"Before our eyes"
Behind the anti-terror alibi, the gas war in the Levant
Though
everyone adheres to Washington and its Gulf allies’ anti-terrorist
discourse, everyone understands that it is only a rhetorical
justification for a war that has other purposes. The United States say
they want to destroy the Islamic Emirate which they created and which
performs for them the ethnic cleansing necessary to its plan for the
remodeling of the "Broader Middle East". Stranger still, they say they
want to fight in Syria alongside the moderate opposition which is
composed of the same jihadists. Finally, they destroyed Rakka buildings
that had been evacuated two days earlier by the Islamic Emirate. For
Thierry Meyssan, behind these apparent contradictions the gas war
continues.
- Ignoring international law, the American president, Barack Obama, fine tunes his aerial bombing campaign in Syria with his allies in the Gulf (New York, September 23, 2014).
The US air campaign in Iraq and Syria is puzzling: it is impossible to destroy a terrorist group exclusively by air strikes. In Iraq, the United States and the GCC coupled their actions with those of Iraqi troops and Kurdish ground forces. In Syria, they have no serious force to fight against the Islamic Emirate. And even in this case, "the bombings are not able to affect the capacity of the Islamic Emirate or its operations in other parts of Iraq or Syria," according to General William Mayville, chief of operations at the US Chiefs of Staff. [1]
Moreover, and despite official declarations, the Islamic Emirate is a
creation of the United States and the GCC, and it unflaggingly serves
their interests:
• In May 2013, Senator John McCain came to Syria illegally to meet
the staff of the Free Syrian Army (moderate), including Abu Youssef,
also known as Abu Du’a, alias Ibrahim al-Baghdadi, the current caliph
Ibrahim (Head of the extremists) [2].
• In January 2014, Reuters revealed that President Obama had called a
secret session of Congress during which it voted to fund and arm the
"rebels" in Syria, including those of the Islamic Emirate until
September 2014 [3].
It was indeed a secret session and not just behind closed doors. The
entire American press complied with the censorship of this information.
• Proud of this acknowledgement, Saudi state television clamored the
fact that the Islamic Emirate was headed by Prince Abdul Rahman
al-Faisal. [4]
• Meanwhile the head of Israeli military intelligence, General Aviv
Kochavi, warned against a proliferation of anti-Syrian fighters and
found that members of al-Qaida, including those of the Islamic Emirate
(which it had not yet divorced) were trained in three camps in Turkey
[under NATO control] located in Şanlıurfa, Osmaniye and Karaman. [5]
• In May 2014, Saudi Arabia handed over new heavy weapons and
quantities of new Toyotas (purchased in Ukraine) to the Islamic Emirate
to invade Iraq. The transfer was carried out by a special train
chartered by the Turkish secret services.
• On May 27, Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish regional
government in Iraq, went to Amman to coordinate the invasion of Iraq
between Iraqi Kurds and the Islamic Emirate. An additional meeting was
held, also in Amman, with numerous Sunni partners on June 1. [“PKK revelations on ISIL attack and creation of "Kurdistan"”, Voltaire Network, 8 July 2014.]]
• In early June, the Islamic Emirate and the Local Government of
Kurdistan went on the attack. The Islamic Emirate, in accordance with
its mission, spread terror in order to accomplish the ethnic cleansing
that the US army had been unable to achieve in 2003. Thus is realized,
to use the expression of the US Chiefs of Staff adopted in 2001, the
remodeling the "Greater Middle East".
So there is no reason for the United States to destroy the Islamic
Emirate, if not the publicized - and suspect - death of three of their
nationals, which cannot justify the deluge of fire.
While it is clear that the main target of the air campaign is not the
one that is announced, no one is able to say precisely what it seeks to
destroy. The most that can be said is that the United States and its
GCC allies bombed empty buildings in Rakka - which had been evacuated
two days earlier by the Islamic Emirate, and a dozen refineries in
eastern Syria.
Bombing of a Syrian refinery by the US Air Force, September 24, 2014. Refineries are among the most expensive industrial investments.
So what do these refineries signify in a war allegedly waged against
terrorism? According to the Pentagon, they were controlled by the
Islamic Emirate and brought it much income.
The answer is obviously false. When states under embargo try to sell
gas or oil on the international market, they do not succeed. But the
Islamic Emirate does, despite resolutions 1373 (2001) and 2170 (2014) of
the Security Council. Publicly notorious, it steals oil in Iraq and
Syria, routing it by pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, from where
it is transported to Israel by tankers of the Palmali Shipping &
Agency JSC, the Turkish-Azeri company of billionaire Mubariz Gurbanoğlu.
At the port of Ashkelon, Israeli authorities provide false certificates
of origin from Eilat, then they are exported to the European Union,
which pretends to believe they’re Israeli.
Above all, the same firm serving also to export gas and oil stolen by
the local government of Iraqi Kurdistan, the United States and the GCC,
if they acted pursuant to resolutions 1373 (2001) and 2170 (2014)
should also attack Iraqi Kurdistan. Instead, they support it (not
against the Islamic Emirate, but against the central government in
Baghdad). [6]
The bombing of these facilities cannot be understood as other than a
desire to deprive Syria of its refining capacity when peace returns.
- Prince Khaled, son of the heir to the throne of Saud, Prince Salman, participates in the bombing of Syria at the controls of an F-15.
It is common knowledge that in this case, the United States relies on members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and particularly Saudi Arabia. In this regard, if it is clear that Saudi planes are not taking off from their country, information published by Iranian media according to which they are based in Israel, is still not ruled out, but probable.
We have often noted that one of the main aims of the war against
Syria is the control of its gigantic reserves of natural gas and that
of its territory by which could either pass a pipeline from Iran or its
rival, Saudi Arabia from Qatar.
However, since the resistance of Novorussia and support provided by
the Russian Federation, the European Union is trying to overcome its
dependence on Russian gas. Hence the Iranian government’s idea to offer
its gas on this market, as announced by Deputy Oil Minister Ali Majedi,
August 9. [7] For Iran it would be an alternative to the blocking by the Islamic Emirate of Iraq’s road to Syria.
This option, which defends Iran state interests, but abandons the
anti-imperialist struggle of President Ahmadinejad, could be approved by
Washington as part of a broader agreement during the 5 + 1
negociations. Iran would be willing to abandon its groundbreaking
research on a method for producing nuclear energy able to free the third
world from its dependence on oil energy, while "Westerners" would lift
their sanctions.
However, this changeover, if it is to occur, would significantly
alter regional equilibrium. It would be hard to sell to Russia, which
has just welcomed Iran into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. In
addition, it would involve an investment of $ 8.5 billion to build 1,800
miles of pipeline and connect production fields to the Nabucco system.
Iranian gas would transit through Azerbaijan and Turkey and Bulgaria,
Romania and Hungary, to be distributed in the European Union from
Austria. This was confirmed by Sheikh Hassan Rohani to President Hans
Fischer, on the sidelines of the General Assembly of the United
Nations. [8]
- Iranian President Sheikh Hassan Rohani came to explain to his Austrian counterpart, Hans Fisher, his proposal to deliver gas to the European Union (New York, September 24, 2014).
The revival of the Nabucco system would be a boon to Azerbaijan which could more easily export production from its Shah Deniz gas field. Thus, Baku would also move away from Moscow to be closer to Washington, which would explain the sudden purchase of arms from Israel.
From the Syrian perspective, a shift in Iranian energy policy is not
necessarily a bad thing: most of the enemies of Syria - except Israel -
would have no reason to continue the war. In addition, the removal of
Iran would strengthen the usefulness of Syria to Russia. If the
agreement were signed, Washington would further pursue instability in
the Sunni areas of Iraq, to maintain a physical separation between
Tehran and Damascus, and certainly would support Daesh in Deir ez-Zor,
but leave the rest of the Syria in peace.
Translation
Roger Lagassé
Roger Lagassé
Thierry Meyssan
French intellectual, founder and chairman of Voltaire Network and the Axis for Peace Conference. His columns specializing in international relations feature in daily newspapers and weekly magazines in Arabic, Spanish and Russian. His last two books published in English : 9/11 the Big Lie and Pentagate.
French intellectual, founder and chairman of Voltaire Network and the Axis for Peace Conference. His columns specializing in international relations feature in daily newspapers and weekly magazines in Arabic, Spanish and Russian. His last two books published in English : 9/11 the Big Lie and Pentagate.
[1] “U.S. Air Strikes Are Having a Limited Effect on ISIL”, Ben Watson, Defense One, 11 August 2014.
[2] “John McCain, Conductor of the "Arab Spring" and the Caliph ”, by Thierry Meyssan, Voltaire Network, 18 August 2014.
[3] “Congress secretly approves U.S. weapons flow to ’moderate’ Syrian rebels”, par Mark Hosenball, Reuters, 27 January 2014.
[4] “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant led by Prince Abdul Rahman”, Translation Alizée Ville, Voltaire Network, 4 February 2014.
[5] “Israeli general says al Qaeda’s Syria fighters set up in Turkey”, par Dan Williams, Reuters, 29 January 2014.
[6] “Jihadism and the Petroleum Industry”, by Thierry Meyssan, Translation Roger Lagassé, Al-Watan (Syria), Voltaire Network, 23 June 2014.
[7] « Iran ready to supply energy to Europe via Nabucco », Irna, 9 August 2014.
[8] « Iran Ready to Supply Energy to Europe », Shana, 24 September 2014.
[2] “John McCain, Conductor of the "Arab Spring" and the Caliph ”, by Thierry Meyssan, Voltaire Network, 18 August 2014.
[3] “Congress secretly approves U.S. weapons flow to ’moderate’ Syrian rebels”, par Mark Hosenball, Reuters, 27 January 2014.
[4] “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant led by Prince Abdul Rahman”, Translation Alizée Ville, Voltaire Network, 4 February 2014.
[5] “Israeli general says al Qaeda’s Syria fighters set up in Turkey”, par Dan Williams, Reuters, 29 January 2014.
[6] “Jihadism and the Petroleum Industry”, by Thierry Meyssan, Translation Roger Lagassé, Al-Watan (Syria), Voltaire Network, 23 June 2014.
[7] « Iran ready to supply energy to Europe via Nabucco », Irna, 9 August 2014.
[8] « Iran Ready to Supply Energy to Europe », Shana, 24 September 2014.
0 comments: