During the week ending on Sunday, September 17, 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 re-escalated this week as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan focused his attention on another purge of the Fethullah Gulen opposition movement supporters on the heals of celebrating the victory of the YES side in the referendum that was held on Sunday, April 16, 2017 whereby the majority of the TURKISH population voted in favour of TURKEY’s parliamentary system to be converted into a presidential system effectively consolidating power into one executive branch with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as its primary executor. Therefore, those opposing the vote say the proposed constitutional changes will give “Free Reign” to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who has already been pushing the boundaries of his power as his governing AKP has been utilizing an increasingly authoritarian style since the failed “Coup D’État” attempt which led to an intense crackdown leading to the arrests of over 47,000 government critics, academics, journalists, military officials and civil servants. Nonetheless, TURKEY ignored all criticisms from foreign powers and went straight ahead this week with further crackdown measures as TURKEY urged EUROPEAN countries to change their view of TURKEY saying that unless the EU sees TURKEY as an equal partner, a healthy relationship will not be possible. Furthermore, TURKEY clearly stated its intentions with regards to the EU whereby TURKEY does not want to have problems with EUROPE but TURKEY is also not going to bow down to impositions and double standards. Meanwhile, QATAR’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani held talks in TURKEY with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his first trip abroad since the start of the GULF diplomatic crisis. As a friendly reminder, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been a major supporter of QATAR since June 5, 2017 when SAUDI ARABIA, BAHRAIN, the UNITED ARAB EMIRATES and EGYPT cut ties and blockaded QATAR accusing QATAR of supporting terrorism and fostering ties with their rival IRAN that QATAR vehemently denied. In a show of solidarity, TURKEY also sent cargo ships and hundreds of planes loaded with food to break the QATAR blockade as TURKEY has a military base in QATAR that deployed more troops after the hostilities erupted while the closure of the TURKISH base was one of the thirteen conditions demanded by the SAUDI led block. Moving on to IRAQ, IRAQI and ALLIED forces have pushed ISIS militants back from MOSUL, their last major stronghold in IRAQ, whereby IRAQI special forces first liberated the eastern half of MOSUL from ISIS in its entirety subsequent to ALLIANCE forces seizing complete control of most of western MOSUL from ISIS. It is important to note that IRAQI forces put pressure on ISIS to the point of ISIS relinquishing control of MOSUL as the world watched the scenes of jubilation as IRAQI forces liberated the OLD MOSUL City from ISIS. However, with 40,000 plus dead in the battle to take back OLD MOSUL City from ISIS, the scale of civilian casualties reveals a massacre with many bodies still buried under the rubble and the level of human suffering immense. However, ISIS is far from eradicated in IRAQ as several strongholds still remain such that the final battles to push ISIS out of these places will be more complicated than the previous straightforward fights in places such as FALLUJAH and TIKRIT. Today, ISIS still controls two towns consisting of HAWIJA, south of KIRKUK and AL QAIM, west of ANBAR whereby each fight will have its own set of complicated political, military and foreign policy issues. In addition, many ISIS militias have taken to the hills and began to wage a classic rural guerrilla war, while some ISIS sleeper cells have also been activated at the border of Baghdad, the IRAQI capital. Thus, ISIS has now returned to the status of an insurgent or terrorist group as the Islamic State of IRAQ and SYRIA can no longer call itself a state as ISIS has lost all capacity to act as a state but rather ISIS now stands exposed as a GANGSTER sham.
On the heels of the IRAQI military victory in MOSUL, IRAQI forces have broken through ISIS’s defences inside the northern city of TAL AFAR and reached the city centre that represents a major gain in the battle for ISIS’s last urban stronghold in IRAQ as IRAQI Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over ISIS in the northern city of TAL AFAR and the entire province of NINEVEH. However, it is important to note that ISIS still continues to strike ALLIANCE forces whenever there is an opportunity available such that nine IRAQI army personnel were killed in fierce clashes with ISIS near TAL AFAR west of NINEVEH. It appears that around 40 ISIS militants on board of cars launched an attack against military units of the IRAQI army at QASABET AL-RA’IE, located 11 km away from TAL AFAR. However, on a positive note, eighty militants, including 15 suicide bombers were killed during operations carried out by the IRAQI army troops while in AIYADHIYA, IRAQI forces backed by fighter jets, killed 65 ISIS militants, including 15 suicide bombers, during an operation to purge the village. As TAL AFAR is liberated from ISIS control, ISIS female members, most of whom are foreigners, are turning themselves over to IRAQI troops. Around 1,000 foreign women from Turkey, Tajikistan, Russia, Azerbaijan and China, left AIYADHIYA, TAL AFAR along with their children. Therefore, in order to limit ISIS capabilities to mount future offensives, it is important for the SHIA-dominated government of IRAQI Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to reconcile the leaders of the SUNNI tribes, many of who supported ISIS because they did not believe they were properly represented in IRAQ while contemporaneously engaging with the KURDS who have played a key role in defeating ISIS. Moving on to SYRIA, a ceasefire across SYRIA appears to be broken after 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. Although these talks represented the most serious diplomatic efforts in months, 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 has derailed the entire peace process. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson could not agree on who was responsible for the chemical attacks. Although the 80 plus deaths from the chemical attacks have been widely blamed on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, RUSSIA has denied the SYRIAN regime carried out the chemical attacks. Therefore, the U.S. and RUSSIA agreed for the moment to disagree as the war raged on this week although TURKEY, IRAN and RUSSIA signed an agreement at the SYRIAN cease-fire talks in KAZAKHSTAN several weeks ago calling for the creation of four de-escalation zones in SYRIA that represent the latest attempt by all key players in the region to reduce the violence in SYRIA including the commitment by President Bashar al-Assad that the SYRIAN air force will halt flights over the designated areas in SYRIA. Unfortunately, the new cease-fire deal including the four de-escalation zones have been the subject of numerous violations from the outset as tensions seem to continue to erupt albeit Russia and the U.S. continuing to discuss the situation in round-the-clock mode anticipating that eventually the de-escalation zones will be fully under control. However, tensions seemed to de-escalate this week as the SYRIAN Army under the control of President Bashar al-Assad and allied LEBANESE militant group HEZBOLLAH fighters captured several ISIS positions on strategic hilltops along the SYRIAN-LEBANESE border. These captures on strategic hilltops along the SYRIAN-LEBANESE border come ahead of an anticipated LEBANESE offensive to clear the ISIS extremists from the LEBANESE side of the border which slowed down last week as ISIS asked the SYRIAN Army and its ally HEZBOLLAH to let ISIS withdraw from SYRIA’s border with LEBANON to the eastern province of DEIR AL-ZOR which the SYRIAN Army and HEZBOLLAH agreed to in principal. Therefore, after a weeklong campaign to oust ISIS from its territory on the LEBANON-SYRIA border, LEBANESE President Michel Aoun declared that LEBANON has been victorious over ISIS but angry IRAQI and U.S. officials pointed out that in fact, ISIS was bussed over the border to SYRIA to become someone else’s problem. Ironically, this week the convoy of ISIS fighters that was stranded in the SYRIAN desert for two weeks has reached its final destination in eastern SYRIA after the U.S. led coalition allowed it free passage in spite of a pledge to prevent it from doing so. Lebanese Shiite militant group HEZBOLLAH and the SYRIAN regime helped to broker the August 28, 2017 deal that saw around 300 ISIS fighters and 300 family members and civilians transported in return for the bodies of LEBANESE soldiers captured in 2014 and killed by ISIS. Thus, the agreement ended ISIS’s presence on the LEBANESE border after three years in the BEKAA VALLEY of LEBANON. The convoy reached ISIS held territory in DEIR EZZOR province after the ALLIANCE decision to stop their surveillance of the ISIS convoy. On a positive note, U.S. backed fighters have surrounded the Syrian city of RAQQA as they try to oust the ISIS militants from their de facto capital in SYRIA whereby the ALLIANCE fighters consisting of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a mainly KURDISH and ARAB coalition, have cut off all routes into and out of RAQQA. As a friendly reminder, nearly 200,000 people and 5,000 ISIS militants live in RAQQA such that the efforts to retake the SYRIAN city has now drawn dozens of U.S. military advisors deployed directly inside RAQQA city itself with U.S. Marines providing artillery support against ISIS from the surrounding countryside. It appears that these coordinated efforts are paying off as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have made yet another huge advance across the southern countryside of RAQQA liberating more than half of the RAQQA enclave including the OLD RAQQA City. Fighters of the U.S. backed, KURDISH led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continue to punch their way through ISIS lines in RAQQA city as KURDISH forces are literally shooting their way through the streets of RAQQA, concentrating fire on ISIS positions hidden in the urban ruin of RAQQA city while ISIS fights back hard. On a positive note, ISIS fighters have been pushed out from RAQQA’s OLD CITY after US backed forces took back the city in a series of lightning fast advances. SDF forces are on the edges of ISIS’s security quarter in RAQQA’s city centre where most of ISIS’s main bases are currently located and many ISIS fighters and civilians are currently holed up in the OLD RAQQA CITY. In addition, ISIS is surrounded on all sides as a U.S. led coalition is seeking to oust ISIS from RAQQA, while SYRIAN government forces, backed by the RUSSIAN air force and IRAN backed militias are also advancing on the RAQQA OLD CITY. On a positive note, the SDF announced that they are continuing to advance into the center of RAQQA city where they have been thwarting car bombs and suicide attacks. Heavy clashes continue between the SDF and the ISIS militants in the surrounding areas of AL-WATANI hospital and the RASHID garden located in AL-AMIN neighborhood in the city center. In addition, the SYRIAN Arab Army, backed by RUSSIA and IRAN also has simultaneous operations ongoing in DEIR EZ-ZOR such that SDF and the SYRIAN Arab Army forces have now liberated around 42,000 square-kilometers in SYRIA previously held by ISIS that represents approximately seventy-seven percent of the territory previously under ISIS control. It is important to note that ISIS has released chilling propaganda footage of close-quarter firefights with the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) under the control of President Bashar al-Assad in the southeastern desert of RAQQA province. In the wake of the battle, over a dozen SAA soldiers were shown dead while some even had their heads chopped off. 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 re-escalated this week as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan focused his attention on another purge of the Fethullah Gulen opposition movement supporters on the heals of celebrating the victory of the YES side in the referendum that was held on Sunday, April 16, 2017 whereby the majority of the TURKISH population voted in favour of TURKEY’s parliamentary system to be converted into a presidential system effectively consolidating power into one executive branch with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as its primary executor. Ironically, TURKEY ignored all criticisms from foreign powers and went straight ahead this week with further crackdown measures as TURKEY urged EUROPEAN countries to change their view of TURKEY saying that unless the EU sees TURKEY as an equal partner, a healthy relationship will not be possible. In my opinion, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is utilizing a political strategy of focusing on so-called enemies to mobilize supporters, as it seems that whenever there is a perceived threat, the TURKISH population rallies behind their President. Therefore, in my opinion, GERMANY and the rest of EUROPE should not react to everything that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says and does as he is always on the lookout for an enemy, and GERMANY is the best possible enemy at the moment because GERMANY is home to the largest population of TURKS outside TURKEY. In my opinion, the constant attacks on GERMANY are President Recep Tayyip Rogan’s way of strumming up support from the TURKISH population at large such that GERMANY should not debate questions such as whether or not TURKEY belongs to EUROPE or whether to stop membership talks with TURKEY as that is what President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to want. Therefore, GERMANY and the EU need to choose their battles with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as it seems unlikely that TURKEY will become a EU member anytime in the near future. In my opinion, TURKEY is probably not going to join the EU in the next 10 or 20 years but negotiations with TURKEY are more about the principle whereby TURKEY cannot just be ignored after expressing their interest. In my opinion, of the 33 EU membership requirements, only one has been fully completed dealing with science and research back in 2006 while 32 other requirements are still in process or are being blocked by other EU states. In my opinion, some critical requirements have not yet been tackled like democracy, the rule of law, human rights and freedom of opinion that have to be resolved although TURKEY currently stands far apart from the EU. In my opinion, if TURKEY really does want to join the EU, then TURKEY has to take a stand on these issues such that TURKEY needs to be in serious EU membership talks to do so. However, when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attacks another nation such as GERMANY by calling GERMANY’s citizens NAZIS while knowing very well that the GERMANS have a problem with their past, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is exploiting GERMANY in the sense that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to be able to claim that the EUROPEANS did not even want to talk to TURKEY about human rights so that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan can once again strum-up the mass support of the TURKISH population for the authoritarian style of TURKEY’s current regime. Moving on to IRAQ, the IRAQI offensives in MOSUL whereby IRAQI government forces put enough pressure on ISIS to finally force ISIS to relinquish control of MOSUL has shattered the ISIS dream for its self declared caliphate albeit the challenge now facing the IRAQI forces to make the victory over ISIS in MOSUL last. That is, after almost nine months of fierce fighting, the campaign to recapture MOSUL from ISIS has drawn to a bitter end but the struggle for IRAQ’s future is far from over as the fall of MOSUL exposes ethnic and sectarian fractures that have plagued IRAQ for over a decade. That is, the victory risks triggering new violence between ARABS and KURDS over disputed territories or between SUNNIS and SHIITES over claims to power fuelled by outside powers that have shaped IRAQ’s since the 2003 U.S. led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein’s SUNNI minority rule and brought the Iran backed SHIITE majority to power. In my opinion, it will be extremely difficult to eradicate ISIS completely from IRAQ as ISIS still controls three towns consisting of TAL AFAR, west of MOSUL; HAWIJA, south of KIRKUK; and AL QAIM, west of ANBAR whereby each fight will have its own set of complicated political, military and foreign policy issues. Therefore, in my opinion, the last three strongholds in IRAQ consisting of TAL AFAR, HAWIJA and AL QAIM will be the most brutal and savage wars yet fought in IRAQ as ISIS has laid the foundation for martyrdom. That is, ISIS has in essence sent the message to its remaining conclaves that their only choice is to fight until death at the hands of the ALLIANCE, as the only other option is to choose to be killed by ISIS itself. Therefore, in my opinion now that ISIS has entered the final realm of one of the most brutal civil wars in history, ISIS has in essence elevated its game to complete and utter Barbarian, Neanderthal, Self-Centered, Egotistical, Narcissistic, Masochistic, Sadistic, Idiosyncratic, Sociopathic and Psychopathic maniacs. In my opinion, taking out ISIS in TAL AFAR was less complicated that I had initially envisioned because SHIITE militias do not appear to have taken revenge on ethnic TURKS living in the town. That is, both SUNNI Muslim and SHIITE Muslim TURKS lived in TAL AFAR before ISIS took over while the SUNNI Muslim TURKS who remain are considered by many to have been supporters of ISIS but they were not directly attacked as part of the liberation of TAL AFAR. Therefore, the IRAQI military with 400,000 plus ground troops, predominantly transferred from MOSUL, managed to retake from ISIS the greater area referred to as TAL AFAR in a lightening fast military offensive. However, ISIS now seems like a terrorist organization gone completely irate with ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi now organising a number of sophisticated attacks against WESTERN targets to boost the morale of ISIS fighters after the series of devastating defeats ISIS suffered in places such as MOSUL, RAQQA and TAL AFAR. In my opinion, although ISIS has lost a lot of land in both IRAQ and SYRIA, this is not the end of ISIS as a terrorist organization. Furthermore, as was seen this week with nine IRAQI army personnel killed in fierce clashes with ISIS near TAL AFAR west of NINEVEH, ISIS still remains a threat to be reckoned with as they continue to lurk in the shadows like wolves stalking their prey just waiting for the opportune moment to strike ALLIANCE forces with the goal to kill, cripple or maim. Therefore, ALLIANCE forces can never let their guard down as ISIS is still in a hate induced coma state of mind such that ISIS will stoop to the lowest levels possible if need be just to see ALLIANCE forces bleed without any hesitation to commit atrocities and any reflection from turning themselves into a kamikaze. In regards to around 1,000 foreign women from Turkey, Tajikistan, Russia, Azerbaijan and China, along with their children, turning themselves over to IRAQI troops, I am not surprised to see them turning themselves in although I am quite surprised to see the number of foreign women attracted to ISIS militants. In my opinion, ISIS was able to lure these women to IRAQ with the promise of grandeur when it did first appear that ISIS would maintain significant IRAQI control as internationally the new laws of attraction seem to dictate love predicated on whether or not one will be able to drive a Mercedes, eat caviar and drink fine champagne. However, with every materialistically driven dream comes a rude awakening that when one makes a vow of for better or worse until money does us part, it is inevitable that with the downfall of ISIS, IRAQ find themselves with a single women plethora. Lastly, in my opinion, IRAQ will need political support to get the SUNNIS back into the government in IRAQ otherwise IRAQ will end up with a new set of extremists in IRAQ as if the SUNNIS are brought back into the IRAQI political system, that will be the end of ISIS while if the opposite happens, then IRAQ could see the emergence of a new terrorist groups having a similar agenda as ISIS. In my opinion, taking out ISIS in HAWIJA will be complicated because it is located in KIRKUK that is known as a disputed territory because IRAQI KURDS believe HAWIJA should be part of their nearby semi-autonomous region but IRAQI ARABS believe it is part of IRAQ. That is, if the SHIITE Muslim Arabs stay in HAWIJA after ISIS is expelled, this dilutes the KURDISH claims on the area. In addition, the SUNNI Muslim tribal leaders in this area are worried that if the IRAQI KURDISH military or the SHIITE Muslim militias take part in the battle against ISIS for HAWIJA, then the SUNNI Muslim tribes will be attacked as well as they are considered by many to be supporters of ISIS. In my opinion, taking out ISIS in AL QAIM will be complicated because AL QAIM is located on an international border, between IRAQ and SYRIA such that due to its strategic geographical location, AL QAIM is by far the most secure city held by ISIS. Thus, both SYRIA and IRAQ would have to coordinate a military campaign against ISIS in AL QAIM. However, 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 now be broken 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 have stalled after TURKEY and ASSAD’s two main allies, RUSSIA and IRAN, initially backed 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 the derailed peace talks, the derailment is obviously due 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 80 people authorized by President Bashar al-Assad. That being said, RUSSIA has now formally denied any involvement by the SYRIAN Armed Forces and RUSSIA in these chemical attacks and has gone so far as to accuse the SYRIAN rebels to be behind these chemical attacks on their own people. Therefore, the U.S. and RUSSIA agreed for the moment to disagree as the war raged on this week while officials from TURKEY that backs the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and IRAN and RUSSIA that backs the current regime under President Bashar al-Assad watched as the cease-fire agreement that establishes four de-escalation zones was violated once again. In my opinion, although the new cease-fire deal including the four de-escalation zones have been the subject of numerous violations from the outset as tensions seem to continue to erupt, I believe that RUSSIAN and U.S. round-the-clock discussions anticipating that eventually the de-escalation zones will be fully under control should be welcomed as a positive development in fully implementing the de-escalation zones. In my opinion, it is better for RUSSIA and the U.S. to try to work together to implement something in terms of de-escalation zones as opposed to sitting back and insuring that both parties achieve nothing. In regards to tensions de-escalating this week as the SYRIAN Army under the control of President Bashar al-Assad and allied LEBANESE militant group HEZBOLLAH fighters captured several ISIS positions on strategic hilltops along the SYRIAN-LEBANESE border, this strategic shift in focus by the SYRIAN Army on ISIS is key to overall peace in the region as the only issue that everybody in the region seem to agree upon is that ISIS needs to be contained to an underground organization without any significant control of land particularly along any major borders. Thus, to the extent the SYRIAN Army and HEZBOLLAH focus their efforts on ISIS as opposed to the Free Syrian Army (FSA), there is hope for peace in the region. In my opinion, allowing ISIS to retreat to DEIR AL-ZOR made sense as DEIR AL-ZOR province, which borders IRAQ to the east, is almost entirely under ISIS control such that it made sense to allow ISIS to concentrate itself in territories already under ISIS control to minimize ISIS reach around the remaining parts of the Middle East. Therefore, although I agree with the LEBANESE government decision this week whereby 300 ISIS fighters and their families were bussed over the border back into SYRIA, it is important to note that the IRAQI military and U.S. led coalition were furious as these 300 ISIS fighters have now become their problem once again. However, in my opinion, it is better to fight the ISIS devil in ISIS’s hell on earth of DEIR AL-ZOR than to allow the ISIS devil entrance into LEBANESE heaven to contaminate more territory like a plague turning more people mentally insane. Nonetheless, there continued to be outrage this week from several fronts that believe ISIS militants should have been killed on the battlefield rather than given safe transport to DEIR AL-ZOR. Ironically, this week the convoy of ISIS fighters that was stranded in the SYRIAN desert for two weeks has reached its final destination in eastern SYRIA after the U.S. led coalition allowed it free passage in spite of a pledge to prevent it from doing so. In my opinion, the ALLIANCE forces under the U.S. command pulled their drones at the request of RUSSIA, a key ally of SYRIAN President Bashar al-Assad, allowing SYRIAN regime and RUSSIAN forces to move through the area. However, the U.S. is not stupid as following the agreement, the ALLIANCE carried out airstrikes on the route to the DEIR EZZOR town of ALBUKAMAL to prevent the convoy’s passage by destroying bridges and leaving large craters that stranded ISIS in central SYRIA. In essence, the ALLIANCE drones were monitoring the convoy and striking any ISIS militants who moved too far from the vehicles although the ALLIANCE did not strike the convoy directly because it was carrying women and children. Therefore, the U.S. insured that the convoy did arrive in eastern SYRIA unharmed and unthreatened on a route held by the SYRIAN regime between the town of AL-SUKNA and DEIR EZZOR and were escorted by HEZBOLLAH who brokered the deal. In my opinion once again, it is far better to allow ISIS to congregate in areas currently under ISIS control than to allow ISIS to spread its tentacles across the entire Middle East. In my opinion, the realities of the ISIS organization are that ISIS will not disappear completely off the face of the map as they still have quite a bit of amassed wealth such that eventually some sort of ceasefire deal will need to be negotiated with ISIS to contain them to limited restricted areas as opposed to dispersing them across the globe and giving ISIS the opportunity to launch covert terrorist strikes globally. In regards to U.S. backed fighters surrounding the Syrian city of RAQQA as they try to oust the ISIS militants from their de facto capital in SYRIA, capturing RAQQA would be a major achievement in the battle against ISIS and help bring an end to ISIS’s reign of terror trying to create a so-called Caliphate. In my opinion, ISIS has used RAQQA for over three years to stage deadly attacks on the Middle East and further overseas such that capturing RAQQA from ISIS would significantly reduce ISIS’s terrorist capabilities in the future. I believe that the coordinated efforts are paying off as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have made yet another huge advance across the southern countryside of RAQQA liberating approximately half of the RAQQA enclave. In my opinion, the current strategy whereby U.S. airpower drops a barrage of bombs to suppress ISIS movements behind and towards the front-lines within the city, while KURDISH forces on the ground let loose with a barrage of small arms fire to break up ISIS fighters at sight will be less effective moving forward as ISIS has now adopted guerrilla warfare tactics including the intentional usage of innocent civilians as human shields to avoid air strikes by ALLIANCE forces. In addition, the increasing ISIS usage of suicide car bombs, snipers, drones and tunnels to slow down SDF advances with the fight becoming a matter of life and death for both sides has inevitably reduced the pace of advancement by the SDF in RAQQA. Nonetheless, the SDF continues to push forward and to advance into the center of RAQQA city where they have been thwarting car bombs and suicide attacks to the point where the SDF and the SYRIAN Arab Army forces have now liberated around 42,000 square-kilometers in SYRIA previously held by ISIS that represents approximately seventy-seven percent of the territory previously under ISIS control. Furthermore, the coordinated efforts with the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) under the control of President Bashar al-Assad in the southeastern desert of RAQQA province has been a positive development as finally the SDF and the SAA have launched coordinated efforts on ISIS that have proven way too strong for ISIS to withstand as ISIS slowly finds itself in a more constrained and tighter environment like rats stuck in a shrinking maze of the mentally insane. In summary, I refer to “World Peace Lennon Ivan Style – Part 264” as the belief that IRAQ and SYRIA victories are critical to ISIS decimation but SYRIAN ceasefire between ASSAD and FSA also key while SYRIAN negotiations must result in peace albeit realities whereby nobody wants to admit that ISIS still remains a threat to be reckoned with as they continue to lurk in the shadows like wolves stalking their prey just waiting for the opportune moment to strike ALLIANCE forces with the goal to kill, cripple or maim without any hesitation to commit atrocities and any reflection from turning themselves into kamikazes.
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