Hussein Sammour
As the United States military entered the Syrian battlefield days earlier, the scene in the region witnessed a major transformation, and the political competition escalated amid talks of a new military strike. The developments taking place in Syria and in other international and regional fronts related to the Syrian battle as well signal additional tensions and escalation from both sides.
Until the moment, the western countries, on top of which is the US failed to effectively impose their agenda after the US aggression against Syria. Following the strike, Washington has also been vehemently sowing discord between Russia and its allies in the region, namely ‘Iran”, in a bid to largely establish control over Syria and pressure Moscow way more.
Washington knows very well that any attempt to pressure Iran in order to stop supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is impossible. Hence, it is trying to pressure Russia, which in turn, won’t be willing to lose all what it has been working on in Syria over years to serve it then to Washington on a golden plate. Yet, a shot won’t harm, the Americans think. The American tone is as frank and clear as the behavior of the last few days. This was revealed in the words of the Chief US Diplomat Rex Tillerson who, on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy, put Moscow in front of two options: either Washington or Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Iran and Hezbollah. He further considered that Moscow committed itself to an untrustworthy alliance with al-Assad. Furthermore, the atmosphere of Tillerson’s Moscow visit was not different, whether in its content or messages, especially regarding Washington’s calls for Moscow to break ties with the Syrian President and Iran.
Washington doesn’t seem alone in its attempts to push Moscow and lead it out. European stances, especially those of France and the Germany, go in parallel with the American stance, regarding calls for Moscow to support the political process for a peaceful settlement in Syria and cooperation with the international community.
However, all the attempts to press Moscow are eyed by Russia as a part of a plot through which the US is trying to make bigger gains in Syria. The White House threatens to conduct new military strikes, while it is being covertly and openly talked about an American desire to control areas on the Jordanian borders. The US has been working on the issue and started deploy huge military reinforcements to areas near the Mediterranean and Jordan as well.
The Russian vigilance, however, appeared decisive in President Vladimir Putin’s words, who compared the developments which took place recently to what happened in Iraq in 2003 when the American forces started their campaign on Baghdad. Putin also uncovered plots being prepared for in which chemical weapons will be used in Damascus to accuse the regime of it, and to be used then as a pretext for new attacks against Syria.
Washington is escalating, threatening and intimidating, while Moscow seems on alert, especially after Turkey stepped aside. Therefore, the fierce competition will go on, and may lead to diplomatic breakup between the US and Russia had Washington continued its attack.
Tillerson’s visit to Moscow failed and his “poisoned” papers he is trying to distribute in a bid to make big gains in Syria dropped out.
The situation is very critical and embarrassing, and the meetings are still continuing for the time being, and perhaps for longer. The foreign ministers of Syria and Iran are meeting in Russia to discuss the latest, focusing on what the Americans need in this stage, which makes the situation open to all options…
Translated by website team
Source: Al-Manar Website
