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A Middle-East Game Of Thrones
Submitted by Patrick J Buchanan,
As President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran is compared to Richard Nixon’s opening to China, Bibi Netanyahu must know how Chiang Kai-shek felt as he watched his old friend Nixon toasting Mao in Peking.
The Iran nuclear deal is not on the same geostrategic level. Yet both moves, seen as betrayals by old U.S. allies, were born of a cold assessment in Washington of a need to shift policy to reflect new threats and new opportunities.
Several events contributed to the U.S. move toward Tehran.
First was the stunning victory in June 2013 of President Hassan Rouhani, who rode to power on the votes of the Green Revolution that had sought unsuccessfully to oust Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009.
Rouhani then won the Ayatollah’s authorization to negotiate a cutting and curtailing of Iran’s nuclear program, in return for a U.S.-U.N. lifting of sanctions. As preventing an Iranian bomb had long been a U.S. objective, the Americans could not spurn such an offer.
Came then the Islamic State’s seizure of Raqqa in Syria, and Mosul and Anbar in Iraq. Viciously anti-Shiite as well as anti-American, ISIS made the U.S. and Iran de facto allies in preventing the fall of Baghdad.
But as U.S. and Iranian interests converged, those of the U.S. and its old allies — Saudi Arabia, Israel and Turkey — were diverging.
Turkey, as it sees Bashar Assad’s alliance with Iran as the greater threat, and fears anti-ISIS Kurds in Syria will carve out a second Kurdistan, has been abetting ISIS.
Saudi Arabia sees Shiite Iran as a geostrategic rival in the Gulf, allied with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Assad in Damascus, the Shiite regime in Iraq and the Houthis in Yemen. It also sees Iran as a subversive threat in Bahrain and the heavily Shiite oil fields of Saudi Arabia itself.
Indeed, Riyadh, with the Sunni challenge of ISIS rising, and the Shiite challenge of Iran growing, and its border states already on fire, does indeed face an existential threat. And, so, too, do the Gulf Arabs.
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown in the Middle East today.
The Israelis, too, see Iran as their great enemy and indispensable pillar of Hezbollah. For Bibi, any U.S.-Iran rapprochement is a diplomatic disaster.
Which brings us to a fundamental question of the Middle East.
Is the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal and our de facto alliance against ISIS a temporary collaboration? Or is it the beginning of a detente between these ideological enemies of 35 years?
Is an historic “reversal of alliances” in the Mideast at hand?
Clearly the United States and Iran have overlapping interests.
Neither wants all-out war with the other.
For the Americans, such a war would set the Gulf ablaze, halt the flow of oil, and cause a recession in the West. For Iran, war with the USA could see their country smashed and splintered like Saddam’s Iraq, and the loss of an historic opportunity to achieve hegemony in the Gulf.
Also, both Iran and the United States would like to see ISIS not only degraded and defeated, but annihilated. Both thus have a vested interest in preventing a collapse of either the Shiite regime in Baghdad or Assad’s regime in Syria.
And, thus, Syria is probably where the next collision is going to come between the United States and its old allies.
For Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Israel all want the Assad regime brought down to break up Iran’s Shiite Crescent and inflict a strategic defeat on Tehran. But the United States believes the fall of Assad means the rise of ISIS and al-Qaida, a massacre of Christians, and the coming to power of a Sunni terrorist state implacably hostile to us.
Look for the Saudis and Israelis, their agents and lobbies, their think tanks and op-ed writers, to begin beating the drums for the United States to bring down Assad, who has been “killing his own people.”
The case will be made that this is the way for America to rejoin its old allies, removing the principal obstacle to our getting together and going after ISIS. Once Assad is gone, the line is already being moved, then we can all go after ISIS. But, first, Assad.
What is wrong with this scenario?
A U.S. no-fly zone, for example, to stop Assad’s barrel bombs, would entail attacks on Syrian airfields and antiaircraft missiles and guns. These would be acts of war, which would put us into a de facto alliance with the al-Qaida Nusra Front and ISIS, and invite retaliations against Americans by Hezbollah in Beirut, and the Shiite militia in Baghdad.
Any U.S.-Iran rapprochement would be dead, and we will have been sucked into a war to achieve the strategic goals of allies that are in conflict with the national interests of the United States. And our interests come first.
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"deal is not on the same geostrategic level. Yet both moves, seen as betrayals by old U.S. allies"
Pat knows the score, however to fill in the TRUTH about our "old ally":
As Rush Limpballs calls Israel: "Our Greatest Ally"
Cost to American Taxpayer THREE TRILLION DOLLARS as of early 2003. Probably double that by now:
http://www.wrmea.org/wrmea-archives/251-washington-report-archives-2000-...
Our "Brave Little Ally" Israel:
The USS Liberty shows how POWERFUL the Jewish lobby is:
http://www.ussliberty.org/index2.html
Also vital is reading James Ennes' book "Assault on the Liberty"
He was officer on the bridge when the attack started.
Destabilizing this region benifits who?
Allowing and surreptitioulsy funding the most radical of the mix and creating a monster that will eventually force even the most peaceful to demand an all out war benifits who?
The Saudis will now "Reward" Washington with a new Agreement to sell oil to China with payment in CNY, putting another nail in the coffin of the Petrodollar? And Iran will join the new Eurasian Block and probably also take payment for its oil and gas in other than USD. So really a great ME strategy all in all, in the true spirit of "Divide and conquer".
Of course, the ME is less important now because Russia and China are the real enemy /s.
everyone over there is climbing over one another to be joffrey.
"...such a war would set the Gulf ablaze, halt the flow of oil, and cause a recession in the West."
It would be terrible if something were to cause a recession in the West.
But seriously, those op-ed writers are much more dangerous to us than ISIS will ever be.
I would have guessed that USSA was trying to get ahead of the SCO and Putin's pivots to Cuba et al.
The squeeky wheel just got greased. Do you really think Israel is worried about Iran getting a nuke? Nonesense.
"... because Russia and China are the real enemy"
Look in th mirror for the "real enemy"
We spend more than we produce and the Federal Reserve covers it up by counterfeiting dollars.
We enforce petrodollars to create demand for dollars.
The real enemy is US spending more than we produce.
I think you missed the /s?
IMHO neither Iran NOR Russia NOR China is the real enemy. Iran never attacked anyone and there is NO credible evidence that Iran ever had a Nuclear weapons program. Both China and Russia just want to trade and develop their economies and would be very happy to live in peace alongside the US. No, it is the US itself which is the pproblem, pushed along by the lunatic neocon extremists who believe that the US can only be safe when the rest of the world is a Vassal to its omnipotent self under the "Wolfowitz Doctrine". And remember also that many if not all of the US' economic problems would not exist if $10 TRILLION had not been wasted on pointless and illegal, wars.
Give Assad back his chemical weapons. Turns out, he knew what he was doing. Our mistake.
Hey Pat, what's your ZH handle!
Nice work beating them on PBS... keep up the good work!
Nice piece Pat.
Is the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal and our de facto alliance against ISIS a temporary collaboration?
Also, both Iran and the United States would like to see ISIS not only degraded and defeated, but annihilated.
Patrick, perhaps, you are unaware of the origins of ISIS.
ISIS: The jihadist movement stamped “Made in America”
The fact remains, however, that the US, the major European powers, and their regional allies all previously lent financial, military and political support to ISIS and similar groups, which have “Made in the USA” stamped all over them. They have, until now, played a significant part in Washington’s efforts to overthrow the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, as part of a broader effort to gain control of the region’s vast energy resources and transit routes.
The Western powers, flush with success after organising an Islamist insurgency in Benghazi in order to justify NATO’s overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, thought they could use similar forces to overthrow Assad in Syria, whose regime draws its main base of support from the Alawite sect, a Shi’a offshoot, and Sunni businessmen.
For three years, the US, along with the Gulf states and Turkey, poured billions into “opposition” groups, supposedly to unnamed “moderates,” but in reality to Al Qaeda-linked Sunni groups such as al-Nusra and ISIS to spearhead a sectarian war. The US, Turkey and Jordan have operated a base in Jordan where US instructors trained dozens of ISIS members. In an article last year, the New York Times confirmed that the CIA assisted Arab governments and Turkey by airlifting weaponry to these groups in Jordan and Turkey. The Guardian reported last March that British and French instructors were also involved.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/07/30/isis-j30.html
What about Poroshenko? >>> He kills his own people
When the US is going to take him down?
http://thesaker.is/ukraine-sitrep-july-22nd-2015-by-scott/
This deal puts more downward pressure on the price of oil.
I believe in a round about way this is intended to further punish Putin.
Depends upon the settlement currency for the oil.
No. It is intended to punish the US. That is the consistent thread of Obama's policy.
You're not wrong, but perhaps you aim too low. Obama is but a puppet of the Bush family business, the CIA. The CIA is but the USAmerican arm of the mob. The mob gets their funds from the same place as everyone else: London banks.
So yes, the USA is being punished. But it is being punished by London for their revolutionary act all those years ago.
Pax britannica bitchez!
I wish Pat B was president
Now let's see if Iran is smart enough to play their new found ally (USSofA) off against their old allies ( Israel, Sodomy Assabia and the rest of the puppet Gulf ).
FUCK TURKEY ( twisted evil bastards )
That would be funny, especially if the US turned dovish on Iran out of necessity and then Iran flipped the US the bird and joined Russia and the Sodomy Assabians or some other unexpected chess move. Not saying it's likely but it would be damn funny. Turkey always seemed to be another vassal state, for now at least.
Not bad Pat.... interesting analysis of conflicting Middle East power struggles.
Iran to Israel is just another way to fleece money from the US, there is no threat to Israel.. That's how the game is played. Assad needs to stay where he is. US needs to stay home and stop ruining countries with zio interets first.
What are USA interests???? I only see Zionist interests coming from the USA.
US interests were gone a long time ago, along with their credit rating.
I have always thought of Pat Buchanan as a bigoted ass, but never before this have I thought of him as a lying POS moron.
He cannot possibly believe the crap he is spewing in this article.
there are certainly lies in the piece several really obvious
never seen buchanan near that wrong before...
Spoken like a real liar piece of shit zionist, are you from CNN, Fox, MSNBC?
As the article suggests, there will indeed be Israeli and Saudi efforts to crash the flight of the dove flown between Iran and the USA. It has already started. Bearing in mind that countries which have experienced overtures of friendship from America have a habit of exploding with colour revolutions and being bombed soon afterwards, if Iran keeps its eyes open for such events this could in theory be a long term convergence of interests against the Wahabbis and the Zionists.
One thing almost everyone on the planet (Except rabid zionists and Israelis) shares is a mutual disgust of Israel. Not because it is a "Jewish" state, but because they are a bunch of liars, thieves and murderers responsible for the greatest injustice and tragedy of the 21st century upon the Palestinians. Right now, the neocon/zionists who have authored PNAC with a stranglehold on the State Dept and the CIA, along with the Israelis, are busy training, funding and supporting Islamic terrorists. This is not a secret or conjecture. People who read this for the first time in disbelief should look up the dozens of articles in the mainstream media that show Israeli hospitals treating the wounded Islamic fighters in Syria and the CIA terror training camps in Jordan which have been running since 2012. Every step of the way, during ISIS' incredible expansion in the ME, the terrorists have behaved exactly in the interests of the Israelis and the neocons who wanted to invade Syria. They have also fought for Saudi interests in Yemen and Iraq.
To get an idea of how reviled Netanyahu is amongst his own peers who know him better than any of us, in 2011 during the G20 summit in Cannes, a hot microphone picked up Sarkozy saying, "I cannot bear Netanyahu, he's a liar," and Obama responded: "You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him even more often than you."
And of course neither Obama nor Sarkozy is a liar detested by their "peers".
No doubt Netanyahu is a liar. Most politicians are, but dragging in Sarkozy and Obama as testimony to how dreadful he is is frankly bizarre.
And there certainly isn't any "dove" between the US and Iran, whose political leaders continue to call for the destruction of the US.
Fair comment. But perhaps you missed the revelatory factor of liars recognizing an even worse one in their midst. As for Iranian politicians, quid pro quo? Or are we to selectively ignore the years sanctions and US politicians calling for their destruction?
Your right on the mark, but it is indeed astounding how many American's would not agree with your statement, in fact they would call it "anti-Semitic". This just exemplifies the power zionists/Jews have over the media and entertainment.
I could care less about Iranian energy supplies. When are they going to allow those incredible Iranian pistachio nuts into the states? For those who weren't around before 1979 when they stopped allowing their import, you're in for a real treat.
Who cares about Israel... US should treat Israel much like any other ME nation. They are not special, they are not the only democracy, they are just ordinary, and no different than any other state on the planet.
Israel was created/funded by the Rothschilds. The bankers, Zionists, and MIC love Israel. They are special in that regard.
Their control goes very deep. In 1963 JFK signed executive order 11110, that order had the US Mint to start printing our own money, and stop using the Federal Reserve. 5 Months later JFK was dead. And the crook LBJ once in office stopped the process from moving forward, he scrapped EO 11110.
Another bit of history our school books don’t ever cover, Lincoln coming to the end of the war, had the US Mint print war dollars, in a move to get away from the Federal Reserve. Shortly after Lincoln was shot dead.
Why is it ONLY the good men in office get shot dead?
"A bit of History" would inform you that the Federal Reserve was not authorized until 1913, and Lincoln was shot in 1865. So get your facts straight. You are not worng to seek the connection between finance capital and political control, but don't be lazy--it hurts the cause.
The Central BANK OF AMERICA was indeed formed during Lincoln's time, It was not called the "Federal Reserve" until 1900's, but it was the same animal in Lincoln's time. Try to focus on the point, not the distraction.
"Who cares about Israel"
-all pro-israeli jews and they own everything in the usa (media, companies, politics)
-there is no israel its nothing else but occupied territory
"US should treat Israel much like any other ME nation"
-us (which was taken over by jews) created israel (together with europe-jews) for the purpose of stealing land and influence from arab tribes
"They are not special"
-they are very special, its the only official jewish state
-they are not independent, they are comletely financed from outside (even if its dont look like that)
-they are surroundet by angry islam dominated countries
-etc etc etc
"they are not the only democracy"
-there is no democracy in yisrael, like in most other cuntries the same one or two parties always win
"they are just ordinary, and no different than any other state on the planet. "
-they want to steal some of irans terretory
-they say. israel have the right to exist, no one else says that, unless he is forced to say that by circumstances
-they break all international laws and agreements without penalty and critc
"As President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran is compared to Richard Nixon’s opening to China..."
Considering how China has managed to destroy America's manufacturing after Nixon 'opened the door', I'm not sure Taiwan was the only casualty. Let us in America as well as in Israel HOPE that the repercussions of Obama's caving to Iran don't include coast-to-coast glowing embers and charred corpses.
It has nothing to do with "new threats and new opportunities", except for making an increased threat for the US from a nuclear armed Iran.
It has everything to do with Obama's aim of weakening the US. In this case it weakens the relationship with both Israel and Saudi Arabia, strengthens Shia Islam and hastens the acquisition of nuclear weapons by another Islamic country. In fact Saudi Arabia will also now have to seek nukes, so ultimately we will end up with at least Pakistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia with nukes and at some stage some of those are going to end up in the hands of people who want to harm the US without regard for the consequences.
Nothing Obama does is for the good of the US, everything is to harm it, and he has virtually all the Democrats and all the Repub leadership complicit in his actions.
Iran needs a nuke.. that's the balance of power, then US can step back and forget about the ME... so give Iran a nuke now.
yoohoo
Obama wants a CALIPHATE
United States of Islam!
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=32119
Now To Play Devil's Advocate:
What if now, IS and Iran come to a deal to carve up Iraq? Yes they don't like each other, but, they have a common threat, the Kurds. Futhermore, as opposed to each other as they are, they are both followers of Islam, wheras the US is not.
You Americans are in for a horrible surprise. Obama you're going to go down as the greatest presidential idiot in history.
I personally think the Americans have played right into the Islamists' hands....now for the end game to begin.
You stupid Americans, your selfishness will be everyone's downfall. Now Iran is free to reek havoc for personal gain.
It appears Israel, you are now on your own. The Devil has now been let loose in the Middle East, thanks to the Americans, and you know when the Devil is about, its the details you have to fear.
Obama you done it again...doh!
That would be "wreak havoc" I think. But it may eventually reek.
Thank you, you are correct, wreak as in to break, reek as in to stench. Mind you they both work, ill fix it. Ah too late, time ran out on the edit clock.
"You Americans are in for a horrible surprise. Obama you're going to go down as the greatest presidential idiot in history."
OK, I'll play devil's advocate, too. The current mess in the ME is not Obama's but Bush$' (yes, plural) fault.
...And our interests come first.
You've a long, long road to travel before you get this one right.
fuck the zionist pigs
Israel is a territory occupied by smart well armed grief peddlers. What good are they?
Why the consternation about crude barrel bombs?
Are people better off targeted by state of the art cluster bombs?
How about bunker busters or thermobaric devices?
Indignation about war crimes is largely self-serving hypocrisy.
What is war other than a long series of crimes and murders ?
Pax Americana's corrupt games and those who get sacrificed along the way :
Its a never ending story : does anybody remember Ngo Dinh Diem and his murder in 1963 ? It started the ball rolling in Nam rampage.
Does anybody remember Mossadegh, a democratically elected premier of Iran (aka friend of democracy) and his ouster in 1953?
Does anybody remember Allende democratically elected and Sacrificed to militarist Pinochet.
The list is too long : It began in Guatemala in 1953 and United Fruit company...the age of the Dulles Bros. and CIA.
Remember Lumumba in 1961 Congo...it never stopped.
William Blum: "Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Killing-Hope-Military-Interventions-Since/dp/1842773690
http://williamblum.org/books/killing-hope
Chapter 1: China - 1945 to 1960s: Was Mao Tse-tung just paranoid?Chapter 2: Italy - 1947-1948: Free elections, Hollywood style
Chapter 3: Greece - 1947 to early 1950s: From cradle of democracy to client state
Chapter 4: The Philippines - 1940s and 1950s: America’s oldest colony
Chapter 5: Korea - 1945-1953: Was it all that it appeared to be?
Chapter 6: Albania - 1949-1953: The proper English spy
Chapter 7: Eastern Europe - 1948-1956: Operation Splinter Factor
Chapter 8: Germany - 1950s: Everything from juvenile delinquency to terrorism
Chapter 9: Iran - 1953: Making it safe for the King of Kings
Chapter 10: Guatemala - 1953-1954: While the world watched
Chapter 11: Costa Rica - Mid-1950s: Trying to topple an ally - Part 1
Chapter 12: Syria - 1956-1957: Purchasing a new government
Chapter 13: Middle East - 1957-1958: The Eisenhower Doctrine claims another backyard for America
Chapter 14: Indonesia - 1957-1958: War and pornography
Chapter 15: Western Europe - 1950s and 1960s: Fronts within fronts within fronts
Chapter 16: British Guiana - 1953-1964: The CIA’s international labor mafia
Chapter 17: Soviet Union - Late 1940s to 1960s: From spy planes to book publishing
Chapter 18: Italy - 1950s to 1970s: Supporting the Cardinal’s orphans and techno-fascism
Chapter 19: Vietnam - 1950-1973: The Hearts and Minds Circus
Chapter 20: Cambodia - 1955-1973: Prince Sihanouk walks the high-wire of neutralism
Chapter 21: Laos - 1957-1973: L’Armée Clandestine
Chapter 22: Haiti - 1959-1963: The Marines land, again
Chapter 23: Guatemala - 1960: One good coup deserves another
Chapter 24: France/Algeria - 1960s: L’état, c’est la CIA
Chapter 25: Ecuador - 1960-1963: A text book of dirty tricks
Chapter 26: The Congo - 1960-1964: The assassination of Patrice Lumumba
Chapter 27: Brazil - 1961-1964: Introducing the marvelous new world of death squads
Chapter 28: Peru - 1960-1965: Fort Bragg moves to the jungle
Chapter 29: Dominican Republic - 1960-1966: Saving democracy from communism by getting rid of democracy
Chapter 30: Cuba - 1959 to 1980s: The unforgivable revolution
Chapter 31: Indonesia - 1965: Liquidating President Sukarno ..: and 500,000 others; East Timor - 1975: And 200,000 more
Chapter 32: Ghana - 1966: Kwame Nkrumah steps out of line
Chapter 33: Uruguay - 1964-1970: Torture—as American as apple pie
Chapter 34: Chile - 1964-1973: A hammer and sickle stamped on your child’s forehead
Chapter 35: Greece - 1964-1974: “Fuck your Parliament and your Constitution,” said the President of the United States
Chapter 36: Bolivia - 1964-1975: Tracking down Che Guevara in the land of coup d’etat
Chapter 37: Guatemala - 1962 to 1980s: A less publicized “final solution”
Chapter 38: Costa Rica - 1970-1971: Trying to topple an ally—Part 2
Chapter 39: Iraq - 1972-1975: Covert action should not be confused with missionary work
Chapter 40: Australia - 1973-1975: Another free election bites the dust
Chapter 41: Angola - 1975 to 1980s: The Great Powers Poker Game
Chapter 42: Zaire - 1975-1978: Mobutu and the CIA, a marriage made in heaven
Chapter 43: Jamaica - 1976-1980: Kissinger’s ultimatum
Chapter 44: Seychelles - 1979-1981: Yet another area of great strategic importance
Chapter 45: Grenada - 1979-1984: Lying—one of the few growth industries in Washington
Chapter 46: Morocco - 1983: A video nasty
Chapter 47: Suriname - 1982-1984: Once again, the Cuban bogeyman
Chapter 48: Libya - 1981-1989: Ronald Reagan meets his match
Chapter 49: Nicaragua - 1981-1990: Destabilization in slow motion
Chapter 50: Panama - 1969-1991: Double-crossing our drug supplier
Chapter 51: Bulgaria 1990/Albania 1991: Teaching communists what democracy is all about
Chapter 52: Iraq - 1990-1991: Desert Holocaust
Chapter 53: Afghanistan - 1979-1992: America’s Jihad
Chapter 54: El Salvador - 1980-1994: Human rights, Washington style
Chapter 55: Haiti - 1986-1994: Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?
Chapter 56: The American Empire - 1992 to present
Iran deal is connected with diversifying energy supply to Europe, that is in turn connected to Ukraine which was a diversionary/retaliatory war against Russia whose no to Assad when he asked can he build portion of Qatar EU pipeline in Syria sealed his fate as a ruler of a country once called Syria.
http://www.thenational.ae/business/energy/qatar-seeks-gas-pipeline-to-tu...
Now, Russians are pressuring Georgia, on whose land pipelines from Azerbaijan flow- note again connected to diversifying, or attempt to not do so by Russia.
http://www.euractiv.com/sections/europes-east/russian-seizure-georgian-p...
You can take Lybian war with the same perspective...who knows what Gaddaffi wanted for him to get ousted like that, but the suma sumarum is work on oil/gas is continuing even though country's exports have plunged. Just recently, a few days ago, some Italians were kidnapped from an ENI facility...yes ENI is Italian state energy company.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/20/four-italians-kidnapped-eni...
I would also assert here (strictly my opinion) that the recent Mediteranean refugee crisis and the outrage it generates is just an attempt to prepare the field for a more thorough operation in Libya so that the jihadis get cleansed and energy starts flowing properly like it did in Muamer's times. Ofcourse under the guise of helping the locals get rid of traffickers.
http://www.dw.com/en/eu-to-take-military-action-against-human-trafficker...
One has to wonder if the recently passed bill in US Congress in which BDS movement and it's enactors can be sanctioned by US government is just a carrot after the Iran deal which was a stick. Or in other words, did US sell out itself once again for eastern Europeans on Mediteranean shores.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/landmark-anti-bds-law-passes-final-senate-l...
They are actually making this provisions as part of TTIP deal. One more reason for it to fail. Not that i have anything against Israelis, but this is just a stupid move by US Congress.
The Jewish word spinners on a mil. forum i frequent are telling a tale how EU will benefit immensely from TTIP, but tell nothing of similar benefits to US economy. I suppose we shall see what is more important to the US...1.) support of EU block without which it can say goodbye to its hegemon status and which will then turn to Eurasian connection (there are signs this is already happening, from the AIIB signatures to importing gold on Asian gov scales) or 2.) Israel with it's constant shenanigans (note here, Israel itself is trying the same Eurasian connection, but more to do with India than with China-so they sense danger of potential change as well).
They also cannot wait for Barry to leave office, they give motivational posts to each other along the lines of "Hang in there, only X months to go" :>
However, when even Joe Stein of the Time starts railing against Israel and Bibi's antics in particular (6 months away from bomb for years now) as he did in his last column, one could almost say the winds are changing.
Iranian pipeline against Qatari pipeline
Iranian - http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-geopolitics-of-gas-and-the-syrian-crisis-syrian-opposition-armed-to-thwart-construction-of-iran-iraq-syria-gas-pipeline/5337452
"It is not difficult to notice that the rebellion in Syria began to grow two years ago, almost at the same time as the signing of a memorandum in Bushehr on June 25, 2011 regarding the construction of a new Iran-Iraq-Syria gas pipeline… It is to stretch 1500 km from Asaluyeh on the largest gas field in the world, North Dome/South Pars (shared between Qatar and Iran) to Damascus. The length of pipeline on the territory of Iran will be 225 km, in Iraq 500 km, and in Syria 500-700 km. Later it may be extended along the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea to Greece. The possibility of supplying liquefied gas to Europe via Syria’s Mediterranean ports is also under consideration. Investments in this project equal 10 billion dollars. (1)"
Qatari - http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/nations/turkey/2012/10/01/Syria-new-markets-Qatari-gas-Al-Assad-analyst_7560833.html
"Already the largest Lng producer, Qatar will not increase the production of LNG - Imonti continues -. The market is becoming glutted with eight new facilities in Australia coming online between 2014 and 2020. A saturated North American gas market and a far more competitive Asian market leaves only Europe. The discovery in 2009 of a new gas field near Israel, Lebanon, Cyprus, and Syria opened new possibilities to bypass the Saudi Barrier and to secure a new source of income''. ''Pipelines are in place already in Turkey to receive the gas. Only Al-Assad is in the way. Qatar along with the Turks would like to remove Al-Assad and install the Syrian chapter of the Moslim Brotherhood. It is the best organized political movement in the chaotic society and can block Saudi Arabia's efforts to install a more fanatical Wahhabi based regime. Once the Brotherhood is in power, the Emir's broad connections with Brotherhood groups throughout the region should make it easy for him to find a friendly ear and an open hand in Damascus.
''The fighting (in Syria) is likely to continue for many more months, but Qatar is in for the long term"
Assad couldn't say yes, because if he did he would loose his creditor and arms provider.
Two days old news, begging bowl in hand:
http://sputniknews.com/business/20150721/1024862014.html
A good enough breakdown of Syrian dependency on Russia:
http://middleeastvoices.voanews.com/2013/01/insight-russias-many-interes...
United States would like to see ISIS not only degraded and defeated, but annihilated.
LMAO - yeah, that is exactly the reason USSA watches ISIS victory parades from far above and instead droning individual targets with pinpoint accuracy elsewhere....
"Today the US-backed wars in Ukraine and in Syria are but two fronts in the same strategic war to cripple Russia and China and to rupture any Eurasian counter-pole to a US-controlled New World Order. In each, control of energy pipelines, this time primarily of natural gas pipelines—from Russia to the EU via Ukraine and from Iran and Syria to the EU via Syria—is the strategic goal. The true aim of the US and Israel backed ISIS is to give the pretext for bombing Assad’s vital grain silos and oil refineries to cripple the economy in preparation for a “Ghaddafi-”style elimination of Russia and China and Iran-ally Bashar al-Assad."
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-secret-stupid-saudi-us-deal-on-syria/5410130
"Much of the strategy currently at play was candidly described in a 2008 US Army-funded RAND report, Unfolding the Future of the Long War ":
"The geographic area of proven oil reserves coincides with the power base of much of the Salafi-jihadist network. This creates a linkage between oil supplies and the long war that is not easily broken or simply characterized... For the foreseeable future, world oil production growth and total output will be dominated by Persian Gulf resources... The region will therefore remain a strategic priority, and this priority will interact strongly with that of prosecuting the long war."
"Divide and Rule focuses on exploiting fault lines between the various Salafi-jihadist groups to turn them against each other and dissipate their energy on internal conflicts. This strategy relies heavily on covert action, information operations (IO), unconventional warfare, and support to indigenous security forces... the United States and its local allies could use the nationalist jihadists to launch proxy IO campaigns to discredit the transnational jihadists in the eyes of the local populace... US leaders could also choose to capitalize on the 'Sustained Shia-Sunni Conflict' trajectory by taking the side of the conservative Sunni regimes against Shiite empowerment movements in the Muslim world.... possibly supporting authoritative Sunni governments against a continuingly hostile Iran."
According to former French foreign minister Roland Dumas, Britain had planned covert action in Syria as early as 2009: "I was in England two years before the violence in Syria on other business", he told French television:
"Yet both moves, seen as betrayals by old U.S. allies"
Israel was never an ally of friend of the US. They used the US for as much as they could get. When the time comes, they will align with enemies of the US who can be used by them.