Month: September 2021

The Unreality Of U.S. Policy In Syria

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Newsweek:

When Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, she remarked that it was only a matter of time before the dictator would have to pack up his personal belongings and leave the country.

Reality, however, has a funny way of inserting itself into the picture. Unknown to U.S. policymakers at the time was the length to which Assad’s external supporters, Russia and Iran, would go to ensure its client in Damascus survived. Heavy Russian bombing, in addition to Iranian ground troops and the deployment of Tehran-sponsored Shiite militia units, have penned in what is left of the anti-Assad opposition to a patch of territory in the northwest. Assad, who many believed would be killed or driven into exile, has won the vicious civil war in his country.

We lost Operation Syrian Freedom a long time ago.

See also:
–Egypt Steps Up Efforts To ‘Restore Syria’s Position In The Arab World’
–U.S. Says It Won’t Normalize Or Upgrade Diplomatic Ties With Syria’s Assad

Defiant Of US, Erdogan Mulls Wider Defence Cooperation With Russia

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The Arab Weekly:

His comments will raise eyebrows in the West and especially in the United States, after Washington slapped sanctions on Turkey last year over its multi-billion-dollar purchase of the Russian-made S-400 air defence system.

The US also expelled Turkey from the F-35 programme under which Western allies produce the next-generation fighter jet’s parts and secure its early purchasing rights.

Ankara was expecting as many as 100 of the stealth fighter jets and multiple Turkish suppliers were involved in the construction.

Erdogan reaffirmed Turkey’s commitment to the S-400, vowing Ankara “would not take a step back” from the purchase, but called on the US to either give the planes Turkey ordered or return its $1.4 billion payment.

Relations between Turkey and the US are strained and Erdogan admitted last week that his personal ties with US President Joe Biden had “not gotten off to a good start”.

See also:
–US-Turkey Tensions Will Only Worsen If The Status-Quo Remains
–Turkey Interested In Russian Fighter Jets And Submarines, Despite NATO Ties
–Greece Signs Mutual Defense Treaty With France As Tensions Rise With Neighboring Turkey
–Why India’s Arms Deals With Russia Are About To Become A Headache For Biden
–A $30 Million US Army Command Hub In Defense Bill As Military Steps Up Presence In Poland

Durham Issues Fresh Round Of Subpoenas In His Continuing Probe Of FBI Investigation Into Trump, Russia

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CNN:

In seeking additional documents from Sussmann’s former law firm, Perkins Coie, investigators from the special counsel’s office appear to be sharpening their focus on the Democratic political machinery during the 2016 campaign and efforts to tie Trump to Russia.

Perkins Coie’s clients in 2016 included the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. The law firm also hired on the campaign’s behalf a research company that commissioned the dossier from ex-British spy Christopher Steele that alleged that Trump was compromised by Russia.

U.S. Military Concedes It’s Unready To Fight Terrorism From ‘Over The Horizon’

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Foreign Policy:

What is just as troublesome, experts say, is that U.S. Central Command—which will be saddled with the main counterterrorism task in Afghanistan—has had a mixed record at best over the last 20 years. Even when it had thousands of troops on the ground in Afghanistan, Centcom did a poor job of differentiating terrorists from innocents, according to civilian organizations that closely tracked those efforts, and often it did not even bother to investigate civilian deaths. 

The forthcoming challenge in Afghanistan “is unlike anything we’ve seen in any other theater,” said Seth Jones, a counterterrorism expert and former U.S. defense official, who calls the Biden administration’s assertions about currently having over-the-horizon capability “fictitious.” 

See also: US Plans To Keep Al-Qaeda In Check In Afghanistan With Air Strikes

Taliban, Tajikistan Embroiled In Battle Of Words, Saber-Rattling

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Eurasianet:

Over a handful of days, representatives of the new regime in Afghanistan have made public statements condemning the Tajik government over what it has described as meddling in internal Afghan affairs.

The verbal barbs are in part a response to repeated demands from Dushanbe that a future Afghan government include more ethnic Tajiks in its ranks.

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon doubled down on his criticism of the Taliban in an address to the UN General Assembly on September 23, warning that “various terrorist groups are actively using the unstable military-political situation in Afghanistan in order to strengthen their positions.”

As long as Tajikistan hosts the Afghan Republic’s government-in-exile, the Taliban will have a legitimate complaint about the government of Tajikistan meddling in Afghanistan.

The Pashtuns and the Tajiks are the first and second largest ethnicities in Afghanistan. The Afghan government holed up in Tajikistan is led by Acting President Amrullah Saleh, and military leader Ahmad Massoud. Both Saleh and Massoud are ethnic Tajiks. Their stated goal is to take Afghanistan back from the Taliban. The Taliban is essentially the Pashtun national guard. The Taliban will commit atrocities against the Tajiks, just to make a point. The government of Tajikistan understands who the Taliban are.

Neither side has a lot of room to give.

See also:
–Russia Urges Calm Between Ally Tajikistan, Afghanistan
–‘Useless’: Taliban Say Amrullah Saleh’s ‘Govt In Exile’ Won’t Be Able To Deceive World

Arkansas Bill Creates Antibody Exemption For Vaccine Mandate

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KATV:

Arkansas lawmakers on Wednesday advanced legislation that would allow workers to opt out of their employer’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement if they’re tested weekly or can prove they have natural antibodies.

The House and Senate Public Health committees endorsed identical versions of the bill, which also would require the state to pay unemployment benefits to workers who are fired for not getting vaccinated. The bills are among several limiting or prohibiting private vaccine mandates working their way through the majority-Republican Legislature.

Jordan Fully Reopens Border Crossing With Syria, Seeks Trade Boost

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Reuters:

Syria, which blames Western sanctions for its economic problems, hopes wider business links with its southern neighbour will help it recover from a decade of war.

“The aim of these understandings is to boost trade exchange between the two countries to achieve the interests of every party,” Jordanian trade and industry minister Maha Al Ali told state-owned Al Mamlaka television.

Officials in Jordan, a U.S. ally, and Lebanon have urged Washington to ease sanctions on Syria.

We might as well admit that Operation Syrian Freedom is a strategic failure, too.

Oklahoma Doctors Say We Are Beyond The Delta Surge

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Fox 25:

The OU Chief COVID Officer, Dr. Dale Bratzler, said the coronavirus case trend line is moving in the right direction.

Delta isn’t posing as severe of a threat, and so far other variants aren’t either.

“The new cases of the mu variant have dropped off dramatically also,” Dr. Bratzler said. “So the good news is that while there are variants out there, none of them have taken off to cause severe disease in large groups of people.”

Pentagon Leaders Contradict Biden Over Troops In Afghanistan

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Foreign Policy:

Both Milley and McKenzie acknowledged that the agreement struck between the Trump administration and the Taliban in February 2020 had severely diminished the morale of the Afghan National Army, leading to wholesale defections during this year’s onslaught by the Taliban. McKenzie acknowledged that he had recommended maintaining 2,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, worried that a wholesale withdrawal would hasten the collapse of the Afghan military, remarks which were echoed by Milley. Austin later confirmed that their recommendations were received by President Joe Biden.

But Austin also said later that any residual U.S. troop presence after the Aug. 31 deadline could have led to renewed clashes with the Taliban. “Had we stayed past that date that was agreed early on, the Taliban would begin to attack our forces,” he said.

SDF Leader: Washington Will Not Abandon Us

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The Rahnuma Daily:

The leader of the Syrian Democratic Forces has said Washington has reassured him that it will not abandon them, following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan last month.

The Biden administration sent both Gen. Frank McKenzie, a senior military officer in charge of US Central Command, and Joey Hood, assistant secretary of state who heads up Middle East affairs at the State Department, to give reassurances to Mazloum Abdi that similar scenes will not be repeated in Syria.

He said locals under his protection have been shaken by what happened in Afghanistan. “Let’s be honest, after the American withdrawal from Afghanistan people were afraid. They were afraid they might face the same situation,” he told The Times.

Our departure from Syria is inevitable. Our cessation of support for the SDF is inevitable. Whether they are crushed by Russia-Syria-Turkey or phased out of existence in some sort of orderly manner, Washington will inevitably abandon them.

Afghanistan Probably Never Stood A Chance, Reports Show

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Military Times:

On July 29, the Pentagon’s independent inspector general for Afghanistan told a group of reporters that with 20 years in and trillions dollars spent, Afghan security forces were not confident enough to do basic route clearance or checkpoint management.

Two weeks later, the Taliban had taken nearly all of Afghanistan and was preparing to launch its campaign into Kabul, the capital. Video would show Afghan forces laying down their weapons as the insurgents rolled into city after city, shocking many, but certainly not everyone.

“Probably.”

‘Woke’ Issues Distracted Leaders From Afghanistan, Former Military Officials Say

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Fox News:

One former senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that under President Biden, top officials held meetings on “culture war” issues every week, and sometimes more. The roster of those attending included Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and the secretaries of all the military departments, that official said. 

“They never met once on readiness. But they met every week on transgender issues, extremism, racism, sexual assault, sexual harassment, et cetera,” a former official said, adding that that the focus likely distracted from Afghanistan planning.

“There’s only 168 hours in a week. They were spending all their time on these things, particularly early on. Yes, they were distracted,” an official said.

The U.S. military was slow to adjust its withdrawal plans even as the Taliban began taking the country piece by piece throughout the summer, culminating in the fall of Kabul and the seizure of billions of dollars of U.S.-supplied military equipment.

“The political leadership are unfocused on mission. They’re focused on just waging a culture war against our service members,” an official said.

Tulsa COVID Hospitalization Rate Down 50% From August

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KTUL:

The numbers peaked in August when approximately 28% of all hospital patients were diagnosed with COVID. It’s now down to 14%.

“We’ve nearly cut that percentage in half in a month’s time, which is great news, and I think one of the great factors is causing this, is an increase and a resurgent focus on vaccination amongst Tulsans. As we mentioned in our last press briefing, over 71% of folks in Tulsa County, that’s not just the City of Tulsa, but the county have received at least one dose of the vaccine,” said Mayor GT Bynum.

Syria Says It Will Drive U.S. From Country If Troops Do Not Leave Voluntarily

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Newsweek:

Speaking to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad called the presence of Turkish and U.S. troops in northern Syria illegal and a flagrant violation of international law.

Hundreds of U.S. troops are stationed in eastern Syria and working with Kurdish-led fighters to combat the Islamic State militant group. Turkish forces are present in northern Syria, where Turkey has supported and funded Syrian opposition fighters against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.

See also: Top Military Aide Predicts U.S. Will Soon Flee Syria, Persian Gulf