Turn East

Written by Nasser Kandil,

The US-British-Jordanian preparations on the southern borders of Syria are no longer secret, and it became known that the visit of the US Chief of Staff to Tel Aviv is within the context of the preparation for what is so-called the processes on the southern front for which it was mobilized nearly five thousand militants from different nationalities. What was announced in the Israeli press was that the US visit aims to coordinate the efforts and to ask Israel for just the information and the intelligence support lest its direct intervention will lead to sabotage of the opportunities of the success of the process, and a bigger escalation that becomes out of control, and that its impact will be negative on the process and on Israel in particular.

The positions issued by Syria and its allies ensure that the response will be critical against any foreign intervention inside the Syrian borders, the information which came from Moscow says that those concerned in Washington and Amman in particular know that, while the responses issued by the Americans and the Jordanians through the diplomatic communications and media positions say that there are no intentions to collide with Syria, Russia, and their allies despite the announcement of Washington and all of its allies their hostility against Hezbollah and Iran, they consider that the cooperation to prevent the expansion of the resistance axis in the southern of Syria is within the announced goals. Some of the sources that belong to Washington took the responsibility to clarify the meaning of the military process in the southern of Syria on one hand, and the non-collision with Syria and Russia on the other hand, they say that the process is not as it seems apparently to seize part of the Syrian southern geography as the Turks or as the Kurds did in the north.

The Southern process according to the US sources aim to enter into a small line starts from the south to the north along the Syrian-Iraqi bordered line under the pretext of securing the area to prevent the infiltration of ISIS groups which flee from Mosul from reaching to Jordan and Syria, in addition that Washington sponsors this process and it does not want to turn it into a reason for a collision neither with Russia nor with Syria, the sources say that the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will discuss the details of the process with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and will try to have the contest of Moscow or at least its non-objection and understanding.

The resistance axis including the Syrian-Iranian and the resistance parties asserts its information about the field and the logistical preparations of the process, it considers the goal of the Syrian-Iraqi borders is right, but the goals are not related to what the Americans say but to complete the US seek to have control over the Syrian-Iraqi borders in the north to connect them from the south at Al Natf point, so having control on the borders between Syria and Iraq compensates the US failure in having control on Syria and Iraq. The geographical Syrian-Iraqi connection allows spreading oil and gas pipes and trade exchange, and allows an open supply line to the resistance, Syria, and Iran and later the way to the Mediterranean will be opened in front of Chine, so those who have control on the borders between Syria and Iraq will control the future of the economic and military equations in the Middle East and in Asia.

Moscow shares its allies their perspective and their concern, it ensures that it will unambiguously notify Washington that the supposed process is a change of the political and the military geography, and the announced goal does not justify it because the Syrian army with the support of Russia is ready, and it has started its progress to close the border line, so affecting its accomplishing of that task means there is something intended.

“Turn east” is announced by the Syrian army and the allies because it summarizes “Move to the South”.

Translated by Lina Shehadeh,