Tag: Middle East

Retaliation For The Retaliation

Well the long awaited and much anticipated Israeli response to Iran’s response for the attack on their embassy in Syria…..has started…..

As of mid-night….and the unfolding events will make it necessary for regular updates…..

ABC News has reported that a US official said Israel launched an attack on Iran early Friday morning. Other reports say explosions have hit Syria and Iraq, with aircraft activity reported in the area.

Iran’s Mehr news agency reported explosions in the Iranian province of Isfahan. Sources told Mehr that the explosions were the result of air defenses destroying three drones.

According to CNN, the US knew Israel was planning to hit Iran with the understanding that nuclear sites wouldn’t be targeted. Iranian media is reporting that nuclear sites in Isfahan are safe.

On Thursday, Iranian officials warned that if Israel targeted nuclear sites, Iran would launch “tit-for-tat” strikes on Israeli nuclear facilities. Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has also warned of a major response to any type of Israeli attack.

Israel’s attack was a response to Iran launching missiles and drones at Israeli territory, which came in retaliation for Israel bombing Tehran’s consulate in Damascus. The Israeli attack on an Iranian diplomatic facility marked a huge escalation in Israel’s targeting of Iranians in Syria and killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including a high-level Quds Force commander.

President Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the US would not support an Israeli offensive attack on Iran. However, the US has said it will continue to defend Israel, signaling it will intervene if Iran responds.

(antiwar.com)

Here we go…Israel is getting what it has wanted for a long time….direct US support for their damn adventurism.

Good luck keeping the US out of this…..just a bit of advice for Biden.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Here We Go! Once Again Into The Breach?

While most of us were trying to enjoy our weekend the whole fabric of the Middle East is unraveling….

After years of trying to provoke a response from Iran Israel has manage to get that act and in turn will most likely involve the US.

So here we go again….ass deep in the Middle East….our forays into the region accomplished two things….the death of Saddam and the creation of ISIS (more to come on this later)….

It began amazing enough on April Fools Day….with an Israeli airstrike….

Israeli airstrike leveled an Iranian consulate building that’s next to the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital of Damascus, marking a significant escalation in Israeli attacks on Iranians in the region.

At least seven people were killed in the strike, including Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Iran has confirmed the death of Zahedi, who oversaw the IRGC’s Quds Force operations in Syria and Lebanon and is vowing a harsh response.

Then the war of words began….the threats the chest thumping….

Twelve days after the chest thumping….

Iranian commandos have seized a cargo vessel with reported ties to an Israeli billionaire, taking control of the ship as it sailed near the Strait of Hormuz. The incident took place amid soaring tensions between Tehran and Tel Aviv, after Israeli forces bombed an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria earlier this month.

The Portuguese-flagged container vessel, MSC Aries, was boarded by troops with the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Saturday. The seizure occurred some 50 miles off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and was confirmed by a statement from the ship’s operator, MSC. It noted that 25 crewmen were on board at the time.

Iranian state media reported that the ship was under IRGC control and being “directed back to Iranian territorial waters,” though did not specify for what purpose. The ship is reportedly owned in part by Zodiac Maritime, a company operated by Israeli-born billionaire Eyal Ofer.

(antiwar.com)

Then late Saturday the horrible news flashed across my desk….

The Iranian military fired a massive barrage of drones and missiles targeting sites in Israel, with Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) saying the attack was retaliation for a deadly Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

The attack was announced on Saturday afternoon in an IRGC statement carried by Iranian state media, which said that “dozens” of UAVs and missiles were “fired at the occupied territories and positions of the Zionist regime.” The elite military unit claimed to have struck “important military targets,” though shared few details about the results of the operation.

…

While the military claimed “most” of the Iranian projectiles had been intercepted by allied states even before reaching Israeli airspace, it acknowledged “minor damage to the infrastructure” of an unspecified military base in southern Israel, as well as “a few injuries.”

(antiwar.com)

What to do…what to do?

US officials have yet to announce any military response, congressional sources told the Daily Mail the Pentagon planned to deploy multiple warships carrying some 2,500 Marines to the Eastern Mediterranean. Washington has made similar shows of force throughout the ongoing war in Gaza, stationing aircraft carriers and other naval assets in the region since last October.

When asked whether Washington would directly intervene in hostilities between Israel and Iran during a press briefing earlier this week, Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder declined to “get into hypotheticals,” only citing the US’ “ironclad commitment to Israel’s security.”

This is what those idiot warhawks like Sen. Cotton have been praying for….an excuse.

This is the trap that Israel laid many years ago it has just slowly developed….my money is on Biden walking into that dead end with eyes wide open (or should I say wallet wide open?)

The fallout has started….

Iran has conducted its much-anticipated revenge attack against Israel by firing hundreds of drones and missiles, nearly all of which were intercepted. The big question: Now what? How Israel responds could determine whether the situation escalates into a wider regional war, and an intense diplomatic push was underway.

  • The attack: Iran’s volley of an estimated 300 drones and missiles was unprecedented because it is believed to be the nation’s first-ever direct attack on Israel, reports the New York Times. However, Israel says it intercepted 99% of them with the help of the US and other nations, per the AP.
  • he US: President Biden said he will meet with G7 leaders on Sunday to coordinate “a united diplomatic response” to Iran’s attack, per USA Today. As the AP sees it, the language of the statement suggests the White House is trying to head off “a broader military conflict.” Biden also spoke with Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, and the Times suggests the call helped ward off an immediate retaliatory strike.
  • Iran warns: Tehran warned that if Israel retaliated, its response would be “much larger.” Iran also warned the US not to get involved in any Israeli military response or it would attack American bases. Meanwhile, Israel’s war cabinet was to meet later Sunday, and Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, warned the confrontation was “not over yet.”
  • Nine nations: The BBC counts at least nine nations involved in the first round, a sign of how protracted the situation is. Projectiles were fired from Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, while they were shot down by (or with help from) forces from Israel, the US, the UK, France, and Jordan. France, for example, provided tech support, including radar, reports the Washington Post.
  • A few landed: A relative handful of missiles landed in Israel, causing minor damage to an Israeli military base, per the Wall Street Journal. Israel also says a young girl was injured.

I am sorry but this, if it comes to a heavier response should be between Israel and Iran….the US should stay out of this situation completely.

Update…

President Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the US wouldn’t join Israel in any offensive action against Iran, multiple media outlets have reported.

I would applaud Biden’s statement if it we not bullsh*t….it is called ‘electioneering’….we are involved and we need to back away.

The US does not need another Middle East excursion….they seem to never pan out for us.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Deeper We Go

The events in the Middle East is doing nothing to keep Americans safe….Biden is using the deaths of Americans to legitimize his actions.

The problem is that Biden makes Americans targets by his less than effective policies and will no doubt use those deaths to his advantage.

These revenge attacks will dig a deeper hole for the US to try and dig out of kinda like the invasion of Iraq

U.S. officials may not acknowledge the connection between the Gaza War and the U.S. bombing campaign, but there is no question that Israeli militarism is relevant to the increased attacks from the Houthis against commercial shipping in the Red Sea as well as the increased attacks from Iranian-backed militia against U.S. facilities in Jordan, Syria, and Iraq.

As a result of these developments, the United States has taken a stronger stand against Iran, and suggested the possibility of an expanded security alliance with Saudi Arabia in return for Saudi diplomatic recognition of Israel.  These steps would require a deeper U.S. commitment in the Middle East with greater instability and uncertainty at a time when we should be looking for a way to reduce our presence.

Biden is Dragging the United States Deeper Into the Middle East

To use a popular term….the sh*t is getting deep in the Middle East and it is partially the fault of the US,

I question the US whether they truly want a more peaceful Middle East or not….from where I sit I say it is the later.

And sadly it is not just the Middle East….’experts’ are expecting deeper problems in almost every corner of the planet.

Meanwhile, the mainstream media is predictably advocating the use of greater military force by the United States.  In recent days, for example, the Washington Post has run lead editorials that were titled “North Korea goes from bad to much, much worse” and “The U.S. needs to strike Iran, and make it smart.”  The New York Times ran a long article (“A Worried NATO Prepares for a Russian Invasion”) that gives credibility to the idea that Putin “could invade a NATO nation over the coming decade” and that NATO “might have to face his forces without U.S. support.”

Have we forgotten so soon that it was the Bush administration’s misuse of military power against Iraq in 2003 that led to the chaos that now dominates the Middle East and the Persian Gulf.  If ever there were a time for official Washington to take a deep breath and to consider the diplomatic options for dealing with Iran and North Korea as well as Russia and China, this is it.

Biden just keeps digging the hole deeper and deeper and the US will soon be in a quagmire that it has no hope to end.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“We Don’t Want A Wider War”

That was the statement made by the National Security Council head….as the Biden gang decides how to react to the attack in Syria that killed 3 American troopers.

Since October, the United States has bombed Iraq and Syria dozens of times, launched five rounds of airstrikes in Yemen, supplied the Israeli government with more than 10,000 tons of military equipment for its devastating assault on the Gaza Strip, and opposed international efforts to secure a cease-fire in the Palestinian enclave.

Yet Biden administration officials continue to insist that the U.S. is not at war in the Middle East, and is not seeking a broader military conflict in the region.

On Monday, amid reports that the U.S. is weighing how to respond to a deadly drone attack on American servicemembers just inside Jordan’s border with Syria—an attack the White House blamed on Iran-backed militia groups—National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in an appearance on NBC‘s “Today Show” that “we don’t want a wider war with Iran.”

“We don’t want a wider war in the region,” said Kirby, “but we gotta do what we have to do.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/biden-middle-east-war

Biden and the gang made up their minds on the answer to the killings by Iranian back bad guys…..

The US has approved a series of strikes in response to the drone attack that killed three service members in Jordan last weekend, CBS News reports, citing US officials—but the plan is to hit Iran-linked facilities in Iraq and Syria, not targets in Iran itself. The officials say the timing of the strikes will depend on the weather because the military wants to have good visibility as a safeguard against inadvertently hitting civilians. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday that while the US wants to avoid a “wider conflict” in the Middle East, “we will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our interests and our people, and we will respond when we choose, where we choose, and how we choose.”

The Jordan strike, the latest in a series of attacks from Iran-backed militias in the region, also injured dozens of US personnel. Hawks in Congress have called for a strike inside Iran, something Tehran reportedly sees as a “red line.” Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi warned Friday that the US could face a “strong response,” Al Jazeera reports. “We will not start any war but if anyone wants to bully us they will receive a strong response,” Raisi said.

Iran has denied responsibility for the drone attack, which was claimed by a coalition of Iran-backed groups called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. Kataib Hezbollah, one of the groups in the coalition, said Wednesday that it was suspending attacks on US forces. Sources tell Reuters that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have started pulling senior officers from Syria following the deaths of several commanders in Israel strikes.

Bloodthirsty Repubs like Sen. Cotton and idiots like John Bolton keeps pushing for direct attack on Iran (basically to placate the Israelis)….but there is no actionable intel that says Iran did this……

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Thursday admitted the US does not know if Iran was operationally involved in the drone attack in Jordan that killed three American soldiers. On the same day, US officials told CBS News that plans have been approved for strikes against Iranian personnel and facilities in Iraq and Syria.

When asked by a reporter how much Iran knew about the Jordan drone attack or if it was operationally involved, Austin said, “You know, we believe that this was done by an element of what is known as the Axis of Resistance, and these are Iranian proxy groups. And how much Iran knew or didn’t know, we — we don’t know, but it really doesn’t matter because Iran sponsors these groups.”

The US has said it believes the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iraqi militias, was responsible for the attack. Kataib Hezbollah announced Tuesday it was suspending attacks on US troops in Iraq and Syria, which was the result of pressure from the Iraqi government and Iran, making it clear Tehran does not seek more escalations in the region.

(antiwar.com)

You do not want a wider war and yet you widen it almost daily…..I love War Department doublespeak…..

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Iraq In The Rear View Mirror?

Iraq?

Now there is a word seldom heard in the news these days.

US troops have been dealing with Iraq for well over 20+ years and I for one think it is time to take our goodies and go home.

Well I will be….there are talks starting that would do just that….or at least lessen the US footprint in the country.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed on Thursday that the US and Iraq will start talks on the future of the US military presence in Iraq in the “coming days,” which could result in a US withdrawal.

Baghdad has been calling for an end to the presence of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition in response to recent US airstrikes in Iraq. Tensions are soaring as Iraqi Shia militias have been attacking US bases in both Iraq and Syria due to President Biden’s support for the Israeli slaughter in Gaza.

Austin said the two countries will convene a meeting of the US-Iraq Higher Military Commission (HMC), which was formed last summer. Signaling that the US wants to maintain some sort of presence in Iraq, Austin said the HMC will “enable the transition to an enduring bilateral security partnership between the United States and Iraq.”

There are about 2,500 US troops in Iraq as part of the anti-ISIS coalition, known as Operation Inherent Resolve. In recent years, the US presence in Iraq has been more about pushing back against Iran’s influence in the country as ISIS has been reduced to small remnants.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has said that Iraq’s security forces can handle ISIS without the US. Austin said the “transition” in the US presence depends on three factors: “the threat from ISIS, operational and environmental requirements, and the Iraqi security forces’ capability levels.”

There have been reports that indicate the US is also considering ending its military occupation of eastern Syria. There are about 900 US troops, and the US is able to control about one-third of Syria’s territory by backing the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Sources within the Pentagon and State Department told Foreign Policy that the White House “is no longer invested in sustaining a mission that it perceives as unnecessary.” Al-Monitor reported that the Pentagon floated a plan for the SDF to partner with the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad, which is under crippling US sanctions.

US officials told POLITICO that a withdrawal from Syria or Iraq is not imminent but did acknowledge there are conversations within the Biden administration about pulling troops out of Syria. However, another US official told CNN that the US was not considering leaving Syria.

(antiwar.com)

A helluva idea….this involvement has gone long past its ‘sell by’ date.

But there may be an another motive other than getting out of Iraq and that would be to make way for further actions elsewhere in the region (Yemen).

Time to re-think all this shit!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

War Is Coming?

The US is involved in 2 wars in the Middle East as I type…..plus several around the region actions (when needed)…..do we really need another conflict?

I am talking about the actions taken to protect the Red Sea from Houthi tyranny……apparently plans are being made…..

US officials told The Washington Post on Saturday that the Biden administration is planning for a “sustained military campaign” against the Houthis in Yemen even as over a week of near-daily bombing has done nothing to deter the group and has only dramatically escalated the situation.

The officials could not put any timeline on how long the conflict will last, only saying they don’t expect it to drag on for “years,” like the US wars in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. The report said the officials acknowledged they can not identify an “end date or provide an estimate for when the Yemenis’ military capability will be adequately diminished.”

Some US officials are worried the plans for an open-ended conflict against the Houthis will shatter the fragile truce between warring factions in Yemen, which includes a US-backed Saudi/UAE-led coalition. So far, Riyadh has urged restraint and distanced itself from the US’s anti-Houthi operations.

Before the US began bombing the Houthis, Ansar Allah officials made clear they would only stop attacking Israeli-linked commercial shipping if the onslaught on Gaza ended. Instead of pressuring Israel to end the slaughter in Gaza, President Biden chose escalation, and now the Houthis are targeting US commercial shipping, and several US merchant vessels have been hit with missiles.

President Biden acknowledged his strikes on the Houthis were ineffective but vowed they would continue anyway. When asked by a reporter if the attacks were working, Biden said, “Well, when you say ‘working’ — are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they going to continue? Yes.”

Since the strikes started on January 12, the US has bombed Yemen seven times. Bloomberg reported on Friday that the US and the UK were exploring ways to step up the campaign against the Houthis, signaling the strikes will intensify.

(antiwar.com)

The rhetoric scares me…..we really do not need to fund yet another war….I ask again….why cannot the KSA and UAE do the heavy lift on this after all they have been bombing Yemen into the stone age for years and besides it is their livelihood that the Houthis are threatening.

If you do not like this turn….how about this one…..

President Biden and his top advisors worry that it’s just a matter of time before an American soldier is killed in Iraq or Syria amid a flurry of rocket attacks launched by Shia militias on US bases that started in response to US support for the Israeli slaughter in Gaza, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

US officials suggested that if an American is killed, President Biden would attack Iran directly, which could provoke a major war. Iran is allied with the Shia militias that have been taking credit for attacks on US troops, but Tehran has denied it’s involved in the operations.

In October, the Pentagon said it had no direct evidence Iran was ordering attacks on US troops, and a US official told CNN that how willing the Shia militias were to act independently was always a “persistent intelligence gap.” Regardless, the US is still blaming Iran for the attacks.

and don’t want to “go so far that the conflict would escalate into a full-fledged war, particularly by striking Iran directly.”

However, if an American is killed, the US officials say they may have no choice but to attack Iran. “That is a red line that has not been crossed, but if the Iranian-backed militias ever have a day of better aim or better luck, it easily could be,” the report reads.

It’s unclear from the report if the US would bomb Iranian territory directly or target the Iranian military in Iraq or Syria. Israel recently killed five members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) by targeting them with airstrikes in Damascus, risking a response from Tehran.

(antiwar.com)

Look below the shallow crap on the boob tube and look for the real reason the US is willing to start another war.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“It’s Not Working”

Just last week the US has taken upon itself to start yet another conflict….this time it is Yemen.

These airstrikes were to make the Houthi rebels cease their rocket attacks on commercial shipping….

President Biden acknowledged on Thursday that his strikes against the Houthis were not working to stop the Yemeni group but vowed they would continue anyway as the US military bombed Yemen for the fifth time within a week.

The president made the comments when asked by a reporter if his strikes against the Houthis were working. “Well, when you say ‘working’ — are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they going to continue? Yes,” he said.

The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, have vowed they won’t back down in the face of the US military. Ansar Allah’s leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, said Thursday that it was a “blessing” for the Houthis to be in a direct fight with the US. “We praise god for this great blessing and great honor — for us to be in a direct confrontation with Israel and America,” he said.

Since Biden ordered the first strikes against them last week, the situation in the region escalated dramatically. The Houthis are now targeting American commercial shipping, hitting two US-owned cargo ships with missiles earlier this week, and more shipping companies have suspended transits through the Red Sea. Before the US escalation, the Houthis made clear they would stop attacks on Israel-linked commercial shipping only if Israel’s onslaught in Gaza ended, but President Biden is determined to continue supporting the slaughter of Palestinians.

The US backed a Saudi/UAE-led coalition against the Houthis in a brutal war that killed 377,000 people between 2015 and 2022. During that time the Houthis only became a more formidable fighting force and developed missile and drone technology that gave them the ability to hit Saudi oil infrastructure. A ceasefire between the Saudis and Houthis has held relatively well since April 2022, and Riyadh is now calling for the US to exercise restraint in Yemen.

(antiwar.com)

The shipping ;lanes of the Red Sea…..should that have not been the area where locals should have handled any problems…..why was the US involved?

If this fiasco does not stop the attacks will the US be prepared for yet another Middle East invasion and war?

What a waste!

I Read, I Write, You KNow

“lego ergo scribo”

Crap On So Many Levels

Since I have a round of doctor visits set for this afternoon I am just re-posting an older post with some addendum.

No need to give me some diatribe on what one thinks of HAMAS….this is just me letting you know there are more stories about this war than the corporate owners of the news and certain lobbyists want us to read/hear.

No need to comment….this is just an FYI of sorts.

I recently wrote a post for my other blog, Gulf South Free Press, about some of the lame rhetoric around the HAMAS/Israel mash-up…..it can be read here….

Crap On So Many Levels

But more of the racist rhetoric has come to light.

Like to barbaric words of an Israeli town leader….

David Azoulai, the council head of the northern Israeli town of Metula, has called for Israel to make the Gaza Strip look like the infamous Nazi-operated Auschwitz concentration camp.

According to The Jerusalem Post, Azoulai said Gaza should be emptied of Palestinians and flattened. He suggested the Israeli Navy could transport Palestinians to refugee camps in Lebanon.

“Then, a security strip should be established from the sea to the Gaza border fence, completely empty, as a reminder of what was once there. It should resemble the Auschwitz concentration camp,” Azoulai said.

“Tell everyone in Gaza to go to the beaches. Navy ships should load the terrorists onto the shores of Lebanon. The entire Gaza Strip should be emptied and leveled flat, just like in Auschwitz. Let it become a museum, showcasing the capabilities of the State of Israel and dissuading anyone from living in the Gaza Strip. This is what must be done to give them a visual representation,” he added.

Many Israeli officials have been calling for other countries to take Palestinian refugees to facilitate the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip. A leaked document authored by Israel’s Intelligence Ministry said the best option for a post-war Gaza would be for the entire population to be pushed into Egypt, but Cairo is strongly opposed to the idea, forcing Israeli officials to look elsewhere.

(antiwar.com)

Does anyone else see the hypocrisy in his words?

Apparently Americans are not the only people with no grasp of history.

Then there is the racist attack by a military leader….

Yair Ben David, a commander in the 2908th Battalion, said in a video posted on social media, that they had “entered Beit Hanoun and did there as Shimon and Levi did in Nablus,” referring to the biblical story in which all the male inhabitants of the city were massacred.

“The entire Gaza should resemble Beit Hanoun,” he added, referring to the ruined city in northern Gaza.

“Gaza must look like Beit Hanoun today.”

David said that the destruction was “only the beginning” and would instil “fear among the nations around us, in the cities of Lebanon, in the cities of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), and among all those sitting around us who think it’s possible to harm the dignity of the people of Israel.”

(middleeasteye.net)

That is just pathetic BS from a racist pig.

And an Israeli real estate company proposes another direction for Gaza….

…

a proposal by an Israeli real estate developer specializing in the construction of illegal settlements to build beachfront homes for Jewish colonists over the bombed-out ruins of Gaza.

“A house on the beach is not a dream,” reads an advertisement published by Harey Zahav – an Israeli company notorious for building settlements in the illegally occupied West Bank – that drew international attention following last week’s Practical Preparation for Gaza Settlement Conference in Tel Aviv.

The ad depicts an artist’s rendering of luxury homes superimposed over an actual photograph of a Gaza neighborhood destroyed by Israeli attacks – which have killed nearly 20,000 people while displacing over 85% of the embattled strip’s 2.3 million people since early October.

While the Israeli government funds settler organizations, Harey Zahav’s proposal is not believed to be state-supported. However, critics noted that Israeli Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel has drafted a plan to forcibly expel Gazans into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, and that a separate proposal by the right-wing think tank Misgav Institute for National Security & Zionist Strategy declared that “there is currently a unique and rare opportunity to evacuate the entire Gaza Strip.”

(antiwar.com)

Israel has been stealing land in the West Bank for decades why not in Gaza as well….

Then there is an official article written for the War Department on Israel/Gaza….

The official U.S. military publication Army University Press published an article written on behalf of the Department of Defense calling for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and destruction of Lebanon in a November 2023 online exclusive.

This outlet is described on its website as “the US Army’s premier multimedia organization”, and an “entry point for cutting-edge thought and discussion on topics important to the Army and national defense”, which “makes timely and relevant information available to leaders in the military, government, and academia.”

While the article notes that “the views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the views of the U.S. Army, Department of Defense, or any other agency of the U.S. government,” the fact that such a radical proposal was published in the top U.S. Army publication, demonstrates that explicit support for ethnic cleansing and genocide is well accepted in its intellectual and policy-making circles.

https://www.uncaptured.media/p/pentagon-publishes-proposal-for-ethnic

Does that sound like something that should have been in an official publication of the Pentagon?

I know I know….wipe out HAMAS and be done with it…..well sports fans you are not going to totally wipe them out….if anything this war is creating more and more members for Hamas.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is Our Middle East Influence Dwindling?

For decades the US has had considerable influence in the Middle East especially in the 70s when Carter helped broker the agreement between Israel and Egypt which made the possibility of a peace in the region possible…..but that hope was dashed on the rocks of disappointment with the election of Reagan in 1980.

It seems that since 1980 our influence has been sliding off the scale.

Are we being replaced?

You decide….in March it was announced the China had brokered a deal between Saudi and Iran that could end centuries of alienation….

Iran and Saudi Arabia have been exploring improving relations for the past few years. The feelers began with talks in 2020 and grew into several meetings in Iraq and Oman. In 2021, the two announced that Iran had resumed exports to Saudi Arabia, and Iran broached the idea of reopening consulates in each other’s countries and re-establishing diplomatic ties.

Both the Iranian and Saudi statements following their new agreement acknowledged those talks and thanked Iraq and Oman for their efforts and for hosting them. But it was China that brought them to the table, enabled the breakthrough and accomplished the agreement. “The two sides,” the Saudi statement said, “expressed their appreciation and gratitude to the leadership and government of the People’s Republic of China for hosting and sponsoring the talks, and the efforts it placed towards its success.” Iran’s statement expressed similar gratitude.

The two countries also agreed to “implement . . . the General Agreement for Cooperation in the Fields of Economy, Trade, Investment, Technology, Science, Culture, Sports, and Youth” that was signed on May 27, 1998. This aspect of the agreement more than hints at the widening of the trail the Saudis explored blazing in 2021 to break with US sanctions of Iran.

(antiwar.com)

This flew in the face of the US and its slogan of promoting cooperation in the world’s nations.

With the success of the Saudi-Iran agreement China has offered to broker the dispute between Israel and Palestine (the US will have a cow if this comes about)….

China has offered to mediate between Israel and Palestine in the past. Its most recent pitch came during the May 2021 war between Israel and fighters in the besieged Gaza Strip, when it introduced a four-point peace proposal. An Egyptian-brokered bilateral cease-fire with US backing eventually ended the fighting.

But the new Chinese offer comes amid signs that Beijing is growing more serious about boosting its political role in the region. Last month, it brokered a deal between arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran to restore diplomatic ties

(middleeasteye.net)

With all this flurry of diplomatic efforts can we ask again….Is the US losing it’s influence in the Middle East?

The Saudis organized discussions with numerous Arab foreign ministers to discuss Syria’s return to the Arab League. Al-Assad will soon be welcomed at the meetings of the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is orchestrating this campaign in order to reduce the in-fighting in the Arab world. China has been far more supportive of this objective than the United States.

As a result of China’s diplomacy and Saudi willingness to pursue a rapprochement with Syria, there is greater possibility for reducing conflict in Yemen and Syria in the near turn. Immediately after the restoration of ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia, a Saudi delegation arrived in Yemen’s capital of Sanaa to end the fighting that has caused the deaths of more than 300,000 innocent civilians. Greater stability in Syria could allow some of the 13 million Syrian refugees to return to their homes.

Beijing realizes that Washington’s one-sided support for Israel as well as its policy of non-recognition of Iran provided an opening to negotiate a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Beijing moved adroitly to act as an honest broker between Riyadh and Tehran, which should ensure China’s continued access to the oil and gas resources in both Gulf countries. China’s success should be a wake-up call to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Department of State, but there is no sign of any U.S. movement to restore its influence in the region. (This should also be a wake-up call to Israel’s national security decision makers, who can no longer assume Saudi support in a confrontation with Iran.)

Is the US Finally Losing Influence in the Middle East?

The US should be the spearhead of all this diplomacy but instead the State Department bows to the War Department on such types of programs.

So is our diplomatic programs dead or dying?

My opinion is….yes they are.

Two astounding events occurred in March – a peace pact between longtime, ferocious enemies Saudi Arabia and Iran, and the presentation to Moscow of a peace deal for the Ukraine war. Both initiatives landed on a very startled west from China. The Middle East deal was presented to the world as a fait accompli, and it led, immediately, to arrangements for a ceasefire in Yemen, a country crucified in the proxy war between its two bigger neighbors and with lethal help from the United States. Now at last there is a real chance not only to end the butchery in Yemen, but also the larger genocide caused by starvation. Finally, food should be able to reach Yemen’s ports and thence the nation’s interior. The various UN agencies and the charities previously blocked from supplying grain to Yemen and its hungry children could soon be able to operate unhindered. This would be an unambiguous win for humanity.

But Washington was not pleased at this unexpected eruption of peace. Once it became public, CIA director William Burns quickly jetted into the Saudi kingdom to complain. As CNN reported April 6, Burns “expressed frustration with Saudi officials over Riyadh’s recent rapprochement with Iran through a diplomatic deal brokered by China as well as the kingdom’s openings with Syria.” Needless to say, this further step by Arab states toward accepting Syria poses military-political problems for the U.S., 900 of whose soldiers illegally occupy a portion of the country and have been engaged, rather ignominiously, in stealing its wheat and oil for some time. U.S. allies, that is, the Kurds, would do well to arrange an escape hatch with Damascus, otherwise they risk finding themselves at the mercy of their arch-enemy, Turkey, once Washington abandons what is becoming an increasingly untenable position.

Peacemaker No More: U.S. Diplomacy in Decline

For me it is sad to see the US becoming a non-player in diplomacy…..it is just so sad that it has been replaced with thed blood lust for war.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

A Brokered Deal

The Middle East has been a ideological battle between the two major sects of Islam….the Sunni and the Shia….the major proponents of these sects are Saudi Arabia and Iran….these divisions have lead to some bloody confrontations like the war between Iraq and Iran in the 80s.

Finally a deal has been brokered between the two…..and it was not through the work of the US to find some sort of peace for the benefit of the region.

US arch nemesis was the culprit….China.

The agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran to resume relations, a deal mediated by China, appears to be a watershed moment in the Middle East, realigning alliances that have dominated diplomacy for decades while—at least for now—leaving the US out. The pact indicates that nations in the region are willing to move beyond rivalries that seemed permanent to find new solutions without the help of the Americans, who have been involved in peace negotiations there for most of a century but now are more focused on Ukraine and Asia, per the Wall Street Journal.

Long a minor participant in Middle East issues, China has stepped in to fill the void, hosting negotiations in Beijing before announcing the agreement Friday. One analyst said there’s no denying the importance of China’s success, which eclipses President Biden’s efforts. “Yes, the United States could not have brokered such a deal right now with Iran specifically, since we have no relations,” Amy Hawthorne of the nonprofit Project on Middle East Democracy in Washington told the New York Times. “But in a larger sense, China’s prestigious accomplishment vaults it into a new league diplomatically and outshines anything the US has been able to achieve in the region since Biden came to office.”

Israel is left out, too, after lobbying Saudi Arabia; as the US decreases its involvement, allies have grown concerned about security guarantees made in the past, per the Journal. Other analysts—and Biden aides—caution against inflating the significance of the agreement, which, at bottom, promises to reopen the nations’ embassies shut since 2016. It’s a minor step, they say, toward easing tensions. Besides, “China doesn’t have the capacity to play a bigger security role in the region,” said Sanam Vakil of Chatham House, a think tank in London. But the deal does show China’s “potential to be an appealing alternative to Washington,” she said.

The final sentence of the report says it all.

This deal should have been brokered by the US but instead we let China get the upper hand…..but an incident in 1979 precludes the US from ever doing the right thing.

Is this agreement a big deal?  Yes it is.

Iran and Saudi Arabia concluded a deal Friday to restore normal diplomatic relations and reopen their embassies within two months. The agreement came at the end of a week of Chinese-brokered negotiations in Beijing, which brought an end to the rift between the two governments that has existed ever since Saudi Arabia broke off relations in 2016.

If the agreement holds, it will be an important step forward in regional diplomacy, and it may help in facilitating progress towards a more lasting truce in Yemen. The resumption of normal relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia is the result of their recognizing that the earlier intense animosity between these countries was mutually undesirable. Restoring diplomatic ties is not a panacea for all regional tensions, but it should have a stabilizing effect that is very much needed as U.S.-Iranian tensions are on the rise. 

China’s mediation is an example of the constructive role that other major powers can sometimes have in the Middle East. It also shows how much more effective diplomacy can be when a major power has not ensnared itself in the region’s rivalries. China enjoys reasonably good relations with both governments, and that put it in a position to broker a deal that the U.S. likely could never have managed to get. As the Quincy Institute’s Trita Parsi observed, “By not taking sides, China has emerged as a player that can resolve disputes rather than merely sell weapons.”

Why the Iran-Saudi agreement to restore ties is so big

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”