World Peace “Lennon Ivan Style” – Part 224

World Peace “Lennon Ivan Style” – Part 224

As a continuation from my last blog whereby I believe the root of “World Peace” is centered on peace in the Middle East with the first step being negotiated peace between Israel and the Palestinians, I would like to remain objective and independent in my views such that I would like to today bring Iraq into my views as they seem to be the closest at this time to a full fledge civil war of rage like wild animals stuck together in a cage. However, it is important to note that Israel and Palestine seem to be awakening from their hatred induced coma state with the potential for peace negotiations to be resumed in the near future in the United States, while Egypt continues to operate in supremacy domination mode whereby the minority Christian military continues to hold on to power while the Muslim majority is fuming at the seams hoping to awaken from this horrible dream. As for the Syrians, both sides are still in anger induced coma state for the mentally insane such that millions of Syrians continue to suffer each and every day. In terms of the Russians and Ukrainians, they seem to have entered into a political war game whereby neither party wishes to concede but rather seems to prefer to enter into a civil war and commit dirty deeds. While Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians, Syrians, Russians and Ukrainians continue along their respective paths toward enlightenment, it is now time for the Iraqis to be enlightened as to the path of quelling their current tensions before any more civil war breaks out which bears the risk of leading to a third and final world war on this earth, after which, there will be no place for anyone left to run. In summary, Observers around the world are stunned by the speed and scope of assaults on every major city in the upper Tigris River Valley, including Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. However, as the ISIS rebels extend their reach across Iraq, the U.S. Air Force was forced to intervene in order to prevent Genocide while Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki relinquished power opening a new political chapter that U.S. officials hope will move Iraq toward a more unified front against Islamic jihadists currently running wild and literally beheading “Infidels” like pigs without shedding a tear as blood spills out of their victims giving everybody creepy chills.

During the week ending on Sunday, December 11, 2016, TURKEY retreated from their aggressive siege of CIZRE, SILOPI, DIYARBAKIR and NUSAYBIN, predominantly KURDISH, which TURKEY had converted into a suburban war zone area as TURKEY was on the defense as they were subject to an internal military “Coup D’État” that failed as gunfire and explosions erupted in which 265 people died, 161 of them civilians, over one month ago. As a result of the failed “Coup D’État”, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a state of emergency, extended the period during which suspects can be detained without charge to 30 days, closed more than 1,000 private schools and closed more than 1,200 associations. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continued cleaning house again this week after nearly three months since the failed “Coup D’État” for which officials continue to blame the disciples of TURKISH cleric Fethullah Gulen.  A wide scale purge led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his governing AKP escalated further this week under the disguise of emergency rule as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s iron fisted rule is drifting TURKEY away from its historic WESTERN allies in perhaps one of the most significant geopolitical realignments of the modern times. TURKEY has now commenced to increasingly resemble another troubled part of the Middle East as TURKEY seems to be becoming infected with the same illness, intolerance, autocracy and repression that has poisoned the Middle East for decades. Ironically, early on in 2002 when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to power, he was widely hailed as a democrat. However, in recent years, he has grown aggressively averse to dissent and in the wake of the failed “Coup D’État” attempt in July, he has unleashed an unprecedented crackdown. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is now demanding constitutional changes that would give him near-absolute authority and let him remain at the helm of TURKEY and its 80 million inhabitants until 2029.

Moving on to IRAQ, IRAQI and US-led ALLIANCE forces continued with their offensive against ISIS on MOSUL. However, ISIS has sent the message to the world that it will do whatever it takes to defend MOSUL as ISIS has chosen the usage of its own people as human shields. Nonetheless, IRAQI forces captured a neighbourhood in east MOSUL, pushing deeper into the heart of ISIS’s IRAQI stronghold while destroying three sites where ISIS produced car bombs used in waves of suicide attacks. On a positive note, the U.S. backed elite IRAQI troops consisting of 100,000 plus coalition soldiers have been successfully fighting street battles with ISIS militants such that the ALLIANCE now controls around half of MOSUL's eastern neighbourhoods. Therefore, ISIS militants have been steadily retreating from areas around MOSUL into the city center since the battle first commenced on October 17 with a slow but steady advance by the ALLIANCE due to the usage by ISIS of civilians as human shields. Thus far, IRAQI, KURDISH and ALLIED forces advances have been impressive on their push to retake MOSUL, ISIS's de facto capital in IRAQ where as many as 1.5 million people are believed to still remain. However, progress has been slow as the ALLIANCE forces have faced counterattacks from the ISIS fighters who deployed hundreds of suicide car bombs, as well as mortars and snipers and used MOSUL’s million plus residents as human shields. Unfortunately, ISIS is still a force to be reckoned with, due to its significant wealth amassed in safe havens abroad, such that although the battle for MOSUL will likely lead to the end of the ISIS era in IRAQ, the ISIS wealth abroad will likely lead to ISIS taking the fight to the streets on foreign soil which will necessitate heightened security measures until kingdom come. Therefore, the US-led ALLIANCE needs to be on heightened security alerts world wide as ISIS will look to find any and all possible retributory strikes, the most savage and barbarian possible, in an attempt to save face from a humiliating defeat of its MOSUL base.

Moving on to SYRIA, the SYRIAN army had initially intensified attacks on ALEPPO as RUSSIA defied global pressure over the escalation of violence that has crushed diplomacy, as the bombing of the city of ALEPPO has been described by most as “Barbarous”. Subsequently, Free Syrian Army (FSA) held areas of ALEPPO saw the FSA in SYRIA announcing a big offensive aimed at breaking the government siege of east ALEPPO whereby the FSA fired hundreds of missiles and initiated a push to break the ALEPPO siege whereby about 275,000 people have been besieged in the east of the city for months. Then, RUSSIAN President, VLADIMIR PUTIN warned the Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels and civilians trapped in eastern ALEPPO to leave the city when a temporary moratorium on air strikes expired. Subsequently, President elect Donald Trump reaffirmed his campaign trail position that assisting the SYRIAN government in fighting ISIS should be the US main objective in SYRIA despite appeals from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels for continued help in their fight against President Bashar al-Assad. Now, SYRIAN government forces have come close to retaking full control of ALEPPO for the first time, since the uprising began, after nearly six years of bloody fighting for Syria’s most populous city and SYRIA’s economic hub that has been the most prized and fiercely contested city throughout the Syrian conflict. As a friendly reminder, since the Syrian army’s assault against rebel held ALEPPO began in late September, RUSSIAN and SYRIAN government bombardments have killed more than 500 people, including over 100 children while injuring over 3,000.

In my opinion, Turkey’s participation in the military battle against ISIS is a positive addition to the ALLIANCE albeit Turkey’s negative stance against the PKK which in my opinion is currently unwarranted and deteriorating. However, with the recent majority victory by the governing AKP and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it appears that Turkey’s future is heading for more war and bloodshed. Unfortunately, the governing AKP and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have chosen the path of war with the PKK as opposed to diplomacy via the KURDISH HDP political party which secured close to 11% during recent Turkish elections. Therefore, in my opinion, the governing AKP and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will learn the hard way that nobody on the outside world looking in is stupid but rather everyone chooses to close their eyes and allow Turkey to continue with its ethnic cleansing campaign of the KURDS in exchange for Turkey signing a deal with the European Union (EU) to stem the flow of refugees arriving in Greece. In exchange for reducing human trafficking and improving living conditions for 2.5 million refugees within its borders, Turkey will receive Euro 3 billion in financial aid in return, the possibility of visa-free travel for its citizens, and a reopening of EU membership talks. In my opinion, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the governing AKP will learn the hard way that the current failed “Coup D’État” exposes the deep discontent within the TURKISH military ranks as the governing AKP and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan persist with their quest to annihilate the HDP and the KURDS as the AKP is converting itself into a majority fascist regime with its house cleaning exercises whereby virtually all dissidents have been fired. In my opinion, the recent European parliament vote to halt TURKEY’s EU accession backed by a resolution condemning the TURKISH government’s disproportionate repressive measures after the failed “Coup D’État” in July was long overdue as TURKEY has demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt, with its repressive measures over all opposition, that TURKEY does not share common values, morals, principals, ethics and views as the EU such that TURKEY does not fit into the EU mould. However, in my opinion, TURKEY still represents a major player on the European economic stage such that the EU will nonetheless have to negotiate deals with TURKEY as an independent NON-EU member country regarding the huge refugee crisis. In my opinion, in exchange for reducing human trafficking and improving living conditions for 2.5 million refugees within its borders, TURKEY should only receive Euro 1.5 billion, half of the initial proposed 3 billion, in financial aid along with visa-free travel for its citizens who do not pose any significant risks outside of TURKISH borders. However, in my opinion, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s real aim is to take TURKEY out of the WESTERN block, out of the modern civilized world and to turn TURKEY into a Middle Eastern country where he can continue to rule without any obstacles. Furthermore, I believe President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s real goal is to turn TURKEY into a country where there is no secularism and where people are divided along their ethnic identity and their beliefs. Therefore, TURKEY appears to be becoming a nation that faces internal conflict similar to that which we see today in Iraq and Syria. In my opinion, it is sad to see TURKEY regressing as the ISLAMIC world once envied TURKEY’s achievements but few leaders today see TURKEY as a role model as TURKEY today is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons including a sagging tourism industry, deflated currency and a depressed TURKISH economy that once did fuel President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s popularity.

Moving on to IRAQ, the recent successful attacks on ISIS by IRAQI security forces in MOSUL, has clearly sent the message to ISIS that it is just a matter of time until the ISIS Empire in MOSUL dies. However, the IRAQI led troops on the ground are essentially forced to fight ISIS style, which is slow and brutal for any other type of heavy artillery attack on ISIS, will result in significant collateral damage in terms of human casualties. Unfortunately ISIS has managed to set new rules of war, with complete and utter disregard for the laws of war as promulgated by the GENEVA convention, which is essentially that there are no rules other than the dirtiest player in the game wins. Thus, the world finds itself going backwards to the days of Barbarian, Neanderthal, Self-Centered, Egotistical, Narcissistic, Masochistic, Sadistic, Idiosyncratic, Sociopathic and Psychopathic maniacs. In my opinion, assuming that the KURDISH peshmerga, IRAQI army, SHIITE militia and some SUNNI militia forces continue to overlook their differences and stick together, ISIS will inevitably be decimated in IRAQ, although ISIS will likely survive as an incognito terrorist organization throughout the world. In my opinion, with ISIS inevitably nearing its downfall in IRAQ, IRAQI security forces need to be prepared for a different kind of war against ISIS, shifting away from ground offensives to intelligence work and surgical airstrikes to counter an expected move by ISIS away from holding territory and back to a more terrorist role of a dispersed underground terror organization. In my opinion, ISIS is already laying the groundwork for a new terrorist strategy of hiding in remote areas, carrying out attacks in IRAQ and abroad and resorting to organized crime to bankroll future operations.

Moving on to SYRIA, the latest news that the SYRIAN government forces have recaptured most of the former rebel stronghold of east ALEPPO in an offensive that has left bodies in the streets and sparked global outrage seems to have sucked out all of the air from ALEPPO for a potential ceasefire followed by some sort of power sharing arrangement. As tens of thousands of civilians streamed out of ALEPPO's east with tensions between the FSA and RUSSIA escalating, after weeks of secret meetings in TURKEY made little apparent progress on lifting the siege of eastern ALEPPO, the prospect for peace diminished rapidly. In my opinion, two factors have been decisive in the slow but steady fall of ALEPPO back into President Bashar al-Assad’s hands. First, TURKEY’s military intervention carried out with the approval of RUSSIA with the official aim of fighting ISIS resulted in the TURKISH military requesting the support of SYRIAN rebels. In reality, the purpose of TURKEY's intervention was to prevent the KURDS from joining their two enclaves, AFRIN and KOBANE, into one contiguous zone. Nonetheless, TURKEY’s mobilization of SYRIAN rebels who originally fought in ALEPPO helped weaken the rebellion in ALEPPO and thus facilitated the advance of the SYRIAN army. In addition, the other factor that marked a turning point was the fall of the famous Castello Road to SYRIAN regime forces in July’ 2016 as this was considered the only route into the rebel bastions of eastern ALEPPO and the only means of getting arms and aid into Aleppo’s besieged neighbourhoods. Therefore, with fewer rebel factions, no refuelling possible and the RUSSIAN backing of SYRIAN government forces, the rebellion finds itself today disintegrating before everybodies’ eyes. Therefore, in my opinion, the current situation in ALEPPO is deplorable as innocent civilians are living in a literal hell on earth as the entire city is covered in blood with diminishing food, necessities and basic supplies while innocent civilians continue to die. Ultimately, it is because of this battle for ALEPPO that ISIS is able to survive; as ASSAD has managed to break the rebel’s ALEPPO grip with fewer rebel factions, no refuelling possible and RUSSIAN military strength to squeeze the lifeblood out of any future power sharing negotiations in due course and at length.

In summary, I refer to “World Peace Lennon Ivan Style – Part 224” as the belief that ISIS is evil such that the MOSUL victory is critical to ISIS decimation but ASSAD has managed to break the rebel’s ALEPPO grip with fewer rebel factions, no refuelling possible and RUSSIAN military strength to squeeze the lifeblood out of any future power sharing negotiations in due course and at length.

Spirit of John Lennon – Kurdish Guerrilla Song:

December 11, 2016