HARPER: GEN. PETRAEUS SPEAKS OUT ON SYRIA

General David Petraeus recently had the opportunity to present his views on the ongoing Syria war, and his remarks were nothing, if not controversial.  Here is a fair summary of his take on Syria:

Syria is ruled by a coalition of ill-repute, made up of Bashar Assad, the Iranian Quds Brigade, Hezbollah and Putin.  The involvement of Russia has turned the Syrian war into a battle of international consequence.  Syria is in the process of breaking up, and there is probably nothing anyone can do at this point to stop that from happening.  The vast majority of Sunni Arabs, as well as the Syrian Kurds, will never submit to Damascus rule, so long as Bashar Assad is in power. 

The United States, as the indispensable global power, still the sole world superpower in every respect, must take the lead in bringing the Syria war to an end.  That means that the United States must support the creation of a safe-zone for refugees to remain inside Syrian territory or in a neighboring state.  Turkey has nicely filled this role through its invasion, which will soon spread further south and encompass an area large enough for such a safe zone.  But that is not enough.  The United States must impose a no-fly zone over Syrian territory.  It is costly, but can be done.  The United States successfully established two no-fly zones over Iraq from the end of the first Gulf War through to the 2003 invasion.  The Kurds in the north and the marsh Arabs in the south were protected.  But that, too, is not enough.  The Syrian Air Force must be grounded, and that can be accomplished by American sea-launch and air-launch cruise missiles strikes.  At minimum, the Syrian Air Force runways can be cratered.

And the Syrian rebels must be armed with shoulder-held anti-tank and some anti-aircraft weapons.  Perhaps Arab Special Forces from neighboring countries can manage and supervise these weapons deliveries.

Yes, this is complicated by the presence of the Russian military forces in Syria, but not to worry.  Putin always stops, the moment he runs up against any immovable object.  The actions proposed show appropriate firmness.  They are not provocations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH3WSzPG_-c&feature=youtu.be

Comments

[Dr. George W. Oprisko]

I agree

[mike allen]

True, and he also has all those foreign workers to pay off that are refurbishing his new Trump Hotel in DC. Might even get away with using Trump Foundation money since he will claim "restoration of a historical landmark".

[charly]

Flipping a Nato state to become a Russia ally is a much better way for Russia to react and it is not like Eastern Europe loves Nato (except Poland)

[Babak Makkinejad]

I think I did not express myself well.

Russians can decide not to contest US & NATO & Gulfies in Syria - as General Petraeus states, but likely they would then retaliate elsewhere.

As I said before, they do not need to send tanks into the Baltics, they can destabilize those 3 states to the point of dysfunction.

The Cold War has started, the Barons in Europe bear much responsibility for it. What is not yet decided is if there would be a world in which 3 military-political alliances are slugging it out for supremacy; as George Orwell sketched out.

[Babak Makkinejad]

With a little bit of effort, the Russian Federation can make the area in her European Near-Abroad ungovernable - like she has done with Ukraine.

[Babak Makkinejad]

The world has already experienced dangerous miscalculations by the NATO states; in Iraq, in Syria and in Libya.

[BraveNewWorld]

I read some of this one and another piece based on the same material a few days ago. They both come off as hysterical, racist, opportunist, politically inspired hit peaces.

[F-35]

I personally believe that all this unhinged talk emanating from Washington is just empty bluster. Psy-op, if you will. Doesn't hurt to talk tough, and it's the cheapest way to prop USA's sagging reputation up a little. If Hillary wins, all of her efforts in establishing no-fly zone in Syria will probably boil down to tabling some "angry" UNSC resolutions, which will be promptly vetoed by the Russians - and that will be it. She'll be able to tell her Saudi handlers that she did all she could, and will refocus on the domestic issues (like recession, riots, 10 percent of GDP budget deficit, etc). In a couple years she'll barely be able to walk and talk anyways, and all the decisions will be taken by the Deep State operatives.

[F-35]

There is no corner large enough on this planet to place Russia in it. But I see your point, and Russians will definitely be counter-punching the enfeebled West where those punches are least expected.
Opposite of being cornered, I can see Russia actually regaining a lot of geopolitical space for all kinds of maneuvering.
Future events - such as Italy leaving Eurozone and maybe even EU, Gulf states unraveling due to low oil prices, Egypt breaking out of its borders into Sudan and Lybia, and many others - will make life for Moscow whole lot easier.
Benefits for Russia are already accruing pretty fast. Turkey and Egypt are leaning to it. Moldova. Bulgaria. Even Philippines. India is courting it again. Indonesia wants to get closer. Japan is wobbling. And so for.
That's why the West is getting so hysterical. It's losing its grasp, and will only get worse.

[The Beaver]

The fight for Raqqa is on since last night

http://www.ypgrojava.org/Democratic-Forces-of-Syria-launch-Operation-Wrath-of-Euphrates-to-liberate-Raqqa

SDF will be doing all the ground fighting

[Thirdeye]

It seems like a speculative argument that is vulnerable to charges of cherry-picking and guilt by association over how it makes its case over what Abedin is all about. The MB can't be thrilled about Abedin marrying a Jewish man and bearing a half-Jewish child. Maybe Jewish-by-the-father isn't Jewish enough for some Jews, but it is probably Jewish enough for the MB.

I prefer to stick with the simpler follow-the-money argument that establishes the Clinton connection to the Saudi financiers of Wahhabi terrorism through their Clinton Foundation bribes. That's compromising enough.

[VietnamVet]

Dr. Oprisko

My maternal grandparents immigrated from Sweden in 1914. My paternal grandmother’s ancestors came from Northern Germany in 1848 and my paternal grandfather’s family was here from England from before the Revolutionary War. This was normal for a kid in Seattle in the 1950s. The underlying agreement with Immigrants was if your family assimilated you would prosper and the ethnic conflicts of Europe would be washed away. This is the basic revolutionary force driving the 2016 election. The new American Elite have reneged on these basic promises. The toady Republican establishment candidates were rejected. Both parties rely on divisive ethnic identity politics to get votes. Globalist of all stripes are hell bent on once again starting a European War with Russia. Americans will not support World War III. The only way the Davos Men can seize Eurasia’s resources is through propaganda, lies and neo-Nazi/Jihadist proxy forces. If the West does not back down, this pretty much guarantees the destruction of the Northern Hemisphere. If history proves anything, it is that Russians will defend their homeland against western invasions.

[Mishkilji]

Until Dempsey took over Petraeus was the the smartest 4-star the Army could muster post-9/11, the problem was Petreaus is only half as smart as he thinks he is.

What does all this say about the military's ability to provide senior leadership that can inform civilian policymakers?

[Babak Makkinejad]

Someday all the extant religions, countries, languages, cultures on this planet would be extinct and their remnants could be on display in those museums of the future.

In that far off future, there would be glib men and women who would be expressing their heart-felt convictions that they would be avoiding all that had transpired to those before them -including us - that theirs would be a world of Perpetual Peace, with men informed by Reason, etc. - in which men are respected for the content of their character and their piety - in conformance to the "True Religion" of that far of day.

This is just about the only hope that one steeped in human history - i.e. the March of Folly - can have.

[LeaNder]

US policymakers ejected Iranians out of Bosnia - yet again adjudicating among the sects of an alien religion.

Babak, this was an interesting comment. Made me check the present state of matters on Bosnia on Wikipedia. Two categories not merged yet.

a) the Bosnian mujahideen
b) Bosnian fighters

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnian_mujahideen#Sunni_involvement
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_fighters_in_the_Bosnian_War#Sunni_involvement

******

This doesn't completely fit into my perception at the time. But I only got glimpses at the time. To the extend I caught it, assumption seemed that expats over here in Europe occasionally joined the fight. Saudis surfaced only as sponsors for Mosques after the war, to the extend I recall.

I am only familiar with friends involved in humanitarian aid.

This seems to be the source Wiki gives for Iranian weapon deliveries to Bosnia. Haven't compared sources on the "foreign" versus "mujahideen" fighters on Iran. Supposing the sources in the Sunni section are the same: Den Haag.

http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/iran-balkans-history-and-forecast

*****
What was on your mind? Some type of non-alignment movement relations? European pressure connected with sanctions? ...

[LeaNder]

Soon after he was "punished" for giving away classified documents he was posted to Kosovo.

I thought he retired at that point with honors from the military, how can he be have been posted to Kosovo after retirement?

And how are his activities for KKR related to the US military? Via the link you only suggest a link between KKR and the CIA.

[LeaNder]

(other than things made here but attributed to Germany).

Could you specify?

Seriously, I am interested in how this could be done under European law.

[turcopolier]

LeaNder

Once again, if you are "retired" from the US military you are still in the armed forces and can be recalled at any time until you die. Most people who have been in the US military are "former" rather than "retired." pl

[Patrick Bahzad]

Harper,

Thx for the link and concise summary... Petreaus sounds like he is begging for a job in the coming HRC administration. Not sure what he'll get, and if he gets naything of substance, how much that will reflect on US foreigne policy in the ME (Syria in particular), but i can see a few problems looming already on the horizon.
Having a few Russians killed by a shadowy group of indirectly supported proxies surely is not an option that would be seriously considered by any responsible US leader. Right ?

[OIFVet]

The dominoes are falling!!! The dominoes are falling!!! The first round of the presidential election in Bulgaria was held yesterday, and the winner is the former chief of the BG Air Force, Gen. Rumen Radev. The polling shows that he should handily defeat his ruling party opponent in the run-off election next Sunday. Why is that important? First, Gen. Radev has completed US Air Force advanced courses, with outstanding fitness reports. Despite that, he campaigned on lifting the sanctions against Russia and ending the antagonistic policies and rhetoric instituted by the current President and the ruling party. Second, the Prime Minister has vowed to resign with his entire cabinet if Gen. Radev wins the election, which will remove the US-approved cabinet and particularly the handpicked foreign and defense ministers. Third, the voting result amount to a resounding rejection of the establishment and the status quo. Gen. Radev, while having been endorsed by the Socialists, is an independent candidate. Another independent candidate won 11% of the vote, and the combined nationalists/patriots parties gathered 15%. All told, about 60% of the votes were cast against the establishment, with the candidates of the ruling coalition gathering only 29% of the vote.

The results sent such a jolt through the establishment that fear-mongering reached new heights today. If the ruling coalition is to be believed, a victory by Gen. Radev will result in BG exit from NATO, Russian divisions entering Bulgaria, and an apocalypse of untold proportions. I imagine there are contingency plans for a Color Revolution in some drawer somewhere, and that America for Bulgaria Foundation is busy drafting future grants with which to fuel the revolutionary fervor of the future occupants of the Megdan in front of the Presidency and Parliament (Bulgarian for Maidan).

[Smoke]

H/t G.B. Shaw? Thanks for the chuckle. A pleasant break from the too serious task of trying to fill in ballot and decipher the implications of numerous amendments and propositions.
Unfortunately, polls indicate that the amendment taking away a little more democracy is going to pass. Thanks to millions spent on misleading promotion and advertising by the corporations, which placed it on the ballot to start.

[Valissa]

Thanks for the update on Bulgarian politics, much appreciated!

[charly]

"Gen. Radev will result in BG exit from NATO, Russian divisions entering Bulgaria, "

It is Bulgaria so is that seen as a bad thing?

[Babak Makkinejad]

"The underlying agreement with Immigrants was if your family assimilated you would prosper and the ethnic conflicts of Europe would be washed away."

I think this is an eminently sensible and workable approach; anything else would only sow discord and malfeasance and hit one group against the other.