Geopolitics / Middle East

• Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Petro-Political ‘Peace’ for Syria

  We’ve got an extremely muddled peace process going on for Syria right now, and petro-politics defines agendas and actions. A US-Russian “peace” conference will be held later this month, and Qatar and Saudi Arabia have tabled a controversial resolution at the UN. The Qatar-Saudi resolution accuses the Syrian regime of using chemical weapons, which is not true even according to a UN investigating committee, which demonstrates that chemical weapons were more likely used by certain rebel forces. The resolution clearly lays the foundation for handing over Syria’s UN seat to Western-GCC-supported Syrian opposition figures (and basically, Sunni radicals under the…

• Attacking Iran’s Nuclear Sites Would be Sheer Madness

  A timely article by Wade Stone for Global Research examines what would happen to the oil producing nations of the Gulf in the event that Israel would target Iran's nuclear reactors and facilities; the reply and the scenario given is nothing short of a nightmare. Most, if not all, the cities in the region of the Arabian Gulf – Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait City, Riyadh and others – would become uninhabitable for decades to come.The article provides a good study of the ensuing catastrophe that would result. Though frightening as it is, the article looks at the issue mostly from…

• The Road to Damascus is Paved With Ill-Intent

  The Biblical conversion of Paul to Christianity “on the road to Damascus” implied a turning point for the onetime antagonist of Christ. But now the road to Damascus is an unmarked and uncertain path, full of treachery and hidden motives ...  Events unfolding in the Levant — particularly with regard to the externally-sponsored conflict underway within Syria — during April and May 2013 were being played out like a flickering, imprecise lantern show in the international media, distorting and mis-directing major states’ policies toward the region.   The actual events on the ground were on one planet; those same events portrayed…

• As Kurds Gain Power, Baghdad May be Ready to Deal

  As the Iraqi Kurds boost their bargaining power with their first unilateral sale of crude oil on the international market, and new unilateral pipelines coming online soon, Kurdish officials and Baghdad have reached a tentative agreement to restore relations. Last week, the Iraqi central government and authorities of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) put together a seven-point deal that could see the Kurds resume oil exports to Iraq in return for a revision of the Iraqi 2013 budget, which cut two-thirds out of the Kurd’s share. On 1 May, KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani announced that the two sides…

• Should the US Intervene in Syria?

  Should the United States become militarily involved in Syria? Should Washington impose a no-fly zone, grounding the government’s warplanes and attack helicopters, thus giving the opposition forces a better chance? Should President Barak Obama send in US troops to quell the fighting and the increasing violence of which there seems to be no end in sight? And would the deployment of American troops in Syria not simply add to an already complex situation, turning the conflict into another military quagmire for American forces similar to what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan?  Indeed, in the event of a US intervention, just…

• SYRIA: EU Lifts Oil Embargo to Help ‘Opposition’

  Bottom Line: The European Union has lifted its oil embargo on Syria ostensibly to provide “economic support” to the rebels fighting the Assad regime, but the rebels—40%+ infiltrated by Sunni jihadist groups—are not cohesive enough to make use of the oil fields they now nominally control, and the Assad regime controls the country’s two refineries. Analysis: When the EU on Monday lifted its oil embargo on Syria, it should have taken anyone who has a clear understanding of what is going on in Syria right now by surprise. In the north, the Kurds control one oilfield—purportedly protecting it on behalf…

• The Implications of the EU’s Lifting Sanctions on Syria’s Oil

  In an astute political move the European Union lifted its embargo Monday on oil imports from Syria. Actually better make that an embargo lifted on oil imports from rebel held areas in Syria.  This is a de facto sidelining of the regime in power by the EU and recognition of the rebels as the legitimate representatives of the Syrian people. Which opposition group will represent Syria in future talks with the EU however remains as murky as the war many of the various factions engaged in the Syrian conflict are fighting. Indeed, the forces queuing up to help President Bashar Assad…

• Will Syrian Oil Developments Mirror Libya's?

  Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri said in an April 7 message that Syrian opponents of Bashar Assad should work to establish an Islamic state. Civil war, now in its third year, shows few signs of ending and a lack of international solidarity on the way forward has fractured the country's rebel movement. Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer, described Syria's al-Qaida wing, Jabhat al-Nusra, as the "fastest growing al-Qaida movement in the world." Al-Nusra's allegiance to al-Qaida has forced the Free Syrian Army to distance itself from the movement, highlighting the lack of cohesion among opponents of the Assad regime. Nevertheless,…

• Syria: When is Enough, Enough? When the Oil becomes “Islamized!”

  The "cruelty and carnage" in Syria, is how the situation in that country has been described in a rare joint statement by the chiefs of five UN organizations. The statement came accompanied by a plea to the international community to take concrete action and stop the bloodshed.“Enough!” It cried out as fierce fighting continues to claim lives.The chiefs of the WHO, UNICEF, OCHA, WFP and the UNHCR urged political leaders to do “something more than funds” to help end the crisis in Syria. The United Nations reports that to date no less than 70,000 people have lost their lives and…

• Iraq-Jordanian $18 billion pipeline – Reality or Fantasy?

  The Middle East is not renowned for thinking small, especially in terms of energy projects.The Jordanian and Iraqi media are announcing, amidst great fanfare, an agreement to construct a 1,043 mile-long new dual $18 billion pipeline, to transit Iraqi crude oil and natural gas to Jordan, capable of transmitting one million barrels of oil and 258 million cubic feet of gas per day from Iraq’s Basra port on the Arabian Gulf to Jordan's Aqaba port in the Gulf of Aqaba on the Red Sea.The project has apparently moved beyond the planning stage, as Iraq oil ministry's State Company for Oil…