Author: Steven Sahiounie

Steven Sahiounie, political commentator In a shocking reversal in Syria, President Trump has ordered the US military to occupy the oil field at Deir Ez Zor, in eastern Syria.   At first glance, it would appear to be a businessman’s plan to plunder the profits of Syria, and he has quoted profits expected and even ear-marked the profits to support the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who are a Syrian Kurdish militia who had been on the US payroll as mercenaries in the past fight against ISIS. The oil production facility at Deir Ez Zor is destroyed, and incapable of production…

By Mark Taliano Western stories about Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi are meant to confuse, to distract, and to strengthen fake narratives. First, the West supports Daesh in Syria (and beyond). It isn’t a secret. High profile people such as Tulsi Gabbard even admit it. . . CNN Politics✔@CNNPolitics Tulsi Gabbard: “This current President is continuing to betray us. We were supposed to be going after al Qaeda, but over years now, not only have we not gone after al Qaeda … our President is supporting al Qaeda” #DemDebate7144:37 AM – Aug 1, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacy389 people are talking about this Second, it provides…

With an overwhelming majority, the US House of Representatives voted in favor of passing a resolution to label the Ottoman Empire’s killing of approximately 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to 1923 as a genocide. On Tuesday, the House voted 405-11 in favor of both recognizing and condemning the Armenian genocide, an act the Turkish government has historically denied and argued accusations did not take into account the death of Turks.  “Many American politicians, diplomats and institutions have rightly recognized these atrocities as a genocide, including America’s ambassador to the Ottoman Empire at the time, Henry Morgenthau, and Ronald Reagan,” House…

 A total of 68 Kurdish forces units numbering 34,000 militants, as well as over 3,000 pieces of weaponry and military equipment, have been withdrawn from the contact line with the Turkish Armed Forces in Syria by the set deadline, the commander of the Russian centre for Syrian reconciliation said Tuesday. “As of 18:00 Moscow time [15:00 GMT] on October 29, a total of 68 Kurdish self-defence units numbering 34,000 people and more than 3,000 units of weapons and military equipment have been withdrawn to the distance of 30 kilometres [about 18.6 miles] from the contact line with the Turkish armed…

Ankara’s membership in the alliance has been questioned by some German politicians after it launched an operation in the north of the war-torn country, insisting that it is targeting Daesh jihadists and Kurdish militias, which Turkey considers a part of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), banned by the country. The majority of German respondents, polled by agency YouGov, backed the expulsion of Turkey from NATO over Ankara’s operation in northern Syria, the German news agency DPA reports. In the survey, conducted on behalf of the outlet, 58 percent supported the idea while only 18 percent spoke against it. A broader majority of…

Lebanon has been witnessing mass protests since 17 October, following the government’s announcement of a tax increase on tobacco and internet calls. The demonstrators have been demanding the resignation of the government and far-reaching political reforms. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has announced that he will be submitting his resignation amid the anti-government protests that the country has been witnessing since 17 October. “I put my resignation at the disposal of the President of the Republic”, Hariri wrote in a tweet. ​In a televised address today, Hariri said that he had “reached a dead end” and was going to the…

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has lashed out at the United States for pursuing a policy aimed at isolating the Islamic Republic in the region, saying such attempts are futile. Zarif, who is in Qatar to attend the annual Munich Security Conference (MSC), made the remarks in an exclusive interview with the Doha-based television network Al Jazeera on Tuesday. He said Washington’s policy of excluding Iran “from any regional arrangement – whether in Syria, Afghanistan or Yemen – will just not work,” once again emphasizing that US sanctions against Iran have “failed.” He also described as “unacceptable” Saudi Arabia’s similar attempts to isolate…

By Rep. Ron Paul President Trump is reversing his foreign policy decisions so quickly these days that it almost seems like he overturns himself before making the decision in the first place. Last week he was very clear that the US was pulling its troops out of Syria. “Bringing soldiers home,” he said. “Let someone else fight over this long-bloodstained sand.” But then he overturned himself later in the same speech. He said: “We’ve secured the oil and therefore a small number of US troops will remain in the area where they have the oil. And we’re going to be protecting…

BY JEREMY SALT Outside powers have been playing ducks and drakes with the Kurds for more than a century.  In Ottoman times they were reviled in Europe as tribal predators and persecutors of the Christians. Now they are everyone’s favorites. After 1918 they hoped for independence. The allied victors were favorable but the advance of the Turkish nationalists and their own inability to pull together put an end to that. In the newly-formed state of Iraq they were bombed from the air by the British in the 1920s. In the Kurdish mountains, the noise and unfamiliar sight of planes was enough…

Steven Sahiounie, political commentator U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper explained in a press conference Tuesday, that a new U.S. force will be stationed in eastern Syria to protect the oil fields.  Barbara Starr, CNN’s Pentagon reporter, pressed Esper on whether the US military mission there will be to prevent the Russian or the Syrian government forces from accessing the oil at Deir Ez Zor.  Esper was forced to admit that the mission was designed to prevent the oil, and revenues generated, from being used by any group other than the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), otherwise referred to as the Kurdish…