World Peace “Lennon Ivan Style” – Part 241

World Peace “Lennon Ivan Style” – Part 241

During the week ending on Sunday, April 9, 2017, TURKEY retreated from their days of aggressive sieges 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 during July of 2016. 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. A wide scale purge led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his governing AKP finally continued to de-escalate slightly more this week as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan focused his attention on SYRIA by throwing TURKEY’s support behind U.S. President, Donald Trump who authorized the firing of 59 TOMAHAWK cruise missiles at the SYRIAN Armed Forces in response to what the U.S. believes was a chemical weapons attack that killed more than 100 people authorized by President Bashar al-Assad. Ironically, an unlikely revival in TURKISH - AMERICAN relations looks to be emerging after years of tension between TURKEY and former U.S. President, Barack Obama as the U.S. missile strike ordered against SYRIA by President, Donald Trump highlighted how the two largest military powers in NATO are now beginning to see eye-to-eye on the civil war in SYRIA. President, Donald Trump’s move was applauded in TURKEY, which has for years been the world’s foremost proponent of removing President Bashar al-Assad from power while the U.S. has instead backed a war in SYRIA whose objectives were limited to the eradication of ISIS. Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, reiterated that the regime of President Bashar al-Assad has killed close to one million people in seven years and has used all kinds of weapons including conventional weapons, barrel bombs and starvation such that if President Bashar al-Assad continues, the SYRIAN people will not be in any position to decide on the future of President Bashar al-Assad as was previously advocated by the U.S.

Moving on to IRAQ, IRAQI and US-led ALLIANCE forces continued with their offensive against ISIS on MOSUL as IRAQI and ALLIED forces managed to push ISIS militants back from MOSUL, their last major stronghold in IRAQ, whereby IRAQI special forces appear to have liberated the eastern half of MOSUL from ISIS in its entirety. As a friendly reminder, MOSUL is divided by the Tigris River with both east and west sides respectively making up about half of the population of MOSUL. Elite ALLIANCE forces managed to fight through an elaborate defense system formed by ISIS over the past two years, that kept ALLIANCE forces out while contemporaneously keeping the residents of MOSUL trapped in as captives, by recapturing east MOSUL in its entirety while being at the cusp of controlling west MOSUL in the short-term. On a positive note, this week in a series of lightning fast advances, ALLIANCE forces seized further control of most of western MOSUL from ISIS and Iraqi army forces took over RAYHANNA, a village near MOSUL in ANBAR while killing 30 ISIS militants in the process. However, ALLIANCE forces continued to struggle to fully retake control of central MOSUL’s OLD CITY, a densely populated and structured area which military generals view as vital for victory over ISIS in that region. However, ISIS is still holding onto a few strongholds in western ANBAR near the borders with SYRIA that IRAQI government forces also hope to retake from ISIS after clearing MOSUL from ISIS militants. Moving on to the diplomatic front in IRAQ, JARED KUSHNER, son-in-law of President Donald Trump and senior adviser to the White House, visited IRAQ after receiving an invitation from General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. JARED KUSHNER was reportedly in IRAQ to receive an update on the current status of the counter ISIS campaign in IRAQ and SYRIA although he was the subject of ridicule worldwide as everybody seemed to focus their attention on his outfit consisting of a jacket-blazer combo whereby the sports coat and military vest just did not blend well together. Unfortunately for JARED KUSHNER, although President Donald Trump has placed the 36 year old in charge of the Middle East peace process, the world seems to have had a hard time taking his sunglasses stroll with soldiers in IRAQ seriously. It seems that the world has been questioning JARED KUSHNER’s credentials regarding his visit to IRAQ on behalf of President Donald Trump in order to express the President’s support and commitment to the government of IRAQ and U.S. personnel currently engaged in the IRAQI war campaign.

Moving on to SYRIA, SYRIAN government forces have retaken full control of ALEPPO, 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 of 2016, RUSSIAN and SYRIAN government bombardments killed more than 1,000 people, including over 250 children while injuring over 5,000. Now, a ceasefire across SYRIA appears to be holding as its brokers, RUSSIA, TURKEY and IRAN obtained approval of the plan from the UN Security Council overriding all previous failed peace proposals and finally ending the six-year conflict. Against all odds, the ceasefire largely continues to hold as peace negotiations continue with TURKEY and ASSAD’s two main allies, RUSSIA and IRAN, backing these peace talks as guarantors of a fragile ceasefire. However, the process continues to be advancing at a snails pace although these talks do represent the most serious diplomatic efforts in months. Unfortunately, U.S. President, Donald Trump’s authorization of the firing of 59 TOMAHAWK cruise missiles at the SYRIAN Armed Forces in response to what the U.S. believes was a chemical weapons attack that killed more than 100 people authorized by President Bashar al-Assad now threatens to derail the entire peace process. In response to the strike by the U.S., RUSSIA, chief backer of President Bashar al-Assad, sent a warship into the eastern Mediterranean heading straight towards the area where two U.S. Navy destroyers launched the missile strikes into SYRIA. Nonetheless, President, Donald Trump stands by his decision regarding the U.S. strike on a SYRIAN airbase in retaliation for this week’s gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians, including infants and small children. However, the American military strike against SYRIA now threatens Russian - American relations as RUSSIA denounced President, Donald Trump’s usage of force and the RUSSIAN military indicated it would suspend an agreement to share information about air operations over SYRIA that was devised to avoid accidental conflict between RUSSIA and the U.S. The U.S. missile strike demonstrated the potential dangers of RUSSIAN and AMERICAN forces operating in proximity although American military planners did act accordingly to avert a direct conflict. That is, fewer than 100 RUSSIAN troops deployed in support of the SYRIAN government of President Bashar al-Assad that were stationed at the SYRIAN air base targeted by AMERICAN forces were given just 60 to 90 minutes of advance notice that the cruise missiles were coming but were not advised whether to take shelter or flee. Nonetheless, the US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, said the strikes did not indicate a shift in US policy toward Syria, even though a few days’ earlier American diplomats had said President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster was no longer a priority. In addition, the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, said the strikes had a limited intent, which was to deter the usage of chemical weapons, and were part of President, Donald Trump’s so-called AMERICA FIRST policy.

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 that in my opinion is currently unwarranted and deteriorating. However, with the majority 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 the last 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 was supposed to 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 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 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.

Finally, the wide scale purge led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his governing AKP continued to de-escalate further this week as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan focused his attention on SYRIA by throwing TURKEY’s support behind U.S. President, Donald Trump who authorized the firing of 59 TOMAHAWK cruise missiles at the SYRIAN Armed Forces in response to what the U.S. believes was a chemical weapons attack that killed more than 100 people. In my opinion, the agreement by TURKEY with the U.S. air strikes on the SYRIAN Armed Forces is in conformance with TURKEY’s view that the world needs to stop pretending that it is only President Bashar al-Assad on one hand and ISIS on the other that legitimizes President Bashar al-Assad’s control over SYRIA. In my opinion, after the chemical attacks by the SYRIAN Armed Forces, TURKEY will no longer support the claim that there is no viable alternative to the existing regime under President Bashar al-Assad such that I believe TURKEY will now push for the alternative of saving the SYRIAN people from the brutal regime under President Bashar al-Assad after which the Syrian people will be easily able to find someone else to lead them. In my opinion, that is the TURKISH view that has put TURKEY into direct conflict with RUSSIA who we all very well know is President Bashar al-Assad’s main battleground backer such that until RUSSIA agrees, it will be virtually impossible for TURKEY and the U.S. to remove President Bashar al-Assad from power.

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. Therefore, the ALLIANCE forces recapture of eastern MOSUL in its entirety has triggered a lightning fast momentum as ALLIANCE forces managed to seize control of major parts of Western MOSUL although in my opinion, the last of the fighting will most probably be a lot more difficult. In my opinion, ISIS will cling on to the oldest parts of MOSUL city where streets are narrow making it hard to manoeuvre military convoys and thus increasing the risk of ambushes and civilian casualties. Therefore, it is not surprising to see that ALLIANCE forces are having a difficult time to fully retake control of central MOSUL’s OLD CITY but this struggle is unfortunately necessary to secure the entire province of MOSUL such that patience is of utmost importance as ALLIANCE forces must continue with their relentless yet prudent attacks until ALL ISIS snipers have been eliminated. In regards to Iraqi army forces taking over RAYHANNA, a village near MOSUL in ANBAR while killing 30 ISIS militants in the process, this is an excellent example of the strength of ALLIANCE forces when the ISIS skunks can be lured out into the open and the ALLIANCE have a clear target to strike. Therefore, it is obvious that the difficulties encountered by ALLIANCE forces in MOSUL’s OLD CITY have more to do with the landscape of narrow streets than with the capabilities of the ALLIANCE forces. In regards to JARED KUSHNER, son-in-law of President Donald Trump and senior adviser to the White House, visiting IRAQ to receive an update on the current status of the counter ISIS campaign, I must tend to agree with the buzz on social media that his outfit consisting of a jacket-blazer combo whereby the sports coat and military vest just did not blend well together was definitely a flop for the cameras. However, in my opinion, JARED KUSHNER seems to be a very intelligent 36-year-old man whom President Donald Trump has placed in charge of the Middle East peace process such that he should be given a fair opportunity to exercise his role as senior advisor. In my opinion, JARED KUSHNER definitely does not have the competence, persona or look to be a soldier but his role is not to be a fighter but just the opposite, JARED KUSHNER’s role is to be a peace negotiator such that I believe he has the necessary skills and abilities to assume this mandated role of senior advisor to the President. Nonetheless, 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 SYRIAN government forces recapture of the entire former rebel stronghold of east ALEPPO in an offensive that left bodies in the streets and sparked global outrage managed to lead to a ceasefire across SYRIA that appears to still be holding after its brokers, RUSSIA, TURKEY and IRAN obtained approval from the UN Security Council. In my opinion, RUSSIA that invested much political time and energy in ending the fighting after bombing the opposition relentlessly for 15 months was the critical player in this ceasefire as RUSSIA managed to control the uncontrollable consisting of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, IRAN and SHIITE militias like Lebanon’s Hezbollah whereas TURKEY managed to control the Free Syrian Army (FSA) along with their affiliated rebel factions. Meanwhile, peace negotiations continue with TURKEY and ASSAD’s two main allies, RUSSIA and IRAN, backing these peace talks as guarantors of a fragile ceasefire. However, the allegations by Amnesty International that over thirteen thousand people were hanged at a SYRIAN prison in a secret crackdown on dissent by the current regime under the authority of President, Bashar al-Assad were excluded from the agenda for the fifth round of negotiations that concluded at the end of March. In my opinion, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's future should be off the agenda for now and the main focus of the talks should be governance, a new constitution and elections as the primary goal of these meetings should be to end the war in SYRIA and to implement a long-term sustainable solution for peace.

In regards to U.S. President, Donald Trump’s authorization of the firing of 59 TOMAHAWK cruise missiles at the SYRIAN Armed Forces in response to what the U.S. believes was a chemical weapons attack that killed more than 100 people authorized by President Bashar al-Assad, it is quite obvious that these events now threaten to derail the entire peace process. However, in my opinion, these strikes by the U.S. were justified on the basis that the strikes had a limited intent, which was to deter the usage of chemical weapons, and were part of President, Donald Trump’s so-called AMERICA FIRST policy. That is, the U.S. needed to send President Bashar al-Assad a clear, concise and direct message that chemical weapons attacks by the SYRIAN Armed Forces will not be tolerated and will be reciprocated accordingly. That being said, there is no need for any further retaliatory strikes at this time as the message has been duly received by RUSSIA, chief backer of President Bashar al-Assad, who sent a warship into the eastern Mediterranean heading straight towards the area where two U.S. Navy destroyers launched the missile strikes into SYRIA. In my opinion, now that the RUSSIANS have arrived, it would obviously be unwise to further escalate this conflict, as it seems that some sort of equilibrium has been reached regarding these military exchanges. Nonetheless, I agree with the U.S. secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, who said that the strikes did not indicate a shift in U.S. policy toward SYRIA that means that these U.S. strikes do not indicate that the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad is a priority. In my opinion, as long as RUSSIA is behind him, President Bashar al-Assad is essentially untouchable except for disciplinary strikes in instances of clear violations of international laws such as in this instance where the usage of chemical weapons on civilians was certain.


In summary, I refer to “World Peace Lennon Ivan Style – Part 241” as the belief that MOSUL victory is critical to ISIS decimation but SYRIAN ceasefire between ASSAD and FSA also key while SYRIAN negotiations must result in peace albeit chemical weapons unleashed by ASSAD on SYRIAN civilians that were reciprocated in kind by U.S. unleashing 59 Tomahawk missiles from the skies resulting in equilibrium resolution of isolated incident granting peace of mind that repetition will not be surmised.

Spirit of John Lennon – Kurdish Guerrilla Song:

April 9, 2017