Russia
Takes Over The Mid-East: Moscow Gets Green Light For Strikes In Iraq,
Sets Up Alliance With Jordan
24
OCtober, 2015
Once
it became clear that Moscow and Tehran had jointly planned the
incursion in Syria with Russia promising full air support and Iran
pledging ground troops from Hezbollah, its various Shiite militias,
and the IRGC, we immediately suggested that Iraq was next on the
agenda after the Assad regime is restored.
For
those unfamiliar with the situation on the ground, we encourage you
to read “Who
Really Controls Iraq? Inside Iran's Powerful Proxy Armies,”
in which we outline the extent to which Tehran effectively controls
both the Iraqi military and the politicians in Baghdad.
The
US allows this because i) there’s really not much Washington can do
about it, and ii) even if there was, it would mean first trying to
root out Iranian influence on the political process and second
attempting to separate the Shiite militias from the Iraqi regulars,
which would only serve to weaken the country’s ability to resist
Sunni extremists like ISIS. The other important thing to understand
about Iran’s proxy armies in Iraq is that they are the very same
militias fighting alongside the Russians in Syria (we mean “very
same” in the most literal sense possible as they were called over
the border by Quds commander Qassem Soleimani himself).
This means
they are Washington’s allies in Iraq but as soon as they cross the
border into Syria, they become the targets of US-supported and
supplied rebels battling at Aleppo. Obviously, that makes absolutely
no sense and is emblematic of just how schizophrenic Washington’s
Mid-East strategy has become. It’s also worth noting that these are
the same Shiite militias who, with Tehran’s blessing, attacked US
troops in Iraq after George Bush destroyed the US-Iran post-9/11
alliance by putting the country in his infamous “Axis Of Evil"
(see here for
more).
Here's
a picture that should give you an idea about why Iran's proxy armies
have proven particularly effective at bullying the ISIS bully, so to
speak:
Meanwhile,
flying missions over Iraq is the logical next step for The Kremlin in
Russia’s bid to supplant the US as Mid-East superpower puppet
master. One would be hard pressed to come up with a more humiliating
scenario for Washington than for the US to be effectively kicked out
of the country it “liberated” over a decade ago by Vladimir Putin
on the excuse that try as they may (or may “not”,
depending on how prone you are to conspiracy theories), the Americans
are apparently not very good at fighting terror.
Just
like in Syria, Russian airstrikes would be supported by Iran-backed
fighters on the ground, and thanks to the IRGC’s grip over Iraqi
politics, Moscow would find Baghdad very receptive to Russia’s
presence in the country.
The
US knows all of this of course and in an effort to get out ahead of
the situation, Washington sent Gen. Joseph Dunford (chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff) to Iraq this week to issue what can only be
described as a petulant, childish
ultimatum to
PM Haider al-Abadi. “It’s
either us, or the Russians,”Abadi
was told, although not specifically in those terms. Here’s what
Dunford actually said:
"I said it would make it very difficult for us to be able to provide the kind of support you need if the Russians were here conducting operations as well. We can't conduct operations if the Russians were operating in Iraq right now."
(Iraqi
PM Haider al-Abadi)
Although
the PM purportedly pledged not to request Russian assistance, anyone
who’s followed the story knows Dunford’s trip was far too little,
far too late.
ISIS
has been running amok in Iraq for more than a year and the US appears
powerless to stop them. As we noted, there are several theories as to
why Washington is so intent on keeping Moscow out. The common sense
theory that requires no conspiratorial ruminations says that the US
is desperate to avoid ceding Baghdad to Russia and the Pentagon knows
that with Iran already effectively in control of the army and the
government, Russia would find a very receptive military and political
environment. For those inclined to think that in addition to any
initial support (i.e. funding and training prior to the official
formation of ISIS), the US is still supporting
Islamic State, well then the worry for Washington is that Russia
simply wipes them out.
Whatever
the case, Iraq has apparently had just about enough of it and indeed,
one of the reasons Dunford made the trip was that last week, Abadi
said he would “welcome Russian airstrikes.” Throw in the brand
new intelligence sharing center in Baghdad jointly staffed by Russia,
Iran, and Syria and it’s pretty clear that despite what Abadi might
have told Dunford to reassure the Pentagon, the "red" coats
(if you will) are indeed coming.
Sure
enough, according to Turkey’s state run Anadolu Agency, Russia
has now received permission from Iraq to target ISIS convoys coming
from Syria. Here’s more:
The Iraqi government authorized Russia to target Daesh convoys coming from Syria, a senior Iraqi official said.
The authorization for Russia to target Daesh inside Iraq comes amid security coordination between Iraq, Russia, Iran and Syria.
Hakem al-Zamli, chief of the Iraqi parliament’s security and defense committee, told Anadolu Agency on Friday that the measure contributed to weakening Daesh by cutting off its supply routes.
That
will be just the beginning. We assume the whole “convoys from
Syria” language is an effort on Baghdad’s part to make it sound
like this isn’t a green light for Russia to take over the skies
above Iraq but one certainly wonders how Washington intends to
respond given that Abadi just told Dunford Iraq wouldn’t allow this
to happen.
And
that’s not all.
Russia
has now created yet another intelligence sharing cell in the
Mid-East, this time in Jordan as Moscow and Amman are set to work
together to rout ISIS.
Russia and Jordan agreed to create a coordination center in Amman, which will be used by the two countries to share information on the counter-terrorism operations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
Russia is already in touch with Iran, Iraq and Syria through a Baghdad-based center used for the same purpose.
Lavrov said Jordan would play a positive part in finding a political solution to the Syrian conflict through negotiations between Damascus and opposition forces, an outcome that Russia itself is pursuing.
“Under an agreement between His Majesty King Abdullah II and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, the militaries of the two countries have agreed to coordinate their actions, including military aircraft missions over the Syrian territory,”Lavrov said. His Jordanian counterpart Nasser Judeh said the center would serve as an efficient communication tool for the militaries of the two nations.
As
you might recall, Jordan's King Abdullah wasn't exactly pleased after
ISIS released a video showing a Jordanian pilot being burned alive.
Here's the visual message he sent to the group after the video
surfaced:
Once
again, it's important to understand that this is all made possible by
the fact that the US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey decided to use
extremist groups as their weapon of choice to destabilize Assad. That
gives Moscow all the political and PR cover it needs to not only make
a pure power play in Syria, but to establish closer diplomatic and
political ties in Iraq and now Jordan. Thanks to the fact that the
Western media has held up ISIS as the devil incarnate, The Kremlin
has a foolproof cover story for what is quite clearly becoming a
sweeping attempt to establish Russian influence across the region.
Finally,
don't forget that with each move Russia makes towards replacing the
US as Mid-East superpower puppet master, Iran gets that much closer
to supplanting Saudi Arabia as regional power broker. The Kremlin's
alliance with Jordan plays right into that dynamic as
the Moscow-Tehran
nexus is literally encircling Riyadh,
Doha, and the UAE...
Al-Qaeda
leader in Syria is killed after being shot in the head during Aleppo
gun battle with Assad forces in a 'devastating blow' to terror group
- Images of his lifeless body, containing a bloody head wound, shared online
- Death is considered a serious blow to organisation's operations
- Abu Sulaiman al-Masri had previously fought in Gaza and had been sentenced to death in his native Egypt
One
of al Qaeda's senior commanders in Syria has been killed in a gun
battle with Syrian Arab Army forces in Aleppo.
The
al-Nusra Front, the Sunni Islamic jihadist militia fighting against
Syrian Government forces in the civil war, confirmed Sheikh Abu
Sulaiman al-Masri's death this morning.
Images
of his body, containing a bloody head wound, have been shared online
with early reports suggesting he died fighting Assad forces.
al-Masri's
real name is believed to be Mahmud Maghwari, an Egyptian national,
who had previously been sentenced to death in his homeland for
fighting with Hamas in Gaza.
He
was killed while commanding troops in Aleppo during a battle against
Kurdish forces.
The
experienced jihadi had previously had to have his thumb and several
fingers amputated after they were badly damaged during in a battle.
Hundreds
of migrants have cycled into Norway from Russia after finding a new
route into Europe that avoids the deadly Mediterranean crossing. They
are not allowed to cross the Arctic border on foot, so a lucrative
trade in bicycles has opened up, with migrants buying bikes and
pedalling the final few metres.
The
senior commander's death is considered a serious blow to the terror
group's operations in the war torn Middle Eastern country.
The
Russian Aerospace Forces' precise airstrikes on the Islamic State
(ISIL) positions in Syria are conducted simultaneously in various
regions in order to contain terrorists, Russian Defense Ministry
spokesman Gen. Maj. Igor Konashenkov told RT TV channel Saturday.
MOSCOW
(Sputnik) — On September 30, Russia began launching precision
airstrikes against ISIL militant group positions in Syria at the
request of President Bashar Assad.
Since
the beginning of the aerial campaign, Russian Aerospace Forces have
carried out some 934 strikes, killing 819 militants and destroying
363 of command centers and depots used by the terrorists.
“The
main task is to hold down the actions of terrorist groups in Syria.
Therefore strikes are usually carried out simultaneously in various
parts of the Syrian territory,” Konashenkov said.
According
to Konashenkov, terrorist command posts, underground bunkers,
ammunition and fuel depots are top priority for elimination.
The
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman also stressed that strikes are
aimed only at confirmed Islamic State's infrastructure positions.
According
to the Russian General Staff, militants have begun a retreat due to
Russian aviation airstrikes, having lost much of their weaponry and
equipment on the contact line with the Syrian troops. Russian
intelligence drones have increased sorties to track events.
ISIS nets $50mn per month from smuggled oil - reports
Islamic
State militants are gaining at least $50 million per month from
illegally selling crude oil from occupied oil fields in Iraq and
Syria, Iraqi and US officials say. The jihadists are selling the
‘black gold’ at extremely low prices.
The extremists are
reportedly selling crude oil at $35 per barrel, sometimes as little
as $10 per barrel, four Iraqi intelligence officials told AP.
The
militants are transporting oil in small tankers for fear of
airstrikes, the officials dded.
According
to a member of Iraq's parliamentary energy committee and a former oil
minister, Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) is extracting about
30,000 barrels per day from Syrian oil fields and around
10,000-20,000 barrels per day from Iraqis.
Overall,
the extremists are making about $40-$50 million a month from oil
sales, Iraqi officials said. AP secretly saw the report of IS's Diwan
al-Rakaaez (the equivalent of Finance Ministry) which showed that
this April the group earned about $46.7 million. The organization is
controlling 253 oil wells in Syria, 161 of them are operational. Also
275 engineers and 1,107 workers are involved in wells maintenance.
IS
oil revenues reached about $500 million a year, Daniel Glaser, a US
Treasury official said, adding that the group collects hundreds of
millions of dollars a year from "taxes" on
commercial activities.
In
fact the group has several small, rudimentary refineries located in
trailers and employs senior officials from Iraq oil companies,
officials said. They also identified the man in charge of the group's
oil operations as Haji Diaa, but didn’t provide further information
about him.
LISTEN
MORE:
In
the meantime, the terrorist group has managed to get the necessary
equipment and technical experts to maintain oil industry on the
occupied territories.
IS
management of its oil fields is "increasingly
sophisticated," and
this fact probably helped the organization slow down the degradation
of the industry and infrastructure, US official told AP on condition
of anonymity.
BBC
Newsnight with it's usual rude & dismissive attitude to Russia.
Thankfully the Beebs Kirsty has more than met her Match with RT's
Oksana Boyko. Oh and there's also an American Neo-Con who Kirsty
fawns all over
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