By
Sajjad Shaukat
Russian-led Syrian forces retook the Aleppo on
December 13, this year by defeating the rebel groups and other militant
outfits.
Retaking Aleppo, which has been
split between rebel and government control since 2012, is biggest victory of
the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war. Aleppo is
strategically important and is industrial capital of Syria; therefore, analysts
were already opining that the city will decide the Syrian war led by Russia and
the US. America and Israel had thought that before Syrian forces-backed
by Russia occupy more territories and cities; especially Aleppo, rebel groups
and the Islamic State group (Also known as ISIS, ISIL) should be given a free
hand to continue fighting and to violate the ceasefire-agreements in relation
to Syrian war, particularly Aleppo.
Russian-led coalition of Iran, Iraq, the Syrian
army-the National Defense Forces (NDF) and Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which have
broken the backbone of the US-CIA-assisted ISIS terrorists, Al-Qaeda’s Al-Nusra
Front and the rebels who have been fighting to oust the Syrian President
Assad’s government and against the current Iraqi regime as part of America’s
double game to obtain Israeli interests.
In case of Iraq on June 26, 2016,
Russian-assisted Iraqi forces recaptured the city of Fallujah. They are likely
to retake Mosul.
Although by taking advantage of the
Russian-Syrian troops engaged in fighting in Aleppo, the ISIL re-occupied
Syrian ancient town of Palmyra on December 11, 2016 after it was retaken by
Syrian government and Russian forces nine months ago, yet the town will again
retaken by the government forces in the near future. Next day, Moscow, deplored
the lack of cooperation with the United States in Palmyra after ISIS re-entered
the ancient Syrian city.
In this regard, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov stated that the movement of IS fighters fleeing an Iraqi assault on
Mosul to Syria and the offensive on Palmyra might be part of an orchestrated
plan to ease pressure on rebel groups in the second city of Aleppo.
Meanwhile Russia and China on December 5, this
year vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a
ceasefire in the Syrian city of Aleppo to allow desperately needed aid into the
war-ravaged zone. In fact, US-led some western countries wanted a temporary
truce to rearm the rebel groups, under the cover of evacuation of the
non-combatant civilians by propagating humanitarian crisis in Syria. It was the sixth Russian veto since 2011 on a
Syria-themed resolution. China joined for the fifth time. Both Moscow and
Beijing have same stand in relation to Syria’s war, rebel groups and terrorist
outfits like ISIS.
The World Beast Com had also pointed out that
occupation of the Aleppo would decide the future course of Syria’s war.
However, victory of Aleppo has proved the
Russian ground and air supremacy over the US-led entities. Undoubtedly,
it is due to excellent leadership qualities and skillful diplomacy of the
Russian President Vladimir Putin that analysts have started saying that after
victory in Aleppo, very soon, Syria will be liberated from the hold of the
US-Israeli-led some western powers who have, covertly, been supporting the
rebel groups and the ISIS. Defeat of these entities in Aleppo has also exposed
helplessness of the US President Barack Obama and its western allies who were
fighting to oust the Syrian President Assad’s regime and the failure of
the CIA-prepared plan-B of Syria’s partition.
With the defeat in Syria’s civil war, the
US-backed pipeline project would also prove fruitless.
In this context, F. William Engdahl writes,
“Today the US-backed wars in Ukraine and in Syria are but two fronts in the
same strategic war to cripple Russia and China and to rupture any Eurasian
counter-pole to a US-controlled New World Order. In each, control of energy
pipelines, this time primarily of natural gas pipelines—from Russia to the EU
via Ukraine and from Iran and Syria to the EU via Syria—is the strategic goal.
The true aim of the US and Israel backed ISIS is to give the pretext for
bombing Assad’s vital grain silos and oil refineries to cripple the economy in
preparation for a “Ghaddafi-”style elimination of Russia and China and
Iran-ally Bashar al-Assad. In a narrow sense, as Washington neo-conservatives
see it, who controls Syria could control the Middle East. And from Syria,
gateway to Asia, he will hold the key to Russia House, as well as that of China
via the Silk Road. Religious wars have historically been the most savage of all
wars and this one is no exception, especially when trillions of dollars in oil
and gas revenues are at stake. Why is the secret Kerry-Abdullah deal on Syria
reached on September 11 stupid? Because the brilliant tacticians in Washington
and Riyadh and Doha and to an extent in Ankara are unable to look at the
interconnectedness of all the dis-order and destruction they foment, to look
beyond their visions of control of the oil and gas flows as the basis of their
illegitimate power. They are planting the seeds of their own destruction in the
end.”
It is of particular attention that according to
the retired NATO Secretary General Wesley Clark, a memo from the Office of the
US Secretary of Defense just a few weeks after 9/11 revealed plans to attack
and destroy the governments in 7 countries in five years, starting with Iraq
and moving on to Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Iran. In an
interview, Clark said that this strategy is fundamentally about control of the
region’s vast oil and gas resources.
During the last two decades, political analysts
have been opining that the US which is acting upon a secret strategy, wants to
make India the superpower of Asia in order to counterbalance China, while this
game was, openly, disclosed by the then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
who was on three-day trip to India in 2011.
In this respect, on July 20, 2011, the US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged India to be more assertive in Asia,
saying that the country should play more of a leadership role. She explained, “India
has the potential to positively shape the future of the Asia-Pacific.” Clinton
further stated, “India should play a role as a US ally in regional forums such
as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).” On the other hand,
while concealing American double game, She remarked, “New Delhi could also help
promote trade links in violence-wracked South Asia, which would bring
prosperity and peace to India, Pakistan and Afghanistan…Pakistan must do more
to tackle terror groups operating from its territory being used for attacks
that destabilize Afghanistan or India.”
During his trip to Australia, on November 17,
2011, President Barrack Obama, while sending an unmistakable message to Beijing
said, “The United States is a Pacific power, and we are here to stay.” The then
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta also made statements in this connection
during his Asia visit. He revealed during his visit to Singapore that the US
will shift a majority of its warships to the Asia-Pacific region by 2020 as
part of a new US military strategy in Asia. Panetta’s Asia visit came at a time
of renewed tension between China and Philippines, the latter being a major US
ally.
With regards to strengthening its position in
the Pacific, America has also cultivated security relations with New Zealand.
It is also working with several Gulf countries to solidify its entrenchment in
the region. American strategic thinkers take China’s military modernization as
a great threat to its military bases in the continent.
As a matter of fact, US backs Indian hegemony in
Asia to counterbalance China. During American President Obama’s visit to India,
on January 25, 2010, the US and India announced a breakthrough on a pact which
would allow American companies to supply New Delhi with civilian nuclear
technology. On November 2, 2010, US agreed to sell India the most expensive—the
new F-35 fighter jets including US F-16 and F-18 fighters, C-17 and C-130
aircraft, radar systems, Harpoon weapons etc. Besides acquisition of arms and
weapons from other western countries—especially Israel, America is a potential
military supplier to India.
During President Obama’s second visit to India,
on January 25, 2016, the US ensured India to permit American companies to
supply India with civilian nuclear technology, as agreed upon in 2008. US
President Obama also announced $4 billion of new initiatives aimed at boosting
trade and investment ties as well as jobs in India.
Nevertheless, setting aside the Indian
irresponsible record of non-proliferation, and safety of nuclear arms,
Washington also pressurized the International Atomic Agency (IAEA) to sign an
accord of specific safeguards with India. America had already contacted the
Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to grant a waiver to New Delhi for starting civil
nuclear trade on larger scale.
As part of the double game, based in
Afghanistan, operatives of American CIA, Indian RAW and Israeli Mossad which
have well-established their secret network there, and are well-penetrated in
the terrorist outfits like ISIS, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and their
affiliated Taliban groups are using their terrorists to destabilize Tibetan
regions of China, Iranian Sistan-Baluchistan and Pakistan’s Balochistan by
arranging the subversive activities. In this context, the China-Pakistan
Economic Corridor (CPEC) is their special target. Recent acts of terrorism in
Pakistan’s Balochistan are part of the same scheme.
In case of Balochistan, these militant outfits
and separatist groups like the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and their
affiliated groups, including Jundollah (God’s soldiers) and Lashkar-i-Janghvi
which have been creating unrest in the Balochistan get logistic support from
RAW and Mossad with the tactical assistance of America. In the recent years,
these terrorist outfits massacred many persons through suicide attacks, bomb
blasts, targeted killings and sectarian violence. These externally-supported
insurgent groups had kidnapped and killed many Chinese and Iranian nationals in
Pakistan, including Iranian diplomats. They have claimed responsibility for a
number of terror assaults, including those on Shias in Balochsitan and Iranian
Sistan-Baluchistan.
Notably, located on the southwestern coast of
Pakistan, Balochistan’s Gwadar deep seaport which is the main part of the CPEC
is close to the Strait of Hormuz from where more than 17 million barrels of oil
passes every day. Its location among South Asia, the oil-rich Middle East, and
oil and gas-resourced Central Asia has further increased its strategic significance.
Besides, Balochistan’s abundant mineral resources irritate the eyes of the US,
India and Israel which intend to weaken Pakistan for their collective aims.
In this respect, in his book, titled “The Pivot:
Future of American Statecraft in Asia,” published in June 7, 2016, America’s
former assistant secretary of state Kurt M. Campbell has confirmed a new major
shift in American foreign policy and its interests in Asia, while the US-led entities have already been playing out
American foreign policy drama far from the upheaval in the Middle East and
South Asia and the hovering drone attacks under the cover of the so-called the
war on terror.
After destabilizing the region of the Middle
East, the US is making giant strides in Asia-Pacific region in term of
political, economic and military engagement. The main aim of Pivot to
Asia-Pacific region is to counter a rising China, as the Campbell has analyzed.
The book holds significance for China, Russia
and Pakistan, because it is, in fact, premised on the idea to contain Chinese
hegemony in the region. The book offers a deep insight into US Asia Pivot
policy. But, by closely analyzing the US policy, the author has recommended for
America to implement Asia Pivot in the Pacific region.
Plan for the Pivot is composed of ten core
elements including: clarifying the Pivot and mobilizing the public by
Presidential speeches and statements as well as an annual strategy documents,
articulating a whole-of-government approach to Asia.
While, bolstering and integrating alliances to
the American Asia allies, including Japan, South Korea, Australia, the
Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore (a quasi ally)—setting the contours of
China’s rise by embedding China policy fully within a larger Asia policy
framework, building partnership with Taiwan and New Zealand as well as new
partners including India, Vietnam, Indonesia—Malaysia and the Pacific island
states, embracing economic statecraft through the expansion of free trade
agreements and economic interaction, including through the passage of the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), engaging regional institutions, diversifying
military forces, promoting democratic values, strengthening people to people
ties involving European partners, the heart of author’s argument is a 10-point
American strategy for Asia, in which he sets out in considerable details—his
recommendations for intensified political, economic and military engagement
with the various nations of the continent. But, he ignored the fact that the
real game changer in the region will be CPEC which will result in dependence
America and its allies on Pak-China Gwadar port for sea routes to Asia-Pacific
region.
Given his diplomatic experience, the author is
well-informed and deeply thoughtful. He is considered as pioneer of “Asia Pivot
Policy”. Campbell’s main emphasis has been on greater boots and greater
engagement in the Asia Pacific region without realizing the US role in Middle
East and Afghanistan.
In fact, US in the garb of controversial nuclear
deal is enticing New Delhi to assume anti-China role and would have footprints
in India to eavesdrop Chinese activities. China is apprehensive about the
emerging threat, as the intent of President Obama and Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi is quite clear, while mentioning about free sea lanes and air
passages in the South China Sea.
The warming up of Indo-US relations, especially
in the nuclear domain poses a direct threat to Chinese national interests, and
both China and Russia feel uneasy over Indian overtures towards US and Israel.
It is noteworthy that during the the sixth Heart
of Asia Conference which was held in the Indian city of Amritsar on December 3
and 4, this year, addressing the conference, Russian envoy Zamir Kabulov
rejected the Indian and Afghan allegations against Pakistan. He stated that
Afghanistan is the pivot of the conference and the agenda of the conference
should not be hijacked. He added that being friends and supporters, we should
avoid the blame game and work together. He also said that Pakistan’s Adviser to
the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Azizj Aziz’s speech at the
conference was friendly and constructive.
Downplaying Russia’s military exercise with
Pakistan held two months ago, Zamir Kabulov, who oversees Russia’s engagement
in Afghanistan also referred to India’s increasing cooperation with the US by
saying, “India has close cooperation with the US, does Moscow complain?”
Nonetheless, almost all the terrorists or
terrorist groups and insurgency in Pakistan, especially Balochistan have their
connections in Afghanistan. The porous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan
is frequently used by human and drug traffickers, criminals and terrorists.
Their easy access through unguarded porous border provides opportunity to
miscreants to cause havoc inside Pakistan and Afghanistan. For effective counter
terrorism measures, strong border-control management is vital at Pak-Afghan
border. But, Afghan rulers are using delaying tactics in this respect by
rejecting Islamabad’s positive proposals.
There is no doubt that escalation of tension at
Pak- Afghan border is deliberately engineered by the elements opposed to peace
talks and improvement of bilateral relations between Islamabad and Kabul.
Moreover, Afghan peace and reconciliation
process is a reality despite of its slow pace and continual interruptions. The
positive trajectory of constructive relations between Islamabad and Kabul
raised alarm-bells amongst the US-led adversaries who are attempting to affect
the progressive Pak-Afghan relations through smear and sinister scheming.
It is noteworthy that the armed forces of
Pakistan have broken the backbone of the foreign-backed terrorists by the
successful military operation Zarb-e-Azb, which has also been extended to other
parts of the country, including Balochistan. And Pakistan’s intelligence agency,
ISI has broken the network of these terrorist groups by capturing several
militants, while thwarting a number of terror attempts.
Since the government of the Balochistan province
announced general pardon and protection to the Baloch militants as part of
reconciliation process, many insurgents and their leaders have surrendered
their arms and decided to work for the development of Pakistan and the
province, peace has been restored in Balochistan.
But, recent blasts in
Balochistan show that the US-led India and Israel have again started acts of
sabotage in the province to weaken Pakistan and to sabotage the CPEC.
Reliable sources of Pakistan and media of the
country revealed in the end of November, this year that Islamabad has approved
Russia’s request to use Gwadar Port, which means Moscow could also join the
CPEC project.
In response to the Pak-China project of CPEC,
Washington broadly supported New Delhi and Kabul in signing a deal with Iran
for a transport corridor, opening up a new route to Afghanistan via the Iranian
port of Chabahar. In this context, during his visit to Tehran, on May 23, 2016,
the Indian Prime Minister Modi signed 12 agreements with Tehran, including a
deal to develop Iran’s Chabahar port. India will spend $500 million on the
project, with a plan to invest an additional $ 16 billion in the Chabahar free
trade zone. Chabahar—located about 1,800 kilometres south of Tehran—is more
than just a port with an adjoining free trade zone. But, CPEC is much bigger
and viable project than Chahbahar.
Meanwhile, the US pro-Israeli and pro-Indian
President-elect Donald Trump has stated that he would abandon the Iran nuclear
deal. Therefore, it is expected that Tehran which is very close friend of
Russia will also use the Gwadar Port or join the CPEC project.
Russians and Iranians know that Gwadar seaport
would connect the landlocked Central Asian states with rest of the world. Being
the commercial hub, the port is likely to increase volume of trade, bringing
multiple economic and financial benefits to Pakistan, Iran, Russia and China.
It will enable high-volume cargo vessels to move in the major oceans.
While, the new Cold War has started between the
US and Russia in wake of Syrian war which Moscow is winning, and America and
its allies are also likely to be defeated in the Asia-Pacific region where
Russia-China alliance with Pakistan would also castigate the US-led
Indo-Israeli secret strategy.
Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs
and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power:
Dangerous Shift in International Relations
Email: sajjad_logic@yahoo.com
Courtesy Veterans Today
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