Syrian Elections, Iraq Crisis - Impact on India, Regional & Global situation
By Feroze Mithiborwala
21 June, 2014
Countercurrents.org
US interventionist policy in Iraq, Syria & the region leading to an impending disaster
With now more than 40 Indian workers that have been abducted by the terror organization ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq & Syria) , which is another Al Qaeda variant & with more than another 18,000 Indian workers stranded & the possibility of a steep hike in global oil prices, the Indian people & media have begun to pay attention to the growing crisis across the West Asian-Middle East region.
It was barely a few weeks ago that an international team of observers that included five Indians was present in Syria to monitor the general elections, which were being held in a war-torn state under the shadow of an ISIS threat. This very ISIS that stands defeated in Syria has now captured parts of North & West Iraq. So what is the exact genesis & nature of the problem that confronts the region & the world?
In our estimation the ISIS is a covert US-CIA-Saudi-GCC-Turkish-Israeli operation to destabilize & partition the region, by promoting religio-sectarian fanaticism & visceral hatred.
This was precisely the reason as to why the international peace movements & the majority of the nations of the world opposed the US-Nato war & genocidal occupation of Iraq (1991 & 2003), built on the false pretext of WMD's that were never present & the supposed agenda to fight Al Qaeda, which again was never present in Iraq, but now holds large swathes of territory. The US intervention & wars have only further radicalised the region & thus holds major responsibility for the current crisis, which it refuses to as yet acknowledge.
In Syria the US-Saudi-Turkish objective was “Regime Change”. In Iraq , the objective is to basically instigate a Shia-Sunni civil war that will destroy balkanize & weaken Iran - & leave the entire region in ruins.
Firstly we will deal with Syria , where the secular government & the Syrian Arab Army led by President Bashar al Assad, has successfully managed to foil the imperialist designs. After the elections of 3 rd June 2014, Bashar al Assad has arisen as a far more popular mass leader than ever before. Despite the war situation, more than 73.40% of the people voted & Assad received 88% of the popular vote. We as observers spread across Damascus, Homs. Lattakia, Tartous & even Aleppo were witness to the fact that the elections were free & fair, apart from the fact that they were simply inspiring. In fact the people were determined to cast their vote, as they knew that the world was watching. Thus the Syrian people voted against regime change, for a democratic secular plural multi-religious, multi-ethnic society & rejected sectarian division & strife. They clearly rejected religious fanaticism. The campaign of vilification launched by the Western media against Bashar al Assad stood defeated on that day & now Syria has vanished from our TV screens & newspapers. What is worrying that Obama yesterday stated that the US would continue to arm the so-called moderate opposition “Free Syrian Army”, which will finally see those very weapons reach the ISIS & Jabhat al Nusra-Qaeda in Syria. The sectarian propaganda against Assad too stood exposed, as it was he who actually emerged as a unifying national figure & the leader of a proud sovereign state, having stayed with his people during the worst crisis that Syria faced in the form of an international war that was unleashed. The opposition was dominated by religious extremists & mainly foreign Jehadists mobilized, funded, armed & trained from across 45 nations, numbering between 50,000 to 100,000, thus a veritable army. The religious fanatics alienated the local Syrian population due to their extremist form of Islam, where they imposed & perpetrated barbaric atrocities. These groups were soon known to the world as new variants of Al Qaeda – namely the Jabhat al Nusra & the ISIS amongst others.
According to many strategic experts & journalists like Seymour Hersh , the ISIS led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (who was released from a US captivity in 2007 or 2009 is a CIA asset), are basically the covert operations of US-Saudi intelligence agencies & thus once again we see the evidence of the CIA-Mossad creating terror organizations to achieve their strategic objectives, and proves that the US & its allies deploy terror to attain their strategic objectives.
SYRIA: In the context of Syria, the US-Saudi-GCC-Israeli strategic objective was “Regime Change”, so as to install a pliant puppet regime in Damascus. The next objective was to control the newly found oil-gas resources of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea , discovered in 2010, of which Syria was the biggest gainer. Thirdly was the battle for the control of the contending Pipeline routes – i) From Iran-Iraq-Syria to the Mediterranean & towards Europe & ii) From Saudi-Qatar-Jordan via Syria towards Europe. Syria also continues to be integral to the “Arch of the Resistance” & thus poses a challenge to the Israeli-US hegemony of the region. Syria continues to support the Palestinian cause despite economic sanctions & other forms of isolation. Thus the Iran, Iraq, Syria, Hezbollah-Lebanon, Palestine resistance axis had to be destroyed – but the imperial powers failed & miserably at that. It was also about destroying a secular society & imposing an Islamic state on Syria . This nation is at peace with itself, where religion lives & thrives side by side with modernity, in a vibrant multi-religious, multi-cultural & a multi-ethnic society. The plan to partition Syria along Sunni-Shia-Alawite-Christian-Kurd plan were also defeated during this election , as the people voted for a united & sovereign democratic Syria.
IRAQ: Thus having faced defeat in Syria, the ISIS forces retreated from many of their Syrian strongholds in the North & East & soon entered Iraq. The world remained stunned at the success of ISIS & we were told “that the Iraqi Army simply melted away”. This was certainly not the explanation, as many cities & towns in the North & West fell to the opposition without a fight. Later it was clear that there is a strong sentiment of the Sunni minority against the Nour al Maliki Shia led Government. Thus the banner of terrorist ISIS does not explain the entire truth. The opposition consists of many Sunni Tribes, Naqhsbandis, as well as Baathist from the remnants of the Saddam regime. These are the very sections that need to be reached out to & accommodated. These were the elements that ensured that the Iraqi Army in Mosul & Tikrit would not offer any resistance to ISIS. Soon the opposition was in Baqouba, barely 60 kms from Baghdad & the possibility of a Sunni-Shia civil war leading to the trifurcation of Iraq, with the Kurds in the North breaking away, all seemed a horrifying possibility .
Another disturbing element in this sectarian crisis is the rise of “Takfirism” – whereby the most fanatical section of Muslims lay their claim to all of Islam, declaring the rest as heretics & thus punishable by death , for which they attain heaven for their holy mass murder & worse.
And again – from where did the ISIS emerge as a threat enough to take over large parts of Iraq? Are we to believe that they raised money by robbing banks & seeking donations on “Twitter” to buy advanced weaponry & pay the mercenary army? This is entirely untrue & a pathetic lie. As earlier stated, ISIS is clearly a CIA covert operation, financed by the Saudi Arabia, Qatar & Kuwait. This has been evident ever since the Syrian crisis to now again in Iraq.
Also note that Dick Cheney, Richard Clarke, as well as Israeli officials are all on record stating that if the Al Qaeda-ISIS were to engage in a war with Iran & its regional allies such as Hezbollah & the Syrian government, they would welcome one enemy fighting the other. This is precisely the reason for the rise of the Qaeda-ISIS in the region, especially in Syria, Iraq & Lebanon as well, with funds & lethal weaponry from the Saudi-US alliance.
Also these are stated Israeli objectives in the Oded Yinon plan of 1982 & the again public knowledge in the Neocon document “Clean Break – A Strategy to Secure the Realm” – authored by Jewish Zionists Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, the cheerleaders for the Iraq invasion in 2003.
The mortal threat of this crisis is –
i) An all out Sunni-Shia civil war across Iraq, to weaken & destroy Iran, to further spread across the region, enveloping the Arab & Muslim world.
ii) The rise of further fanatical extremist terror organizations with grave implications for Indian national security. Just imagine a combination of the Tehreek-i-Taliban, Lashkar-i-Tayyaba & ISIS & it could surely not get worse than that.
iii) The success of the US-Israeli Imperial strategy of covertly creating religious extremist terrorist organizations to destabilise entire nations, create religious divides & civil wars. A nightmare!!
The Solutions
i) In the case of Syria the government has successfully isolated & vanquished the terrorists, whilst reaching out to all the communities. They have also undertaken Constitutional reform, to confer more rights to the people. In Syria, there is certainly an emerging vibrant civil society that will further struggle, protect & deepen the gains of democracy, which is the best anti-dote to authoritarianism, religious fanaticism & sectarianism.
ii) As for Iraq , though the situation appears more volatile & complex, the answers & solutions are as simple. It's a matter of reaching out to the Sunni minority & co-opting them into the power structure of the state. As for the Arab Shia's & Kurds , both who suffered untold marginalization & atrocities under the brutal Saddam regime, they have engaged & have arrived at an agreement, which they now need to extend to the Sunni minority.
iii) The PM Nour al Maliki, appears to be more of a sectarian Shia PM, than the PM of Iraq, or the leader of the Iraqi people . Thus either Maliki will have to change & ensure that he reaches out to the Sunni population & wins their confidence – or then resign! Another leader who enjoys the support & confidence of the Sunni minority will then have to take over the reins of a government of national unity.
iv) At the same time, the government needs to isolate & defeat the ISIS terrorists by military means . The ISIS Takfiris have destroyed many Holy Shrines, and they threaten to destroy the very Shrines of Imam Ali (Najaf), Imam Hussain, Imam Hassan (Karbala), Syeda Zainab (Damascus), as well as other Muslim & Christian holy Churches, Mosques & shrines – the impact of which will be disastrous & set in motion a series of events that will be unstoppable – and herein lies the danger.
v) The regional powers namely Saudi Arabia & Iran too need to reach an agreement . This is also a regional war between these two Wahhabi & Shia powers respectively, that is currently underway & a part of the regional problem. It's only then can a sense of peace be achieved within & amongst the Arab & Muslim nations.
vi) This will further weaken the US-Nato presence in the region , where the foes turned friends will not have to depend upon the US for “protection”.
Both the Syrian & Iraqi crisis are crucial to the cause of regional & world peace. If the Takfiri menace grows, it will soon reach the borders of India, with grave implications for our national security. Thus our political parties, mass organizations, media & intellectuals must take serious note of the situation & forge alliances with the secular & moderate elements in the nations struggling to counter this grave & mortal threat.
Feroze Mithiborwala is a peace activist in Mumbai. He led the Asia to Gaza peace flotilla. The writer was present in Syria in February 2013 & again in June 2014 to observe the election"
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