Israel vows to pursue Syria operations until Iran leaves

Here is one of countless people who have actually been to Iran -- and have loved it.

Go minute 11:40

Lest you think she is some "leftist, liberal, anti-Zionist Jew", rest assured, Annika Herntoh-Rothstein is a right wing, pro Israeli Zionist Jew who has no love for Iran's government. Not that I accept her views on Iran, but regardless of your political views about the country, it is not as hard to fall in love with it as you imagine.

 

I meant it in relation to Russia's relation with Syria. People have embedded memories, and they go back to era's when many of the frictions were religious - but not all of course. As an example; France is still supportive of Lebanon, even though France is not religious, and the Soviet Union was supportive of Syria even though it was atheist.

That's an assumption, you really don't know. Any logical president would want Iran to leave, otherwise Syria might end up in a proxy war between Israel and Iran. Considering Iran's sacrifices, I don't think Assad feels right about asking Iran to leave, so putting him under pressure is a good excuse.

Washington said they will not leave Deir ez-Zor until Iran is out of Syria - and Assad does need the money from the oil wells so who knows, Washington might actually keep its word.

 

Assad has been "under pressure" to ask Iran to leave for quite a while by the Russians and many others. He has even been personally threatened on this issue by the Israelis. There have been no shortage of 'excuses' for him to ask Iran to leave.

Of course, Assad doesn't want Iran to leave for his own reasons, not out of loyalty to Iran. In part, because he doesn't want to see himself -- having won a hard fought battle against the foreign supported terrorists who wanted to see him out of power --- end up losing the war: a war which was always about taking Syria out of the 'axis of resistance' to Israel. But even more importantly, he doesn't want to be left in a position where he has no where else to turn, and have to rely solely on the mercy of whatever Russia decides for Syria when talking with this or that other country (all of whom want Assad out).

In any case, the real issue for Syria isn't about Assad. It is about whether the objective of those who plunged Syria into civil war will be realized or not? Russia may not have shared those objectives in their entirety, but the main reason Russia got involved in Syria was different than why so many other countries wanted Assad out. They wanted Assad out for the same reason that they are even willing to give that country to Russia if Russia does what they wanted but couldn't get done.

 

In the meantime, this report from a media source close to the Syrian government:
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/russia-not-abandoning-syrias-assad-all-claims-unfounded-report/
Russia not abandoning Syria’s Assad, all claims unfounded: report

 

This is what Hamas itself says

 

You're looking at it wrong. Russia has just as much right to help Assad develop Syria's oil and gas assets, as the US, Britain, France, China, Germany and all the other nations had in developing the assets of other nations. That Russia is willing to offer Syria military protection as long as Assad or any other president wants it, is a bonus for Syria. Believe me, nobody other than Assad gave Syria to Russia.

 

I could have told you that. It's not in Putin's nature to use people and then abandon them. The man has integrity and bows to no one, something that's lacking in many leaders. As an example: Erdogan, Trump, Merkel, Trudeau, etc.

 

That is one example of a leader rejecting a bad deal - one made in bad faith. How is that the sum total of this 80 year long Blood Feud ?

And what is the point of you making such a statement if not other than to try and blame this whole mess on the evil Arabs ?
Something that would be a patent falsehood and false narrative.

There is no "Good Side" in a Blood Feud. That's why we call it a blood feud. You are starting from a completely biased position - based on spoon fed propaganda narrative - and have thrown objectivity out the window.

There are many Good Israelis -

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/sep/25/israel

And then there is Netenyahoo - who continually violates the agreements by which Israel owes its existence - illegally stealing land - and so on.

Within a day or to of a Ceasefire - Negotiated by the leader of the Palestinian Military wing and Bibi - Bibi does a targeted assassination on this leader and one of his Lieutenants.

And then the rockets started flying - once again provoked by Israel. This example is remarkable for its stupidity and Historic show of bad faith - violating age old covenants between nations - and generalized idiocy.

If you are looking for atrocities - the list is long - both sides - back and forth - for 80 years.

 

That is one of the most explosive responses that I have ever seen posted on any discussion forum. It's just waiting for someone to touch it and it will go off with a bang. I am pleased to see that someone has had the courage to post it.

 

Don't feed the trolls if you don' t like spam.

1. There have been no Jordanian, Pakistani, or Bangladeshi nations until the 20th century. There have been no countries called Jordan, Pakistan, or Bangladesh, until the 20th century.

Do you seriously think there's a time limit when all types of historical events should stop occurring, and everything should remain exactly as it was in that moment? Does this moment begin just before the creation of modern Israel, and should it only apply to Israel?

2. Saudi Arabia have exerted an enormous pressure on the US to attack Iran, but a spin must be put on everything that looks bad to make it Israel's fault.

An opinion piece is not proof of anything.

 

Look, this is the new form of warfare - target the leaders. If we had the tech in 1939 we have today
the wars would certainly be different, particularly with nations targeting the leaders of other nations.
This is certainly better than amassed armies. Imagine if Hitler had been assassinated by Stauffenbeg
and others in 1941 - two million Germans and many more allies might not have died in taking Berlin.

With "the Engineer" who was assassinated by Israel. C4 explosive was in the cell phone he was using.
Ayyash had killed many Jews in buses and restaurants. Better to take him than have to invade the
West Bank or Gaza to take out the government and kill many Arab civilians. I respect that.

Stop to think. Why is there a wall between Gaza and Israel? Is it to protect the Gazans or is it to protect
the Israelis? Secondly, when did that wall go up? It was right after Gaza rejected the incredible peace
proposal of industrial parks, rail links, sea ports, airports, land in the Negev, open borders... everything.
Hamas found an excuse (a car accident involving Israeli soldiers where four Arabs died) to essentially
imprison Gaza in perpetual and unwinnable wars.

 

Seems like you are admitting to being a Troll here ?

 

Quite the pickle isn't it, Iran is basically the Syrian Army, if they leave Assad is finished and Syria will be on the chopping block with Erdogan probably getting his chunk in Idlib. If they don't leave Russia can't get their hands on the oil fields and Israel has Hezbollah on the Golan doorstep. You've got to hand it to Trump for 'leaving" but "not leaving" by holding the "Trump card"..."the pin" the Russians want so desperately... the oil fields

 

You are mostly ignoring what was written .. and your response is just absurd.

1) what part of - they just signed a cease fire deal with the leader of the Palestinian Military arm - did you not understand
what part of they targeted him less than 48 hours after agreeing to the deal.

2) What are you talking about "new form of warfare" Israel has been doing targeted assassinations for decades - what part of the link in the last post did you not friggen understand ?

3) A new form of warfare for who ? It is not new for Israel ? No one else perhaps maybe some of the African nations .. is engaging in this "New Form of War" - with the exception of Trump - and while not at the top of the list of dumb things - taking out Solimani ranks up there pretty high.

4) Do we want to go down this path ? I would claim that anyone who does is not thinking straight.

Why is there a wall ? - Why was there Hadrian's wall - to keep the invaders out - This is an 80 year long Blood Feud - to simplify it down to "Protect who" is an oversimplification .. the wall is also for economic purposes.

Israel goes out - steals land - and then builds walls to protect that land - from those who used to own it. The situation is completely asymmetric - one side is 50 times more powerful than the other. They have an economic blockade in place - Gaza is pretty much an internment camp.. kind of like Escape from New York.

So back to question 4. That is what I would prefer to discuss .. why the frick would we want to go down this path .. there are no discernible positives and a whole lot of negatives.

Do take of the Trump blinders for a brief moment and see this crazy sht for what it is. Do you have any idea how easy it is for a Nation State to kill someone ? Never mind a military power such as Iran ?

We can go Tit for Tat - and in fact we did with Solimani ... Did it feel good - having umpteen ballistic missiles hit our base in Iraq - seriously wounding a bunch of our soldiers - and not retaliating ?

This was a first - Israel doing it is bad enough - but nothing compared to what Trump did - the entire world going WTF just happened - I thought we didn't do that kind of thing.

China Russia must be saying "Well Whoop tee do - its open season on a nations leaders now" should they upset us ...

So when Russia takes out some leader in Georgia it doesn't like - or Ukraine - no harm no foul right ?

Lets living in a world - where anyone who gets near the upper tier - has to look behind their back for their entire life - because it is all good in the Hood.

That will improve the quality of our leadership --- few in their right mind would want such a position - never be able to travel - and so on.

Trump did a boo boo - Iran Smacked Trump upside the head - saying do you really want to go there - and Trump stood down - which I am sure was on the advise of near everyone of his inner cabinet - and the leader of every other nation on the planet - and who knows far down the ladder of the Political and Bureaucratic Elite.

It is one thing taking out the leader of ISIS - who everyone on the planet wanted dead. It is another to take out the one of the leaders in a Nation State. Don't confuse the two again - and don't deny that you were conflating the two in your mind.

You don't get to declare some nation a Terrorist Nation - and start targeting their leaders - without payback - because you have changed the world order in a way everyone disagrees with - in no uncertain terms.

All the while - the reality is that the nation you are accusing of Terrorism - Is one of the Nations that was fighting the Terrorist Proxy army that you created for the last decade. And Everyone knows it - Complicity in War Crimes proceedings are already ongoing for Yemen - that is nothing compared to what we did in Syria - and it is recorded history. The day will come when there will be similar proceedings based on Syria.

Obama may well go down as a war criminal in the annals of history - Solimani ? not so much .. not on the same level in any case - and killing American soldiers is no more a war crime than killing any other nations soldiers. That is who you are supposed to attack -the soldiers occupying foreign land...am I not correct ?

but I have digressed - the hypocrisy of calling Iran a "Terrorist Nation" is profound .. they do not hold a candle to the US in that department.

We are the rogue nation wanting to break the rules of world order - in a way that no one else wants - based on hypocrisy.

You know - one could probably come up with a valid reason where such a thing might be quazi acceptable - and that case much of the rest of the world agree - but has to be a darn good excuse .. and meet a really high bar - Solimani did not come close.

 

No, this wasn't about me. The post I replied to was a reply to another poster, and the complaint about spam was addressed to that poster, not to me.

 

ahh .. ok .. must have misread.

 

1- I don't like spam, but it does give me the opportunity to correct some common misconceptions about Iran perpetuated by decades of propaganda that leads to such spam.

2- My message about Israel being a new state was not about whether that would give or deny it a right to exist as a state. It was further to another point I had made about the folly of comparing IRAN to Israel. Each new state that has come to being raises its own peculiar issues and questions. And, no, history doesn't stop and such new states will likely emerge in the future, with some old ones possibly ceasing to exist as well.

3- If I felt Saudi Arabia was, in reality, the biggest force (as opposed to being a distant 3rd) pushing the US to war with Iran, I would have a field day focusing on them. While I am totally agnostic when it comes to which ideology I hate the most, the crypto-Nazi ideology that is now in vogue in right wing circles in Israel, or the monstrous Wahhabi ideology of Saudi Arabia, I actually do find some things about Israel that are appealing despite all of its warts and flaws. I don't find anything about Saudi Arabia appealing. If I was going to be an "anti-Semite", the Saudis would be my favorite "Semites" to target But, alas, the whole idea of being against people due to their religious or linguistic or racial identity is stupid as far as I am concerned. I have my own standards of what I find appealing in people, and what I don't, and those standards are such that I can find a diverse enough people of different ethnic, linguistic, religious, racial, or national backgrounds, fall within and without it.

 

You assuming all Jews support the extreme right colonising of Palestine sounds more antisemetic to me - believing all Jews are of one mind. I will give you however that this is what Israel promotes and what it encourages promoting. Israel no longer cares about genuine antisemitism which comes to a massive extreme from the far right. Indeed Israel is now best of friends to the far right particularly in countries where Jews are experiencing a concerning rise in genuine antisemitism like Hungary.; Your 'antisemitism' like Israel's is anyone who is not a follower of the extreme right. You believe it is antisemetic not to favour ethnic nationalism with the degradation of the 'other' which it always gives including worse of all to European Jews in the 30's. You believe it is right to keep people prisoner for over 50 years, to put children in jail without access to their parents or anyone else. You believe it is right that an occupying power pick on men women, the sick, the disabled, the press, medics and other ordinary people and kill or injure them for life by using weapons which explode when they enter the body necessitating the removal of limbs because they dared to protest that Israel will not allow them to return to land which is legally theirs and which they have the legal right to return to. You support Israel using Covid 19 to annex 30% of the West Bank.

The taking of Palestine has been a Colonial project from the beginning. It was a project which the majority of Jews were against and one which never would have been allowed had it not been for the Holocaust and even then required blackmail and bribery to get the required votes- read 'What Price Israel for details and sources - even then that was just a recommendation and gave Israel no right to take another people's land - not supporting this disgraceful behaviour is what you call antisemitism. By calling it antisemitism you are declaring this is what is the 'essence' of what it means to be a Jew. I am telling you you are wrong. This behaviour I hear goes against all the values of Judaism. There are plenty of Jews in my own country who do not support this behaviour but just as with left wing Jews in Israel, the intent is to pretend left wing Jews do not exist - just like the extreme right always wants to destroy progressives and those with left inclusive viewpoints. (in reality the opposite of antisemetic viewpoints. Antisemitism is still seeing all Jews as some false hateful stereotype and from this showing prejudice and hatred towards them all.

 

Israel returned northern Gaza to Hamas. After a long, deadly string of bombings it build the wall.
The bombing stopped. That's Priority One of any government - security of your subjects.
Opening Gaza completely has at least two deadly consequences IMO
1 - it shows Hamas, Islamic Jihad, ISIS etc that military pressure can work.
2 - it provides either "dual use" materials for the anti-Semite war, or outright weapon acquisition.

Giving Hamas what it wants means the extermination of the Jews.

 

If you offer me $50 for my Ferrari and Trump offers me $75 for it that will be two deals I'll "walk out on" but it doesn't mean I "don't want peace". It only means that I want a fair deal.

 

If Iran goes up in flames then my guess is that 9/11 will seem like a family picnic in comparison to what the retribution will look like. That would be too bad because Iran sent its deepest condolence to the U.S. over that raid and offered to help the U.S. in finding bin Laden and rooting out Al Qaida .... but Washington ill-manneredly declined to accept the kind offer from Tehran. "You made your bed so you can sleep in it", as they say. The U.S. knows how to talk the talk but they can't walk the walk.

 

There was a time, during the height of the Syrian civil war, when the forces commanded by Iranian officers and their allies in the Quds force, outnumbered the regular Syrian army. But I don't think that is the case anymore. The Russians have basically maneuvered to see some of the Syrian militia under the command of officers loyal to them, sidelining those seen as working with Iran. They have also taken some units previously commanded by Syrian officers who worked closely with Iran and had those units purged and now under commanders more loyal to Russia. Besides the elite 4th armored division in Syria, which is still commanded by Maher Assad (Assad's brother), almost all of the other Syrian units are basically commanded by officers handpicked by the Russians. And the only reason they haven't been able to replace Maher Assad (despite accusing him of taking orders from Iran) is because he is Assad's brother.

As for Iranian backed militia in Syria, most of them have been withdrawn from Syria ever since the Syrian civil war appeared to have ended in Assad's favor. And as part of Iran's effort to save costs in light of Trump's maximum pressure campaign. Estimates of the forces still in Syria vary, but I don't think they would be much larger than a couple of divisions at most. One of the divisions is composed mainly of Afghan soldiers recruited by Iran and the other forces (divided into smaller units) are composed of Lebanese Shia (Hezbollah) and Iraqi Shia (PMU linked) forces. Despite all the propaganda by Israel hitting "Iranian targets", very few of them are Iranians. Even the Israeli estimate last year that there are "under 1,000" actual Iranian servicemen in Syria appears no more accurate than saying there are "under 500" actual Iranian servicemen in Syria.

Syria, I am afraid, right now belongs to the Russians. Lets see what they make of it. If they wear out their welcome in Syria, they might see their once successful involvement in Syria (helping boost their overall standing in world affairs) turn into something more like their invasion of Afghanistan instead. But what can you do? The Russians seem to think they can control Syria and profit from its reconstruction, relying on manipulating the top of the deck. When, in fact, the bottom of the deck is often as important as what is merely on top.

 

Palestinians walked out on every deal offered since the 1920's.
As the Saudi's wryly observed, they wanted to walk back in after
the offers were taken off the table.
Palestinians rejected their own state, Jerusalem as their capital
and having the majority of land holdings. Even the idea of right of
return was shoved as it meant a final and permanent peace deal
with Israel.

 

Did you complain to the moderator about me having something "off topic" ?
You don't believe the reports about this guy? From him time as being one
of those holding American embassy hostages through to his work with Iraqi
insurgents in killing Americans - plus some diversions in Syria, against Israel,
meddling in Lebanon etc.. Sounds like a nice big target for any nation.

 

Killing Gaza