MIDEAST MIRROR 26.10.18, SECTION B (THE ARAB WORLD)
1-The kingdom of silence and gold
2-'Sovereign matters'
1- The kingdom of silence and gold
Saudi Arabia used to have many international and regional friends. The Khashoggi incident has driven it far down the ladder as far as most democratic countries are concerned, and is also subjecting it to many questions even in the countries of tyranny and enslavement, such as the Arab countries. The U.S. for example, used to believe that Saudi Arabia is fighting terrorism. But it has now been proven that there is no terrorism worse than that which Saudi Arabia is engaged in against its own citizens. Even ISIS's terrorism did not descend to the level of what happened in the Saudi consulate. Saudi Arabia has damaged its image and reputation by engaging in many rash adventures such as its war on Yemen and its blockade of Qatar. But it has now caused itself grave additional harm by murdering Khashoggi--Abdelsattar Qassem on www.arabi21.com
We do not exclude the possibility that the suspects in Khashoggi case will be tried on charges of failing in their duties, covering up the crime, and hiding the evidence, after which death sentences would be issued against them that would be carried out immediately. More than one party, led by President Trump himself, is seeking to 'wrap up' this case. But we believe that these attempts will fail because this has become a case of interest to American public opinion in which the American media are involved, making sure to keep it in the limelight, not out of love for justice but out of hatred for Saudi Arabia and its close relations with President Trump, especially those between his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Prince Mohammad bin Salman--'Abdelbari 'Atwan on pan-Arab www.raialyoum.com
Has there been a crime in history more foolish than this? Or did the planners of the crime reassure the perpetrators that no one would dare to expose them? After all, those who drop a hint that they may expose the perpetrators would have their mouth filled with gold; otherwise, steps will be taken to ensure that they would share Jamal Khashoggi's fate. It seems that Saudi Arabia's 'high and mighty' were sure that they had sufficient gold to seal the mouths of all curious people or those enamored of thrillers and who like to wallow in the blood of victims of political assassination. But it is rare for such assassinations to be so public and to demonstrate such lack of concern for other countries, large or small, relying on the Kingdom of Silence and Gold's gilded immunity-- Talal Salman on Lebanese www.assafirarabi.com
The Khashoggi case will have major repercussions for the region, argues a Palestinian commentator in a Qatari-owned news portal. It will weaken the Saudi royal family and the Sunni axis that it leads, and strengthen the Iran-led 'resistance axis' in return; it will also allow Arab intellectuals to be more daring in their criticisms of their tyrannical regimes, and will undermine Israel's attempts to normalize relations with a number of Arab states. Despite successful American and other attempts to convince Turkish President Erdogan not to expose all the facts concerning the Khashoggi case, he is clearly under domestic pressure to do so, argues the editor-in-chief of an online pan-Arab daily. There is also growing pressure from the U.S. media and members of congress not to support any coverup of the Saudi crown-prince's role in Khashoggi's murder. This must be one of the most foolish political crimes in history, maintains a veteran Lebanese commentator. It could not have been carried out without direct orders from a rash and arrogant Saudi crown-prince who seems to believe that he can silence everyone with either his copious gold or his sword.
REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL REPERCUSSIONS: "Khashoggi's murder will not pass without regional and international repercussions that may serve the Arab peoples' interest but will come at the expense of their rulers," writes 'Abdelsattar Qassem on the Qatari-owned news portal www.arabi21.com.
These repercussions can best be summarized as follows:
- Khashoggi's death has weakened the Saudi royal family. It has placed it under the entire world's scrutiny. Anyone who previously viewed it as a family of respectable and convincing rulers is now reconsidering these assumptions.
Saudi Arabia used to have many international and regional friends. The Khashoggi incident has driven it far down the ladder as far as most democratic countries are concerned, and is also subjecting it to many questions even in the countries of tyranny and enslavement, such as the Arab countries. The U.S. for example, used to believe that Saudi Arabia is fighting terrorism. But it has now been proven that there is no terrorism worse than that which Saudi Arabia is engaged in against its own citizens. Even ISIS's terrorism did not descend to the level of what happened in the Saudi consulate. Saudi Arabia has damaged its image and reputation by engaging in many rash adventures such as its war on Yemen and its blockade of Qatar. But it has now caused itself grave additional harm by murdering Khashoggi.
Saudi Arabia has been severely weakened in moral terms, but it has also weakened many Arab regimes with it because the practices of the Arab tyrannical regimes are all one and the same. How many Arab intellectuals, journalists, and academics have met with a harsh fate in their countries? How many have been persecuted, imprisoned, tortured, murdered, or been forced to flee in search of safety and security?
But what happened may benefit Arab opinion makers, who may now be able to escalate their activities in the Western countries, and demand that the West should cease backing Arab tyranny and admonish Arab rulers. Arab opinion makers and writers were in need of such a serious shock that would awaken the international media and the world's conscience from its deep slumbers. The shock, however, came at Khashoggi's expense.
- If Saudi Arabia is weakened, its axis – which it portrays as a Sunni axis confronting Iran and its axis – will also be weakened. (It is very unfortunate that Saudi Arabia and its ilk have forced Arab commentators to use the terms 'Sunni' and 'Shiite', which we would never have otherwise used in other circumstances). It is worth noting that Iran and Hezbollah have stood silently on the sidelines, but have also been delighted by the Saudi downfall and by the attitude expressed by other countries towards this event. Saudi Arabia's credibility on the Arab arena has been increasingly weakened, and the support that it enjoys from the other Sunni parties will now also shrink.
What is happening is similar to what happened after its misdeed against Sa'd al-Hariri. Hariri's detention affected Saudi support among Lebanon's Sunnis, and its misdeed turned against it in the [May 2018] Lebanese elections. A state may acquire popular and media support, but it needs to remain loyal to those who support it. In many cases, Saudi Arabia has shown no respect for its supporters, such as its backing for ISIS and its sister organizations, its war on Yemen, and its blockade of Qatar.
Consequently, the [Iran-led] axis that refers to itself as 'the axis of resistance' is likely to benefit from Saudi Arabia's weakness. It will gain further if the Western countries were to impose sanctions or some blockade, or if economic sanctions were to be applied against it. The charge of 'Iranian terrorism' will lose credibility across the region, and Iran's claims regarding the region's security will become more persuasive. For the U.S. president cannot now talk of Iran's terrorism without speaking of Saudi Arabia's terrorism as well. He cannot tell the world that Saudi Arabia is fighting terrorism.
This is not to wager on the U.S. president's position or on the position of the colonialist countries. These parties have always been willing to disregard principles in pursuit of gains and interests. These are the same countries that have supported Arab tyranny, enabled Arab rulers to grab the masses by the throat, restrained the attempts to achieve Arab unity, and looted Arab riches. But these countries' media may now be more aware of what is happening on the Arab arena and could thereby contribute to lifting the burden of tyranny from the people's shoulders.
- Saudi Arabi's offense has left both itself and the U.S. president under siege. The U.S. president has always sought good relations with Saudi Arabia based on mutual interests – namely, protecting the Saudi regime, in return for payment to the U.S. But Trump is now in shock at what happened because his claims regarding U.S./Saudi friendship have been largely refuted. Saudi Arabia has become a liability rather than an asset for him, at least in the short run. Republican Party members are now directing harsh criticisms at Saudi Arabia, taking the president to task because of his soft stance on what happened in the consulate. Saudi Arabia has effectively undermined the position of its allies in the U.S., and the more it weakens them, the more it affects their ability to confront its alleged main enemy– namely, Iran.
- Khashoggi's murder will also weaken the Arab regimes' ability to confront their academics, intellectuals, and thinkers, who will now be more daring in talking about injustice and tyranny, thanks to the international interest in Khashoggi's case. In other words, Arab intellectuals will now feel somewhat safer because of the international and regional support they can expect if threatened. Moreover, the campaign that Saudi Arabia is currently being subjected to scares the Arab regimes that have made it their habit to 'disappear' intellectuals and journalists. The stick that has been used to whip the Arab thinkers' backs will now become lighter. In other words, the agencies of Arab repression will be weakened.
- The Zionist entity will also be harmed, especially if bin Salman disappears from the Saudi political scene. The Saudis are now trying to save the royal family and bin Salman in particular from the charges against them. However, it would appear that the world is now convinced that the sort of action that took place in the consulate could not have happened based on some initiative from outside the royal family.
If bin Salman disappears from the scene, all the Saudi measures to move closer to the Zionist entity will be severely damaged. And any deterioration in Saudi/Zionist relations will cause a deterioration in the Zionist entity's relations with a number of Arab countries.
"In other words, the process of normalization and coordination with a number of Arab countries that the Zionists have achieved, will also deteriorate," concludes Qassem.
End…
ROOM FOR MANEUVER: "When Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses parliament about journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder and recounts the information about it, and when he does not leave that mission to the public prosecutor who is tasked with pursuing the criminal investigations based on the proper procedures, this is because Erdogan wants to give priority to the crime's political character over its criminal character, thereby giving himself room for maneuver and gaining time in the hope of reaching a satisfactory 'deal'," writes Editor-in-Chief 'Abdelbari 'Atwan on the pan-Arab www.raialyoum.com.
A number of noteworthy facts emerged from President Erdogan's review, the most important of which is that he said nothing at all about Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. But he made sure to reaffirm his confidence in Saudi King Salman, and to hint that the crown prince is a lead suspect of being behind the crime and having issued the orders to carry it out, thereby distinguishing between him and his father. President Erdogan also revealed that the crime was premeditated and insisted on the need to bring the 18 perpetrators to trial before the Turkish courts.
There are three indications that confirm the claim that President Erdogan introduced a number of adjustments to his speech and removed any mention of a number of conclusive facts, especially regarding the victim's body and its location, as well as conclusive evidence found during the Turkish investigators' search of the Saudi consulate and the consul's home.
- First, CIA Director Gina Haspel's arrival in Ankara hours before President Erdogan delivered his speech. For the first time, [Turkish Foreign Minister] Mevlut Cavusoglu admitted that his country had presented sufficient information regarding the murder to its allies via the usual official channels. Ms. Haspel is thus not unlikely to have asked the Turkish authorities to 'avoid haste' and 'take their time' before exposing all the facts, especially in light of the notable improvement in Turkish/U.S. relations after pastor Brunson's release.
- Second, the phone call between President Erdogan and his American counterpart Donald Trump, one day before the former's speech.
- Third, the turnabout in the Saudi attitude towards Turkey from absolute hostility to outright courtship. Turkey has suddenly become a 'sisterly state,' and President Erdogan has become a respected Islamic leader. This all followed the phone conversation between the Saudi monarch and the Turkish leader before his speech.
Mr. Cavusoglu used his joint press conference with his Palestinian counterpart yesterday (Thursday) to say that a number of questions remain unanswered and require clarification, the most important of which concerns the party that issued the orders to carry out the murder, and the fact that no information has been provided regarding the corpse's location or the identity of the local collaborators who received the corpse rolled up in a carpet.
In turn, we may ask: If the Turkish authorities possess adequate evidence regarding the prior intention to assassinate Khashoggi, and if they presented this to the Saudi authorities that began investigating this matter – especially the claim that Saudi intelligence members arrived in Ankara ahead of time to prepare for the assassination – why were they not arrested in order to prevent it? After all, these were not diplomats but security officers – unless, of course, this fact only came to light after the crime was committed. All this requires proof and clarification.
Saudi Arabia will not hand over the suspects to Turkey. It will not allow them to be tried before the Turkish courts. It has absolutely refused to hand over those involved in the 1996 bombing of the U.S. forces' headquarters in al-Khobar who were alleged to be members of Saudi Hezbollah. And it has refused to hand them over despite ferocious American pressures. Consequently, we do not exclude the possibility that the suspects in Khashoggi case will be tried on charges of failing in their duties, covering up the crime, and hiding the evidence, after which death sentences would be issued against them that would be carried out immediately.
More than one party, led by President Trump himself, is seeking to 'wrap up' this case. But we believe that these attempts will fail because this has become a case of interest to American public opinion and in which the American media are involved, making sure to keep it in the limelight not out of love for justice, but out of hatred for Saudi Arabia and its close relations with President Trump, especially those between his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
In fact, we are beginning to read new facts regarding this relationship, with information regarding business deals. The Wall Street Journal published a report on Wednesday claiming that Trump sold apartments to the value of $40-$50 million to members of the Saudi ruling family, to say nothing of the [alleged] $460 billion [in arms and business deals] that he brought back with him after visiting Riyadh in May 2017.
Once again, we say that The Washington Post, which exposed the Watergate scandal that toppled U.S. president Richard Nixon, has called for the Magnitsky Act that requires sanctions to be imposed on foreign countries that violate human rights within 120 days. Moreover, the number of Senate and House representatives who support invoking this act is growing with each passing day.
President Erdogan, who is often described as the 'sheikh of political pragmatism,' will find himself forced to comply with the desire of a significant proportion of his supporters to expose the full facts, especially after the hardline MHP (Nationalist Movement Party) has ended its alliance with him, and the Turkish opposition is exploiting this crisis in order to ruin Erdogan's image as an ethical man who clings to Islamic principles and morals.
"But God knows best!" concludes 'Atwan.
End…
THEATRICAL ACHIEVEMENT: "Saudi Arabia presented its Crown-Prince Mohammad bin Salman's second historic achievement on the stage of the Turkish Republic's theater led by its 'Sultan' Erdogan: The dismemberment of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul," writes Talal Salman on the Lebanese website www.assafirarabi.com.
This followed the internationally-witnessed royal celebration in which (former) crown-prince Mohammad bin Nayef was arrested and isolated together with a number of bin Salman's cousin/emirs and senior businessmen [in late 2017]. That was meant to pave the way for bin Salman to be set up as Emperor of the Kingdom of White Silence and Black Gold, the same land that witnessed the birth and rise of the Arab Prophet Mohammad bin 'Abdullah who spread the message of the pure religion of Islam.
But, naturally, we should not forget to mention the incomplete achievement of the crown prince who views himself as Emperor of the Universe when he summoned Lebanon's PM Sa'd al-Hariri to a 'hunting trip,' only to imprison, insult, and isolate him from his bodyguards – until French President Emmanuel Macron intervened and insisted on seeing him so as to be reassured of his good health, after which Hariri was released and his family had to travel [from Riyadh] to Paris to meet with him.
For his part, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan complied with the 'requirements of friendship and Islamic brotherhood' for two weeks, in the hope that Riyadh would reveal what 'its men' had really done in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's body was dismembered by fifteen members of Saudi intelligence who had been sent to the consulate specially in order to carry out this 'sacred mission' just a few hours before.'
But when Riyadh clung to its narrative that its intelligence agencies were responsible for the crime in a failed attempt to absolve Crown-Prince Mohammad bin Salman, Erdogan took upon himself to recount what happened. He thereby gave the Saudi King a chance to try and absolve himself and confine responsibility for the crime to those ranking below him. But that is a difficult mission; in fact, it is impossible for the King to accept to sacrifice his son who 'sacrificed' all his uncles in order to ensure that he would be King of Kings who has neither partner nor equal.
But while some 'reward' for Erdogan may yet be possible despite its enormous cost, where will the Kingdom come up with what is needed to shut U.S. President Donald Trump up? For Trump has found in the Khashoggi case what is capable of taking him back to his glory days of reveling in the stock market. Achieving profits now is beyond doubt; but there is also nothing to prevent doubling or tripling these profits every day.
In this manner, the Kingdom has found itself caught up by Erdogan's 'growing powers.' For Erdogan – he who hails from the very heart of the Muslim Brotherhood – has found a golden opportunity to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for competing with him over the leadership of the entire Islamic world, a competitor that rules over the Holy Kaaba in Mecca (which it conquered by the power of the sword) and Medina, and the other holy sites that Muslims, including the Turks, go to seeking blessing and forgiveness for their sins.
The perpetrators who entered the consulate and took part in Khashoggi's murder and dismemberment, quickly removed his remains to the consul's home by car, and from there to nearby forests in Istanbul's suburbs, and then most likely to Riyadh – so as to ensure those who ordered the disappearance of this journalist who had recently found someone who was prepared to offer him the frontpages of the most dangerous American newspaper--The Washington Post.
Has there been a crime in history more foolish than this? Or did the planners of the crime reassure the perpetrators that no one would dare to expose them? After all, those who drop a hint that they may expose the perpetrators would have their mouth filled with gold; otherwise, steps will be taken to ensure that they would share Jamal Khashoggi's fate.
It seems that Saudi Arabia's 'high and mighty' were sure that they had sufficient gold to seal the mouths of all curious people or those enamored of thrillers and who like to wallow in the blood of victims of political assassination. But it is rare for such assassinations to be so public and to demonstrate such lack of concern for other countries, large or small, relying on the Kingdom of Silence and Gold's gilded immunity.
If we believe what the international media have been reporting quoting Saudi sources, it would seem that [senior Saudi intelligence officer] al-Qahtani is the same man who carried out Saudi Crown-Prince Mohammad bin Salman's orders and detained PM Sa'd al-Hariri in Riyadh for days. As mentioned above, that lasted for days and only ended after French President Emmanuel Macron, who was on an official visit to Abu-Dhabi at the time, intervened and went to Riyadh in person, where he insisted on meeting Sa'd al-Hariri to assure himself of his safety.
This crime – with its exceptional ugliness, its planning that shows no concern for other states' sovereignty and borders, and the manner in which it was carried out that disgusts ordinary human beings regardless of their political views – cannot be shelved or filed as 'unsolved.' This is not possible when eighteen men who hold senior positions in Saudi military intelligence, and who could not have carried out such an exceptional mission except at the direct orders of Saudi Crown-Prince Mohammad bin Salman who is now almost 'synonymous' with Saudi Arabia, have been detained on charges of carrying out a crime that is unprecedented in the public manner in which it was carried out.
This heinous crime will cost the Kingdom of Silence and Gold much of its 'credit' that was fundamentally made possible by the absence of the major Arab countries – Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Algeria – in addition to its legendary riches. This is the Kingdom that is known for carrying out death sentences against law-breakers (and opposition figures) by cutting off their heads in public so as to ensure that they would serve as an example for others.
After all, human progress cannot be imported together with planes. It is not achieved by implementing mythical plans drafted by foreign advisors on demand, in return for the gold of a prince who knows little about the world, has never recognized the people, and has never accepted any partner in decision-making, not even his father, the king. In fact, this father/king will be the first victim of his son, Crown-Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
The fact is that this heinous crime will add more victims to the bloody history of this family that came to power by the sword and foreign collusion – first with Britain, then with the U.S. once the oil fields began to overflow with oil after the historic meeting between King Abdelaziz and U.S. president Roosevelt in the Great Bitter Lake in the Suez Canal at the end of World War II.
In short, the Saudi crown prince has beheaded the Saudi 'Vision-30' plan with the sword of his rashness and the reliance on his riches that were sadly procured by the sword and foreign collusion.
"But the exposure of this heinous crime and those responsible for planning and carrying it out may bring some some consolation for the victims of Saudi (and Emirati) savagery in Yemen, which used to be Arabia Felix before Al Saud consolidated their power in its neighboring country – always by the sway of the sword and gold," concludes Salman.
Ends…
2- 'Sovereign matters'
Syrian Foreign Minister] al-Mu'allem need feel no awkwardness in leaving 'sovereign matters' to Moscow, Tehran, and Ankara, and to each of the three states' need to engage maneuvers in pursuit of their relations with the U.S. before the summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump's on November 11th. After all, the Astana track represented the regime's surrender to the Russian/Iranian/Turkish management of the Syrian conflict based on each of its members' need for their relations with the U.S. administration. And given the exacerbating conflict between Washington and Moscow over international and regional influence, and now that Washington is preparing to withdraw from the medium-range nuclear missiles treaty, reaching an accord on the constitutional committee as a prelude to a Syrian political solution and the Syrian transitional phase has dropped to the bottom of the list of issues of disagreement between the two superpowers--Walid Shuqair in pan-Arab al-Hayat
It was clear from the very start that the U.S.-led axis of aggression will try to foil [the Sochi] conference. And if it fails to do so – which it did – it would cast doubt on the conference's results and seek to obstruct any progress towards a solution based on the conference's conclusions. There is no doubt that the conference's conclusions constitute a point of reference today. For the U.S. will be unable to bypass them or deem them to be null and void, no matter what it does. After specifying its aims and launching its proceedings, the conference adopted timetables and action plans to address all the important issues based on a new and daring vision that contains sufficient defiance, courage, and determination to make it an extremely important step forward--Ali Nasrallah in Syrian ath-Thawra
Together with its Russian and Iranian allies, the Syrian regime seem to have succeeded in ensuring a two-thirds majority in the committee charged with drafting the new Syrian constitution, maintains a Lebanese commentator in Saudi daily. But the regime has effectively ceded Syrian sovereignty – which it claims to hold dear – to Russia and Iran. UN Syria Envoy de Mistura has been trying to undermine the committee charged with discussing the Syrian constitution by referring to it as a consultative committee, notes a commentator in a Syrian state-owned daily. This is part of a misguided U.S.-led attempt to foil a resolution of the Syrian crisis
MINISTERIAL COMEDY: "It was truly comic to hear Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mu'allem telling UN Syria Envoy Staffan de Mistura a couple of days ago that drafting the Syrian constitution 'is a purely sovereign matter that the Syrian people will decide by themselves without the foreign intervention that some parties and states are using to try and impose their will'," writes Walid Shuqair in Friday's Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily al-Hayat.
This statement may have passed without comment had it not coincided – or shortly followed– Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's meeting with Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Önal and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Jaberi-Ansari to discuss the composition of the committee charged with drafting the Syrian constitution.
After that meeting, Jaberi-Ansari said that 'the committee's formation and its agenda have achieved the required results after long talks and consultations between the three [Russia/Iran/Turkey] guarantor states.' In fact, he went further, and declared that the three Astana track guarantors 'are seeking a suitable formula for appointing representatives of Syrian civil society in the committee,' and noted that 'two-thirds of the issues regarding the committee charged with drafting the new Syrian constitution have been resolved.'
The previous disagreement over these issues centered on how to ensure that the regime could secure a two-thirds majority in the committee by appointing representatives to one of the committee's three constituents– the regime, the opposition, and civil society. While Moscow succeeded in including figures loyal to itself and the regime as part of the opposition's representatives, which secured a majority of votes in its favor in the committee, its attempt alongside Tehran to appoint civil society's representatives was naturally intended to ensure a two-thirds majority in drafting the constitution. This would allow it to block any attempt to limit the Syrian president's powers in favor of the government, or the security agencies' subjugation to any institution other than the presidency; alternatively, it would allow it to invent presidential powers that would allow to influence the work of those agencies.
It is not strange for Damascus to belittle the work of the UN envoy who is set to retire from a mission that has lasted more than it should have, despite the fact that ever since his appointment more than four years ago and together with his team, he went too far in taking the Syrian regime's interests into consideration in most of the steps he took during all phases of Russian/Iranian/Assad triad's gradual military advances under the banner of 'de-escalation zones.
Moscow, however, should have at least tried to save some of his face. After all, by exerting pressure on him and the UN, it contributed to dragging him towards its agenda of protecting the regime and ensuring its survival, and to the Astana track, as well as distancing him from the mechanism to implement UNSCR 2254, the crux of which is to stop the regime's savage military onslaught against the opposition and against the Syrians in general, and to launch the phase of transitional rule.
The two-thirds majority in the Syrian constitutional committee is specifically Russia and Iran's share. The remaining one-third barely allows the Turkish leg of the Astana triangle to ensure that genuine opposition representatives will be present. After all, Ankara's main concerns are now focused on the Syrian North and ensuring the success of its agreement with Washington to neutralize the Kurds' weapons in Manbij via joint patrols. It is also focused on benefiting from its improved relations with the Americans.
But Minister al-Mu'allem need feel no awkwardness in leaving 'sovereign matters' to Moscow, Tehran, and Ankara, and to each of the three states' need to engage maneuvers in pursuit of their relations with the U.S. before the summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump's on November 11th. After all, the Astana track represented the regime's surrender to the Russian/Iranian/Turkish management of the Syrian conflict based on each of its members' need for their relations with the U.S. administration. And given the exacerbating conflict between Washington and Moscow over international and regional influence, and now that Washington is preparing to withdraw from the medium-range nuclear missiles treaty, reaching an accord on the constitutional committee as a prelude to a Syrian political solution and the Syrian transitional phase has dropped to the bottom of the list of issues of disagreement between the two superpowers. At the same time, it is one of Putin and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's cards, each of which will use it to promote its interests in this conflict.
Given his skill and experience, Mu'allem must understand how sovereignty can be ceded to his two allies especially since, together with Iran, the regime is proceeding with the policy of gradual conquest and demographic change in Syria, and since Moscow is allowing Iranian forces to consolidate their expansion in Syria including in those areas it had agreed with the Americans and Israelis to keep the Iranians away from. And the clear aim is to regain control of the borders with Israel and lay siege to the U.S. forces deployed along the borders with Iraq up to Deir az-Zour and in the Kurdish-controlled areas, which are being harassed every now and then.
"While the superpowers are preoccupied with 'the new strategic scene', as John Bolton has described it after meeting with Putin, the [constitutional] committee may be of some importance after its formation has been smuggled through based on Moscow, Tehran, and Damascus's interests," concludes Shuqair.
End…
MOSCOW'S INVITATION: "Ever since Moscow decided to issue invitations to the Syrian national dialogue conference in Sochi, the Russian Foreign Ministry has contacted all parties concerned with a solution, as well as those that do not want any solution that does not achieve their evil objectives, which they will never achieve anyway," writes Ali Nasrallah in the state-run Syrian daily ath-Thawra.
It was clear from the very start that the U.S.-led axis of aggression will try to foil this conference. And if it fails to do so – which it did – it would cast doubt on the conference's results and seek to obstruct any progress towards a solution based on the conference's conclusions.
There is no doubt that the conference's conclusions constitute a point of reference today. For the U.S. will be unable to bypass them or deem them to be null and void, no matter what it does. After specifying its aims and launching its proceedings, the conference adopted timetables and action plans to address all the important issues based on a new and daring vision that contains sufficient defiance, courage, and determination to make it an extremely important step forward.
What has happened throughout all the time that has passed since Sochi? And why is the UN, via its special envoy, insisting on seeing nothing in the conference but Washington's delusions regarding the constitution, which it shares with a group of its tools? In fact, since Staffan de Mistura is still insisting on tampering with the name of the committee that the Sochi statement clearly designated as the committee charged with discussing the constitution and not drafting it, confidence in him and the UN has descended to zero – today, tomorrow, and forever, as long as he and those operating him do not abandon the illusion that has taken over their minds.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with de Mistura on Wednesday with a single purpose in mind. Or, to be more precise, the sole title that was circulated regarding this meeting in the press was to discuss the phase that the abovementioned committee had reached – the committee that de Mistura refers to, but not by its proper name. And this means that Washington is still deluded and is still wagering on what can no longer be put on the agenda or is up for discussion.
The attempt to falsify the committee's name and tamper with its formation and representation, not to mention the attempt to grant the UN envoy powers that are not part of his jurisdiction or expertise, are all undoubtedly part of the effort to foil the committee. This is a decision that Washington took from the very start and that de Mistura continues to submit to. In fact, his successor may submit to this as well.
If it is important for Washington to heed the voice of reason and have a little wisdom at least, then all it has to do is to examine the situation in order to reconsider its erroneous calculations. But if it insists on living in denial and refuses to respect the voice of reason after having a long abandoned all wisdom, it will have to bear the consequences of its denial, refusal, and foolishness.
"At the very least, it will have learned the lessons of the Astana track's results that will converge with the conclusions reached in Sochi at some specific point – the point at which the leaf will be turned on the aggression and it will come to an end once and for all," concludes Nasrallah.
Ends…