Author: Steven Sahiounie

The United States has never pledged to the Syrian Kurds that it will help them create an autonomous Kurdish state in Syria, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said on Friday. “We live up to our obligations, and our obligation, our agreement, our understanding with the Kurds was this, that we would work together to fight in Syria to defeat ISIS,” Esper said. “But nowhere, at no point in time did we tell the Kurds, we will assist you in establishing an autonomous Kurdish state in Syria nor would we fight against the longstanding ally Turkey on your behalf.” On…

By Paul Antonopoulos Air defense systems are virtually powerless against the Russian Kalibr cruise missile, which recently appeared on video destroying a target in the Black Sea, military expert said. The images, recorded by drones, show that the missile flew in a complex trajectory , covering about 250 kilometers in 137 seconds. Captain Vasily Dandykin commented to Russian Sputnik Radio service on the firing capabilities of the Russian Navy frigate Admiral Essen. “Of course, 250 kilometers is not Kalibr’s maximum range, its range is about 2,500 kilometers. However, this is an indication that the missile has been developed and is a…

Algeria’s President-elect Abdelmadjid Tebboune said in his first public statement on Friday that he would start “consultations” on drawing up a new constitution that would be put to Algerians in a referendum. He also offered a “serious dialogue” to the opposition mass protest movement, saying he would institute reforms to reduce spending on imports and promised to “open a new page” for Algeria, Reuters reports. The former prime minister was elected Algeria’s new president in a vote the authorities hope will end months of turmoil. However, protesters who toppled his predecessor marched again on Friday, vowing their movement would not…

BY ELIJAH J. MAGNIER “There is no alternative to war. One day it will be war on a large scale”. This is what one of the decision-makers within the “Axis of the Resistance” has said with confidence. However, the timing may not be as close as repeatedly advertised by Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, despite signs to the contrary. Such a war is most unlikely to happen any time soon. Examining the reasons may be quite revealing. For the first time in the history of Israel, the election of a Prime Minister is stumbling. Netanyahu needs to remain in power to…

Hezbollah poses a considerable threat to the scenarios developed by the United States and the Israeli regime to be implemented in the Middle East, says the secretary general of Lebanon’s resistance movement, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. “The US is doing its utmost to depict Hezbollah as a threat to Lebanon. Americans are actually vying for their own interests and those of Israel. The interests of the Lebanese nation are not a matter of concern to them at all. The US is paying out millions of dollars as part of its attempts to sully the image of Hezbollah, yet such bids are…

BY PHILIP GIRALDI One might postulate that the United States is regularly supporting so-called allies whose very nature will eventually generate blowback that will do terrible damage to actual American interests. The recent example of the mass shooting at the Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida by Saudi Second Lieutenant Mohammed Alshamrani is illustrative. Alshamrani killed three American sailors while three other Saudi students filmed what was taking place, presumably for posting on social media. Though the U.S. and The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have no actual alliance, the American and Saudi militaries have a relationship that began during the Second World War. Currently,…

The head of Libya’s eastern-based parliament said on Thursday he disagreed with an accord between Libya and Turkey establishing maritime boundaries which has infuriated Athens. Greece expelled the Libyan ambassador last week over the November 27 accord establishing a sea corridor between Libya and Turkey and in areas where Greece considers it has maritime rights. “We are here to stress that this specific agreement is rejected,” Reuters quoted Aguila Saleh Issa, speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives, as saying. “Those that signed it do not have any legal authority to do so, since the government itself was rejected. It did fail…

The Syrian and Russian fighter jets in joint operations hit the military positions of the ISIS terrorists several times in the surrounding regions of al-Sukhneh desert in an area located near Deir Ezzor province, the Arabic-language media outlets reported. The Arabic-language service of the Russian Sputnik news agency reported that the Russian and Syrian warplanes launched a joint operation to support the Syrian Army which was engaged in heavy clashes with the ISIS terrorists in the surrounding areas of Avirez Dam in the easternmost part of Badiyeh (desert) Homs. A battlefield source told Sputnik news agency that the major part…

The White House has reached a “deal in principle” with Beijing to resolve the 17-month U.S.-China trade war, according to a source briefed on the trade talks. The White House was expected to make an announcement later on Thursday, the source said. “The written agreement is still being formulated, but they have reached an agreement in principle,” the source said. No details were immediately available. In an attempt to secure a “phase one” trade deal, U.S. negotiators offered to cut existing tariffs on Chinese goods by as much as 50% and suspend new tariffs that were scheduled to go into…

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) recently blocked a U.S. military convoy from passing their posts at the Qamishli Airport in northern Al-Hasakah. In a video that was captured on Thursday, the Syrian Army can be seen forcing the U.S. convoy to turn around, despite the possibility of a confrontation between the two forces. Since the Syrian Army took over the Al-Qamishli District, they have deployed their forces to several areas that were previously under the control of the U.S. Armed Forces. While the U.S. military continues to carry out patrols in the Al-Hasakah Governorate, the Syrian Army has become more…