Uprooted Palestinians are at the heart of the conflict in the M.E Palestinians uprooted by force of arms. Yet faced immense difficulties have survived, kept alive their history and culture, passed keys of family homes in occupied Palestine from one generation to the next.
عندما يصدر الحشد الشعبي العراقي بياناً، يدعو فيه أنصاره للانسحاب من محيط السفارة الأميركية في بغداد، التي هي بمثابة القيادة العامة لقوات الاحتلال الأميركي في العراق، فإنّ لذلك (بيان الانسحاب) دلالات عديدة لا بدّ من الانتباه إليها وتحليلها بدقة، كي نفهم خلفيات وآفاق قرار قيادة الحشد الشعبي هذا.
حيث يجب التأكيد على الحقائق التالية:
إنّ الحفاظ على هيبة الدولة، كما ورد في بيان الحشد، قد تحقق جزئياً، من خلال التعهّدات التي قدّمها الجانب الأميركي للدولة العراقية والتي نصّت على ما يلي:
أ ـ عدم تكرار مثل هذا العدوان على أيّ من قطعات القوات المسلحة العراقية، وبكلّ صنوفها، وفِي كلّ محافظات العراق، بما فيها المحافظات الشمالية.
ب ـ (التزام الجانب الأميركي بمنع “إسرائيل” من القيام بأيّ نشاط جوي، أو هجمات بالصواريخ الجوالة، او غير ذلك من الأنشطة العسكرية، وفِي كلّ أجواء العراق. وهنا يجب التذكير بتصريح قائد الاستخبارات العسكرية الاسرائيلية السابق، الجنرال عاموس يادلين، الذي أدلى به قبل يومين وقال فيه إنه “يجب على إسرائيل ان تكون أكثر حذراً من الآن فصاعداً، في تنفيذ أنشطة جوية في أجواء العراق وذلك خوفاً من ردّ حلف المقاومة على هذه الأنشطة”.
ج ـ التزام الولايات المتحدة الأميركية بوقف الدعم الذي تقدّمه لفلول داعش في العراق وقفاً تاماً وعدم التدخل في نشاطات القوات المسلحة العراقية التي تستهدف ملاحقة هذه الفلول في جميع محافظات العراق.
اما استكمال تحقيق هيبة الدولة العراقية وتأمينها بشكل مطلق واستعادة الكرامة العراقية والشرف العسكري العراقي فيتطلّب بنظر المتابعين المختصين اتخاذ إجراءات أخرى، من قبل الحكومة العراقية، تتمثل في ما يلي:
ـ استغلال فرصة الانتفاضة الشعبية العراقية الحقيقية، التي بدأت تعمّ العراق، ضدّ الاحتلال الأميركي، ونقل المواجهة الى المستوى التشريعي وتحريك البرلمان العراقي، بغضّ النظر عن كلّ التمايزات الحزبية، باتجاه سنّ قانون يلغي الاتفاقية الأمنية الموقعة بين البلدين عام 2010.
ـ إعلان رئاسة الحكومة العراقية، رغم أنها مستقيلة، استعادة السيادة على كافة أجواء العراق وبشكل فوري، على أن يتمّ إعلام وزارة الدفاع وكلّ الجهات الأخرى ذات الاختصاص، بتنفيذ القرار فوراً ودون تأخير.
ـ تنفيذ جميع الاتفاقيات المتعلقة بتزويد القوات المسلحة العراقية بالأسلحة، بما فيها المقاتلات وأسلحة الدفاع الجوي الأكثر تطوّراً، التي وقعتها حكومات عراقية سابقة، مع روسيا، وتمّت عرقلتها من قبل جهات عراقية، تدور في فلك السفارة الأميركية في بغداد، وبتنسيق مباشر مع فريق الموساد الإسرائيلي المقيم في السفارة السيئة الصيت والسمعة نفسها، (هناك ستة آلاف أميركي مسجلين في وزارة الخارجية العراقية كدبلوماسيين على كادر هذه السفارة، وهو ما يوازي عديد لواءين من القوات الخاصة. أيّ انّ لواءين من القوات الخاصة الأميركية يعملان في العراق ويتمتعان بحماية دبلوماسية!
وهنا يجب التأكيد على أنّ ما حققه الشعب العراقي، من خلال انتفاضته ضدّ الاحتلال الأميركي، اليوم ليس هراءً ولا هو أضغاث أحلام، وإنما حقيقة واضحة وانتصار ناجز، لحلف المقاومة، تحقق من خلال ما يلي:
أولاً: وجود قرار قطعي، لا رجعة عنه، لدى قيادة الحشد، مدعومة من قطاعات واسعة جداً من الشعب العراقي، بفرض حصار شامل على كافة نقاط تمركز قوات الاحتلال الأميركي في العراق، بما في ذلك السفارة في بغداد، والمضيّ في المواجهة مع هذه القوات الى أبعد الحدود، وصولاً الى التحرك العسكري الشامل ضدّ الوجود الأميركي في اللحظة المناسبة.
ثانياً: امتلاك أجهزة الاستخبارات الأميركية المختلفة معلومات مؤكدة، بأنّ هذا التحرك الشعبي العراقي ليس أكثر من خطوة أولى، على طريق طويل من الخطوات، الأكثر فعالية والأكثر قسوة تجاه الاحتلال الأميركي. الأمر الذي سيترتب عليه خسائر كبيرة في الأرواح (جنود أميركيين ومتعاقدين) وانعكاسات غاية في السلبية على وضع ترامب الانتخابي داخل الولايات المتحدة.
ثالثاً: تقاطع المعلومات، المتوفرة لدى أجهزة الاستخبارات، الأميركية والإسرائيلية، والمتعلقة باحتمالات تطوّر الانتفاضة الشعبية العراقية ضدّ الاحتلال الأميركي، بأنّ هذا التطور سيقود الى مواجهة واسعة مع كلّ أطراف حلف المقاومة، ليس في العراق فقط وإنما في فلسطين أيضاً، الأمر الذي يعني، كما ذكر موقع ديبكا الاستخباري الإسرائيلي يوم 1/1/2020، أن حلف المقاومة سيشرع بتنفيذ آخر مراحل هجومه الاستراتيجي بهدف تحرير القدس المحتلة وبقية أنحاء فلسطين. وهذا يعني أنّ لدى الأوساط الأمنية والعسكرية الإسرائيلية خشية حقيقية من تدحرج الوضع الى حرب إقليمية واسعة قد تؤدّي الى إغلاق الحساب مع الكيان الإسرائيلي نهائياً.
رابعاً: وبالتالي فإنّ التراجع الأميركي في العراق قد نتج عن كون موازين القوى الاستراتيجي في ميدان المواجهة لا يسمح للحلف الأميركي الصهيوني الرجعي العربي باستمرار عدوانه، لا ضدّ الحشد الشعبي العراقي ولا ضدّ لبنان ولا ضدّ المقاومة الفلسطينية.
وبكلمات أخرى، فإنّ محور المقاومة هو الذي يمسك بزمام المبادرة الاستراتيجي، رغم الاعتداءات والمجازر التي يرتكبها المحتلّ الأميركي و”الإسرائيلي”، مما يعني أنّ الواقع الميداني يختلف عن التهديدات الأميركية والاسرائيلية التي يضجّ بها الإعلام المعادي.
المطلعون على خفايا ما جرى في بغداد يؤكدون القول: ترقبوا مفاجآت من العيار الثقيل في الأيام المقبلة تصلكم تباعاً. بعدنا طيّبين، قولواالله…
Tehran – Friday the 3rd of January 2020, the Islamic Republic of Iran woke up to the bitter news of the assassination of its senior military official Commander Qassem Soleimani; a person who is highly popular across the country.
Major General Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), have been killed in US airstrikes in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. The martyrdom of Soleimani is incomparable with anything the US has done over the last few decades and hatred towards the US and Trump is brewing across Iran and the region.
Hundreds of thousands of Iranians poured into the streets to call for revenge after the US assassination of IRGC Quds Force commander General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad. The protesters joined the rallies that were held after the Friday prayers and sermon in the different Iranian cities and expressed solidarity with General Soleimani’s family, reiterating what the leader of the Islamic Revolution declared: a clear and decisive harsh revenge.
Commenting on how he and Iranians see the matter, Ahmad, a PR manager and freelance journalist said
“Well at the beginning, I felt uneasy, shocked and sad as soon as I heard the news; the only thing I could think of is a harsh revenge that certainly, the Islamic Republic of Iran will get from his killers in the near future.”
He said the assassination of Sardar Soleimani has united the Iranians together, like never before.
“The majority of the Iranian people are angry and expect a harsh retaliation to the US regime and they are almost all united on two things; harsh revenge on the assassination of the loved General and hatred towards the imperialist US that is no longer in its height.”
Mohamad Esfahani, a University Professor said that
“The Iranian people feel sad, angry, shocked, proud, and determined all at the same time. “We are proud of General Soleimani, we wish to follow his footsteps, we wish to get revenge on those who murdered him, we are empowered by him and people like him.”
Mrs. Toghyani, who was at the ceremonies told al-Ahed news
“The news was shocking, I cannot imagine how painful it is for his family. It is painful for all Iranians but we await a firm and decisive retaliation and the Americans can have all the sleepless nights they want out of fear. We are all the children and soldiers of this Commander and we will follow his footsteps.”
On the other hand, Mr. Zaheri; he says he does not agree with all the policies of the Islamic Republic, was unhappy because Soleimani was a loved and exceptional figure to almost everyone in Iran. “He was a true soldier who was always keen on protecting Iran and preserving its security.”
Also, Salimi, a university student who was at the rallies with his friends said
“we all feel disappointed and feel that we have lost somebody precious who was keen on defending the country. He was an exceptional man who protected us and the region from terrorism and violence.”
Zahraa Kazem, an Iraqi student living in Iran who was also among the protesters told al-Ahed news
“This merging of blood of Iranian and Iraqi commanders will unite us more than ever, the Americans think they have won but they did us a huge favor, they will soon be puzzled and dying of fear.”
The assassination of Major General Soleimani and al-Muhandis means that the US beat the drums of war. It is no longer the 19th century or the height of the Western empire that dictates terms to the colonies. Just because the American regime says General Soleimani is a terrorist does not make him a terrorist, the time has come for the US to realize that it is not authorized to dictate terms to the International community and that we have started a countdown to the collapse of American imperialism.
The Education Ministry in Israel has published a new civics teacher's guide. According to it, all students taking the matriculation exam in civics will be tested on their knowledge of the details of the controversial nation-state law. Tel Aviv's nation-state law that was passed by the Knesset in 2018 has been labeled as "apartheid" due to its marginalization of the indigenous Arab population. This episode touches on this subject and more.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday asked parliament for immunity, weeks after the embattled premier was indicted on a range of corruption charges.
Netanyahu, the Zionist entity’s longest-serving premier, is fighting for his political survival on two fronts — the corruption allegations and stiff opposition from a new centrist party.
The immunity request is expected to delay the start of court proceedings for months, as lawmakers are not due to vote on the matter until after March 2 elections.
The request is “in line with the law… (and) with the goal of continuing to serve you, for the future of Israel,” Netanyahu told reporters in Al-Quds (Jerusalem).
His spokesman Ofer Golan later confirmed the request had been submitted to the speaker of Israeli parliament, the Knesset.
Netanyahu was charged by the attorney general in November with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate corruption cases.
The leader of the right-wing Likud party denies the allegations and accuses prosecutors and the media of a witch hunt.
Reacting to the premier’s announcement, his rival Benny Gantz, the leader of the centrist Blue and White party, said “Netanyahu knows that he is guilty.”
Gantz said his own party will do everything it can to “prevent immunity”.
“In Israel, nobody is above the law”.
A sitting prime minister is only required to step down once convicted and after all avenues of appeal have been exhausted.
The end of the year is often a time of relative calm when the various parties to a conflict take a moment off, even when they declare nothing of the sort publicly (there are, of course, exceptions to this rule of thumb, such as the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979). This year, both the Russians and the US ended the year in a climax of sorts which we shall look into.
Another rule of thumb says that, “past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior”, and this turned out to be very true in both cases: the Russians did more of what they have done all year long, as did the Americans. Specifically:
• Uncle Shmuel decided to bomb five bases of the group Kata’ib Hizbullah in Iraq in retaliation for an attack on the K1 U.S. base in Iraq
• Defense Minister Shoigu announced that the first regiment of Avangard equipped ICBMs was fully operational and on combat alert.
Let’s take a look at the implications and consequences of these two events.
The U.S. airstrikes on Kata’ib Hizbullah units in Iraq
First, just to clarify, Kata’ib Hizbullah has nothing to do with Hezbollah in Lebanon. The word “Hezbollah/Hizbullah” simply means “party of God” and Kata’ib Hizbullah simply means “Brigades of the Party of God”. Yes, both groups have similar names and they are both Shia. Kata’ib Hizbullah probably aims at becoming an Iraqi version of Hezbollah, and while they even have a similar flag, Kata’ib Hizbullah is neither an offshoot nor creation of Hezbollah. Kata’ib Hizbullah was created as a direct response to the U.S. invasion of Iraq (whereas Hezbollah in Lebanon was blow-back from the Israeli invasion of Lebanon).
This being said, there is no doubt in my mind that the U.S. actions in the Middle-East, and especially the total and abject subservience of the US to Israel (and when I say “subservience” I am being polite, really) have greatly contributed to facilitating the alliance and cooperation of all Shia factions in the Middle-East. The best example of such cooperation is the support the Yemeni Houthis get from Iran (but “support” is not the same as “proxy”, and Iran had nothing to do with the devastating Houthi counter-strikes against the KSA).
I won’t go into the details of the recent strike, especially since “b” on Moon of Alabama already has done a very good job analyzing it. What I will do is simply suggest an answer to the rhetorical question “b” asks at the end of his analysis: “Yesterday’s attacks guarantee that all U.S. troops will have to leave Iraq and will thereby also lose their supply lines to Syria. One wonders if that was the real intent of those strikes”.
My personal opinion is that Occam’s razor and past events ought to suggest that the most straightforward explanation is much more plausible than any kind of “5d chess” strategy.
Furthermore, far from suggesting that this latest expression of the hatred of the Iraqi people for Uncle Shmuel will result in a withdrawal, we already see the exact opposite happening: not only has the US announced that it will send another 750 soldiers to Iraq, but it has also announced that another 4,000 troops might also be send to the region, to the immense joy of its Israeli overlords who can’t wait for a US attack on Iran (how nice that the “only democracy in the Middle-East” is always cheering for as much violence and wars as possible).
Does that look like a preparation for withdrawal to you?
Finally, there is also Donald The Great with his usual garden variety of empty threats like this wonderful tweet:
The U.S. Embassy in Iraq is, & has been for hours, SAFE! Many of our great Warfighters, together with the most lethal military equipment in the world, was immediately rushed to the site. Thank you to the President & Prime Minister of Iraq for their rapid response upon request….
If the Islamic Republic decides to challenge & fight, it will do so unequivocally. We’re not after wars, but we strongly defend the Iranian nation’s interests, dignity, & glory.
It sure doesn’t look like anybody in Tehran is taking Trump, or the US, seriously.
And, frankly, why would they?
As Ayatollah Ali Khamenei correctly pointed out – there is nothing much the US cando about what is taking place all over the Middle-East; except, of course, starting a war which the US will most definitely lose (Hollywood inspired delusions of invincibility notwithstanding).
I believe that the U.S. Deep State has no intentions at all of leaving Iraq (or Syria, for that matter). Furthermore, far from being a strike to justify a withdrawal, this strike was aimed at bullying the Iraqi people into submission and acceptance of the lawless and thug-like behavior of the US in their country. Simply put, Pompeo & Co. did what Uncle Shmuel always does when they do not know what to do: they crudely decided to use brute force with the goal of terrorizing their adversaries into submission.
You might object that this strategy has not worked in decades, and you would be right. But here is the catch: the weaker the AngloZionist Empire looks, the more the Empire feels that it ought to restore its putative ability to terrorize by doubling-down, again and again. This mental block is called, “la fuite en avant” in French, which can be translated as a flight forward: that is what you do when all you can do is what got you into serious trouble in the first place, because:
It did work in the past.
You don’t have the intellectual capability to imagine any other approach.
Because you sincerely believe that violence always solves all problems (as in the German saying “Wenn es mit Gewalt nicht geht, dann geht es mit mehr Gewalt”)
Those familiar with Hegelian dialectics will immediately see what is happening; the Empire is being destroyed from within, as a result of its own internal contradictions and its inability to evolve to a higher level of functioning. This inherent corrosiveness within the Empire does not require an external enemy, it destroys itself due to its very nature.
Finally, and just as pathologically dysfunctional, is the fact that the only “solution” the leaders of the Empire could devise to the current crisis is to send in even more forces to reinforce the huge embassy compound in Baghdad. Obviously, Uncle Shmuel can’t even begin to imagine a strategy not solely predicated on violence.
This clearly shows that the expression, “insanity is repeating the same thing over and over again expecting different results” still fully applies to the rulers of the US.
Now let’s take a look at how Russia ended the year
Russia deploys the Avangard (and more)
Remember how after Putin’s famous speech, the so-called “Russia specialists” declared that all these weapons did not exist, that they were all just computer animations?
Well, now probably the most exotic and “incredible” weapon mentioned by Putin (the Avangard) is fully operational and on combat duty. The Russians went so far as to show that weapon to US inspectors. Still, there remains a tiny minority which do not believe the “Russian hype”, despite an unambiguous report by the GAOwhich clearly states that “There are no existing counter-measures” against hypersonic weapons, and who will only admit the existence of these weapon systems if they get vaporized by them. But what do these Russian weapons (especially the Mach 10+ Kinzhal and the Mach 27+ Avangard) mean for the rest of us?
One one hand, this is very good news because it it yet another sign that Russia is now fully prepared for war, including total nuclear war. To put it differently, all the hopes that the U.S. had regarding the development of an ABM system which could stop a Russian counter-strike (following a U.S. attack) are now gone. Not only have the new Russian weapons made the US carrier fleet obsolete, it also made the US ABM plans obsolete too. Thus, in theory, this new reality ought to deter even the craziest folks at the Pentagon, CIA, NSA and White House.
On the other hand, however, this is not good news, because now the U.S. has a factual basis to declared that it feels threatened. Why? Because of the tricky issue of first-strike stability.
I can state categorically that Russia will never deliberately start a war, least of all against the US (the Russians understand that Russia could never escape a US counter-strike, even if delivered by the comparatively old US nuclear triad), but that is not an assumption the Pentagon’s force planners can make. Simply put, the Avangard + Burevestnik (nuclear powered infinite range cruise missile) combo could seem rather destabilizing from the point of view of what is called first strike stability (for a detailed discussion see here). For the time being, only one ICBM regiment has been outfitted with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles while the Burevestnik is still in the late stages of testing. But we also know that three more regiments are scheduled to receive the Avangard in the near future while the testing and evaluation of the Burevestnik is near completion (in spite of a possible recent accident). Once ready, this missile will probably be deployed in large numbers. Right now U.S. defense planners will have to assume that both systems will be deployed in numbers sufficient to affect the first strike stability between Russia and the US.
The solution? To hammer out a new strategic arms treaty between the two countries. Alas, at this point in time, the U.S. leaders show no interest in any such treaty. Worse, the New Start Treaty will soon lapse.
I suppose that in the demented political culture of the US any kind of treaty with Russia is a “sign of weakness” and is therefore “unpatriotic”. Still, first strike stability is one of those things which, along with cooperation in space, self-evidently benefits both nations (not to mention the rest of the planet) and, therefore, almost any strategic arms limitation/reduction would be highly desirable (the one exception to this rule would be a dramatic reduction in the number of deliverable warheads, even by both sides, which would threaten also first strike stability; see here and here for a discussion).
Finally, Russia ended the year by launching the newest Yasen-M-class SSN/SSGN, the Novosibirsk. This class of subs, arguably the most advanced on the planet, can function as both a nuclear attack and a missile attack submarine: it has eight torpedo tubes as well as ten vertical missile launch silos which can launch all sorts of missiles, including hypersonic ones. Most amazingly, it has only 64 crewmen, which suggest an unprecedented level of automation (the latest Virginia-class sub has a crew of 134). The Yasen-M is truly an amazing submarine, the big question now is how many of those Russia will be able to build? Probably not enough to really please the Russian force planners, but probably enough to create yet another major headache for the USN.
What is crucial to understand here is that the Avangard, the Yasen-M and all the other weapons systems Russia has deployed (the Avangards, Zirkons, Bastions, Sarmats, Pereswets, Burevestniks, Poseidons etc. are only the ones discussed in the western media, in reality there are many more) are but the tip of a much bigger iceberg: for the past 5 years or so Russia has been preparing for total war precisely to try to deter the US from doing something literally “terminally” stupid. Will that be enough to shock the leaders of the AngloZionist Empire out of their delusions or grandeur and invincibility?
I honestly don’t know. I hope that it will. But, frankly, I am not sure. Listening to the likes of Trump, Pompeo, Bolton and the rest of these ignorant and self-deluded clowns, not to mention the English language corporate media, I don’t feel very reassured, to put it mildly. Let us pray that the actual deep-state decision makers can still discriminate between feel-good propaganda for the masses and the actual reality out there.
Conclusion: two diametrically opposed approaches to security
Trump is stuck in a position where he has no other choice but to continue to threaten anybody and everybody. This kind of manic aggression towards the entire planet is what passes for “looking presidential” in the current US political doxa. This, at least, is not Trump’s fault and it all began a very long time ago (remember Dukakis cruising around in a M-1 tank or Dubya landing on a carrier with “Mission Accomplished” in the background?). Not that I am excusing Trump in any way: no adult leader of a nuclear superpower should even think issuing such silly but nonetheless most dangerous threats towards any other sovereign country, never mind another nuclear superpower. But let’s be honest here: every single US President starting with Clinton and all his successors was a clown of one kind or another and Trump is probably not the worst of them. As I have said many times, at this point the problem is not the man (or woman) in the White House, it is the entire system which is both terminally dysfunctional and unreformable.
The year 2020 will be dominated by the (frankly treacherous) attempts of the Dems to subvert the US Constitution and overthrow Trump. Like many others, I predict that this will boomerang into the Dems collective face and will yield a landslide victory for Trump (the Democratic Party is at least as unreformable as the US political system). Externally, Trump will probably continue to simultaneously threaten the EU, Russia, China, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Yemen, Lebanon, Venezuela, Mexico, Turkey, etc. and the entire worldwide Muslim community (keep in mind the following stats: there are about 2 billion Muslims out there, and make up a majority of the population in 49 countries around the world). Basically, the US believes that it can simultaneously threaten, sanction and otherwise bully (or even attack), most of the countries on the planet and prevail. To call this delusional is an understatement.
For Russia 2020 will be an important transition year. This is best illustrated by the compromise deal reached with the EU and the Ukraine on gas: Russia yielded to some of the Ukrainian demands solely in order to show support for the EU which is now slowly showing signs of truly getting fed-up with the endless stream of threats and demands coming from across the Atlantic. You could say that Russia agreed to a tactical concession in order to secure a strategic objective.
The Germans and the French, in particular, seemed to have finally(!) realized that they gained nothing and lost a lot in their subservience to the US . The Russian plan is quite simple, really: show the EU that Russia has more than enough force to smash any US/NATO/EU attacking force while, at the same time, indicating that Russia is more than willing to cooperate, and even compromise, to establish normal, civilized, relations with Europe. This being said, Russia will only agree to relatively minor compromises, simply because her real priorities, political and economic, are not in the West anymore, but in the South, North and East and, especially, China (quick reminder: the top exports of Russia are crude petroleum ($96.6B), refined petroleum ($58.4B), petroleum gas ($19.8B), coal briquettes ($16.1B) and wheat ($7.93B); the top export destinations of Russia are China ($39.1B), the Netherlands ($27.7B), Germany ($19.9B), Belarus ($18.5B) and the United States ($15.4B).] Yes, the EU is still important to Russia, but not a top priority anymore.
How can all this be summed up?
Well, and paraphrasing a famous quote by Foreign Minister Lavrov, we could say that
the US plan is to turn allies into friends, turn friends into partners, turn partners into neutrals and turn neutrals into enemies and
the Russian plan is to turn enemies into neutrals, turn neutrals into partners, turn partners into friends and turn friends into allies.
I will let you decide which of these two plans is viable and which one is not.
I wish you all the best in 2020, especially peace.
استشهاد نائب رئيس هيئة الحشد الشعبي أبو مهدي المهندس وقائد قوة القدس قاسم سليماني بقصف صاروخي أميركي قرب مطار بغداد الدولي، ومراسل الميادين ينفي صحة الأنباء التي تتحدث عن اعتقال شخصيات فصائلية عراقية من قبل القوات الأميركية، وأمين مجمع تشخيص مصلحة النظام في إيران محسن رضائي يقول “إننا سننتقم انتقاماً شديداً وقوياً من أميركا على قتلها سليماني”.
أفاد مراسل الميادين باستشهاد نائب رئيس هيئة الحشد الشعبي أبو مهدي المهندس وقائد قوة القدس قاسم سليماني بقصف صاروخي مروحي أميركي قرب مطار بغداد الدولي.
وأفاد مراسلنا باستشهاد محمد رضا الجابري مسؤول تشريفات هيئة الحشد الشعبي في العدوان، وأوضح أن قصفاً وهمياً نفّذ بصواريخ كاتيوشا استهدف موقعاً عسكرياً في محيط مطار بغداد، وأن طائرات مروحية أميركية نفذت غارات في محيط مطار بغداد عقب سماع اصوات قصف وهمي للصواريخ، في وقتٍ قالت معلومات للميادين إن مراقبة الجنرال قاسم سليماني ونائب رئيس هيئة الحشد الشعبي كانت عينية في المطار.
مشاهد أولية للتفجيرات الصاروخية
المراسل قال إن لا صحة للأنباء التي تتحدث عن اعتقال شخصيات فصائلية عراقيةـ وبالتالي هناك نفي للأنباء عن اعتقال الخزعلي والعامري من قبل قوات “المارينز” الأميركية.
التلفزيون الرسمي العراقي بثّ نبأ استشهاد سليماني وأبو المهندس بقصف استهدف سيارتهم على طريق مطار بغداد.
يأتي ذلك بعد قصف نفذّه طيران مروحي بعد الإدعاء بتنفيذ عملية قصف صاروخي، في وقت تحدثت فيه خلية الإعلام الأمني عن “سقوط 3 صواريخ كاتيوشا على مطار بغداد الدولي قرب صالة الشحن الجوي ما أدى إلى احتراق عجلتين اثنين وإصابة عدد من المواطنيين”.
مراسلنا تحدث عن انطلاق صافرات الانذار في محيط مطار بغداد بعد سماع دوي 3 انفجارات.
المراسل قال إن صوت الانفجار تكرر ثلاث مرات من جهة مطار بغداد الدولي وسط تحليق مكثف للطيران في سماء العاصمة.
وكانت مروحيات أميركية مقاتلة حلّقت طوال يوم أمس الخميس على نحو متواصل فوق المنطقة الخضراء في بغداد قبل أن تغادر وتحلّق شرق العاصمة، حيث توجد في المنطقة أيضاً مقار حكومية وبعثات دبلوماسية.
واستهدف القصف الذي نفذّته طائرات أميركية، اللواءين 45 و46 في الحشد الشعبي عند الحدود العراقية السورية، كما استهدف أيضاً أحد مواقع الإسناد العسكري التابعة لكتائب حزب الله العراق.
ردود فعل
قائد المقاومة المسيحية في العراق ريان الكلداني قال “لا أرثيكما فأنتما علمتمونا أن نحتفل بالشهادة، فدمكم دين في أعناقنا… وستهتز أركان من تجرأ… ونحن نغتسل بدمكم ونمضي نحو الثأر والنصر”.
ونعى التيار الصدري في العراق الشهيدين الجنرال سليماني وأبو مهدي المهندس.
Supporters of Iraq’s Hashd al-Sha’abi force hold placards depicting trampled US symbols reading in Arabic “Welcome” during a protest outside the US embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on January 1, 2020 to condemn the US air strikes that killed 25 Hashd fighters over the weekend. (Photo by AFP)
Ramin Mazaheri is the chief correspondent in Paris for Press TV and has lived in France since 2009. He has been a daily newspaper reporter in the US, and has reported from Iran, Cuba, Egypt, Tunisia, South Korea and elsewhere. He is the author of the books ‘I’ll Ruin Everything You Are: Ending Western Propaganda on Red China’ and the upcoming ‘Socialism’s Ignored Success: Iranian Islamic Socialism.’
The recent protests at the US embassy/city-state/Superman fortress of solitude in Iraq undoubtedly served notice of what the 2020s will bring for Iraq: freedom from three decades of US domination and terrorism.
The protests were shocking for many reasons. Iraq has been under the boot of the US for so long many around the world thought such resistance was impossible. Pity the poor, underestimated Iraqis: even when they did engage in civic disobedience the West sought, as usual, to give all the credit/blame to Iran. After dominating them so long, the West is incapable of seeing Iraqis as a people/culture with the power of self-determination. The endless refrain is “Iran-backed militias”, but it is Iraqis who staff those militias and who crossed into the Green Zone.
The past few days have produced much for us to comment about, but what good are such comments regarding the Iraqi context if we divorce ourselves from their past few decades?
There was a lot of debate, first provoked by the British medical journal The Lancet, about the death toll from Gulf War II, but few seem to remember the horrific death toll from Gulf War I of Bush père: 400,000 Iraqi dead, half of them civilians. Just 300 deaths combined among the anti-Iraq axis.
That’s a stunning figure which should not be forgotten, but to the “blame Iran” crowd in the West this war never happened. In fact, Gulf War I to Americans is something of a joke: the images of precision missiles going down chimneys, ecstatically broadcast in a ratings uber-bonanza for the still-new 24-hour news of CNN, helped “restore pride” to an America whose last conflict was Vietnam. The short-lived economic boom of the 1990s followed, and Gulf War I was barely an afterthought immediately.
Sanctions, however, are not a ratings bonanza for CNN – the blockaded Cubans, allegedly starving North Koreans and the horrifically-sanctioned Iraqis (which ran until Gulf War II) do not provide exciting, pride-swelling, jingoism-fuelling footage. Quite the opposite, which is why the US runs no such footages; they didn’t have to ban footage of dead US soldiers for Gulf War I, but the “free press” of the US allegedly remained “free” even when they did just that for Gulf War II. One would think that in the “blame Iran” crowd one or two Americans might point out that this era of Husseinian splendor amid everyday want (and during the last era of global economic expansion) might have produced just a bit of anti-American resentment which may still linger?
Gulf War II came, but has it really gone? Is Iraq any different than a French neo-colonial subject in Africa, with foreign troops protecting the interests of foreign capital and not the welfare of the people?
Questions worth answering, but the “blame Iran” crowd only insists that the Gulf War II devastation of Iraq – maybe unparalleled since the “Korean conflict” – is the fault of non-belligerent Tehran. The destruction of infrastructure capital, the wasting/fleeing of human capital, the lives ruined by death/maiming/psychological trauma – this is all too much for a human to fully grasp, but one should not take the approach of the US and make no effort to grasp it at all.
This lack of effort at self-reflection is very typically American even within their own society – if America’s leaders will push a McCarthy-era Russophobia wave for three years just to avoid honest discussion of the failures of the Democratic Party and “democracy with American characteristics”, then why should we expect those leaders to be honest about Iraq? Why should we ask those leaders to honestly account for the murders, bombings, assassinations, strangulations and corruption they ordered for three decades?
Given the three decades of US domination and occupation, how can anyone be surprised by the recent protests targeting their embassy?
Indeed, many Iraqis, especially their young, are probably saying, “Why did it take so long to get here?”
A protester wearing the Iraqi flag stands outside the US embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on January 1, 2020 during a demonstration. (Photo by AFP)
Two thousand nineteen was a momentous year in the Middle East because a local nation proved for the first time in two centuries that they have technological and military parity with Western capitalist-imperialists in the war theater of the Middle East. That country is Iran, which already began proving 40 years ago that they have a political, intellectual and artistic (cinema) culture equal to or better than, and certainly more modern and “of the historical moment”, than that of the West. What we saw on these Western new year’s eve protests in Iraq is a spreading confirmation of these slow, long-running historical trends, processes and facts.
The protests were cheered by many worldwide of course: even if the Western political and media elite has these insane anti-Iran and pro-US capitalism-imperialism blinders on, the average person does not. Many hoped the protests would turn into a new Tahrir Square, like in Egypt, but they were disbanded after only two days.
That seems like a sad development, but the people of Iraq, Iran and their allies realize that sending out a force is no good unless that force can be controlled. Egypt was not under foreign occupation, after all. Many Iraqis justifiably feel they are at war and the embassy protests were an “attack” – it was not a place to spontaneously express patriotism and see how that may or may not coalesce.
I suggest that the protest force was sent home because the damage has been done. After all, has the Green Zone ever been so breached?
The psychological and cultural consequences of this two-day affair are nothing but positive for Iraqis and nothing but negative for Americans and their corrupt, self-interested allies.
It is thus very similar to Iran’s military victories in 2019 – shooting down a drone, stopping a British-flagged tanker: these are not enormous military victories but they are enormously symbolic. They are not the momentous result of long battles but instead herald the very beginning of new long-term forces which are increasing in inevitability every moment.
Yet again in the past year, American planners were dumbfounded, scared and did not know how to react. The US is not powerless in Iraq but for a long moment they felt that way – for a long moment Iraqis felt powerful over Americans. These are not small cultural and psychological things, given the Iraqi historical context.
On a larger level: Hussein came to power by repressing the intersection of democracy and Islam with as much bloody zeal as any Western neo-imperialist. He fought a war at the behest of the West to destroy the Iranian democratic revolution because it dared to unify these two ideas, and proved that they are not acids and bases. When Hussein insisted that Iraqi Baathists are equal to their secular Western counterparts, the West destroyed his country with a blockade and then occupation.
The role of Baathism in Iraq is up to Iraqis to decide, not me. However, its history – and for many reasons beyond their control – is not very stirring, to say the least. If a majority of Iraqis want more of an intersection between Islam and Iraqi democracy than what Baathism tolerated, they do have an example to look at – Iran. It is precisely because Iran provides this example that they are the root of all evil in the Muslim world to Western capitalist-imperialists and Islamophobes. It is not only that Iranians have created a successful society on par with the top Western nations, but the West most certainly needs a scapegoat, due to their history in the region.
A 1979 US embassy occupation is an historical inevitability in Iraq – we thought maybe this was it, but it was not.
Perhaps Iraq is truly not ready? They have been rather debilitated for several decades, after all. Nor does Iraq have a shah to kick out first – an embassy occupation for Iraqis would seemingly be the start of their revolution, whereas in Iran the occupation came nine months after the victory of their revolution.
Iraq is not Iran, of course, but the recent events at the Baghdad embassy show that both cultures view the presence of the US in their country as a major, major source of domestic strife and problems.
The reason a US embassy occupation in Iraq is an historical inevitability is because – despite the “blame Iran” propaganda – there is no chance that the US and Iraqis can have a mutually beneficial co-existence due to:
1) the presence of American soldiers,
2) the three decades of violent war, sanctions and occupation waged by the US,
3) the network of corruption created by US capitalist-imperialist influence and ideology, which ensures only and always a subservient role for Iraq, and which purposely disempowers their full potential,
4) the very ideology, practices and culture of the Washington, which are predicated on competition, violence and corruption, which makes them fundamentally opposed to mutually-beneficial cooperation.
(The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Press TV.)
Uprooted Palestinian 
@realDonaldTrump
