Society + Culture

Western pressure on Syria strengthens Russian influence in the Region

"In our system, each individual is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial,” said George W. Bush when asked about 5 count indictment of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, US Vice- President’s top aide.

On 31 October, Russia with Chinese support, thwarted attempts by Anglo-Saxons joined by France, former colonial master of Syria and Lebanon, to place Damascus under UN sanctions based on an inconclusive and suspect report on the murder of Rafiq Hariri, ex-Prime Minister of Lebanon. The Security Council resolution only demands that Syria cooperate with an international inquiry into Hariri killing.

The 15-0 unanimous vote came after last-minute negotiations in which the resolution's sponsors - the US, France and Britain – had to delete a threat of sanctions against Syria from their draft and replace it with a warning of possible "further action" if Damascus failed to comply. Russia and China had made it clear that economic sanctions would invite a veto.

US led Western leadership and corporate and government media hounds have already tried and pronounced the top Damascus leadership almost guilty, based on the testimony of a known embezzler , according to 22 October Hamburg ‘s news magazine “ Der Spiegel” , by UN appointed investigator  Detlev Mehlis whose impartiality and integrity are also suspect.

During his January visit to Moscow Syrian President Bashar Assad had signed an agreement to purchase  surface-to-air missiles despite protests from Israel and USA`. He said, "these are weapons for air defense, meant to prevent aircraft from intruding in our airspace.”To mark the historic Syrian visit, Russia announced that it would write off 73% of US$ 13.4 billion in debt owed by Syria from the days of the USSR. Russian President Vladimir Putin said this created "opportunities for long-term cooperation".

Assad invited Russia to the region because "Russia has an enormous role, and has a lot of respect from Third World countries ... which really hope that Russia will try to revive the positions it used to hold". He added that US foreign policy on Iraq was "disastrous". Ever since the United States invaded Iraq in March 2003, Syria has been threatened by both Israel and the US.
In end September the Syrian army’s chief-of-staff General Ali Habib during his four-day visit to Russia held discussions to further upgrade his country’s weapons and further strengthen defense cooperation between Moscow and Damascus. He discussed with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov ways for “maintenance and modernization of Syrian military equipment by Russian experts, the training of Syrian military officers in Russian military academies from 30 to 60 and future purchases of Russian weapons,” a Russian defense ministry statement said. General Ali Habib also visited a weapons factory specializing in high-precision anti-tank rockets in Tula region south of Moscow which produces small arms, “active armored” systems and Kornet-E anti-tank missiles.

Russia and China are equally determined to oppose any sanctions against Iran in its legitimate pursuit of  the nuclear fuel cycle for power generation as permitted under the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty .This was discussed at the SCO meeting in Moscow on 26 October , of Iran along with India and Pakistan are observers .Russia and China along with other SCO members have stopped USA in its tracks in its efforts to install puppet regimes in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan through its street organized “Franchised revolutions ‘ with open supports and funds from US institutions. In September, Russia and China organized the first ever wide ranging and complex military exercises along the Chinese coast to send home the message to the West.

Russian media reported that Bashar al-Assad telephoned President Putin on 25 October and expressed readiness for ‘’ the broadest cooperation" with the UN commission. Putin urged cooperation and said Moscow supported  "cautious actions on the part of the international community on this issue in order to avoid new sources of tension in the region," On the same day, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke with his Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing about the situation in Lebanon and Syria in the context of the UN investigation. RTR reported that both Russia and China indicated they would veto UN sanctions on Syria.

 USA’s double standards.

 The presumption of innocence which Bush cited for Libby does not apply to hundreds of detainees, some even American citizens in Guantanamo prison, described by the Amnesty International as present day Gulag, which even felt impelled to ask foreign governments to investigate and take action if necessary against US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other senior officials, citing the arrest warrants and possible trial of Chilean dictator Pinochet.

Cheney has replaced Libby with David Addington and John Hannah. Addington is the author of legal memos justifying torture of prisoners held by the US abroad, in direct contradiction of US treaty obligations under international law. Hannah spread disinformation produced by Ahmad Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress about Iraq's supposed weapons of mass destruction. It is clear that Karl Rove, Bush’s top aide told Matt Cooper of Time Magazine about Valerie Plame Wilson, whose CIA cover was blown; it is an offence

It is a moot point whether a beleaguered Bush administration, perhaps mortally injured by the indicting of Libby and further hearings, would try to divert attention abroad by more propaganda crusades against Syrian and Iranian Presidents and even some foolhardy adventure.  This administration has little credibility left at home and abroad and its actions are doing incalculable harm to the standing and prestige of upright US citizens and courageous whistle blowers like Ambassador Wilson, whose report triggered the actions, which have culminated in the first ever such an indictment in the history of the White House.

It appears that for all practical purposes George Bush is now a dead lame duck Presidents and perhaps deservedly so.  A former Neo-Con wrote to this author, that Bush Junior was chosen by the Neocons who have brought USA to such a sorry pass, because he was a blank slate to write on their megalomaniac plans.

The statement by the new inexperienced President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad of Iran was taken up by US leadership and the West to mount a media crusade to browbeat Iran as they have failed to cow it down otherwise. 

It is the Iranians who during a millennia of rule by foreigners like Arabs, Turks, Mongols and others , mostly Sunnis  , gave legal and religious sanction to lie under duress called takkiya, i.e.,  not bringing to the lips what is on the mind.  However, it is the West, which is now employing takkiya. U.S.-led Anglo Saxon illegal invasion of Iraq was called “ Operation Iraqi Freedom “, when it is clear to everyone that it was nothing but a blatant 21st-century attempt to take over Iraq's petroleum resources and control the petro-region from Baghdad.  In the process it cooked up causes belly like the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Iraq's relationship with Al Qaida, its program for nuclear weaponisation .For the last excuse to invade Iraq, Bush relied on cooked up intelligence reports that Iraq was trying to get Uranium or from Niger.  In addition, when former US Ambassador Wilson, who went to ascertain if it were true and felt that it was wrong and exposed the Bush Administration lies, he and his wife were harassed to intimidate other whistle blowers.

Nevertheless, do not underestimate this double takkiya by Ahmedinejad.  The centers of Sunni Islam in the region are Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, with Sunni majority Syria ruled by Shiia Alawaite minority.  Iraq has been almost destroyed and taken over by the Shiia Iraqis, remote controlled yet from Tehran.  Egypt, where its pro US ruler Hosni Mubarak in power since 1981 has been recently re-elected in a sham election for another term, promotes US policies and has little popularity among Muslims.  Saudi Arabia like other Sunni states is on tenterhooks in case of breakup of Iraq and has expressed its concerns publicly.  

In the Arab and Muslim world, support to the Palestinian cause has been the touchstone and the barometer of the Muslim Ummah’s cause.  For long, its main and defiant supporter was Saddam Hussein, who continued to send money to the families of martyrs in the occupied Palestine.  Not only in the eyes of the Arabs and Muslims, Israel, fully supported by USA and partially by West European countries, now remains the focus of Muslim Jihad in a millennium old warfare.  By threatening to wipe out Israel from the map, the Iranian President is trying to take over the leadership of the Arab and Muslim Street, which was earlier with Saddam Hussein. Some world leaders have condemned remarks by President Ahmedinejad, who has only repeated the words of the late Ayatollah Ruho-Allah Khomeini, leader of the Islamic revolution, by saying: "Israel must be wiped off the map."

It is a moot point if a beleaguered George Bush administration, perhaps mortally injured politically after a grand jury indication of Libby, to divert attention abroad ,would focus even more on Syrian and Iranian Presidents by exploiting its  media control , 90% owned by 5 conglomerates  .  This administration has little credibility left at home and abroad.  An original neo-con wrote to the author, that Bush was chosen by the new cons because he was a blank slate on which they wrote their megalomaniac plans.

In reaction to Western denunciations, Ahmedinejad defiantly marched in the streets of Tehran alongside tens of thousands of people supporting his call for the destruction of Israel .The rally was one of several anti-Israel demonstrations across the country that drew more than a million Iranians. He accused the West "They think they are the absolute rulers of the world," he added.