As the Trump administration makes its first positive signal towards calming relations with China, it continues its relentless drumbeat of hostility towards Iran.
This begs the question of why an administration which appears otherwise committed to pulling back from international conflicts so that it can focus its energies on defeating Jihadi terrorism and ISIS is so fixed in its hostility to Iran?
In this Jan. 11, 2002 file photo, released by the U.S. Department of Defense, detainees wearing orange jump suits sit in a holding area as military police patrol during in-processing at the temporary detention facility Camp X-Ray on Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy, Shane T.McCoy, File)
Despite warnings from national security officials and legal scholars.
As the fascist forces of the Kiev junta become increasingly desperate, they are resorting to assassination upon assassination of commanders from the Donetsk and Lugansk republics.
Days ago Lugansk Colonel Oleg Anashchenko had his car blown up and today it is Donetsk Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Tolstykh, affectionately known by his call sign Givi.
Donald Trump poses with one of his Saudi business partners, CEO of Hussain Sajwani, and his daughter Ivanka Trump. (DAMAC Group)
President Trump’s Muslim ban is not only mean-spirited and, hopefully, unconstitutional, but it is irrational because it doesn’t even include the country most responsible for spreading terrorism around the world: Saudi Arabia.
With many former Trump supporters sharpening their proverbial knives, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has given an interview with Belgian television where he expresses cautious optimism for the Trump administration.
21st Century Wire says…
The Syrian Army made important gains against ISIS fighters in the eastern countryside of Aleppo city last weekend with terrorist forces taking massive losses in fighting in Aran. Aran had been one of the last terrorist strongholds that was preventing the Syrian Army from reaching Al-Bab. The Syrian Army and National Defense Force also gained a nearby hill in ‘Awaysha and set up a fire control over the ISIS supply rout into Al-Bab.
Reports are circulating – some of which are traceable to Jihadi sources – that fast advancing Syrian army forces have completed the encirclement of 5,000 ISIS fighters who are trapped in the strategic north Syrian town of Al-Bab.
If true then this begs the major question of whether the Syrian troops who have been advancing on Al-Bab from the south are coordinating with the Turkish troops who together with Turkey’s Jihadi allies have been trying to take Al-Bab from the north.
The Russians have made it absolutely clear over the course of the day that they disagree with the Trump administration’s increasingly confrontational policy towards Iran.
In a succession of what were clearly coordinated statements top Russian officials have made it clear that they will not sacrifice their relations with Iran in return for better relations with the US.
