Russia and US in
suspected deal in southern Syria
Adam Garrie, The
Duran, 10-6-17
America has stopped
attacking Syrian forces near the Jordanian border and has held back its
jihadists. Many are suspecting that a deal has been reached with Russia.
The Syrian Arab Army
has been making strong and swift advances through the deserts of southern Syria
near the Jordanian and Iraqi borders and are all ready moving north on Deir
ez-Zor, one of the last major terrorist strongholds in Syria.
According to Al-Masdar,
“Backed by Russian
airstrikes, the Syrian Arab Army and their allies stormed the Islamic State’s
positions at the Talilah Reserve, inflicting heavy damage on the latter’s
positions.
Following a short
battle on Friday afternoon, the Syrian Arab Army and their allies liberated the
Talilah Reserve in eastern Palmyra, pushing their way to the strategic Talilah
Crossroad”.
This comes after
Russian Colonel General Sergey Surovikin issued a stern criticism of the US
which has attacked three Syrian and allied military convoys in southern Syria
between May and June of 2017.
Surovikin said,
“The coalition (US)
air forces and the strongholds of the forces of New Syrian Army (now known as
the Revolutionary Commando Army) have blocked the way of the government forces,
tasked with defeating IS (ISIS) group”.
Since that statement
was issued, not only has the United States ceased its attacks on Syrian forces
in southern Syria, but more interestingly, the US has not seemingly allowed the
jihadists under its control to attack Syrian forces.
Some, including Arab
journalist Leith Abou Fadel have found cause for celebration in recent
developments,
Some have suggested
that a secret deal between the US and
Russia has been struck, whereby the US will allow the Russian Aerospace Forces
to clear important roads for Syria and its allies on their way to Deir ez-Zor
while not allowing pro-America jihadists on the ground to interfere with the
progress of Syrian allies, including Hezbollah who have helped to cut remaining
US backed jihadists off from the Syrian march east and north.
It is certainly too
early to say whether any such deal between Russia and the US has been struck,
but the suggestions which are being taken rather seriously in some quarters of
Arabic social media ought to be considered.
The US would
nominally have no reason to do a military policy about-face in respect of
hampering the progress of Syrian forces in southern Syria. For months now, the
US has done the opposite.
There is the
possibility that in a rare moment of pragmatism, American commanders were
ordered to not interfere in the forward movements of Syrian forces after both
Russian Colonel General Sergey Surovikin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov issued stern condemnations to the US for impeding the fight against ISIS
by firing on anti-terrorist troops.
In some ways it is
odd that after months, in many ways years of Russia warning the US to stop
siding with terrorists in Syria, that suddenly the US would listen, at least in
one region of Syria, albeit an increasingly strategically important one.
But if America has
listened or more important if they have engaged in constructive dialogue with
Russia, it could well be an admission that America’s plans for a Salafist Syria
have been fully thwarted and America is resigning itself to this new reality.
It is indeed becoming increasingly likely that the
only piece of the much coveted Syrian pie that America might be able to get its
hands on will be Kurdish regions in the north of the country. After holding
back its jihadists in southern Syria, the Kurdish led SDF seems to be the only
consistent group which America is relying on in order to achieve its ambitions
in Syria.
There is still a danger that America will argue for
some kind of pro-Kurdish partition of the country when all is said and done,
but at least when it comes to funding jihad, America has indeed taken a big
step back, something which is after all, in line with Donald Trump’s initial
post-election Syria strategy which was focused not on regime change nor on
funding Arab jihadists but based on exclusively arming and aiding secular
Kurdish fighters.
Whether this is a new
reality or simply a temporary ceasefire on America’s part is still anyone’s
guess, but the fact that America has suddenly shifted its approach in southern
Syria, hot on the heels of a Russian admonition, is a further indication of who
really is the more influential of the super-powers which are fighting on
opposite sides in Syria.
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