Posted on 07/14/2018 11:10:40 PM PDT by Eleutheria5
A top aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that Iran would immediately withdraw its “military advisers” from Syria and Iraq only if their governments wanted it to.
“Iran and Russia’s presence in Syria will continue to protect the country against terrorist groups and America’s aggression,” said the adviser, Ali Akbar Velayati, in a conference in Moscow, according to Reuters.
“We will immediately leave if Iraqi and Syrian governments want it, not because of Israel and America’s pressure,” he stressed.
Iran and Russia back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s civil war. Iran has been providing Assad with both financial aid and military advisors against a range of opposing forces.
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(Excerpt) Read more at israelnationalnews.com ...
Translation: We are tired of getting our rear ends handed to us, by the Israelis. Is there a way we can gracefully back out of this deal, without looking like the A holes we really are. 👍
We should help the Israelis more and use signals intelligence and targeted munitions to make it a bad choice to be Syria, Russia or Iran.
“I.e., They’re staying in Iraq ‘til hell freezes over. “
It makes my blood boil when I think of the money, and more importantly, the lives of our young men and women, that Boosh II pi$$ed away in that $hit hole country. I hope Boosh II rots in Hell for what he did getting us into Iraq (and Afghanistan too).
Think forward. They have no exit strategy. This could be their Vietnam;-}
#5. No. This is not their Vietnam. THe terrain is different. The opposition is fragmented, not centrally controlled from abroad (i.e. Hanoi ran the VC, the Pathet Lao and the early Khmer Rouge), or even centrally united in-country.
Syria has unlimited arms and air aid from Russia, and ground forces from Russia, Iran, Lebanon (Hezbollah) and possibly even Hamas.
Why have an exit strategy when you are winning and will eventually control most, if not all of the country of Syria, its ports, airfields, and even some key mountain territory?
Iran is just posturing. They don’t care how many men they lose, just as they didn’t care in their war against Iraq in the 1980’s.
They are in a good position now and in the foreseeable future. Why spoil a good thing?
Once Obama chickened out (as planned) over his fake “Red Line” in Syria, Russia and Iran knew that they were going to win. Obama’s treason sold out another country to the conquerors.
I have sense there will be a development at least in terms of Iran’s presence in Syria following the Putin-Trump summit.
You understand that a government elected by its people is sovereign. Country.Invading a country is an act of war and a violation of international law. Russia and Iran were asked by Syria and Iraq to come and help fight ISIS . After being invited, and hating ISIS, they came and destroyed Isis. We were not asked but invaded Syria in violation of international law and for some unknown reason and totally unprovoked sent 2000 troops in there and illegally bombed and killed people. We actually killed a small number of Isis bastards but minuscule compared to the efforts of Syria/ Russia/Iran who have now preserved the nation state of Syria. We need to leave because we were never invited there.
Moreover, Iran has used its soft power quite creatively. In 2018, the Assad regime agreed to open branches of the Iranian Islamic Azad University, which is closely affiliated with the IRGC, in every major Syrian city. Iranians have also spearheaded Assad’s depopulation scheme, which has dislocated millions and has severely altered Syria’s ethno-religious demography. Clearly, Iran intends to dominate Syria for a very long time, and to radically reshape its society in the process.
https://www.the-american-interest.com/2018/07/13/what-will-happen-if-the-united-states-leaves-syria/
Yes. It is now compulsory to learn Russian in Syrian schools and be schooled on the feats of Soviet era heroes like Yuri Gagarin etc...Yet: school textbooks do not mention the Holocaust and do not acknowledge Israel as a legitimate country, but as a terrorist occupier of Palestine and the Golan Height.However Iran and the Persian Empire are treated with suspicion in the Syrian children’s current curriculums.
There is definitely something far deeper being cemented than mere military ties. The only thing that could potentially change dynamics down the line is a change in leadership not in Syria...but in Russia. If the person succeeding Putin wants to continue what’s been started.
And who knows what kind of uprising may organically occur to challenge the status quo within Syria eventually or even Iran for that matter...(Iran being highly likely and more imminent than we realize.)
“The opposition is fragmented, not centrally controlled from abroad (i.e. Hanoi ran the VC, the Pathet Lao and the early Khmer Rouge), or even centrally united in-country.”
That can change with a new sheriff in town.
“Syria has unlimited arms and air aid from Russia, and ground forces from Russia, Iran, Lebanon (Hezbollah) and possibly even Hamas.”
The South Vietnamese had unlimited arms and air aid from the United States, Australia, NATO and South Korea.
The US will not directly confront Russia. Russia will not directly confront the US. What we have here is another proxy war, just like Vietnam. Different trees, same forest. So why not support the Kurds and other dissatisfied insurgents. They are fragmented now. But with promises of aid from a powerful ally, they will find a way to unify. And those that will not will find themselves suddenly in a very bad place.
Were all the Montagnards unified? Some went with the Kong. Some went with the US. We don’t hear from them much nowadays. What about the Hmong? They sided with the US and worked with the CIA. And when they skeedaddled the Hmong were left out in the cold. Wouldn’t that be a nice thing to happen to Hizbollah and Hamas after Russia and Iran leave?
There is a significant difference between Vietnam and Syria. Iran and Russia are both there, and they are both rivals and allies. They can be played off against each other with the right covert prodding. In Vietnam, you had the NVA and they controlled most factions, as you say. Russia and China’s “advisers” did not directly mix in. Here you have the opposite, thanks to Obama’s cowardice/complicity. There’s bound to be friction between them that can be exploited.
The US has no business in Syria, now that ISIS is gone. The only question that remains is who will control Syria. Assad, unelected dictator of Syria, invited Russia and Iran in because he could no longer handle the rebels, including ISIS. That means he’s a puppet wholly owned by Russia and leased by Iran. That makes all three of them vulnerable to guerrilla insurgents. The US should not be directly involved in either Iraq or Syria. But as for supporting guerilla fighters and the Iraqi government carefully cultivated after the ouster of Saddam, that is another matter, requiring some imagination and creative thought, but doable. Donald can be Ho Chi Minh. And the Saudis and gulf states would be willing to lend some aid, too. Israel could also help with intel and training.
Agreed. And Syria loses no matter who in the current bunch stays in power. Hopefully one day they won’t have monster Assad or any foreign country ruling them. And hopefully the entire Middle East won’t be such a mess!
In the meantime, Netanyahu seems keen on negotiating a deal with Putin, wherein Israel recognizes Assad’s legitimacy (with some conditions like making sure Syrian troops stay off the Israeli border.) in exchange for Russia to pressure Iran to leave the premises.
We shall also see what unfolds following Trump/Putin summit in Helsinki.
Yep, we have caused much of the death and destruction in the Middle East and Europe through out actions in Libya, Syria and even Ukraine by using our proxies to overthrow the corrupt but Russian allied Ukrainian government.
It's not just the horrors US interference created. I'm disappointed that President Trump still has US troops and "advisors" in Syria. If we were still a decent nation, we'd be helping Assad against our out-of-control allies, Turkey and Israel, which still have military actions in Syria.
“We will immediately leave if Iraqi and Syrian governments want it”
It seems Iran may be getting muscled out of Iraq, as we post about it. There have been demonstrations and attacks all this last week against Iran’s surrogates in Iraq. Dozens have been killed, and Basra has been placed under curfew.
Muqtada Sadr won the recent election in Iraq, and it looks like his guys are taking it to the streets to root out their Iranian-backed political opposition (and probably take over control of their lucrative rackets). The Dawa Party, the Badr Organization, and Haider al Ameri’s Asaeb Ahl al-Haq militia are being targeted.
When the Iranian-backed Dawa Party took power in 2008, one of their Prime Minister Maliki’s first actions was to unleash the security forces to take over Sadr’s rackets in the Shi’ite South - the so-called “Charge of the Knights”.
Now it looks like the shoe is on the other foot.
Yes . It is interesting. Trump seems influenced by NEO CONS on this.I am very wary of John Bolton. He is selected and I will hope for the best. Some momentum for our Syrian presence was from obama/clinton/kerry but Trump has made some very bad decisions but they were such feckless attacks. they were laughable. We bombed a Syrian airfield and did no damage to a single building or even 1 plane? The Airbase reopened the next day. This in response to a Sarin gas attack by Assad which was patently false and admitted as false by Mad Dog Mattis. Then Trump under the same false pretense of Chlorine gassing civilians in Douma . Trump orders the bombing of two old empty buildings. . That was in response a total hoax. The only thing found were two canisters with chlorine residue drug in by Isis( that uses chlorine gas all the time) and purported patients in the hospitals testifying that never went there for “ gas” exposure. So based on that, Trump ordered 107 multi million dollar cruise missiles to attack Douma. This was a total joke as apparently well over 100 cruise missiles never made is to target because only two old empty buildings were destroyed killing no one and destroying nothing of military value. It was embarrassing. Finally we have 2000 troops illegally in Syria that Trump promised to remove. After the Douma, Trump went back on his promise but as near as I can tell the military units there just shelter in place and do nothing.They are just a bargaining chip but there is no one to bargain with. What we are doing makes no sense as Syria has done nothing to this country. We need to get out and seal our southern border.
You want to attack Russia and Iran in Syria for Israel? Wow , I think that may be what this is all about. I don’t.
One thing I can't get my arms around is Turkey being allowed to annihilate Kurds. Logic is a Kurdish state would be a real nice buffer between countries that don't like each other very much, and a real motivated force to make sure ISIS is for good reduced to the trash heap of history.
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