A new American failure in the war on Syria.

A new American failure in the war on Syria.

By Ghaleb KANDIL

The tests of strength carried out by the United States and the Western camp inside the Security Council last week, revealed that the new balances that are emerging around the world over the ruins of the American unilateral hegemony system are making their way and drawing up inclinations that cannot be recanted because they express the transformations witnessed around the world since the collapse of the Soviet Union. This is especially seen in what was witnessed during the last ten years in terms of the resistance shown by the Eastern populations in the face of the world wars launched by the American empire.

Firstly, the American plan to destroy Syria aims at reviving the unilateral hegemony system, at a time when Russia, China and the BRICS states relied on the strength of the Syrian state, as well as on its resistance option which is supported by the vast majority of the Syrian Arab people. What happened in Syria during the last few days marked the most dangerous phase in the global war targeting it. Indeed, a terrorist assassination crime was perpetrated and targeted a number of senior military officials in the context of a comprehensive plan to provoke total collapse within the state and the army, create the right climate to undermine the Russian and Chinese positions inside the Security Council and ensure the issuance of a resolution under Chapter VII.

Secondly, the failure of the plan on the ground and the Syrian command’s successful containment of the repercussions of the strike by regaining control over the situation through President Al-Assad’s decision to appoint a new defense minister and the launching of an assault by the Syrian Arab troops to cleanse the country from the death squads led by the Americans, coincided with Russia’s and China’s stubbornness in the face of any international resolution which might be used as a cover for the military intervention tackled by the Israeli and then the American commanders under the pretext of the Syrian chemical weapons which they had been mentioning for a long time to justify the pressures.

Thirdly, the double Russian-Chinese veto at the Security Council constituted a great blow to the American empire and the Western camp, followed by a decision to extend the mission of the observers in a way with which the United States appeared defeated for the third time in the face of the equations pointing to Syria’s immunity. And while the Americans were retreating at the Security Council by accepting the resolution, the remnants of the gangs were being defeated on Syrian soil, not only in the neighborhoods of the capital which they have infiltrated, but also in the border positions and all the Syrian provinces.

Fourthly, the United States is still insisting on sabotaging Annan’s initiative which it was forced to accept under the pressure of the balances and due to the failure of the cosmic war on Syria. Hence, upon the closing of the Security Council session, it called for a meeting for the group dubbed “Syria’s Friends” which was assigned since its formation to organize the smuggling of weapons, funds and sophisticated technical equipment and to provide cover for the terrorist activities inside Syria. Clearly, the United States wants to continue depleting the Syrian state at whichever price, in partnership with Israel and through its servants and agents in the region. It thus wishes to postpone its recognition of the failure and the defeat in the face of President Bashar al-Assad.

Fifthly, the Russian warning against any act from outside the context of the Security Council to target Syria, one which was issued by President Vladimir Putin himself, is a strong message and an announcement of Russia’s, China’s, and the BRICS group’s stand alongside Syria in the face of any foreign aggression. In the meantime, the resistance system in the region bluntly announced via Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah that Syria will not be alone in the face of any war targeting it. At this level, the West knows very well that any hostile power will be met with a harsh response by the Syrian people and army and that Israel will pay the price before anyone else. This is the reason behind the warnings issued by Clinton and the secretary general of NATO, Rasmussen, once again against a major catastrophe which might be caused by any military escalation under the headline of the Syrian crisis. Putin’s warning has a strategic impact affecting the American and Israeli calculations, and it is known very well by all the experts around the world and in the region that the strength of the Syrian army is to be taken into account in any regional confrontation, as it was learned by the government of the Ottoman illusion and its president following the Syrian air defense’s downing of the Turkish aircraft.

News analysis.

Thirty days.

Ramadan will summarize an entire year, which had been set by the American administration for the negotiations prior to its withdrawal from Afghanistan. But the double Russian-Chinese veto emerged despite the offer to transfer the missile shield from Turkey to Qatar, in parallel to the launching of the military settlement campaign following the assassination operation that was perpetrated in Damascus.

Washington had firstly decided to reject any extension for the observers’ mission. However, and since it is aware that there is no room for personal hostilities in politics, it approved the extension for thirty days.

These thirty days will determine the new balances, at a time when the confrontation is no longer limited to Syria and might witness an expansion.

The Israeli-American accusation to Hezbollah of having carried out the Bulgaria operation gives the impression that a new war is being concocted. At this level, the preparations for the joint maneuvers in September between the Gulf states and America by use of the air force, the navy and the missiles arsenal, might render the maneuvers a real war, while the tackling of the existence of chemical weapons in Syria might constitute a passageway for an upcoming, wide scale and comprehensive confrontation via American-Israeli coordination.

This might or might not happen. But the month of the settlement has started in Syria, and in the end, it will either be similar to the kidnapping operation in July 2006 and mark the beginning of war - or even a third world war - or the defeated could accept their defeat and cause the fall of the military rebellion just like the fall of the Turkish aircraft.

Arab File.

Syria.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov revealed the existence of Western attempts to blackmail his country, stating in this context: “Although our proposals did not earn support during the Geneva conference, we believe they are right on the mark. The Western project did not take them into account and wishes to resort to Chapter VII. They are carrying out blackmail and telling us that if we do not approve the imposition of Chapter VII, they will not approve the extension of the work of the observers’ mission. We will not tolerate this blackmail and will insist on the extension of the work of the observers in Syria.”

For his part, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal al-Mekdad assured there were external sides encouraging the Syrians to kill their brothers to serve the interests of Syria’s enemies, namely Israel. He added that France was playing a destructive role in Syria and supporting terrorism by providing the opposition with communication devices. He assured: “The political resolution of the crisis relies on comprehensive dialogue and Russia is deploying truthful efforts to solve that crisis.”

Syrian permanent Ambassador to the Security Council Bashar al-Jaafari said it was unfortunate that no condemnation was issued by the Council vis-à-vis the explosion which targeted the national security headquarters. On Wednesday July 18, a terrorist explosion had targeted the national security building in Damascus during a meeting held by a number of ministers and commanders of the security apparatuses, leading to the martyrdom of Deputy Commander of the Army and the Armed Forces and Defense Minister General Daoud Rajha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat and Assistant to the Vice President General Hassan Turkmani, and the injuring of the head of the security apparatus General Hesham Bakhtiar who passed away later on due to his wounds. The army’s general command assured that the targeting of the national security building through a terrorist explosion was a new criminal escalation carried out by tools linked to foreign plans.

President Bashar al-Assad issued two decrees to appoint General Fahd Jassem al-Freij as defense minister and deputy commander of the army and the armed forces starting from 18-7-12. General Freij performed the constitutional oath before President Al-Assad, which denied the rumors talking about President Al-Assad’s injuring during the explosion and all what was said about him having headed to Latakia to proceed with his work from there.

The so-called Free Syrian Army claimed responsibility for the operation, while on the field, the Syrian troops achieved qualitative steps during the last couple of days in pursuing the terrorists and cleansing some of Damascus’ neighborhoods that had been infiltrated by terrorist gangs, thus arresting hundreds among them, some of whom carrying various nationalities. The Syrian deputy minister of defense assured Al-Manar that the situation on the ground in Damascus was good, that he was reassured by the developments and that good news will soon emerge.

Egypt.

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, assured that the armed forces and their council respected the legislative and executive authorities, stressing that no one and especially those hired by foreign sides will be allowed to prevent the armed forces from carrying out their role in protecting Egypt and its people. On the other hand, he met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who tackled the consecutive changes affecting the local and regional arenas and the ways to strengthen Egyptian-American relations. During the meeting, Clinton expressed Washington’s wish to support the relations of cooperation with Egypt as a strategic partner in the region.

In the meantime, the Egyptian judiciary postponed until the end of the month the session to look into the demands to see the disbandment of the Constituent Assembly tasked with the drafting of the new constitution and which was formed by the disbanded parliament. On the other hand, the court said that it was refusing to look into the revised constitutional declaration, considering it was “a sovereign declaration which does not require a popular referendum since it was issued by the military council as a ruling authority and not and administrative authority.”

Former Vice President and head of the general intelligence apparatus General Omar Suleiman passed away at the age of 77 while undergoing medical tests at the Cleveland hospital at the American state of Ohio.

Palestine.

The Israeli Central Issues website said that American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton conveyed reassuring messages from new Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi to Israel, the most important of which being his confirmation to the American secretary that the blockade on the Gaza Strip will not be lifted, as opposed to his promises to those who elected him. On the other hand, the occupation government announced that the Al-Aqsa Mosque was in an inherent part of Israel and an Israeli archeological site. Consequently, the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Islamic Cooperation Organization rejected the Israeli statements, dubbing them a blatant attack on and tampering with the sanctities and an announcement of the occupation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Saudi Arabia.

Al-Qatif witnessed scattered marches raising slogans in support of the uprising in Bahrain before they started to demand the release of detainees and the introduction of political reforms into the kingdom. The Russian Foreign Ministry Commissioner for Human Rights Konstantin Dolgov expressed on the Ministry’s website his “deep concerns” towards the killing of two young men in Al-Qatif following the arrest of a Shiite cleric.” He thus pointed to “fears” over the kingdom’s stability, calling on Riyadh to act to avoid a sectarian conflict and guarantee the respect of human rights and freedom of expression.

Israeli file.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s speech was one of the main topics tackled by the Israeli newspapers issued this week. Hence, the papers followed the details of his address, namely what he said regarding the fact that the weapons being transferred from Syria to Hezbollah were made in Syria.

The papers also tackled the explosion which targeted a bus carrying Israeli tourists in a resort in Bulgaria, along with the reactions of the Israeli command. They thus carried the statements of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the fact that all the pieces of evidence pointed to Iran’s implication in the attack, and the fact that Israel will respond to the Iranian practices with an iron fist. For his part, Barak accused elements from Hezbollah of being responsible for the operation and pledged that Israel will do its best to ensure the arrest of the perpetrators of the attack, as well as those who sent them, in order to present them before justice.

On the other hand, the papers tackled Israel’s recognition via former national security adviser Uzi Arad of the fact that it was the one that carried out the assassination of commander Imad Moghniyeh, as well as the concerns prevailing over the Israeli security bodies vis-à-vis the fate of the Syrian chemical arsenal, and the attempted assassinations of Ehud Barak in the occupied Golan and Hillary Clinton in Tel Aviv.

Lebanese file.

Military Judge Riad Abu Ghida arrested once again the three army officers accused in the killing of Sheikhs Mohammad Abdul Wahed and Hussein Morheb in the town of Al-Kwaykhat. And while the inhabitants of the Al-Bira region removed the tent which they had erected on the road leading to the town of Mounjez in Akkar, the families of the arrested military men blocked the Al-Abda road in Akkar in protest against their sons’ arrest.

Head of the Change and Reform bloc Deputy Michel Aoun believed there was a blackmail operation being practiced against the judiciary at the level of the case of the officers and the military elements who were arrested without any cause, warning against an inclination to divide the army. For his part, Army Commander General Jean Kahwaji announced during a meeting for senior army officers in Yarze that the military command will no longer remain silent in the face of any moral, verbal or media attack targeting the institution, regardless of the side launching it.

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Nasrallah said on the sixth anniversary of the victory of the resistance in the July war that Syria constituted a real supporter for the resistance and that some of the most important missiles which fell on Haifa and beyond it were manufactured in Syria and were given to the resistance movements in Lebanon and in the Gaza Strip. He thus wondered “Were these missiles delivered to Gaza by the Saudi or Egyptian regimes?” He then stressed that the Syrian command was risking its own interests and existence to strengthen the resistance movements in Lebanon and Palestine, adding: “This is the Syria of Bashar al-Assad and the martyred leaders Daoud Rajha, Asef Shawkat and Hassan Turkmani whose death saddened us. The latter martyred leaders played a major role in supporting the resistance.”