنطن بلسان وزارة خارجيتها تجاه عودة الرحلات الجوية بين دمشق وعمان يشكل مادة تحظى باهتمام المعنيين في لبنان، مثل حاجة اللبنانيين لفك شيفرة زيارة رئيس الحكومة الأردنية لبيروت، حيث صدر تصريح أميركي أول يرحب بخطوة إعادة الرحلات بين عمان ودمشق، ثم صدر تصحيح سريع يقول إن واشنطن تدرس الخطوة لتتخذ منها موقفاً، ثم بيان يتجاهل الخطوة ويتحدث عن عدم نية واشنطن تطبيع العلاقة مع دمشق أو تشجيع الآخرين على فعل ذلك، وأي قارئ مبتدئ في السياسة يعلم أن الموقف الأول لم يصدر على غفلة، وأن التصريح الثاني جاء بعد مراجعات لحلفاء في المنطقة في طليعتهم كيان الاحتلال، وأن التصريح الثالث إعلان اللاموقف، يقول إن من يريد الذهاب لعلاقة طبيعية مع سورية فواشنطن ليست عائقاً أمامه، ومن لا يريد فواشنطن لن تطلب منه فعل ذلك، وهذا يعني انتقال واشنطن من الضوء الأحمر إلى الضوء الأصفر. وفي السياسات الأميركية يقول التاريخ إن ملعب السياسة الواسع هو في مساحة الضوء الأصفر، الذي يحرر واشنطن من تبعات معنوية للضوء الأخضر، ومن تبعات سياسية وعسكرية للضوء الأحمر، وهو غالباً المؤشر الأهم للانسحاب.

–

تقول معارك درعا الأخيرة إن الدولة السورية بدأت تترجم قرارها بتحرير أراضيها مستفيدة من هذا الضوء الأصفر، ضمن خطة مدروسة أخذت في حسابها كل المتغيرات الدولية والإقليمية، سواء ما يتصل بسياق الانكفاء الأميركي انطلاقاً من مشهد أفغانستان، أو بالجاهزية الروسية للمساندة، وبعدما رسمت خرائطها بدقة وحددت أهدافها بوضوح تكتيكي يلبي وجهة حركتها لاستعادة أراضيها حتى الحدود التي كانت عليها الحالة عام 2011. ويقول التسارع الذي حسمت فيه منطقة درعا وما تلاه من تطورات في العلاقة مع الأردن الذي مثل خلال عشر سنوات، خط التماس السوري مع الحلف الدولي الإقليمي الذي كان يشجع ويمول ويغذي خطط استمرار الحرب، بدعم سياسي عسكري أميركي، وتمويل سعودي خليجي، إن الحسابات السورية كانت في غاية الدقة، وإن توقيت القطاف السوري للتضحيات قد آن أوانه، وها هو التأكيد يأتي عبر تسارع العودة المتعددة المجالات للعلاقات السورية- الأردنية ينتقل من التبريد إلى الحماوة، لكن الحرارة هذه المرة إيجابية تجسدت بترجمة قرار فك الحظر عن استجرار الكهرباء الأردنية والغاز المصري عبر سورية إلى لبنان، وتلته الدعوة الأردنية لوزير الدفاع السوري، ولقاء وزير الخارجية الأردني بوزير الخارجية السوري، وصولاً لفتح الحدود البرية وإعادة الرحلات الجوية بين دمشق وعمان.

–

خلال شهر تدحرج بسرعة حسم وضع الجنوب، وتبلورت ثماره السياسية، فبدأ التوجه شمالاً، سواء الشمال الشرقي حيث ثروات النفط والغاز المنهوبة من قبل الاحتلال الأميركي والميليشيات المنضوية تحت رايته، أو الشمال الغربي حيث الاحتلال التركي وتنظيمي «القاعدة» و»داعش» تحت راية هذا الاحتلال، وفي الملفين تبدو روسيا الحليف والشريك الذي رسمت معه خطط الشمال على أعلى المستويات التي جسدتها القمة التي جمعت الرئيسين فلاديمير بوتين وبشار الأسد، وما تلاها على مستوى التسخين للجبهات العسكرية، استبق لقاء الرئيس بوتين بالرئيس التركي رجب أردوغان، كان واضحاً أنها قمة الفرصة الأخيرة للرئيس التركي، وأولوية الانسحاب التركي ومعه الميليشيات التي يرعاها عن الطريق الدولي الذي يربط سورية بخط الترانزيت الدولي الذي يصل إلى أوروبا، وضمان سيطرة الجيش السوري على الطريق الدولي والعمق اللازم لتأمينه، وبدء فكفكة التشكيلات الإرهابية المسيطرة على الجغرافيا المحيطة بالطريق الدولي يميناً ويساراً، بالجمع بين الحسم العسكري من دون إعاقة تركية، وبالتعاون التركي على طريقة ما جرى في حلب.

–

إذا نظر المسؤولون اللبنانيون إلى المشهد بقليل من الروية سيجدون أن الخط الذي يعبر تركيا من أوروبا باتجاه الخليج وقد بات منفذه الجنوبي عبر الأردن سالكاً، لن ينتظرهم حتى امتلاك شجاعة التوجه نحو دمشق، وهم ينتظرون أن يأخذهم أحد بيدهم ليدقوا أبواب دمشق، وأن دمشق أيضاً ليست منافساً لبيروت، ففي المنافسة تقع الأمور بين خط بري يعبر تركيا نحو سورية فالخليج، أو خط بحري بري يصل إلى بيروت وينطلق براً عبر سورية إلى الخليج، فسورية محطة حكمية، لكن التسابق قائم بين تركيا ولبنان، ويبدو حتى الآن أن الرئيس التركي التقط الطابة التي تعثرت بين أيدي اللبنانيين، لكن الفرصة لم تفت بعد، مع الأخذ في الاعتبار أن الشهر المقبل سيشهد التطورات التي تبلور الصورة بوضوح أكبر، يبدأ لبنان معه بخسارة نقطة التفوق التي يمثلها غياب أي عائق أمني لتفعيل حركة الترانزيت من مرفأ بيروت عبر دمشق إلى الخليج، عندما تزول التعقيدات الأمنية في شمال سورية، ويصبح تفوق الخط التركي بالجاهزية اللوجستية التي يفتقدها مرفأ بيروت بعد إصابته البالغة والتباطؤ غير المبرر في خطة إعماره، على رغم كثرة العروض، علماً أن الميزة التفاضلية لمرفأ بيروت باتجاه الترانزيت نحو العراق لا يمكن تعويضها بالخط التركي البري.

–

كما في خط الترانزيت الدولي حال خط الإمداد النفطي، فسورية التي يمكن أن تتشارك مع لبنان بالسعي لتفعيل وتشغيل خط النفط الآتي من العراق عبر سورية إلى طرابلس، قد لا تبقى بذات الحماسة عندما تسترد حقول النفط والغاز المنهوبة من الأميركيين والميليشيات العاملة تحت رعايتهم، ولبنان المتعطش لنقطة نفط يتصرف كأن الوقت معه، وينتظر أن ينعقد ربما مجلس الأمن الدولي ليصدر قراراً وفق الفصل السابع يفرض اجتماعاً على أعلى المستويات بين الدولتين السورية واللبنانية، لتأمين خط النقل الترانزيت التجاري والنفطي، فكيف بملف النازحين؟

صفي الدين: بضربة واحدة كسرنا حصار 3 دول

أيلول 6 2021

أكد رئيس المجلس التنفيذي في حزب الله، السيد هاشم صفي الدين، أن «إنجازات المقاومة أكبر من لبنان بكثير، ولكن البعض لا يستوعب هذا الأمر رغم اعتراف الأميركي والإسرائيلي».

وقال خلال حفل تأبيني في بلدة قعقعية الجسر الجنوبية «إذا كان هدف الأميركي الضغط على المقاومة في لبنان لنخلي الساحة، فنقول للأميركي إننا سنكون حاضرين بشكل  أكبر وأقوى».

ورأى أن «المشكلة الأساسية في لبنان هي النظام، يُضاف إليها الضغط الأميركي لتتخلى المقاومة عن سلاحها»، مشيراً إلى أن «غباء السفيرة الأميركية كان في مسارعتها لردة الفعل التي فضحت النيّات الأميركية». وتابع «بضربة واحدة كسرنا حصار ثلاث دول، حيث اشترينا المازوت من إيران، وعبرنا به من سورية واستفاد منه لبنان المحاصر وهذه خطوة أولى وسنستكملها بخطوات».

وفي الشأن الحكومي، قال «طالبنا بتشكيل سريع للحكومة وأن يتخلى المسؤولون عن بعض الخصوصيات كي لا نقول  أنانية ويعتب البعض، لمصلحة لبنان»، قائلاً «إن شاء الله لا يأتي اليوم الذي سنقول فيه للذين خربوا وعرقلوا ودمروا لبنان أنكم أدوات أميركية سواء كنتم تعلمون أو لا تعلمون».

Assad: Iran Is Key Partner to Syria, Coordination in War against Terrorism Gave Positive Results

 July 28, 2021

President Bashar al-Assad received on Wednesday Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Speaker of the Islamic Shura Council and the accompanying delegation.

Talks during the meeting dealt with the close bilateral relations between the two countries and the standing constructive cooperation between them at various levels.

The two sides stressed the essential role played by the parliamentary institutions in Syria and Iran to open new horizons for bilateral cooperation, particularly in the economic field, not only in the government sector, but also activating cooperation between the private sector in both countries in a way that helps the two friendly peoples confront the economic war and the policy of blockade and sanctions imposed on them.

President al-Assad affirmed that Iran is a key partner for Syria and has stood by the Syrian people in the face of the terrorist war and provided them with support in all fields, pointing out that the coordination between the two countries in combating terrorism has given positive results on the ground and will continue until the liberation of all lands and the defeat of terrorist organizations.

In turn, Qalibaf considered that the recent election entitlements in Syria and Iran and the determination of the Syrian and Iranian peoples in fulfilling these entitlements prove the failure of the pressure policies that are being exerted against them, and stresses that no one can stand in against the people’s will.

Source: SANA

Related Videos

Related News

• Russia Delegates Arrive in Syria, Bring 160 Tons of Humanitarian Aid
• Syria, Russia: Priority is for the Return of Displaced Syrians to Liberated Areas
• Russian-Syrian Joint Statement on Refugees and IDPs
• NATO Terrorists in Idlib Violate the Ceasefire 32 Times in 24 Hours

Today I saw Syrians dancing and celebrating life, and a return to peace – but, of course, the Western media won’t report that

May 28, 2021 

Eva Bartlett

Celebrations for the Syrian presidential elections in Douma, eastern Ghouta, Syria, May 26, 2021 © Eva Bartlett

26 May, 2021, RT.com

-by Eva K Bartlett

Although the West has waged 10 years of war on Syria, and there is much destruction, the entire country isn’t in ruins and the pulse of life continues, albeit strangled by brutal Western sanctions.

After Eastern Ghouta’s liberation in 2018, the Western media predictably went silent on the return of internally displaced Syrians and the rebuilding that had occurred. Today, in towns in the region outside the capital Damascus, behind dusty, battered metal shop shutters, I saw glossy new windows and even more rebuilding than I had when I was here in 2018.

In Douma, I saw lovely, smiling children, excited to practise their English with me. Given that they were born during the war and lived under the horrifically savage rule of the rebel groups Jaysh al-Islam and Faylaq al-Rahman, and their co-terrorists, their exuberance was remarkable. The traumas they endured they have either deeply buried within or miraculously healed from.

Since both the media and leaders in the West made such a big deal over the Douma chemical hoax, it was particularly rewarding to see life in the streets again.

Lively times in Irbeen and Douma, Eastern Ghouta, today, where Syrians exercised their right to vote in Presidential elections.

Western media mocks the elections.

Syrians voting, sing, dancing, is a massive F.U. to the West’s ambitions of regime change in Syria. pic.twitter.com/nNwIhDzWJ1— Eva Karene Bartlett (@EvaKBartlett) May 26, 2021

Syrians in Eastern Ghouta were put through a hell that most of us, living safely far from war, cannot begin to fathom. I had seen their tortured faces shortly after their liberation in 2018. That made seeing them smiling, dancing, and celebrating the presidential elections today incredibly moving. The difference between then and now was like night and day.

Some were surprised when I posted videos on social media of a Syrian singer and orchestra performing at the Damascus Opera House two nights ago. Many assume the country has been completely destroyed, others are just unaware that it has a rich culture that hasn’t died, in spite of a decade-long war waged by the West.

Damascus Opera House now. pic.twitter.com/xMXLpposfl— Eva Karene Bartlett (@EvaKBartlett) May 24, 2021

Until the liberation, however, Syrians in Damascus risked being maimed or killed every time they went to work, to school, to the market, or even while they remained at home, when terrorist mortars and missiles rained down from Eastern Ghouta.

Back in 2014, leaving behind the hospitality of the small hotel I was staying in near the gate of Bab Sharqi, the Old City’s East Gate, I drifted over to a cluster of tables across from the beautiful Zaitoun Greek Orthodox cathedral and beside a closed restaurant. But instead of working on my laptop, as I’d intended, I ended up getting into a conversation with the owner of that restaurant, now called the Abu Zolouf bar.

As Abu Shadi and I spoke, terrorist-fired mortars fell in nearby districts. I wrote at the time: “As it happened, I got two of four mortars on audio. The first occurred around 7:05 pm, which Abu Shadi estimated to be 200 metres away. His friend corrected him saying it was only 50 metres away (also about 20 metres from my hotel). Roughly 10 minutes later, the second mortar. There were two other mortars within half an hour. SANA news reported the injury of 17 civilians.”

Our conversation became about the incessant shelling, where the latest mortar had fallen, and his near-death experience with one.

“Two times mortars landed outside my restaurant. One would have killed me, but I went inside just before,” he said, pointing to a spot on the ground next to the door. He lamented the loss of business as much as the threat posed by the mortars.

The other night, I visited the restaurant with a friend. Seeing Abu Shadi, we sat down with him and chatted about those days. Now, his restaurant is open and well frequented, guests sitting under light-strung olive trees enjoying the early summer evenings.

very early in the evening; in a few hours, the place will be packed

Also in 2014, one afternoon, wishing to escape the blazing sun, I leaned against the wall encircling the Old City, looking towards Jobar, then occupied by terrorist factions, roughly a kilometer away. As I wrote at the time, while I chatted with a friend, “bullets whizzed past me, half a meter to my right, to my left. Everyone in the vicinity jumped up and ran, most looking panicked. We ran for about 50 meters, to a point which was apparently out of the terrorists’ range. One woman, hyperventilating and unable to stand, took a good 10 minutes to calm down, repeatedly making the sign of the cross as she wheezed. Later, I chatted with a man selling spinach patties, mentioning that I was surprised the bullets had reached the point where I’d been sitting. ‘They reach as far as here,’ he said, from his hole-in-the-wall bakery another 200 metres from where I’d been sitting.”

My encounters with mortars and their victims were many over the years, including seeing numerous children maimed and with critical injuries from the terrorists’ shelling, many ancient Damascene houses partially destroyed by it.

Douma, Syria, April 2018 © Eva Bartlett

n 2018, I interviewed the supremely talented violinist and composer, Raad Khalaf, who is also a founder of the all-women Mari Orchestra. Afterwards, we chatted and he mentioned that the shelling had reached the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts where he taught, near the Opera House.

He told me that the year prior, terrorists had attacked the area with some 37 bombs in one day.

“The students had to stay inside for eight hours – you couldn’t go outside because we didn’t know when or where the next bomb would fall. One student went outside and was killed. Here we lived five difficult years.”

On Monday this week, I went to the Opera House to hear Syrian singer Carmen Tockmaji and the orchestra accompanying her perform. The auditorium was only half-full but lively, everyone evidently enjoying the singer’s talents.

I was surprised to learn later that a front-row ticket cost just 2,000 Syrian pounds (80 US cents), a second-class ticket 1,500 (60 US cents), and a third class ticket 1,000 (40 US cents). Nonetheless, despite the low price, Syria’s poorest can’t afford this, largely because of the brutal sanctions on the country that decisively affected the currency, causing hyperinflation – an intended consequence of the cruel and immoral sanctions leveled against the Syrian people.

I wrote last year (and before) about how these sanctions directly affect civilians: “On June 17, the US implemented the Caesar Act, America’s latest round of draconian sanctions against the Syrian people, to ‘protect’ them, it claims. This, after years of bombing civilians and providing support to anti-government militants, leading to the proliferation of terrorists who kidnap, imprison, torture, maim, and murder the same civilians. Sanctions have impacted Syria’s ability to import medicines or the raw materials needed to manufacture them, medical equipment, and the machines and materials needed to manufacture prosthetic limbs, among other things.”

But sanctions have yet another brutal effect: they wreak havoc on the economy. A May 3, 2021 opinion piece by Abbey Makoe on the website of the South African Broadcasting Corporation noted: “Electricity rationing in Syria has reached its highest levels due to the government’s inability to secure the fuel needed to generate electricity. This is mainly due to the damaging international economic sanctions led by the Western powers, including the IIT [Investigation and Identification Team of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons] protagonists France, UK and the US. The value of the Syrian pound has crumbled to almost nothing. The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 … is credited with bringing about starvation, darkness, plague, misery, robbery, kidnappings, increased mortality rate and the certain destruction of a nation that was once a beacon of hope across the Middle East.” 

The misery is real, and Syrians are indeed suffering, many unable even to feed their families properly.

Speaking of Opera House performances may seem trite in light of the economic suffering, but the fact that productions such as this do still occur in Syria is another indication that the West’s change-of-government project has failed, despite its 10 years of waging war in Syria.

Seeing this concert just before the presidential elections was moving and poignant. As Carlos Tebecherani Haddad, a Syrian-Brazilian friend I met in 2014 when mortars were raining down around us, wrote: “Celebrating life, victory over foreign aggression, rebuilding, the strength of Syrian roots, presidential elections and the bright future of the Syrian nation.”

That indeed is what I’ve seen in Syria, including today in Douma, where Syrians amassed to vote. Yet there is much to be done, particularly when it comes to rebuilding the infrastructure – especially as oh-so-benevolent America and its allies, in sanctioning the Syrian people, are directly preventing this.

So, if you’re still pointing a finger at the president and the army, turn that finger back at your governments, ye in the West. They are the cause of the destruction and death in Syria, and they hinder an otherwise achievable return to peace and normality.

End the genocidal siege of Syria!

May 1, 2021

2 Children Killed and 10 Others Injured in a Landmine Explosion in Daraa

ARABI SOURI JANUARY 12, 2021

Two children were killed on the spot and ten other children were injured in a landmine explosion in the city of al-sheik Maskeen (Maskin), northern Daraa countryside.

The victims and the injured children were rushed to the National Hospital of Daraa and the National Hospital of Izraa.

A spokesman for the Daraa Police Department stated that ‘a landmine was detonated in the Eastern Neighborhood in al-sheik Maskeen in the northern Daraa countryside yesterday, January 11, 2021, in a group of young children killing two of them and injuring ten others.’ The police spokesman added that most of the victims are from the same family.

Syria is suffering massively from the tens of thousands of landmines and IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) planted by the NATO-sponsored ‘freedom fighters’ of Al Qaeda FSA and of ISIS in all the areas they infested. In addition to planting a large number of military-grade landmines, gifted by the generous US and European taxpayers, the terrorists were making their own explosive devices in different shapes and sizes, some of which are like the usual household items. The terrorists would then spread their killing tools in its designated areas before they flee in order to continue killing and maiming Syrians, especially children who many of them were killed or lost limbs when picking up toys that were stuffed with explosives.

The task of demining and cleaning the regions newly liberated from NATO-sponsored ‘freedom fighters’ is overwhelming, to say the least, and it’s overwhelming for capable countries let alone a country that is still fighting terrorist groups in different parts of its territories, while it’s under a blockade and under inhumane draconian sanctions by the USA and its European minions preventing the Syrian state from acquiring needed tools to clear areas of the explosives and also impeding the procurement of medicine and medical tools and equipment.

Friendly civilized countries have been helping the Syrian state to clear the liberated areas from the explosives but those same countries are under attacks and sanctions as well by NATO and stooges.

Russian Sappers Start Demining Deir Ezzor Facilities

A Child’s Foot Amputated after a Landmine Explosion in Northern Hama

To help us continue please visit the Donate page to donate or learn how you can help us with no cost on you.
Follow us on Telegram: http://t.me/syupdates link will open Telegram app.

Related

• Syrian Arab Army in East of Hama Clashes with US-sponsored ISIS Cells
• Trump Forces Kill a Child and Injure his Mother in Northern Deir Ezzor
• Northern Syria: 6 Kurdish Separatist SDF Armed Men Killed Others Injured
• US-Sponsored Kurdish SDF Besiege 2 Districts in Qamishli for the 5th Day

الأموال السوريّة في المصارف اللبنانيّة… القصّة الكاملة

باريس – نضال حمادة

الأموال السورية المفقودة في لبنان أو أموال السوريين التي فُقِدَت في مصارف بلاد الأرز لها قصّة واقعية تستحق البحث والتحرّي مثلها مثل قصّة الأموال اللبنانية أو أموال اللبنانيين التي فقِدت أيضاً في المصارف اللبنانية. في هذا التقرير نفتح موضوع أموال السوريين في لبنان مع رئيس منتدى الاقتصاديين العرب في فرنسا سمير العيطة، وهو خبير متابع لهذا الأمر منذ سنوات، سألناه عن الموضوع فأجاب مفصّلاً وشارحاً لماذا تتواجد هذه الأموال السورية ومؤكداً على وجودها.

يقول سمير العيطة في حديثه لـ «البناء»: في ستينيات القرن الماضي حصلت حملة تأميم في سورية فهرَّب أصحاب الأموال في سورية أموالهم إلى بيروت. وفي المرحلة التالية، بقي القطاع الخاصّ السوري، أفراداً وأصحاب أعمال، يستخدمون المصارف اللبنانيّة ويخفون فيها مدّخراتهم وتمويل أشغالهم عن الحكومة السوريّة. يعود ذلك لأسباب مختلفة، منها ارتفاع الضرائب السورية، تلك على الاستيراد والأخرى على الأرباح. هكذا كان التاجر السوري يقلّل قيمة البضاعة المستوردة، فيحوّل جزءاً من ثمن مستورداته من المصرف التجاري والجزء الآخر عبر بيروت. كان هناك أيضاً تعدّد أسعار الصرف في سورية ولم يتغيّر هذا كثيراً مع افتتاح المصارف الخاصّة في سورية بدايةً عام 2004.

يضيف سمير العيطة أنّ الحرب في سورية والعقوبات عليها أدّت إلى مزيدٍ من تحويل أموال السوريين إلى لبنان. فحتّى المصارف الخاصّة السوريّة والتي لم توضع على لائحة العقوبات لم تعد تستطيع تحويل الأموال من الخارج وإليه لتخوّف مفرِط من المصارف الأجنبيّة المراسلة. هكذا أضحى كثيرٌ من تمويل التجارة الخارجيّة السوريّة يمرّ عبر بيروت. من ناحية أخرى، الكثير من الناس عندما وجدوا الأوضاع في سورية تتجه نحو الكارثة باعوا أملاكهم وهرّبوا أموالهم إلى لبنان. وأبقوها هناك لصعوبة فتح حسابات في دول أخرى وبسبب الفوائد العالية التي كانت تدفعها المصارف اللبنانية للمودعين.

ويشير العيطة إلى أنّ الدولة السورية لا تضع أموالها في لبنان خشية من العقوبات الغربيّة.

يستمرّ سمير العيطة في سرد القصة قائلاً: في بداية السبعينيات عندما تمّ تأميم المصارف في سورية، انتقل أصحاب المصارف وأصحاب الخبرات السورية كلّهم إلى لبنان. وأضحت هناك مصارف لبنانيّة أصحابها سوريون وأصبحت حينها 70 بالمئة من الكوادر المصرفية في لبنان من السوريين. ومع الحرب اللبنانية، أصبحت هذه المصارف ذات الأصل السوريّ رائدة، مثل بنك لبنان والمهجر (الأزهري)، وبنك بيمو(عبجي) والسوسيتيه جنرال (الصحناوي)، إلخ…

ويوضّح رئيس منتدى الاقتصاديين العرب في فرنسا أنّه بعد العام 2011 ومع العقوبات الأميركية على سورية زاد وجود رأس المال السوري في المصارف اللبنانية، لأنّ العقوبات استهدفت الجسم الأساس الذي ينظّم عمليات الاستيراد والتصدير، وهو المصرف التجاري السوري، فأصبح التجار السوريون يفتحون الاعتمادات عبر المصارف اللبنانية بدل المصرف التجاري السوري أو المصارف الخاصّة السوريّة. في مرحلة ثانية، بدأت الشركات الأجنبية توقف تعاملها ليس فقط مع المصارف السورية بل أيضاً مع المصانع والشركات الخاصّة السوريّة، حيث لم يعد بالإمكان حتى وضع اسم سورية على بوليصة تأمين شحن. فكان الحلّ أن يذهب السوريون إلى لبنان ويقومون بفتح اعتمادات من المصارف اللبنانية ويذكرون أنّ البضاعة التي فتح لأجلها الاعتماد مستوردة إلى لبنان، ومن ثمّ يقومون بإدخالها إلى سورية. وكانوا يدفعون من أموالهم دولارات من سورية وليست من لبنان، حيث كانوا يدخلون البضاعة إلى سورية يبيعونها ومن ثم يأتون بالدولارات إلى لبنان لفتح الاعتمادات في المصارف اللبنانيّة.

وهناك تفصيل بسيط هنا أنّ المصارف الخليجية الخاصّة التي فتحت فروعاً لها في سورية بعد المصارف اللبنانيّة، بل في 2010 أغلبها، قد سمح لها الأميركيون بتحويل الأموال وفتح الاعتمادات بنسبة معيّنة، مثل بنك قطر الوطني في سورية.

يقول سمير العيطة: كانت دولارات القطاع الخاص السوري تأتي إلى لبنان لهذه الأسباب وتقدّر المبالغ الموجودة بين 20 و40 مليار دولار، كلّها يملكها تجّار وصناعيون سوريون أو أموال أفراد قطاع خاص، وليست أموال «النظام» أو الدولة، لأنّهما لا يثقان بلبنان ويعتبرانه مخترقاً أمنيّاً. وهناك أيضاً أموال خاصّة سورية في تركيا، وهي أموال تجار وصناعيّين وأفراد من الشمال. كما هناك أموال تجّار وأفراد من مناطق «قسد» متواجدة في أربيل في بنوك عراقية وكذلك في ألمانيا. ولكنّ الحجم الأكبر في لبنان. الأمم المتحدة كانت تحوّل أيضاً أموال مساعداتها إلى سورية عبر لبنان.

كثيرون كانوا يعرفون أنّ النظام النقدي والمصرفي في لبنان يتّجه نحو كارثة، وأنّ أموال الودائع بالدولار تتبخّر في المنظومة. ألم تحصل محاولات أيام تسلم الوزير جورج قرم لوزارة المالية لتدارك الأمر؟ ألم يحذّر منه الوزير السابق شربل نحاس منذ زمن؟ ألم يكن الفرنسيون يعلمون بالأمر عندما عقدوا مؤتمر باريس 1 ثمّ باريس 2 ثم باريس 3 وبعد ذلك مؤتمر سيدر؟ كانوا يعلمون أنّ الأموال تُسرَق وتذهب هدراً ولكنّهم دفعوا المزيد من الأموال في الثقب الأسود. وبات هذا واضحاً في أوائل 2019 عندما بدأت بعض البنوك اللبنانيّة بمنح فوائد غير منطقيّة على الدولار. جاء أحدهم حينها إلى أحد هذه البنوك لوضع مبلغ زهيد، فقالت له الموظّفة «إذا أتيت بـ 100 ألف دولار وجمّدتها، نعطيك 15%»، فسألها «ليش رح تفلسوا بكرا وعم تلمّوا الدولارات»!

حول الاتهامات «أنّ سورية سرقت الأموال اللبنانية إبان التواجد العسكري السوري في لبنان» يقول سمير العيطة إنّ هذه مهاترة. لنأخذ مثالاً فترة الحصار التي شهدتها سورية بين الأعوام 1980 و1990. كانت سورية تفتقِد لموادّ كثيرة. لم يكن هناك مثلاً موز أو محارم وكانت هناك أساسيات موجودة في لبنان ومفقودة في سورية. ولو كانت سورية تسرُق لبنان لكنّا وجدنا هذه المواد في سورية حينها. ثمّ يضيف أنّه في فترة لاحقة وبعد اكتشاف النفط في سورية ومجيء شركة شل، عاشت سورية مرحلة رخاء. هنا أصبحت السرقة في الاتجاه المعاكس يعني من سورية إلى لبنان. كانت سرقة المازوت والبنزين المدعوم من سورية باتجاه لبنان. هكذا خرج عبدالله الدردري حين كان نائب رئيس الوزراء للشؤون الاقتصاديّة ليقول إنّ خسارة سورية من تهريب المازوت والبنزين المدعوم إلى لبنان مليار ونصف مليار دولار سنوياً. ورقم خسارة كهذا يعني كميّات ضخمة. ومربح التهريب كان يُقتَسَم بين سوريين ولبنانيين، أحياناً موقفهم ضدّ النظام في سورية. في تلك الحقبة، كان هناك ضبّاط سوريون في لبنان يأخذون عمولات، لكنّهم كانوا يتقاسمونها مع زعماء الحرب اللبنانيين الذين ما زالوا في السلطة في لبنان. هذه المهاترات تعني أنّ الحقّ فقط للبنانيين في سرقة لبنان وللسوريين في سرقة سورية! بينما كان الاثنان يسرقون من البلدين.

ثمّ يقول إنّ التهريب سيبقى طالما هناك فروقات أسعار كبيرة بين البلدين. هناك بالفعل تهريب من لبنان إلى سورية اليوم، ولكن هناك أيضاً تهريب من سورية إلى لبنان. مثلاً لا أحد يتحدّث عن تهريب الإسمنت المدعوم من سورية إلى لبنان. والكلّ يعرف من الذين يحتكرون تجارة الإسمنت في لبنان. وبالمناسبة سعر الإسمنت في لبنان يفوق ثلاثة أضعاف سعره في مصر فلماذا لم يستورد لبنان من مصر وهي عندها إنتاج يفوق حاجتها. ثمّ أنّه عند تهريب أيّ بضاعة من لبنان إلى سورية، يدفع سوريّون ثمنها بالدولار يعني «فريش دولار»، إذ لا يُمكن للبنان أن يفعل شيئاً بالليرات السوريّة. وبالتالي حجم الدولارات التي ذهبت وتذهب من سورية إلى لبنان تفوق كثيراً تلك التي أتت وتأتي من لبنان إلى سورية.

ويختم العيطة حديثه قائلاً إنّ السوريين غرقوا كما اللبنانيين في الأزمة المالية والمصرفيّة اللبنانيّة التي ربّما لم يُعرف قعرها بعد.

US Sanctions: Shooting Blanks Against the Resiliency of Targeted Nations

By Stephen Lendman

Global Research, October 27, 2020

As explained many times before, Security Council members alone may legally impose sanctions on nations, entities and individuals.

When used by countries against others, they breach the UN Charter, how the US, NATO and Israel operate time and again.

The Charter’s Article II mandates all member states to “settle…disputes” according to the rule of law.

US/Western sanctions are weapons of war by other means — used to pressure, bully and terrorize targeted nations into submission.

Though widely used, most often they fail to achieve intended objectives.

US sanctions war and other hostile actions against Cuba for 60 years, Iran for 40 years, Venezuela for 20 years, and against countless other nations largely shot blanks.

Most often, they’re counterproductive.

Hardships imposed on people in targeted nations fuel anti-US sentiment — blaming Washington, not their governments, for what they endure.

Under international law, nations are prohibited from intervening in the internal affairs of others.

Military action against an adversary is only legal in self-defense if attacked — never preemptively for any reasons.

Hardcore US bipartisan policy targets all independent nations unwilling to subordinate their sovereign rights to its interests.

That’s what US hostility toward China, Russia, Iran, and other targeted countries is all about.

Since WW II, no nations threatened the US militarily or politically.

Like all other empires in world history now gone, a similar fate awaits the US — because of its counterproductive geopolitical policies, over time making more enemies than allies, weakening, not strengthening, the state.

Last week in response to US sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the following:

“(T)his unfriendly and destructive policy of constant introduction of various restrictions in relation to us, our economic operators, our economy, unfortunately, this has already become an integral part of unfair competition, undisguised hostile takeover competition on the part of Washington.”

Last month, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova slammed the US, saying:

“We condemn (US) calls for forging a certain coalition against the pipeline, wherein German and other companies have already made multi-billion dollar investments.”

In response to EU sanctions on Russia over the Navalny novichok poisoning hoax, its Foreign Ministry demanded to know “who is behind the anti-Russian provocation,” adding:

“In response, we get aggressive rhetoric and outright manipulation of the facts” — by the EU in cahoots with the US.

Sergey Lavrov slammed Berlin for being in breach of its international obligations for failing to provide Moscow with information it claims to have about the Navalny incident — because none exists.

In mid-October, protesters outside the US embassy in London accused Washington of attempting to “strangle” Cuba’s economy by a virtual blockade on the island state.

The so-called Rock Around The Blockade solidarity campaign called for breaking the illegal action, chanting “Cuba si! Yankee no! Abajo el bloqueo/Down with the blockade!”

Despite annual UN General Assembly measures against US blockade of the island state, it’s been in place for decades without success because of Cuban resiliency.

Trump regime Office of Foreign Assets Control threatened to sue “anyone who trades with Cuba” or has property in the country.

Despite decades of US war on Cuba by other means, aiming to regain imperial control over the island state, policies of Republicans and Dems consistently failed.

US war on China by sanctions and other means widens the breach between both countries.US Sanctions: Weapons of War by Other Means on Targeted Nations

On October 21 in a Foreign Affairs article titled “How China Threatens American Democracy” (sic), Trump regime national security advisor Robert  O’Brien invented nonexistent threats.

Instead of fostering productive bilateral relations with all nations, policies of both right wings of the US one-party state go the other way against nations Washington doesn’t control — how the scourge of imperialism operates.

China fosters cooperative relations with other nations, threatening none — polar opposite longstanding US policy, seeking dominance over planet earth, its resources and populations.

Undeclared US initiated Cold War against China, Russia, and other targeted nations threatens to turn hot by accident or design — especially in East Asia, the Middle East, and near Russia’s borders.

On Sunday, O’Brien expressed frustration, saying:

“One of the problems that we have faced with both Iran and Russia is that we now have so many sanctions against these countries that we have very little (opportunity) to do anything about it,” adding:

“But we are looking at all possible deterrent measures that we can apply to these countries, as well as others…”

Last Thursday, the US Treasury Department announced new sanctions on Iran’s IRGC, its Quds Force, and Bayan Rasaneh Gostar Institute “for having directly or indirectly engaged in, sponsored, concealed, or otherwise been complicit in foreign interference” in US November 3 elections.

Fact: Throughout US history, no evidence showed that any foreign nations ever interfered in its electoral process — a US specialty against scores of nations throughout the post-WW II period.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh slammed the hostile action, saying:

Its government “strong(ly) reject(s) baseless and false claims” by the US, adding:

“(I)t makes no difference for Iran who wins the US election.”

On core domestic and foreign policy issues, both right wings of the US one-party state operate largely the same way.

Rare exceptions prove the rule.

On Monday, Pompeo announced more illegal sanctions on Iran — part of longstanding US war on the country by other means.

Tehran’s “Ministry of Petroleum and Minister of Petroleum, the National Iranian Oil Company, the National Iranian Tanker Company, and 21 other individuals, entities, and vessels” were targeted for unjustifiable reasons.

Iran, its ruling authorities, and entities foster cooperative relations with other countries — hostile actions toward none, except in self-defense if attacked, the legal right of all nations.

US imperial policy targets all countries, entities and individuals not subservient to its rage to rule the world unchallenged.

US maximum pressure on Iran and other nations is all about wanting them transformed into vassal states.

Separately on Monday, convicted felon/US envoy for regime change in Iran and Venezuela Elliott Abrams said the following:

“The transfer of long-range missiles from Iran to Venezuela is not acceptable to the United States and will not be tolerated or permitted,” adding:

“We will make every effort to stop shipments of long-range missiles, and if somehow they get to Venezuela they will be eliminated there.”

Was the above threat a possible US declaration of hot war on Venezuela, on Iran as well?

Last week, Pompeo announced new US sanctions on “the State Research Center of the Russian Federation FGUP Central Scientific Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics (TsNIIKhM).”

He falsely claimed the research institute conducts “malware attacks (that threaten) cybersecurity and critical infrastructure (sic).”

No evidence was cited because none exists, including alleged Russian malware against “a petrochemical plant in the Middle East,” along with “scann(ing) and prob(ing) US facilities.”

Pompeo falsely accused Russia of “engag(ing) in dangerous and malicious activities that threaten the security of the United States and our allies (sic).”

The above is what the US and its imperial partners do time and again — falsely blaming others for their own high crimes.

The Trump regime also imposed unlawful sanctions on Iran for supplying Venezuela with gasoline — the legal right of both nations to conduct bilateral trade relations.

Last month, former Trump regime acting DNI Richard Grenell met secretly with Venezuelan Vice President for Communications Jorge Rodriguez in Mexico, according to Bloomberg News.

It was a futile attempt to get President Maduro to step down ahead of US November 3 elections, Trump seeking a foreign policy success to tout that failed.

US war on Venezuela by other means, notably by Trump, imposed great hardships on its people alone — failing to achieve regime change.

US-designated puppet-in-waiting Guaido’s involvement in the scheme made him widely despised by the vast majority of Venezuelans.

Separately, Russia’s US embassy responded to unacceptable tightening of visas for its journalists by the Trump regime, creating “artificial barriers (that impede) their normal work,” adding:

“In particular, the limitation of the period of stay for foreign media employees to 240 days (with the possibility of extension up to 480 days) will not allow them to consistently cover local events.”

Journalists “will have to leave the United States for a considerable time to obtain a new visa.”

This new policy flies in the face of what “freedom of speech and equal access to information” is supposed to be all about.

On Monday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova slammed US accusations of alleged Moscow cybersecurity threats, calling them “unfounded,” adding:

“(T)his time (the US outdid itself) in anti-Russia rhetoric with extremely harsh statements occasionally bordering on bizarre rudeness.”

“Such an approach will not benefit the State Department and is indicative of the fact that they treat the culture and norms of state-to-state communication with disdain.”

Businessman Trump sought improved relations with Russia — the aim thwarted by surrounding himself with Russophobic hardliners.

The same holds for US hostility toward China, Iran, and other countries on its target list for regime change.

*

Note to readers: please click the share buttons below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.

Award-winning author Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)

His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Featured image is from podur.orgThe original source of this article is Global ResearchCopyright © Stephen Lendman, Global Research, 2020

Russia vs. US Imperial Aims in Syria

By Stephen Lendman

Global Research, October 01, 2020

Former NATO commander General Wesley Clark earlier explained that the US underwent a post-9/11 transformation. A “policy coup” occurred. 

With no public debate or acknowledgement, hardliners in Washington usurped power.

Days after 9/11, Clark learned from Pentagon commanders that plans were made to “destroy the governments in seven countries.”

Besides Afghanistan, Yemen, and partnering with Israeli wars on Palestinians, they include Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Iran.

The plan follows the 1990s Paul Wolfowitz doctrine, stating the following:

“Our first objective is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival, either on the territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere…”

“This is a dominant consideration underlying the new regional defense strategy and requires that we endeavor to prevent any hostile power from dominating a region whose resources would, under consolidated control, be sufficient to generate global power.”

Adopted by both right wings of the US war party, his doctrine is all about waging endless wars by hot and other means for unchallenged control over all other nations, their resources and populations — what the scourge of imperialism is all about.

The Obama regime’s preemptive war on nonbelligerent Syria over nine years ago was and remains part of Washington’s aim for controlling the Middle East and its vast hydrocarbon resources — in cahoots with junior partner Israel and key NATO countries.

Russia’s legitimate involvement from September 30, 2015 to the present day — at the request of Syria’s government — turned the tide of battle from defeat of its forces to liberation of most of the country.

Illegal occupation of northern Syria by US and Turkish forces, along with Pentagon troops in the country’s south, prevent conflict resolution.

On Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu explained the game-changing effectiveness  of Moscow’s Syrian operations, saying the following:

“A total of 865 gang leaders and more than 133,000 militants, including 4,500 militants from the Russian Federation and the CIS countries (US supported jihadists) have been eliminated,” adding:

“The operation in Syria has demonstrated the fundamentally increased capabilities of the Russian Armed Forces, the ability to successfully defend national interests in any part of the world, as well as the readiness to provide military assistance to its allies and partners.”

“A total of 98% of military police units’ personnel, 90% of Russian pilots, and 60% of sailors gained real combat experience” in Syria.

The most active phase of Russia’s military operations in the country was from September 30, 2015 – December 11, 2017.

Over 44,000 sorties were conducted to the present day. Long-range cruise missiles were used against high-priority targets.

Surface and sub-service vessels carried out around 100 strategic strikes against ISIS and other US supported jihadists — dozens more by long-range bombers to destroy their infrastructure.

Shoigu believes that the threat posed by ISIS in Syria is neutralized.

By invitation from Damascus, Russia established two military bases in Syria.

Its Khmeimim airbase facilities are suitable for all its combat and support aircraft.

Its Tartus naval base can accommodate numerous ships. Its state-of-the-art facilities include vessel servicing, maintenance and repair capabilities.

Russian operations prevented the Syrian Arab Republic from becoming a US vassal state.

Its involvement also helps maintain a regional balance of power.

Despite important strategic accomplishments in the past five years, war in the country continues because of foreign occupation.

A potentially important development occurred on Tuesday.

According to Southfront, “Russian troops broke through a US blockade and entered eastern Syria, erecting a checkpoint along a road in Hasaka,” adding:

“The Russian military convoy, despite the opposition of the Americans, managed to break through into the eastern part of northern Syria.”

Russia’s new military checkpoint blocks movement of US troops, weapons and equipment from Iraq into Syria.

It also blocks transport of stolen Syrian oil by the US into Turkey.

Separately on Thursday, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported the following:

“In cooperation and coordination with Turkish regime-backed terrorists, the Turkish Grain Board (TMO) started to loot the wheat and barley crops which are stolen from (Syrian) farmers” — citing local sources, adding:

The Erdogan regime “opened…storehouses for this purpose after forcing farmers…to hand over their crops to centers run by terrorists and Turkish brokers in Ras al-Ayn area in Hasaka northern countryside…”

They’re smuggling them cross-border into Turkey.

Its occupation forces and terrorist proxies threatened to burn Syrian crops if farmers don’t comply with Ankara’s demands.

Shoigu’s claim about the elimination of ISIS in Syria was somewhat exaggerated.

According to AMN News on Wednesday, Syrian and Russian warplanes struck Daesh positions in Raqqa and Homs provinces to “weaken…the terrorist group’s resolve and…eliminate their remaining sleeper cells.”

A Final Comment

US sanctions war on Syria is all about wanting its people starved into submission — notably by last June’s so-called Caesar Syria Civilian Protection legislation (Caesar Act) that has nothing to do with protecting its people.

The measure threatens sanctions on nations, entities and individuals that maintain legitimate economic, financial, military, and intelligence relations with Damascus — their legal right under international law.

On Wednesday, the Trump regime imposed new sanctions on Syria.

According to a Treasury Department statement, 13 Syrian entities and individuals were blacklisted.

Targeted individuals include Syrian Central Bank governor Hazem Younes Karfoul and General Intelligence Directorate head Husam Muhammad Louka.

Targeted entities include  telecommunications, tourism, and technology firms.

US war by hot and other means on the Syrian Arab Republic aims to eliminate its sovereign independence.

Russia’s involvement in the country is a powerful counterforce against US imperial objectives.

*

Note to readers: please click the share buttons above or below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.

Award-winning author Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)

His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.US Syria Pullout? A Saigon Moment?The original source of this article is Global ResearchCopyright © Stephen Lendman, Global Research, 2020

Turkey’s Destructive Role in the M.E and Europe

Source

Tuesday, 15 September 2020 10:49

Turkey has for a longtime now been the enzyme that speeds problems in the area of the Mediterranean. Still unable to stomach the Treaty of Lausanne(1923) which defined the borders of modern day Turkey it has for a long time now been scheming to extend its borders by land grabbing from other countries. This can be clearly depicted in two countries Cyprus and Syria .In 1974 Turkey attacked Cyprus and occupied a third of the island and formed on its own the “Republic of Northern Cyprus” recognized by no country in the world except its creator. In Syria the story is even sadder – not satisfied with usurping Alexanderetta ,Turkey opened its borders to terrorists to infiltrate Syria and aided and abetted them(During the war of terror on Syria). Now it has taken a further step by arming and training terrorists and by actually sending its troops inside Syria. Turkey dreams of a revival of the Ottoman Empire and for that to happen boundaries must change and towns and cities might have to be erased. A question arises –why does no one do anything about  this? Why is the world silent while Turkey wreaks havoc where it wants. What is the UN doing or for that matter the EU?

 Syriatimes carried out an interview with EU parliamentarian Athanasios Konstantinou to clarify certain points.

  Member of European Parliament  to ST: EU’s appeasement of Turkey, has deeply injured the trust of Greek citizens

 Member of European Parliament Athanasios Konstantinou reckons that hollow actions that have no political and economic impact will be taken by the EU against Turkey for political propaganda reasons.

 He told Syria Times e-newspaper that from the 1980 till today, more than 60.000 Turkish planes have infiltrated Greek airspace not counting the paralleling actions of the Turkish navy.

 Konstantinou, in addition, has pointed out that U.N. repeatedly over time appears  powerless and without the will to enforce international law and in that way tolerate NATO to act in their place.

 Here below is the full text of the interview:

1-Can you tell us about the origins of the gas drilling dispute between Greece  and Turkey? 

For many decades Turkey has applied a calculated foreign policy that aims to seize as much of the Aegean Sea as possible, part of a larger plan to enforce itself as a Mediterranean power.

 This policy is obviously effective, due mostly to the failure of all past and present Greek governments (and their allies) to efficiently protect the Greek borders. This explains why Turkey defies international law and openly and officially threatens war, if Greece exercises its rights to the “12 nautical miles” international law, in Aegean.

A major phase for the implementation of their strategy was the occupation of Northern Cyprus. Until then, the Turkish plan was a “paper” one, but since then, Turkey is moving with real steps. Consider that from the 1980 till today, more than 60.000 Turkish planes have infiltrated the Greek airspace  not counting the paralleling actions of the Turkish navy.

 All major powers and alliances endorse the Turkish plan, otherwise the occupation of Cyprus, with its obvious geopolitical effects, would not have been tolerated and possibly would have not been tried by the Turks!

 So in that light, what we see now regarding the “drilling dispute” as you put it, is not surprising.

2-Is the United Nations able to influence Turkey?? 

The United Nations, unfortunately, wasn’t able in the past and cannot in the present, influence Turkey. Allow me to remind your readers that, for the illegal Turkish occupation forces in Cyprus, U.N. voted two resolutions, ordering the withdrawal of the Turkish army.

 Nothing of the kind has happened.

 Furthermore, the UN voted on an arms embargo for Libya, an embargo, today de facto ignored by Turkey and other countries.

 The greater issue here is that, U.N. repeatedly over time appears powerless and without the will to enforce international law and in that way tolerates NATO to act in their place.

And NATO’s first priority, of course, is the protection of USA’s interests and not the international law.

3-Many EU emergency summits were held concerning this issue, were the results positive?

The results of these summits, can barely  be described as “not-negative” but we certainly cannot define them as positive. In my opinion, European Union with its appeasement Turkish policy, has severely damaged the trust of the European peoples in the Union. And without any doubt, has deeply injured the trust of Greek citizens. After all, Greek borders are part of the E.U. ’s borders. And the Greek economy as well. When a malicious outsider defies your borders and tries to rip-off your wealth and you don’t defend either, then you void the reasons for your own existence as a Union.

4- Is the EU likely to approve  sanctions on Turkey ? What kind of sanctions will they be and most importantly how effective?  

So far, everything points out that no real measures or sanctions will be imposed on Turkey from E.U. Only hollow and without political or economic impact actions will be taken and only for political propaganda reasons.

If this is the case, then we are led to believe that EU politics obey and serve not the interests of European citizens but those of  big international financial lobbies. And I know that this is most frustrating for the Syrian people also, because you have felt this injustice through the sanctions imposed to Syria.

5-How does Libya enter into this equation? 

The Turkish involvement in Libya, is the second major stepping stone, of their plan to promote themselves to a Mediterranean power, as I have pointed out earlier.

The Turkish government wisely tries to capitalize on NATO’s great mistake and injustice on Libya, where once more, international financial lobbies have indicated policies aiming to gain and disregard the will of the peoples. The result was chaos in Libya and opportunity for Turkey. This is why other countries like Egypt, counteract against the Turkish actions.

Editor in chief : Reem Haddad

Basma Qaddour

مصياف مدينة الشهداء تتألّم!

د. محمد سيد أحمد

لا شك في أنّ سورية العربية ومنذ مطلع العام 2011 وبدء المؤامرة الكونية عليها وهي تعاني وتتألم، ومع مرور سنوات الحرب الكونية كانت المعاناة تزداد يوماً بعد يوم، وبالطبع لم يسلم شبر واحد من الأرض السورية وعلى كامل جغرافيتها من عبث الإرهابيين، الذين تمّ جلبهم بواسطة أطراف المؤامرة سواء الأصيل منهم كالأميركي والصهيوني أو التابع كالتركي والخليجي، وخلال سنوات الحرب صمد الشعب السوري صموداً أسطورياً وقدّمت العائلات السورية خيرة وزهرة شبابها كقربان دفاعاً عن التراب الوطني، ولا يوجد تقريباً الآن عائلة سوريّة وطنية صامدة على الأرض لم تقدّم شهيداً في هذه الحرب. وهناك عائلات قدّمت عدداً من الشهداء وليس شهيداً واحداً فداءً للوطن.

ومع مطلع العام 2019 وفي ظلّ انتصارات الجيش العربي السوري المدوية على الجماعات التكفيرية الإرهابية التي تعمل بالوكالة لدى العدو الأميركي على كامل الجغرافيا السورية، قرّر الأصيل في هذه الحرب استخدام أساليب جديدة للعدوان على سورية بعد فشل مشروعه العسكري ووجد في ورقة الحصار الاقتصادي التي عرفت بـ «قانون قيصر» إحدى أهمّ أدوات الحرب الجديدة على سورية، وأعتقد العدو الأميركي أنّ ما لم يستطع تحقيقه عبر الحرب العسكرية الكونية على مدار ثماني سنوات يمكن تحقيقه بالحصار الاقتصادي في مدى زمني أقلّ.

فالشعب السوري الذي زادت ثقته في قيادته السياسية عبر سنوات الحرب يمكن أن يفقد هذه الثقة مع تشديد الحصار الاقتصادي عليه مع عدم إتاحة الفرصة لحلول اقتصادية سريعة وناجزة من قبل الحكومة أمام المشكلات المصطنعة بفعل الحصار مثل غياب بعض السلع الأساسية من الأسواق خاصة المحروقات في ظلّ استمرار سيطرة العدو الأميركي ووكلائه المحليين والإرهابيين على آبار النفط السورية. هذا الى جانب استهداف العقوبات الاقتصادية مجالات استراتيجية حيوية كقطع الغيار في العديد من الصناعات، وسياسة التجويع بتعطيش الأسواق من السلع والمواد الغذائية، ومحاولة مدّ الحصار ليشمل الأدوية، وهناك تشديد لمنع تهريب السلع عبر دول الجوار الأردن والعراق ولبنان، وفي ظلّ هذا الحصار ترتفع أسعار السلع تدريجياً مع انخفاض سعر الليرة السورية، فيؤدّي التضخم والغلاء إلى زيادة المعاناة، وبذلك تنفجر الجماهير وتتحقق الفوضى التي لم تحدث أثناء سنوات الحرب، وعلى الرغم من الحصار الاقتصادي الرهيب على مدار العامين الماضيين إلا أنّ الشعب السوري لا يزال صامداً ويتألّم بصمت.

وعلى الرغم من تقديرنا لمعاناة الشعب العربي السوري بكامله، لكن تظل المعاناة والتضحيات نسبية وتختلف من بقعة جغرافية إلى بقعة جغرافية أخرى، لذلك أودّ اليوم تسليط الضوء على واحدة من المدن السورية الصغيرة لكنها عظيمة في صمودها وتضحيات أهلها. إنها مدينة مصياف يا سادة، مدينة الشهداء التى زرتها ثلاث مرات على مدار الأزمة كانت أولها في مطلع العام 2015 وآخرها في منتصف العام 2018، وعندما تتجوّل في شوارعها تجد صور الشهداء تزيّن جدران المدينة، وحين تتحرّك تجاه ريفها تتعلق عيناك بأعمدة الكهرباء المزيّنة بصور شهداء كلّ منطقة وقرية وضيعة تمرّ بها، لذلك لم أتعجّب عندما شاهدت السيد الرئيس بشار الأسد في منتصف العام 2017 يقود سيارته بنفسه مصطحباً عائلته ومتجهاً إلى ريف مصياف زائراً ومواسياً وداعماً لعائلات شهداء ومصابي الجيش العربي السوري.

تحيــــــة إلى شهداء مصياف 

ومدينة مصياف تقع جنوب غرب مدينة حماة على مسافة 48 كم، وترتفع عن سطح البحر بما يقرب من 450 متراً وتحيط بالمدينة مجموعة جبال أهمّها جبل المشهد وجبل عين الخنازير، وتأخذ المدينة موقعاً متوسطاً بين الجبال الساحلية والسهول الداخلية، وتتميّز بمناخ معتدل طوال العام مع سرعة الرياح والأمطار التي تجعل ريفها قطعة من الجنة، وارتبط اسم المدينة بقلعتها التي تربض في وسطها على كتلة صخرية امتدّت من الشمال إلى الجنوب وتعود إلى المرحلة الرومانية والبيزنطية وقد بُنيت كقاعدة عسكرية لتأمين الطرق العابرة من الساحل إلى الداخل.

وتنقسم مصياف وريفها إلى نواحي عدة هي: ناحية مركز مصياف، وناحية جب رملة، وناحية عوج، وناحية عين حلاقيم، وناحية وادي العيون، وتضمّ كلّ ناحية العديد من القرى. وقد عانت مصياف وريفها كثيراً سواء قبل الحرب وأثناءها على مستوى توافر الخدمات الرئيسية مثل شبكات الكهرباء والمياه والهاتف الأرضي الموسع والطرق والنظافة، واليوم تعدّ الصومعة، وبيصين، وطيرجملة، وعوج، وبشنين، الأكثر معاناة فلا توجد فيها آبار للمياه، والشبكات أصبحت قديمة ومهترئة، لذلك نحاول إيصال أنين وآلام أهالينا بمصياف وريفها لمزيد من الرعاية والعناية التي يستحقونها، فلا يزال العدو الصهيوني حتى اليوم يستهدف مصياف بقصف متكرّر لبعض المواقع العسكرية والعلمية، ولا تزال مصياف صامدة وتقدّم الشهداء وتتألم بصمت.

واليوم وبعد انتخاب مجلس شعب جديد وتكليف السيد الرئيس بتشكيل حكومة جديدة نأمل أن يقوما بدورهما في رفع المعاناة عن الشعب السوري عامة وعن سكان مدينة مصياف وريفها خاصة لما قدّموه للوطن من تضحيات خلال سنوات الحرب الكونية، فالمعاناة أرهقت كاهل الجميع، لكن تظلّ المدن والقرى البعيدة والنائية، بحاجة ماسة لجهود مضاعفة لتوفير متطلبات الحياة لمواطنين يستحقون الحياة، لأنهم أصحاب التضحيات الأكبر من أجل الوطن. اللهم بلغت اللهم فاشهد.

فيديوات متعلقة

• شهداء وجرحى في استهداف المسلحين لمدينة مصياف بريف … – الميادين
• مصياف: أم الشهداء وضحية «الشبيحة»
• الأسد يزور مخيما للجرحى وأبناء “الشهداء” في مصياف – عربي21

دمشق تنتصر مجدّداً

البناء

أيهم درويش

لا تقاس الضربات بحجمها بل بمدى تأثيرها، من هنا أصبح واضحاً لدى السوريين أن ما تواجهه سورية اليوم شديد القسوة، قسوة الإرهاب طيلة السنوات التسع الماضية، فلا قذائف الهاون ولا الصواريخ ولا الإجرام، ولا اصطفاف نحو مئة دولة في الحرب الإرهابية ضدّ سورية، كل ذلك لم ينل من إرادة السوريين ولم يفتت من عزيمتهم، واليوم، يواجه السوريون إرهاباً اقتصادياً يشي بفصل جديد من الحرب على سورية، وهذه المرة من بوابة «قانون قيصر».

الضغط الاقتصادي يأتي دائماً مرادفاً للحرب النفسية، ولذلك نرى أن الإجراءات القسرية الأميركية ضد سورية تتخذ منحى الحرب النفسية على قاعدة أن ما يعانيه السوريون سينتهي عند خضوع دمشق لشروط الولايات المتحدة، في وقت لا تريد الولايات المتحدة أن تمرّ أيّ عملية سياسية أو إعادة للإعمار إلا عن طريقها، وتشدّد الخناق على السوريين بالعقوبات مدعية حماية المدنيين.

الإرهاب الاقتصادي الذي تمارسه الولايات المتحدة بحق السوريين، لا بدّ أنه سيواجه بالإرادة ذاتها التي واجه السوريون بها الإرهاب التدميري، كما أنّ حلفاء دمشق لن يتوانوا عن دعمها، وهناك طرق كثيرة لكسر الحصار الأميركي، وما يميّز علاقة سورية بحلفائها، وقوفهم الدائم في مواجهة سياسة القطب الواحد الذي تمارسه أميركا لتمرير مشاريعها الاستعمارية في المنطقة، هذه العلاقة القوية بين الحلفاء ظهرت بشكل خاص عندما لم تلتفت إيران للتحذيرات الأميركية، وأرسلت رغماً عنها ناقلاتها النفطية المحملة بالنفط لفنزويلا والقطع اللازمة لمساعدتها على ترميم منشآتها النفطية. فالناقلات الإيرانية لم تتراجع أمام التهديدات التي أطلقها الأسطول الأميركي، بل أصرّت على إيصال الدعم لحليفتها مهما كلفها الأمر، لتوجه رسالة بأنه من غير المسموح وقوع أي دولة حليفة تحت الهيمنة الأميركية.

لقد سبق أن وقفت سورية إلى جانب إيران، وإيران اليوم قوة إقليمية كبرى وقفت مع سورية في مواجهة الإرهاب ورعاته، كما أنّ روسيا الاتحادية تقف ذات الموقف، والذين وقفوا الى جانب دمشق وآزروها في الحرب على الإرهاب العسكري، مستمرون في الوقوف إلى جانبها لإفشال الإرهاب الاقتصادي.

دمشق تأخذ بعين الاعتبار قسوة العقوبات الاقتصادية التي تفرض عليها، وهي تتقدّم بخطى واثقة لتحويل العقوبات إلى فرصة للنهوض بالصناعة والزراعة وعلى كل المستويات. وتتخذ كلّ التدابير والإجراءات لتمويل ودعم عملية النمو الاقتصادي، وزيادة الناتج المحلي الزراعي والصناعي، من أجل تتويج انتصارها على الإرهاب العسكري بانتصار آخر يسقط مفاعيل الإجراءات الأميركية القسرية.