The reasons behind the Russian steadfastness at the level of the position towards Syria.

The American and Western propaganda, along with the media war tools targeting Syria, promoted the possible shifting of the Russian position based on tradeoffs in which the war alliance led by the United States might engage to push the Russian command to recant its stringency at the level of its support to Syria. These Western and Gulf attempts to secure a compromise with Russia over its position towards Syria have been ongoing ever since the double veto at the Security Council which obstructed the efforts aiming at providing cover for a colonial attack on Syria. However, all these efforts failed while the Russian command did not pay any attention to what was and is still being said under the slogan of Russia’s reassurance about the future of its interests.

Firstly, the conflict between the Russian empire and the American empire cannot tolerate any partial settlements. Indeed, for years now, the Russian empire has been working hard to free international relations from American hegemony. This is a central goal in which the Syrian crisis constitutes an open window in the context of the attempts to establish new and less flawed balances. The formation of Russia’s global economic power is identical to that of the American power since the Russians are racing to the global markets in the war and energy industries, and is competing with the United States in both sectors, at a time when the world knows that the war industry, oil and gas cartels and companies constitute the backbone of the imperialist American interests around the world. Moreover, the American-Western interferences in Russia’s internal affairs and backyards inside the former Soviet republics represent a threat to Russian national security and require harsh responses threatening the core of American hegemony. This means the engagement in a battle in the Middle East in order to contain the American aspirations and interferences.

Secondly, Syria enjoys a pivotal and decisive role in the calculations related to this new balance. This strategic position does not only stem from the fact that the Russian-Syrian alliance is providing Moscow with the only available window to the warm Mediterranean waters and preventing the Mediterranean Sea from turning into an American-NATO pond. Indeed, the energy and oil experts are confirming the existence of an American-European-Israeli project to extend a giant pipeline from Qatar and Saudi Arabia - in partnership with Israel and Turkey - to transfer oil and gas towards Europe. This line would cross the Mediterranean coasts off the Lebanese and Syrian shores to reach Turkey, and in case it is built, it would constitute a lethal blow to Russian economy which mainly relies on the selling of oil and gas to Europe. The Western strategic planners know that as long as there is resistance in Lebanon and as long as Syria is a resisting state, no such Gulf-Israeli-Turkish project will see the light.

Thirdly, in Moscow, the Syrian case is one of national security for all the above mentioned reasons which is why, on the eve of his election, President Vladimir Putin presented it as an archetype of Russian foreign policy in supporting the powers opposed to Western hegemony. This is why all the compromises which the planners of the global war on Syria have been trying to reach with the Russian command have failed. To Russia, this is a critical issue, as it is to the resistance bloc in the region, and those conspiring against Syria will never achieve their dreams of securing a breakthrough that would undermine the strength of the alliance between Damascus and Moscow.

This truth was confirmed during the last months and will grow stronger day after day. What should be taken into account at this level is that the Iranian partner in this alliance represents an important and decisive elements for both Syria and Russia, while the same considerations are true at the level of China which is well aware of the fact that the American-Israeli hegemony in the eastern part of the Mediterranean basin will completely isolate it from the energy sources it needs for its growing economy.

New analysis.

Syria resisting terrorism and the colonial aggression.

A year into the Syrian events, millions took to the Syrian squares to proclaim their loyalty to President Bashar al-Assad, at a time when the Syrian troops have been achieving more progress in liquidating the strongholds of the armed terrorist gangs. This has been revealed by the investigations and media reports coming from Homs and Idlib, while the Syrian political community is preparing to stage legislative elections on May 7 amid a controversy surrounding the initiatives and diplomatic actions related to the Syrian situation. In light of these developments pointing to Syria’s victory over the colonial aggression and the terrorist gangs, two terrorist explosions which rocked Damascus came as additional proof for the state of bankruptcy endured by the terrorist gangs and the regional and international powers standing behind them.

Firstly, the field developments carried new facets affecting the nature of the political and popular polarization in all the regions that witnessed at the beginning of the crisis cooperation with the calls to demonstrate and rebel, and in some of which the armed men earned limited popular support which provided them with protection. In many towns and villages, the population carried weapons to oust the terrorist gangs of the so-called Free Army among other formations affiliated with the Istanbul Council, after they grew aware of the political content of the action of the conflicting Syrian opposition movements. Indeed, the latter are not prompting respect due to their affiliation with foreign powers and their adoption of exclusion and tyranny in dealing with one another. Moreover, they allowed the imposition of chaotic control by gangs of thieves, riffraff, murders and takfiris who spread terrorism, death and destruction wherever they landed. This pushed the people to stop concealing the armed men and to start fighting them, whether by carrying weapons against them or by calling on the army and the security forces for help. During this past year, the Syrian state showed a clear wish to cooperate with the need for reform and what it necessitated on the economic, political and constitutional levels. It thus came a long way since the beginning of the events at the level of moving towards a new political and economic reality, by issuing decisions and laws improving the living conditions of the people and changing the political and legal reality of public life based on political, partisan and media plurality. This process was coordinated with the new constitution which has entered in force following the popular referendum.

Secondly, according to the information circulated by the European and Western centers monitoring the Syrian situation based on intelligence reports, the decrease of the oppositionists’ popularity with all their formations has become confirmed and should be taken into consideration by whichever party dealing with the Syrian situation. They added that this went against the Western wager on the expansion of the protests following the imposition of the economic sanctions. At the beginning of the year, the Syrian opposition movements were able to mobilize groups and armed gangs throughout 478 points in Syria according to the estimates of Western experts. Now however, these points do not exceed 90 all over Syria, knowing that the turnout in each point has been reduced by more than half. Consequently, one could say that a comprehensive collapse has affected the opposition’s popularity during this past year. The Syrian opposition movements are now part of a bankrupt political project, which is being conveyed by the dissent and the disputes that emerged since the Tunisia conference and the proclamation of the National Action Group which exited the ranks of the Istanbul Council under the command of Haitham al-Maleh. Today, information spread about the imminent dissent of 80 additional members from the council for reasons having nothing to do with principles or discrepancies affecting the programs and the projects, and rather fall in the context of power conflicts and disputes over the division of hundreds of millions of dollars being monopolized by the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and the takfir movement, in partnership with Borhan Ghalioun and Basma Kadamani.

Thirdly, the Syrian command is confirming its skilled political management of the battle while exercising containment and imposing the respect of Syrian sovereignty in dealing with all the initiatives with which it is accepting to deal. The facts related to the discussion between President Bashar al-Assad and International Envoy Kofi Annan confirm that the Syrian stringency in regard to the issue of sovereignty cannot be contested, despite the cooperation and the acceptance to discuss the proposals being put forward to end the crisis. In the meantime, some Western circles fear the repetition of the experience of the Arab observers’ mission which was toppled on the head of the conspirators and turned in favor of the Syrian state.

News analysis.

Annan’s problem.

Kofi Anan’s mission never aimed at helping Syria in the face of the crisis, considering that the United Nations and the Arab League from behind it participated and took turns in the organization of all forms of conspiracies against Syria, whether politically, via the sanctions, in the media or through funding. Annan came under the ceiling of the recognition of the failure of the plan to topple Syria and to discuss the possible exploitation of the depletion war on Syria around the negotiations table. Annan’s problem is that he is not carrying any threatening pressure cards after the doors of the foreign war have been closed and the domestic depletion cards have started to collapse in the face of the people’s unity and the capable army.

Annan’s problem is that there is no opposition enjoying the ability to impose a ceasefire which he could use, at a time when the opposition is being defeated militarily and when the armed men are mostly criminals who cannot be led by anyone. Annan’s problem is that while it is being defeated, the opposition has no one to say yes to the negotiations and to rally the most prominent components of the opposition groups behind him, as the overbidding, affiliation with foreign intelligence apparatuses, the seeking of money and submission to hatred are all factors which will prevent the emergence of a negotiator from the opposition. Annan’s problem is that the victorious state is the one ready to engage in a ceasefire and in dialogue but it will not stand by and wait. It will proceed with the efforts to uphold security and achieve reforms as time is running out.

The Arab file.

Syria.

During his visit to Syria, UN Envoy Kofi Annan met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad twice, as well with some Syrian figures, leaders and sides in the opposition on the domestic arena. Annan presented to President al-Assad a series of proposals aiming at ending the crisis while President Al-Assad expressed Syria’s willingness to ensure the success of any honest efforts to find a solution. He added that the success of any such efforts would firstly require the studying of what was happening on the ground instead of relying on the virtual space being promoted by some regional and international states to change the facts and give a completely different image of what is happening in Syria.

For his part, Syria’s permanent envoy to the United Nations, Doctor Bashar al-Jaafari, sent a letter to the UN secretary general, the chairman of the General Assembly and head of the Security Council in regard to the hostile positions of the chairman of the General Assembly, Qatari Ambassador Nasser Bin Abdul-Aziz al-Nasser. Indeed, Al-Jaafari said that the statements of the latter did not go in line with the role of a General Assembly chairman who should commit to the United Nations Charter and be neutral and objective. President al-Assad issued a decree stipulating that the legislative elections will be held on May 7. On the field, the Syrian army achieved full control over the city of Idlib, while the Syrian authorities announced on Wednesday they had arrested the perpetrators of the Karm al-Zaitoun massacre in Homs.

On Saturday, two car explosions shook the Syrian capital Damascus, thus killing more than 27 people and causing the injuring of around a hundred. Cars filled with explosives targeted security posts, i.e. the air force intelligence headquarters and a major police station. No one claimed responsibility for the attacks which were said to have been carried out by the terrorist gangs in response to the defeats to which they were subjected in Homs and Idlib.

Israeli file.

The Israeli papers issued last week tackled the military escalation launched by Israel against the Gaza Strip. Yediot Aharonot said this was a deliberate escalation, considering that the Israeli army had indeed set an ambush and prepared for it for several days while awaiting the escalation. On the other hand, Yediot Aharonot and Maariv tackled the decision of the SWIFT network to stop all money transfers to Iran, saying that this constituted an economic blow to Iran which will suffocate it on the economic level by cutting the money flow reaching it. Yediot Aharonot also considered that the step marked the emergence of the winds of war, stating that the European step was like a poker game which required a lot of patience and self-restraint.

On the other hand, Haaretz revealed that the Israeli army was preparing to deter rockets with a range exceeding forty kilometers and which might fall on cities in the center of Israel. The papers also shed light on the fears surrounding the possible staging of a terrorist attack against Israeli targets in Turkey, while the anti-terrorism authority issued a recommendation to the Israelis to abstain from traveling to Turkey.

Lebanese affairs.

News analysis.

The protectors of takfir are partners in the conspiracy against the army and the country.

The exposure of the presence of a takfiri cell inside the Lebanese army, which had planned to detonate the military academy in Fayyadiyeh, is not a futile event in the Lebanese people’s reality and lives and at the level of their fate. Therefore, this discovery should be tackled, especially since hardliners such as Deputy Khalid al-Daher were mobilized to launch a series of claims, denying this incident and accusing the army command of having fabricated it. By doing so, they are proceeding with the campaign which targeted the army against the backdrop of the measures of the military institution to prevent the smuggling of arms and armed men into Syria.

Firstly, the exposure of the cell shows that the takfiri groups are acting with complete ease in Lebanon, considering the political authority disregarded their mounting activities after it was subjected to the political blackmail exercised by the Future Movement and the Islamic group through their involvement in the political and media instigation against Syria and the establishment of terrorist gangs and operations rooms to manage the war inside Syria from Lebanon. The sectarian, denominational and takfir instigation campaigns in particular are carrying repercussions on the reality of the society in which the army soldiers and officers constitute a key element. The question that should be asked to the Lebanese in regard to the takfir groups is related to the future of national unity and stability in the country. Indeed, these groups which were exported by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Lebanon since the 90s constitute a threat to national security and require a political, cultural and media action that would besiege the culture of annihilation, ignorance and backwardness in order to allow the prevalence of the culture of national unity and belonging.

Secondly, this takfiri group which is being managed by the Saudi intelligence apparatuses throughout the Arab countries and around the world is part of the American project in the region. Its activities inside the army mean that the division of the Lebanese army on sectarian and denominational bases is part of this American project. Hence, the attempt to undermine the unity of the military institution should trigger an alarm bell among all the Lebanese towards the demonic plan which was set up to drown the country in a new civil war on the beat of the ongoing efforts to drown Syria in anarchy and terrorism. The takfiris are terrorists because they are exclusionists and have been recruited to wage terrorist operations. Since the Nahr al-Barid war and the emergence of Fatah al-Islam which was harbored and funded by the Future Movement, just as it harbored and funded Jund al-Sham, the Lebanese army has been targeted. It is clear that today, and after its resounding failure, Harirism is trying to regain control over the foundations of Sunni political representation under the slogan of “either Al-Hariri or takfir and anarchy.”

Thirdly, the national structure of the Lebanese army which goes against sectarian and denominational sensitivities and calculations constitutes a real wealth for all the Lebanese. This army was the one that ensured civil peace, protected national unity during the most dangerous stages of division witnessed in the country since the assassination of Rafik al-Hariri, embraced the resistance and engaged with it in the liberation and defense battles in the context of a comprehensive national system.

The dismantlement of the army and its drowning in sensitivities through sectarian instigation, while providing protection to the gangs of terrorism and takfir on Lebanese soil, reveal the conspiracy against the two sensitive facets of the Lebanese army’s national role, i.e. civil peace and the equation of steadfastness in the face of the enemy. The facts revealed by the army command impose comprehensive national mobilization on the political and media levels and require a national campaign to embrace the national military institution and prevent its targeting. The state must decisively and strongly deter those justifying the takfir activities and defending their perpetrators, regardless of who they are, while lifting the immunities of the offensive deputies and silencing the voices questioning the role of the army which remains the only guarantor of stability and national steadfastness in the face of the Zionist enemy.

Lebanese file.

Expired meat and various other products were found in more than one Lebanese region. President of the Republic Michel Suleiman considered that this was completely unacceptable, stressing that no one was above the law when it came to the health of the citizens and that leniency should not be practiced with those responsible for the expired food products, and who should be transferred to the relevant judicial bodies.

Head of the Change and Reform bloc Deputy Michel Aoun stressed the fighting of corruption, saying in regard to the Syrian issue: “The attack on Syria is a global one and the payment of funds to topple the regime is not a democratic revolution. Those who supported Israel’s war on Lebanon in 2006 are the same ones supporting the internal war on Syria.”

The Lebanese army arrested a Salafi group including seven elements connected to Al-Qaeda organization, among whom two military men. The cell is headed by a Palestinian national and was planning on targeting important military posts. Minister of Defense Fayez Ghosn said in this regard: “When we spoke about the presence of Al-Qaeda in Lebanon, everyone attacked us. Now things are unfolding. The cell which was uncovered included military men, a student officer and four civilians. The army is continuing to carry out its tasks and the biggest proof for that is the apprehension of the aforementioned cell.”

Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rahi stressed the Arab identity of the Maronite Church and its important role at the level of the Arab rise and civilization. Al-Rahi responded to Geagea by saying that taking excerpts from an entire text was misleading, adding: “Those who read the entire transcript of my statement will get all the answers.”

Head of the Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea criticized Patriarch Al-Rahi’s positions by saying: “He is placing the Christians in the Arab world in a state of conformation with the majority. It is a dishonorable position to say that we should remain supportive of the Syrian regime. It is very sad to see Bkerke reaching its current status.”

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah rejected the obstruction of the country’s affairs due to disputes over a file or two, suggesting in regard to the Syrian situation a mechanism for a political solution by allowing the Syrians to agree on what they want.