Security, WORLD

The recent NATO defense chiefs’ meeting shows that we have the same old song and dance with the alliance remaining in full saber-rattling mode, Alex Gorka writes.

The illegal presence of the US in Syria has become more complicated and fraught with many dangers. The need to fight the Islamic State became a flimsy pretext after the jihadist group’s defeat. Now the alleged threat coming from Iran is being used to justify US military operations in a faraway country.

If peace effort is to proceed, some kind of de-escalation zones will be agreed on at Syria-Iraq border. It is not possible without Iraq’s participation. No doubt, Iraq joining the Astana talks will be a very positive step forward.

Huge sums of money are being spent to force America to balance on the brink of conflict in faraway countries and risk its soldiers’ lives without any results to brag about. It makes one question the wisdom of a policy that calls for a military presence in so many places simultaneously.

If the Astana peace process succeeds, America’s European allies will heave a sigh of relief as the waves of refugees from Syria abate. The best thing the US could do under these circumstances would be to pull out of Syria, focus on diplomacy, and just give peace a chance.

Will revisionist and “peaceful” Croatia soon be reinforced by Israeli F-16s, proudly displaying, in what would make for historical irony par excellence, the trademark Croatian checkerboard, barely distinguishable from the notorious Croatian Nazi puppet coat of arms?

The consequences of the contradictory choices of the United States in Syria are beginning to become apparent. The obsessive efforts to advance geopolitical goals with war, chaos, betrayals and shaky alliances has brought us to the recent events in Northern Syria on the border with Turkey in the Kurdish enclave of Afrin.

David M. Satterfield’s statement hasn’t been reported in US newsmedia; so, it’s still news; and this means that it’s news to the American people, and to all others who, though this news wasn’t reported to them.

Now that Washington sees Russia as a competitor that can withstand pressure and pursue its own independent foreign policy, it is blamed for anything that goes wrong in the world. And so, once again the pot is calling the kettle black.

Washington and its allies may think their political agenda over chemical weapons is smart subterfuge to smear Russia. It’s not. It’s just downright stupid, transparent and toxically self-incriminating of Washington.