Syria Nearly Liberated from US-Supported Terrorists
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)
Liberation nears completion but war continues – because Washington, NATO, Israel, Saudi Arabia and their rogue allies reject peace.
It’s why a sustainable one is so hard to achieve. A state of war still exists in all countries America attacked post-9/11. Instead of winding down theaters, new ones ahead are likely.
North Korea and Iran are prime targets – maybe marines from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli, Venezuela and elsewhere.
Washington’s permanent war agenda rejects diplomatic resolution. Most Americans are too indifferent and distracted to notice, meaningful anti-war activism a distant memory, too long ago for young people in the country to remember.
On Monday, meeting with Patriarch John of Antioch and All the East, along with representatives of other orthodox churches, Vladimir Putin thanked them for efforts they’ve made toward restoring peace to Syria, adding:
“The situation in the county is gradually changing, Syrian troops supported by the Russian military have liberated nearly all of the country’s territory, including areas where Christians have always lived.”
“We’ll give assistance to Christians and to representatives of other faiths, including Muslims (who’ve) suffered seriously at the hands of criminals, terrorists and radicals.”
Russia will help restore damaged Syrian historic sites. Once fighting subsides, winning the peace remains a formidable task to achieve.
ISIS remnants remain in parts of Deir Ezzor, surrounded by Syrian forces, their fate sealed. Fighting continues to eliminate them, Russian airpower playing a major role.
Compared to America’s regional juggernaut, it turned the tide of battle from looming defeat to heading for triumph with a small force – a few dozen warplanes, some attack helicopters, occasional strikes on terrorist positions by homeland-based long-range bombers, others by Russian naval forces, and most important – command competence and a commitment to defeat US-supported terrorists.
It’s happening successfully as planned, Russia now working cooperatively with Kurdish YPG fighters in Syria – a political alliance, a marginal military one with ISIS near total defeat, remnants of its former presence in the country alone remaining.
Russia, Iran and Turkey partnered to restore peace to Syria, Washington not part of their alliance.
Turkish President Erdogan recognizes Russia as an ally, America an adversary, on Monday saying “(t)hey (the US) are trying to punish, condemn and compromise us because we do not stick to their scripts, which are obvious and are being carried out through their co-authors in our country.”
He accused Washington of supporting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, Ankara considers a terrorist organization, along with other US/Turkish issues he considers hostile acts.
Kurdish YPG fighters in Syria have grown dubious about America as a reliable ally – after Trump told Erdogan supplying them with weapons would stop.
Not so far, Kurds now unsure what to expect from Washington.
Russian warplanes are helping their fighters eliminate remaining ISIS terrorists in northern Syria, the campaign close to completion.
On Sunday, Russian military officials met with Kurdish officials and others from various ethnic groups located east of the Euphrates River.
The YPG-led ground offensive is being coordinated from Russia’s Khmeimim air base in Syria, General Yevgeny Poplavsky saying:
“A joint operative staff has been created in the town of Es-Salhiya to provide direct control and organize the cooperation with the popular militia units.”
“Apart from Russian advisors, representatives of the eastern Euphrates tribes are taken part in it” – expected to be successfully completed in the “coming days.”
Kurdish YPG representative Mahmoud Nuri praised Moscow, saying their fighters “battled ISIS under Russian command very effectively.”
Russia is a reliable ally. America can never be trusted – why restoring peace and stability to Syria has miles to go once fighting ends.
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