It is well known that US politics, and American politicians themselves, have long thrived not on “diplomatic successes”, but on considerable cash profits from the unleashing of numerous armed conflicts in one part of the world or another. And this is particularly evidenced by the recent allocation by the US Congress of $40 billion to prolong the war in Ukraine and the new supply of US arms there, rather than by Washington’s diplomatic efforts in the same Ukraine or in other armed conflicts. Or the fight against famine in Afghanistan, Africa, climate change, which are increasingly becoming the scourge of humanity…
This approach has been particularly active of late, when, against a backdrop of failed foreign and domestic policies, the Biden administration realized that its time “at the helm” was short-lived and therefore, apart from sending massive weapons to Ukraine, it embarked on multiple sins to scoop “at last” from new supplies of the US military and industrial complex.
Hence, in particular, the intense desire in recent months by the White House to create an “Asian NATO” based on QUAD and AUKUS, by dragging the Asia-Pacific region into Anglo-Saxon integration around the US, Britain, and Australia and to unleash a new arms race in the region. This is also the aim of Turkey’s efforts to integrate the Central Asian region around Erdoğan’s idea of a “Great Turan”, in the apparent hope of shaping a “Central Asian NATO” and then stuffing it with still the same American weapons to conduct “armed missions in the region”.
In order to support such “belligerent actions”, Washington has launched a vigorous propaganda campaign to expose the allegedly aggressive course of Moscow and Beijing to the American and international publics. However, it must not be forgotten that both countries have never in their history fought aggressive wars on foreign territory, but only defended themselves against external military threats. Nevertheless, despite this, in an effort to create the image of an “external enemy”, Washington has even adjusted US and NATO’s political and military strategies, clearly highlighting Russia and the PRC as the main adversaries of the US and the “collective West”.
As for Russia, by cutting off all diplomatic channels of communication with Moscow and bringing Russian-American relations to a critical point, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry and Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov, Washington’s policy is now aimed at “the complete annihilation of the Russian state.” And this, in particular, was confirmed by former Hawaiian congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard in an interview with the US media.
For the purpose of this “annihilation of Russia”, the White House began to accelerate the use of the armed confrontation between Kiev and Moscow which it had been preparing for the past few years. However, having realized the futility of these efforts and Russia’s clear and resounding quick victory against the Nazi authorities in Kiev, as well as the “collective West” standing behind them with modern weapons, the White House began to frantically look for the possibility of opening a “second front against Moscow”, but with someone else’s hands. Clearly fearing that if it publicly showed its own involvement in such an armed confrontation with Russia, the latter would be sure to use all the forces and means at its disposal to launch a retaliatory and devastating strike against the United States. For it is well known that today Russia’s “capabilities” far exceed those of the US in power and effectiveness!
Under these circumstances, in January this year Washington initiated provocative actions in Kazakhstan in order to “divert” Moscow’s forces from defending Russia’s own and regional security to eliminating the danger from this conflict. However, thanks to Moscow’s calibrated policy and the competent actions of the CSTO, Washington’s plans were thwarted and the conflict situation in Kazakhstan was resolved.
This was followed by instigation of another conflict in Central Asia, namely on the Tajik-Kyrgyz border and in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAR), but this attempt by the US to create another “second front” for Russia in Central Asia was also thwarted by Moscow.
Recently, Washington has been actively trying to involve Turkey and Israel in similar provocative anti-Russian actions in Syria, orchestrating a significant aggravation of the situation there through their capabilities and causing Russia to become involved in resolving it and eliminating the “second front” organized by the US there.
As for Ankara’s planned new military operation in Syria, even as acknowledged by the Turkish media, Moscow has so far succeeded in reducing the heat of Turkish activity diplomatically.
In the circumstances, Washington has displayed a rabid willingness to throw its main Middle Eastern ally, Israel, into the crucible of armed conflict with Moscow, showing its readiness to sacrifice the Israelis, as it has already done to the Ukrainians in the Ukrainian conflict it had unleashed. The threat of war between Syria and Israel has therefore become increasingly real in recent months. The Syrian leadership has already repeatedly demanded that the UN Security Council put pressure on Israel to stop Washington-promoted Israeli attacks on the territory of the republic, which violate Syrian sovereignty and lead to increased tensions in the region. The Syrian Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, has frequently stated that the country can use “all legitimate means” to respond to Israeli strikes on its territory. But such provocative Israeli activities are only escalating, blatantly testing the fate of what could turn into a serious armed conflict any time now.
For example, in the first ten days of June alone, Israel has already fired missiles into the vicinity of Damascus twice: on June 6, a missile attack was launched from the occupied Golan Heights and on June 10, at Damascus International Airport. As the official spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova stressed in a statement on June 10, “the continuing Israeli shelling of the territory of the SAR in violation of the basic norms of international law is absolutely unacceptable. We strongly condemn Israel’s provocative attack on critical Syrian civilian infrastructure.” Maria Zakharova recalled that according to reports, the airfield had sustained serious material damage: the runway had been damaged, which according to Syrian technical services may take considerable time to repair, and the Syrian Ministry of Transport had announced the suspension of all flights operating through the capital’s gateway. According to Maria Zakharova, such “irresponsible actions pose serious risks to international air travel and put the lives of innocent people in real danger.”
Vladimir Platov, expert on the Middle East, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.