The new unilateral sanctions by
the United States against Iran, Russia and Syria add to the previous actions
concerning the same three targets. They now form the most unforgiving embargo
in History. The way in which
they have been organised is illegal according to the definition of the Charter
of the United Nations – these are weapons of war, designed for killing.
For
his visit to Moscow on 8 November, ambassador James Jeffrey was tasked with
explaining the current US obsession with the expansion of Persian influence in
the Arab world (Saudi Arabia, Bahrein, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen). Washington
now wishes to formulate this question in geo-strategic rather than religious
terms (Shiites/Sunni), while Teheran is organising its national defence around
forward posts composed of Shiite Arabs.
Moscow
then considered the possibility of negotiating on Teheran’s behalf for the
easing of unilateral US sanctions, in exchange for its military withdrawal from
Syria. President Vladimir Putin confirmed his proposition, not only for his US
opposite number, but also for the Israëli Prime Minister, during their meeting
in Paris on 11 November for the celebrations marking the centenary of the end
of the First World War .
He attempted to convince the
Westerners that Russia alone in Syria was preferable to the Irano-Russian
tandem. However, he could not guarantee that Iran would have sufficient
authority over Hezbollah – as both Washington and Tel-Aviv pretend – to be able
to order it to withdraw also.
Washington’s
only answer, nine days later, was to announce the eleventh series of unilateral
sanctions against Russia since the beginning of August. This was accompanied by
a ridiculous speech according to which Russia and Iran had together organised a
vast plot aimed at maintaining President Assad in power and expanding Persian control
in the Arab world.
This
rhetoric, which we believed had been abandoned, assimilates three states (the
Russian Federation, the Syrian Arab Republic and the Islamic Republic of Iran)
as machines in the service of three men (Bachar el-Assad, Ali Khamenei and
Vladimir Putin) who are united by the same hatred of their respective peoples.
It ignores the massive popular support they enjoy, while the United States are
profoundly torn apart.
We
can leave aside the stupid assertion that Russia is aiding and abetting the
conquest of the Arab world by Persia.
According
to the US Secretary of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, who presented the
unilateral US sanctions on 20 November, they do not form the economic section
of the present war, but are intended to punish the « atrocities » committed by
these three « régimes ». However, on the verge of winter, they mostly concern
the supply of refined petroleum to the Syrian people so that they may light
their homes and keep warm.
It is
not necessary to specify that the three states targeted deny the « atrocities »
of which they are accused, while the United States pursue the wars that they
started in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria.
The
US sanctions were not decided by the United Nations Security Council, but by
the United States alone. They are illegal in international law because in order
to make them lethal, Washington is attempting to force third-party states to
associate themselves with the motion, which constitutes a threat to the states
targeted and therefore a violation of the United Nations Charter. The United
States have the sovereign right to refuse to enter into commerce with other
states, but not to exercise pressure on third-party states in order to harm
their targets. At one time, the Pentagon claimed that inflicting damaging
treatment on a particular nation would lead its people to overthrow its
government. That was also the theoretical justification for the bombing of
Dresden during the Second World War and the endless embargo against Cuba during
the Cold War. However, in the space of 75 years, this theory has never,
absolutely never, been verified by the facts. Now the Pentagon is considering
using detrimental treatment against a nation as a weapon of war like any other.
Embargoes are designed to kill civilians.
The ensemble of systems currently used against Iran, Russia and Syria
constitute the most gigantic siege system in History [1]. These are not economic measures, but –
without any possible doubt – military actions implemented in the economic
sector. In time, they will probably lead to a division of the world into two
parts, just as in the period of USA-USSR rivalry.
Secretary
Mnuchin insisted at length on the fact that these sanctions were aimed above
all at the interruption of the sale of hydro-carbons, meaning depriving these
countries – mostly exporters— of their main financial resources.
The mechanism described by
Steven Mnuchin is as follows:
Syria is presently unable to
refine petrol since its installations were destroyed either by Daesh or by the
international Coalition’s bombing raids against Daesh.
For the last four years, Iran
has been supplying refined petrol to Syria in violation of previous unilateral
US sanctions. This petrol is transported by Western companies working for the
Russian public company Promsyrioimport. This company is paid by the private
Syrian company Global Vision Group, which is itself financed by the Iranian
company Tabir Kish Medical and Pharmaceutical.
Syria is presently unable to
refine petrol since its installations were destroyed either by Daesh or by the
international Coalition’s bombing raids against Daesh. For the last four years, Iran
has been supplying refined petrol to Syria in violation of previous unilateral
US sanctions. This petrol is transported by Western companies working for the
Russian public company Promsyrioimport. This company is paid by the private
Syrian company Global Vision Group, which is itself financed by the Iranian
company Tabir Kish Medical and Pharmaceutical.
The War on Terror: The...Christopher
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Finally the Global Vision
Group transfers a part of the money it receives to Hezbollah and Hamas.
This
a cock and bull story :
The international Coalition
has the official objective of fighting Daesh. However, numerous testimonies
over the last four years attest that it had alternatively bombed the Islamic
state whenever it exceeded the zone which had been allocated to it by the
Pentagon (the Wright plan), and that, on the contrary, it had parachuted
weapons to Daesh in order to maintain its position in the specified area. The
two entities worked together to destroy Syrian refineries.
What is the purpose of
implicating the Russian government in the transfer of petroleum from Iranian
refineries towards Syrian ports?
Why would Iran suddenly need
Syria to transfer money to Hezbollah and Hamas?
Why would Syria transfer
Iranian money to Hamas while the Palestinian organisation – whose leaders are
members of the Muslim Brotherhood – is at war with them?
The international Coalition
has the official objective of fighting Daesh. However, numerous testimonies
over the last four years attest that it had alternatively bombed the Islamic
state whenever it exceeded the zone which had been allocated to it by the
Pentagon (the Wright plan), and that, on the contrary, it had parachuted
weapons to Daesh in order to maintain its position in the specified area. The
two entities worked together to destroy Syrian refineries. What is the purpose of
implicating the Russian government in the transfer of petroleum from Iranian
refineries towards Syrian ports? Why would Iran suddenly need
Syria to transfer money to Hezbollah and Hamas? Why would Syria transfer
Iranian money to Hamas while the Palestinian organisation – whose leaders are
members of the Muslim Brotherhood – is at war with them?
Steven
Mnuchin doesn’t bother with long explanations. As far as he is concerned, Syria
is criminal state and Russia is its accomplice, while Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas
are all « terrorists ». This is the most important point, the word that cancels
out thought.
A
French proverb assures that « When you want to drown your dog, you claim it has
rabies ». So there’s no point expecting logic in Secretary Mnuchin’s answer to
President Putin’s proposition of mediation.
Progressively,
the United States are withdrawing their troops from the conflicts in which they
were engaged, and replacing them with mercenaries on the ground (the jihadists)
and economic sanctions, the modern version of the medieval siege.
—
[1] Although during the Middle Ages,
Christianity accepted wars between the Catholic sovereigns, it condemned
military actions against civilians. In the 13th century, the Catholic Church
therefore condemned all sieges when they concerned not only soldiers but also
populations. This ethic has remained that of the Holy See until today. For
example, Pope John-Paul 2 opposed the United States when they applied economic
sanctions against the Iraquis during the reign of Saddam Hussein. His
successor, Pope Francis, remains silent on this question.
French
intellectual, founder and chairman of Voltaire Network and the Axis for Peace
Conference. His columns specializing in international relations feature in
daily newspapers and weekly magazines in Arabic, Spanish and Russian. His last
two books published in English : 9/11 the Big Lie and Pentagate.
The
articles on Voltaire Network may be freely reproduced provided the source is
cited, their integrity is respected and they are not used for commercial
purposes (license CC BY-NC-ND).
