More Details on Saudi Spook Bandar discussions with Putin

 

More Details on the visit of Saudi Spook Bandar to Moscow and discussions with Putin   Reproduced below is a report from As-Safir (Lebanon) on website Al -monitor with more details about the visit of Saudi intelligence czar Prince Bandar to Moscow during which he first held a meeting with the Russian intelligence chief and then had a four hour long session with President Vladimir Putin .The details have  apparently been leaked by Russian sources to remove any doubts about the Russian stand on issues in Middle  East specially Syria which is of vital concern to Moscow in its strategic calculus vis a vis USA, even though the latter is in decline, of which the visit itself is an indicator. Influence of Saudi money and of other Gulf monarchies is on ascent in the region , while tiny Qatar has piped down.   Muslim Brotherhood ( MB) was created , financed and assisted by UK to counter nationalist parties and movements in Egypt and oppose Gama Abdul Nasser .Given shelter in Saudi Arabia and other GCC states , MB organized cells in these countries and hence GCC's vehement opposition to MB.   I had briefly covered the visit earlier http://tarafits.blogspot.in/2013/08/putin-unimpressed-by-top-saudi-spook.html   Putin was not taken in by the monkey tricks and monetary bribes and other offers by Prince Bandar and stood firm on his current policy on Syria , also touching on good relations with the Military regime in Cairo and excellent bilateral relations with Turkey.   Russian President, Saudi Spy Chief Discussed Syria, Egypt Translated from As-Safir (Lebanon).

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2013/08/saudi-russia-putin-bandar-meeting-syria-egypt.html

 

A diplomatic report about the "stormy meeting" in July between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan concluded that the region stretching from North Africa to Chechnya and from Iran to Syria — in other words, the entire Middle East — has come under the influence of an open US-Russian face-off and that "it is not unlikely that things [will] take a dramatic turn in Lebanon, in both the political and security senses, in light of the major Saudi decision to respond to Hezbollah's involvement in the Syrian crisis."

The report starts by presenting the conditions under which the Russian-Saudi meeting was convened. It states that Prince Bandar, in coordination with the Americans and some European partners, proposed to Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz that Bandar visit Moscow and employ the carrot-and-stick approach, which is used in most negotiators, and offer the Russian leadership political, economic, military and security enticements in return for concessions on several regional issues, in particular Syria and Iran.

King Abdullah agreed with the proposal and contacted President Putin on July 30. In a conversation that lasted only a few minutes, they agreed to Bandar's visit and to keep it under wraps. Bandar arrived in Moscow. The visit was secret. The Saudi Embassy did not follow the usual protocol for Saudi officials visiting Russia.

In Moscow, a preliminary session was held at Russian military intelligence headquarters between Bandar and the director of Russian Military Intelligence, Gen. Igor Sergon. The meeting focused on security cooperation between the two countries. Bandar then visited Putin's house on the outskirts of the Russian capital, where they held a closed-door bilateral meeting that lasted four hours. They discussed the agenda, which consisted of bilateral issues and a number of regional and international matters in which the two countries share interest.

Bilateral relations

At the bilateral level, Bandar relayed the Saudi king's greetings to Putin and the king's emphasis on the importance of developing the bilateral relationship. He also told Putin that the king would bless any understanding reached during the visit. Bandar also said, however, that "any understanding we reach in this meeting will not only be a Saudi-Russian understanding, but will also be an American-Russian understanding. I have spoken with the Americans before the visit, and they pledged to commit to any understandings that we may reach, especially if we agree on the approach to the Syrian issue."

Bandar stressed the importance of developing relations between the two countries, saying that the logic of interests can reveal large areas of cooperation. He gave several examples in the economic, investment, oil and military arenas.

Bandar told Putin, "There are many common values ​​and goals that bring us together, most notably the fight against terrorism and extremism all over the world. Russia, the US, the EU and the Saudis agree on promoting and consolidating international peace and security. The terrorist threat is growing in light of the phenomena spawned by the Arab Spring. We have lost some regimes. And what we got in return were terrorist experiences, as evidenced by the experience of theMuslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the extremist groups in Libya. ... As an example, I can give you a guarantee to protect the Winter Olympics in the city of Sochi on the Black Sea next year. The Chechen groups that threaten the security of the games are controlled by us, and they will not move in the Syrian territory's direction without coordinating with us. These groups do not scare us. We use them in the face of the Syrian regime but they will have no role or influence in Syria's political future."

 

Putin thanked King Abdullah for his greetings and Bandar for his exposition, but then he said to Bandar, "We know that you have supported the Chechen terrorist groups for a decade. And that support, which you have frankly talked about just now, is completely incompatible with the common objectives of fighting global terrorism that you mentioned. We are interested in developing friendly relations according to clear and strong principles."

 

Bandar said that the matter is not limited to the kingdom and that some countries have overstepped the roles drawn for them, such as Qatar and Turkey. He added, "We said so directly to the Qataris and to the Turks. We rejected their unlimited support to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and elsewhere. The Turks' role today has become similar to Pakistan's role in the Afghan war. We do not favor extremist religious regimes, and we wish to establish moderate regimes in the region. It is worthwhile to pay attention to and to follow up on Egypt's experience. We will continue to support the [Egyptian] army, and we will support Defense Minister Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi because he is keen on having good relations with us and with you. And we suggest to you to be in contact with him, to support him and to give all the conditions for the success of this experiment. We are ready to hold arms deals with you in exchange for supporting these regimes, especially Egypt."

 

Economic and oil cooperation

Then Bandar discussed the potential cooperation between the two countries if an understanding could be reached on a number of issues, especially Syria. He discussed at length the matter of oil and investment cooperation, saying, "Let us examine how to put together a unified Russian-Saudi strategy on the subject of oil. The aim is to agree on the price of oil and production quantities that keep the price stable in global oil markets. ... We understand Russia's great interest in the oil and gas present in the Mediterranean Sea from Israel to Cyprus through Lebanon and Syria. And we understand the importance of the Russian gas pipeline to Europe. We are not interested in competing with that. We can cooperate in this area as well as in the areas of establishing refineries and petrochemical industries. The kingdom can provide large multi-billion-dollar investments in various fields in the Russian market. What's important is to conclude political understandings on a number of issues, particularly Syria and Iran."

 

Putin responded that the proposals about oil and gas, economic and investment cooperation deserve to be studied by the relevant ministries in both countries.

 

Syria first

Bandar discussed the Syrian issue at length. He explained how the kingdom's position had evolved on the Syrian crisis since the Daraa incident all the way to what is happening today. He said, "The Syrian regime is finished as far as we and the majority of the Syrian people are concerned. [The Syrian people] will not allow President Bashar al-Assad to remain at the helm. The key to the relations between our two countries starts by understanding our approach to the Syrian issue. So you have to stop giving [the Syrian regime] political support, especially at the UN Security Council, as well as military and economic support. And we guarantee you that Russia's interests in Syria and on the Mediterranean coast will not be affected one bit. In the future, Syria will be ruled by a moderate and democratic regime that will be directly sponsored by us and that will have an interest in understanding Russia's interests and role in the region."

 

Russia's intransigence is to Iran's benefit

Bandar also presented Saudi Arabia's views about Iran's role in the region, especially in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, Bahrain and other countries. He said he hoped that the Russians would understand that Russia's interests and the interests of the Gulf states are one in the face of Iranian greed and nuclear challenge.

 

Putin gave his country's position on the Arab Spring developments, especially about what has happened in Libya, saying, "We are very concerned about Egypt. And we understand what the Egyptian army is doing. But we are very cautious in approaching what's happening because we are afraid that things may slide toward an Egyptian civil war, which would be too costly for the Egyptians, the Arabs and the international community. I wanted to do a brief visit to Egypt. And the matter is still under discussion."

 

Regarding Iran, Putin said to Bandar that Iran is a neighbor, that Russia and Iran are bound by relations that go back centuries, and that there are common and tangled interests between them. Putin said, "We support the Iranian quest to obtain nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes. And we helped them develop their facilities in this direction. Of course, we will resume negotiations with them as part of the 5P+1 group. I will meet with President Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the Central Asia summit and we will discuss a lot of bilateral, regional and international issues. We will inform him that Russia is completely opposed to the UN Security Council imposing new sanctions on Iran. We believe that the sanctions imposed against Iran and Iranians are unfair and that we will not repeat the experience again."

 

Erdogan to visit Moscow in September

Regarding the Turkish issue, Putin spoke of his friendship with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan; "Turkey is also a neighboring country with which we have common interests. We are keen to develop our relations in various fields. During the Russian-Turkish meeting, we scrutinized the issues on which we agree and disagree. We found out that we have more converging than diverging views. I have already informed the Turks, and I will reiterate my stance before my friend Erdogan, that what is happening in Syria necessitates a different approach on their part. Turkey will not be immune to Syria's bloodbath. The Turks ought to be more eager to find a political settlement to the Syrian crisis. We are certain that the political settlement in Syria is inevitable, and therefore they ought to reduce the extent of damage. Our disagreement with them on the Syrian issue does not undermine other understandings between us at the level of economic and investment cooperation. We have recently informed them that we are ready to cooperate with them to build two nuclear reactors. This issue will be on the agenda of the Turkish prime minister during his visit to Moscow in September."

 

Putin: Our stance on Assad will not change

Regarding the Syrian issue, the Russian president responded to Bandar, saying, "Our stance on Assad will never change. We believe that the Syrian regime is the best speaker on behalf of the Syrian people, and not those liver eaters. During the Geneva I Conference, we agreed with the Americans on a package of understandings, and they agreed that the Syrian regime will be part of any settlement. Later on, they decided to renege on Geneva I. In all meetings of Russian and American experts, we reiterated our position. In his upcoming meeting with his American counterpart John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will stress the importance of making every possible effort to rapidly reach a political settlement to the Syrian crisis so as to prevent further bloodshed."

 

As soon as Putin finished his speech, Prince Bandar warned that in light of the course of the talks, things were likely to intensify, especially in the Syrian arena, although he appreciated the Russians' understanding of Saudi Arabia's position on Egypt and their readiness to support the Egyptian army despite their fears for Egypt's future.

 

The head of the Saudi intelligence services said that the dispute over the approach to the Syrian issue leads to the conclusion that "there is no escape from the military option, because it is the only currently available choice given that the political settlement ended in stalemate. We believe that the Geneva II Conference will be very difficult in light of this raging situation."

At the end of the meeting, the Russian and Saudi sides agreed to continue talks, provided that the current meeting remained under wraps. This was before one of the two sides leaked it via the Russian press.

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2013/08/saudi-russia-putin-bandar-meeting-syria-egypt.html#ixzz2cln6QjqU

Putin Unimpressed by Top Saudi Spook Bandar’s Monkey Tricks

Putin Unimpressed by Top Saudi Spook Bandar's Monkey Tricks

 

A long and bloody upsurge is on all over former Ottoman Arab Provinces and Anatolia

 

The revolts and rebellions across the Arabic* speaking Muslim world from Morocco to the Gulf is only the beginning of a long and a bloody churning of feudal -medieval polities ,mostly frozen ,many still in seventh century beliefs and practices, have only begun to unfold only recently .This vast region was first conquered , Islamized , Arabized ,colonized, exploited and ruled basically by nomads and other neighboring tribes and their descendents from the barren deserts of Arabia from 8 century onwards .Later the region was taken over slowly by the new all powerful Turkish Sultans ,the descendents of tribal chief Ertugrul's son Osman ( hence Osmanli and Ottomans ) and his hordes based in Istanbul. The Sultans' most feared troops , Janissaries ,were formed out of Christian levies/slaves initially from Anatolia and then  the Balkans and east Europe under the Devshirme system , who were converted to Islam and Turkified , with absolute total loyalty guaranteed to the Sultan and the empire .Most top functionaries like grand viziers , governors and military commanders emerged from this system. Even when the line of brilliant Ottoman dynasty commanders and rulers faded, bureaucrat's i.e. grand viziers and other leaders, loyal to the state kept the ship of the empire afloat with good governance. The empire from which over twenty five states (and more) have emerged lasted for five centuries.

 

The decline of the Ottoman empire began in end 16 century , when its troops were defeated and rolled back from the Gates of Vienna .While there are many other reasons for the decline and fall of the empire , increase of obscurantist Islamic ideology after the conquest of Egypt which controlled Mecca and Medina and taking over of the Caliphate by the Ottomans led to influx of Mullahs i.e. men of religion could be one of them .The nomads from central Asia were catholic and cosmopolitan in outlook and allowed educational, cultural and religious freedoms to 'millets' of other religions in the empire ( There seems to be some parallel with the current situation in Turkey , where with financial aid  and support from Saudi Arabia in billions of dollars the AKP leader PM Erdogan has become very authoritarian and Islamist every day ( President Abdullah Gul worked in Saudi Islamic bank in Jeddah for 8 years ) Erdogan led AKP won almost 2/3 seats in the Parliament elections in end 2002 with only 34% of votes cast .Since then like 'tyrannies' in Greek histories transition from kingdoms to democracy , it has won all election since then but its Islamist , exclusivist and divisive policies have alienated secular and other people and led to protests in nearly all its provinces , sparked by spontaneous protests in Geze park and Taksim square in Istanbul and its brutal suppression.

 

Following further defeats by European powers, Ottomans lost territories in Europe and across north Africa which were taken over , colonised and exploited , by colonial powers like France, Britain and Italy . Thus evolution and modernization of the polities did not take place as in the republic of Turkey  . The current upsurge and the churning of frozen polity is and will bring upheavals all along north Africa and West Asia including Turkey, the last because of its ambitious and adventurous policies of AKP led PM Erdogan..

 

In India ,after the first few decades since independence ,a degenerating Indian political ruling system and machine is decaying very fast .The loyalty is to the caste ,ethnic , religious, linguistic and other divisive leaders and families , partly a result of a flawed electoral system, by which 31% of votes cast gets the throne in UP and 20% of Jats always rule Haryana and so on, elsewhere too .India has now reverted back to end Mogul era ie a  feudal system with medieval outlook receding back into tribalism i.e. leaders based on caste , religious, ethnic, linguistic and sub-regional loyalties .Thus India is not even a representative ( of people) democracy . Local satraps rule as in end Moghul era.

 

Reverting back to greater Middle East ,incidentally the total percentage of migrants from central Asian Turkestan into Turkey from 11 century onwards is less than 15% and so would be the percentage of Arab blood across north Africa , perhaps even less, in the total populations of its own indigenous tribes like Tuaregs, Kabilias , Nubians and dozens others .Most in the region before the arrival of Arab Islam were ruled by Romans and Byzantines from Rome and later Constantinople (now Istanbul since 1453) and in eastern West Asia and Caucasus and the Gulf by the Persians .

 

Wars between Romans/Byzantines and Persians over many centuries had exhausted both the empires and horse riding bedouins from the barren sands of Arabia with other even non Arab tribes joining in the battles, many for the spoils of the wars ,conquered the territories of former Byzantine and Persian empires from south of Spain across Morocco and up to the borders of China in Eurasia  .

 

In most places the kingdoms and communities had long traditions of established religions , beliefs , philosophy ,languages and very diverse and sophisticated cultures .Many acquiesced and accepted Islam most reluctantly , evident in the formation of tapestries of various forms of Islam like Sunnis of various hues, Shias ( Twelvers , Alevis , Alwaites , Ismailis , Druzes and Ghulat Islamic variations ( I visited some villages down south of Mardin along the Turkish /Syrian border and Tur Abdin in SE Turkey where people believed in worshipping even a  reformed Devil .When I inquired from one person where the religion had come, he said India ( possibly from north hilly Iraq in my view ).In Turkey , the bird turkey is called Hindi –anything exotic comes from India ! .

 

The greater Middle East including Turkey and the whole region is already immersed in bloody battles .No one knows what will be the outcome . To strengthen Israel and occupy Iraq's oil fields and to control the region , criminals led by George Bush and Blair illegally invaded Iraq .While million and half Iraqis have been killed and Iraq lies divided , devastated and destroyed and depleted Uranium infested , Iran has been strengthened. The sacrifice of Iraqis has broken the US military as admitted by late decorated Congress position holder Marine Col John Murtha .US dare not put it troops in Middle East or elsewhere .The Iraqi sacrifice is equivalent to the Union Soviet sacrifice in WWII , which destroyed 80% of Nazi war machine .the Yankees only mopped up the remnants and claimed victory and burnished it  through Holly wood films like 'Longest day ' Gen Patton 'etc .US and British leaders should be tried like Nazi war criminals .Many distinguished War crimes tribunals in Malaysia and elsewhere have after due trial , with testimonies from Abu ghraib and other victims have been pronounced guilty of war and other crimes .

 

Like men in heat of extra testosterone would rape any one even children, leaders of countries like US, UK and other European states with excessive testosterone of military hardware have been raping many countries around the world .

 

* In 1964 end when I was posted to Algiers from Cairo , where I had learnt Arabic (but could not fully understand Al Ahram) very few in Algerian Foreign office and elsewhere spoke Arabic except one who was a teacher of Arabic language .Most spoke French or other native languages like Kabili .I was called Muallim/Muddaris ! Many hundreds of Arabic teachers were invited from Syria and Lebanon to impart Arabic to Algerians .President Ben Bella would deliver extempore speeches at most international summits in fluent French but at Arabic meets speak out from a written speech in Arabic.) Col Huari Boumiddienne , who over threw Ben Bella , lived in the Peoples Presidential Palace , just across the road from my flat on Rue Franklin Roosevelt .Boumiddienne ,had studied at Al-azhar in Cairo. Even after half century of independence , the ruling elite is French speaking , much resented by speakers of native languages and even Arabic.

 

Barring the last hundred years , and even during this period strategic changes have  been brought about by wars in greater Middle East . the region now awaits epochal upheavals and changes.

 

Below is my article on decisive wars in the region in ancient times written on the eve of US led illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003.

 

At the end is the article on the recent not too hush hush visit of Saudi Intelligence Czar Prince Bandar bin Sultan to Moscow for  a meeting with Vladimir Putin by inimitable no holds barred journalist Pepe Escobar and  the rebuff to the Saudi visitor .Saudis think they can bribe every one. They have certainly the US, UK and Pakistani leaders among others .

 

Amb(Retd) K.Gajendra Singh 13 August, 2013. Mayur Vihar, Delhi -91

 

West vs East, at daggers drawn    3 April, 2003
By K Gajendra Singh  www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED03Ak01.html.

Veni, vidi, vici ("I came, I saw, I conquered") spoke Julius Caesar in 78 BC at a town called Zile, 300 kilometers northeast of Ankara, after victory in a battle lasting barely four hours over Pharnaces II, son of Mithradates VI of Pontus. Mithradates the Great (meaning "gift of the Aryan god Mithra"), a common name among Anatolian rulers, had contested Imperial Rome's hegemony in Asia Minor.

 

Of course, the self-styled successors of Imperial Rome, the hawks in the US administration, had hoped to emulate Caesar after a few days of Operation Iraqi Freedom in the cities of Basra, Baghdad and Kirkuk. But the reality has been quite disillusioning - even to the point of bringing some "Shock and Awe" home to the States.

Up to the Ides of March, 2003, the US and Turkey had been very close allies for half a century, with the government of the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) even putting up for a vote (in spite of a large majority of Turks opposing a war on Iraq) a proposal to allow the US use of Turkish bases for stationing troops and opening a second front from northern Iraq.

But things have gone awry, with the Turks declaring that they would send more troops into northern Iraq when they deem it necessary, and the US making threatening noises against any such action. Verily, the erstwhile allies are at daggers drawn.

For Turkey, questions of security and vital strategic concerns are involved. In such a situation, Turkey is known to follow its national interest as it did in 1974, when it invaded the island of Cyprus to guard its interests. Turkish troops still remain there.

Echoes of Mithradates
A US victory over Saddam Hussein does not appear to be as quick in coming as Western leaders and the US media had made it out to be. Certainly it is going to be quite messy. The coalition of the willing has already lost more soldiers in combat than in the 1991 Gulf War. But let us get back to Mithradates. In a long career of conquest he had saved Crimea (Ukraine) from the Scythians and the Greeks from Rome. He was defeated many times by the Roman generals, but his greatest victories over Rome and its client states in Anatolia came in 88 BC, when he had conquered most of the Roman province of Asia.

Most of the Greek cities in Western Asia Minor had allied themselves with Mithradates, although a few held out against him. Then he organized a general massacre of the Roman and Italian residents in Asia in which nearly 80,000 were said to have been killed. When the course of the war turned against him, he became severe against the Greeks; every kind of intimidation was used - deportations, murders, freeing of slaves. In 85 BC, when the war was clearly lost, he made peace with the Roman general Sulla in the Treaty of Dardanus, giving up his conquests, surrendering his fleet and paying a large fine. Then in the second Mithradatic war, the Roman general Lucius Murena attacked Mithradates without provocation but was defeated in 82 BC. After many ups and downs, Pompey completely defeated both Mithradates and his son-in-law Tigranes, the ruler of Armenia. Mithradates escaped to Crimea When he wanted to attack Rome via the Danube, there was a general revolt against him, including by his son. A powerful man, Mithradates would not die by poisoning himself, so he had to order a slave to kill him.

Yes, the victory of US war machine against Iraqis may be like that of Caesar, but with one crucial difference: the damage was not that widespread then. It did not turn the world upside down, as the US attack on Iraq is likely to do.

Lessons from the Trojan War
Writing in the International Herald Tribune just before the US-led war, Nicholas D Kristof recalled the Trojan War perhaps the very first world war between Europe and Asia, marked not just by heroism but also by catastrophic mistakes, poor leadership and what the Greeks called ate: the intoxicating pride and overweening arrogance that sometimes clouds the minds of the strong.

Troy, Kristof said, offered three lessons: First, even when one has a legitimate grievance, war is not always the best solution. The Greeks were initially divided on attacking Troy. Even heroes like Agamemnon and Odysseus were reluctant. Yet the hawks won the day, in part by offering an early version of the Bush doctrine: if we let the Trojans get away with kidnapping Helen, then they'll steal women again; if we don't fight them now, we'll have to later, when they're stronger.

It turns out the doves were right. So many lives were lost "in this insane voyage", as Achilles put it, "fighting other soldiers to win their wives as prizes", that even for the victorious Greeks the struggle was simply not worth it. "Why must we battle Trojans?" Achilles asks, in what could have been an early advocacy of the alternate strategy of containment.

A second immortal truth of war is the crucial importance of maintaining allies. The Greeks outnumbered the Trojans by more than 10 to 1, but they were almost defeated because of feuding within the Greek "coalition of the willing". Agamemnon was the Donald Rumsfeld of his day, needlessly angering his key allies - and outraging Achilles by swiping his concubine Briseis. Agamemnon later tried to mollify Achilles, but the latter still withdrew from battle, threatened to go home and said things like "ca ne marche pas" (that won't work).

The third lesson has to do with the fall of Troy itself. Some experts have offered a hawkish lesson - the vulnerability of even the most refined city to military weakness. After all, an armed attack destroyed Troy in an instant: yet the story makes it clear that Troy's fundamental failing was not a military one. Better intelligence might have helped, but above all Troy was destroyed by its refusal to listen to warnings about the wooden horse.

So, by Zeus, that third lesson from Troy is the paramount need to listen to skeptical voices. Virgil suggests that the Trojans rashly brought the wooden horse inside their city despite the alarm of two early pundits - Cassandra and Laocoon, who warned against Greeks bearing gifts. If the Trojans had just thought it over for a week, by the Greeks inside would have died of thirst. But the Trojans dismissed the warnings as "windy nonsense" and sealed their fate.

"We Americans are the Greeks of our day, and as we now go to war, we should appreciate not only the beauty of the tale, but also the warnings within it," concludes Kristof.

Iliad and Odyssey
The Iliad was probably finalized around 750 BC, and the Odyssey around 650 BC (Greek writing started around 650 BC). It is felt that the Odyssey, so different from the Iliad, was not composed by Homer, the blind bard of Asia Minor, but probably by a young lady (a Jane Austen) somewhere on the Sicilian coast with time to spare. But let that pass. But there certainly is an historical basis for the story of the abduction of the Spartan King Menelaus' wife Helen by the Trojan Prince Paris. Menelaus' brother, King Agamemnon of Achaeans, then decided on a voyage of punishment and retrieval.

For Western culture and civilization, the Iliad and Odyssey are almost like the Mahabharata and Ramayana are for Indians, making their (presumed) composer Homer one of the most influential authors in the widest sense. The two epics provided the basis for Greek education and culture throughout the classical age and formed the backbone of humane education down to the time of the Roman Empire and the spread of Christianity. The Homeric epics had a profound impact on the Renaissance culture of Italy. Since then the proliferation of translations has helped to make them the most important poems of the classical European tradition.

Troy 6, the site of Homer's Iliad, has been dated to about 1260 BC. At the time of the Trojan War, there was the majestic and magnificent Asian Hittite Empire (1800 BC to 1200 BC) in central Turkey, the citadel of whose capital, Bogazkoy, has a circumference of five kilometers. The Troy fortress measures 200 yards by 150 yards. Excavations show that Troy perhaps fell as a result of weakening by an earthquake .It was assaulted and set on fire, women and children taken as slaves. The Hittite empire meanwhile extended from north of Turkey to Syria and up to Babylon (Iraq). Hittites were contenders for the control of Syria with the Egyptian Pharaohs and the local Aryan kingdom of Mitannis in the southeast of Turkey.

Evidence from Hittite archives indicates that Troy was a small state in alliance or subordinate to the empire. It was attacked when the Hittite empire was in decline and fighting its new enemy, the Assyrians (from Iraq) in the East. So this 10-year great Trojan war drama was but a storm in a teacup compared to the great sweep of Hittite history.

Mesopotamia, mother of civilization
Western and European civilization are founded on Greek civilization, which itself comes from Cretian civilization, which in turn is based on Egyptian and Phoenician civilizations. Both are indebted to Mesopotamia, verily the mother of all civilizations, which evolved mostly between the Tigris and Euphrates in Iraq and southeast Turkey. The evolution in human progress took off six millennia ago.

But the fourth millennia BC was remarkable not only here but in the Nile Valley and the Indus Valley. From family units the polity developed into villages and cities, kingdoms and empires. The cities were ruled by the God and in his name by the king. To begin with, the first deity was Earth, the mother goddess. Civilizations in Mesopotamia were created by Sumerians, Babylonians, Akkadians, Assyrians and others. Nile adopted cylindrical seals from Mesopotamia and the beginnings of writing. The Nile civilizations are magnificent, well preserved but unidirectional, as they flourished mostly in isolation.

This brief background is necessary as Westerners talk of the superiority of their culture over the East, including even some prime ministers, eg Silvio Berlusconi.

Wars in southeastern Turkey and Iraq
Barely 80 kilometers east from Adana lies Issus, just north of the Turkish port of Iskendrun (where US armored units had been awaiting permission from the Turks to be taken into the country).This is where the the emperor Darius fled when attacked by Alexander of Macedonia, even leaving behind his family. The final defeat was inflicted at Gaugamela between Nineveh and Mosul (in Iraq). Nearby Kirkuk is now the bone of contention among Arabs, Kurds, Turkomens and Turks. Diyarbakir, which the US had wanted as a base for its troops, is ancient Amida, now the largest Kurdish city. Nearly 250 kilometers northeast lies Manzikert, near Lake Van, where the Byzantine emperor Romanus IV Diogenes was defeated and captured in 1071 by the Seljuk Turk Sultan Alparslan.

Romanus had come with 150,000 soldiers to teach Alparslan (with 14,000 horsemen) a lesson. Divisions in the Roman ranks led to their defeat. Romanus's Turkomen troops had gone over to Alparslan, and one of his generals, Andronicus Ducas, fled with his men. Even the Seljuk chief Alparslan was saved only by the loyalty of his Turkish mamelukes (slaves). This opened Anatolia for Turkish conquest, first by the Seljuks and then by the Ottomans, whose janissaries knocked at the gates of Vienna twice in the 16th century, a memory which even now sends shivers down European spines.

Around 200 kilometers south of Malatya (another base the US had wanted) lies another Kurdish city, Haraan, near the border with Syria. Here the Parthians had defeated the Roman emperor Crassus Marcus Licinius in 53 BC, capturing the legion standards and taking the loot to Ctesiphon (near Baghdad), then the winter capital of the Parthians and later of Sasanians. Crassus, who was governor of Syria, had attacked the Parthians with a large force to gain military glory and be at par with the other triumvirs, Julius Caesar and Pompey. After he lost the war at Carrhae near Harran, he was killed.

If one zigzags a few hundred kilometers south from Diyarbakir along the Tigris (Dicle in Turkish), one will pass the city of Batman, then Hassan Kief, the Kurdish Ayubid stronghold now submerged under a dam, and then Cizre, the hot border post between Turkey and Kurdish Iraq. (Many believe that it was on the nearby Judi mountains that Noah's ark rested, and not on Mount Ararat as is generally believed). Another 50 kilometers south along the Tigris into Iraqi Kurdish territory, one will reach Gaugamela, the battlefield of final victory by Alexander over Darius and the termination of the Achaemenean empire, then at its peak.

When you drive south from Diyarbakir, after 100 kilometers you will reach Mardin, an old Arab city. Perched at 1100 meters above sea level, it gives a panoramic view for hundreds of kilometers of flat upper Mesopotamian plains below toward Baghdad, Basra and the Gulf. A 20-kilometer descent south takes you to a modern West-East highway coming from Turkish ports of Iskendrun and Mersin along the border with Syria. Before the 1990 sanctions against Iraq, hundreds of trucks used to ferry goods from Turkey and Europe to Iraq. To reach the northern Iraqi Kurdish highlands, you have to drive 150 kilometers east to Turkey's frontier towns of Cizre and Silopi.

The Kurdish areas of Turkey and Iraq are difficult mountainous terrain. They constitute upper Mesopotamia, the center of many civilizations and also of many historic battles and wars. Unable to produce enough to establish or sustain a large kingdom or empire, the divided Kurdish highlands have always remained a place of dispute between empires based in Iran, Iraq and Turkey, and even as far as Russia.

Numerous battles have decided the fates of empires and kingdoms in the region. This area will soon see new battles between Arabs, Kurds,Turkomens and Turks -- and perhaps even Iranians.

Current war on Iraq
There has been wide public opposition to the British prime minister supporting President Bush in his war for Iraqi regime change. Speaking in the House of Commons against the war on Iraq without a UN resolution, former British Defense Minister Peter Kilfoyle warned, "We are having a 19th century gunboat war in the Gulf, when the real dangers of terrorism should be isolated and dealt with as the first priority. [I] believe that this act would be illegal, it would be immoral and it would be illogical." Of Blair's propensity for comparing opposition to war to Munich appeasement, Kilfoyle said that "in 1938 I do not recall the League of Nations having inspectors in Germany dismantling the Panzers, as we have inspectors dismantling the weapons in Iraq today. He (Blair) made much about the terrorist dangers and quite rightly so. But does that not point out the idiocy of fighting the wrong war, in the wrong place, at the wrong time, against the wrong enemy."

Referring to the name of the allied operation - Shock and Awe - Kilfoyle said: "Think of what that name implies. The US is aiming to put 10 times as many missiles and precision bombs in the first 48 hours as was committed in the whole of the last Gulf War. This is against a country that has been decimated. I would say earnestly and honestly to the government that its impatience will reap a whirlwind, a whirlwind which will affect us and our generations to come."

Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, accused the government of acting inconsistently over Iraq and criticized the Conservative party for its support for Tony Blair. "When we come to consistency, can we remind ourselves where the Conservative party is concerned? Take the issue of weapons of mass destruction. After Saddam Hussein used them in 1988, they [the Conservative government] continued to sell arms to Iraq. They provided them with anthrax and other chemical weapons and they approved the construction of dual-use factories in Iraq." His conclusion: Compared to Iraq's US$1.5 billion defence budget, the US's, at nearly $450 billion, is 300 times as large. Iraq has been starved of food and medicines for 12 years, it got only $20 billion of $60 billion promised from the oil-for-food program (where is the rest?!). The world is certainly awed by the fact that the US spends as much to defend itself as the rest of the world put together, helped by the printing and export of greenbacks. Its deficit is as much as its defense spending. In spite of all that expenditure, current and former US administrations were not able to anticipate or avoid September 11, 2001.

Unable to get hold of Osama bin Laden and others dead or alive, the US is behaving like a castrated and raging bull. It is a successful example of self-hypnosis by the US media machine - with much help from the political leadership, beginning with Bush. It has even convinced the American public that many, if not most, of the perpetrators of the September 11 attacks were Iraqis, when most of them were from Saudi Arabia and others from Egypt. None was in fact from Iraq. No linkage between Iraq and al-Qaeda has been proved, in spite of the forging of documents by the US and the UK.

Without any casus belli, the US and its allies have now attacked Iraq with all their weapons of terrible destruction. Listening to some US defense experts, one can sense their glee in how the new war weapons and machines being used for the first time have such improved performance. As in the bombing of Serbia, new and better arms are being tested and used.

Look at the way the US treats prisoners of war from Afghanistan in Guantamano Bay. Its media was first to show Iraqi prisoners of wars, but when US POWs were shown on Iraqi TV or the Arab satellite news channel al-Jazeera, US leaders started talking about the Geneva Convention and human rights. The US has not even joined the International Criminal Court.

This war on Iraq without support from the United Nations Security Council is illegal. In the words of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, the war is against the UN charter. Yes, the US and the UK do want the United Nations involved in the reconstruction of Iraq, as if the body is a mere non-governmental organization (NGO), one of many. His Holiness Pope John Paul and most religious leaders around the world are opposed to this unjust war. This writer had a ringside view of the 1991 Gulf War in Amman. A clear case of Iraqi aggression against the independent state of Kuwait had been established.

It was opposed by all Arab and Muslim countries. Their governments were able to contain the anger and frustrations of the masses. Since then, they and the world have watched the butchery being enacted daily by the state of Israel. There are daily demonstrations in Arab cities, as well as cities around the world, against the war and the killing of civilians in Basra, Baghdad and elsewhere. With Ariel Sharon in power, a mention of the road map for a solution of the Israeli-Palestinian problem made by George Bush before the war - apparently more as an afterthought than anything else - has not fooled anyone. There could soon be total chaos verging on civil war in northern Iraq, with such little US presence in that turbulent area and no agreement with Turkey.

It was rumored in Amman during the 1991 Gulf War that Saddam Hussein had been warned that Baghdad would be nuked if he used his weapons of mass destruction. This time he, his family and supporters have only one choice - to fight to the finish. He will use whatever means are left in his hands. Iraq is now very much weaker than it was in 1991, but Saddam Hussein and his reliable Republican Guards, fedayeen and other forces will defend Baghdad and other cities and towns to the last. It is strange that the cold warriors in Washington have forgotten that Iraq's Republican Guard troops are battle tested, many with experience of hand-to-hand land battles against fanatic Iranian revolutionaries. It is bringing death and devastation onto the poor hapless long-suffering Iraqi population, and the consequences will be unpredictable. It will fully ignite the Crusade vs Jihad conflict.

Let there be no doubt about it. This war only exposes the bankruptcy of Anglo-Saxon policy, when 19th century methods of "bomb the natives, frighten and numb them by force", are being used to handle complicated 21st century problems of Islamic fundamentalism. In the words of Mary Robinson, the UN Commissioner for Human Rights, Bush is leading the world into unchartered waters, and bin Laden must be chuckling, wherever he might be.

What is being achieved is beyond bin Laden's wildest dreams.

(©2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com for information on our sales and syndication policies.)

 

 

Bandar Bush, 'liberator' of Syria
By Pepe Escobar  Asia Times , 13 August , 2013

Talk about The Comeback Spy. Prince Bandar bin Sultan, aka Bandar Bush (for Dubya he was like family), spectacularly resurfaced after one year in speculation-drenched limbo (was he or was he not dead, following an assassination attempt in July 2012). And he was back in the limelight no less than in a face-to-face with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Saudi King Abdullah, to quote Bob Dylan, "is not busy being born, he's busy dying". At least he was able to pick up a pen and recently appoint Bandar as head of the Saudi General Intelligence Directorate; thus in charge of the joint US-Saudi master plan for Syria. 

The four-hour meeting between Bandar Bush and Vlad the Hammer by now has acquired mythic status. Essentially, according to diplomatic leaks, Bandar asked Vlad to drop Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and forget about blocking a possible UN Security Council resolution on a no-fly zone (as if Moscow would ever allow a replay of UN resolution 1973 against Libya). In return the House of Saud would buy loads of Russian weapons. 

Vlad, predictably, was not impressed. Not even when Bandar brazenly insisted that whatever form a post-Assad situation would take, the Saudis will be "completely" in control. Vlad - and Russian intelligence - already knew it. But then Bandar went over the top, promising that Saudi Arabia would not allow any Gulf Cooperation Council member country - as in Qatar - to invest in Pipelineistan across Syria to sell natural gas to Europe and thus damage Russian - as in Gazprom's - interests. 

 

Full article below;

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-02-130813.html

Exploding Terrorism in Pakistan & Future Gwadar-Kashgar Industrial Corridor

 

 

Exploding Terrorism in Pakistan & Future Gwadar-Kashgar Industrial Corridor

Why not a Corridor from an Indian port via Kashmir

 

 

Below is a very well researched article by William Engdahl on the upsurge of terrorism in Pakistan and its further explosions , and Islamabad's massive project with Beijing for an industrial corridor from the Baluchistan port of Gwadar to Kashgar in Xinjiang .Obviously Washington will try to sabotage it , by promoting separatism and if possible by detaching Baluchistan from Pakistan, since the former province has been brutally treated by all ruling regimes in Islamabad ( somewhat like detaching Montenegro from Serbia to divide and destroy Russian influence in the Balkans)

 

I have also been of the view that no peace is likely to come in Pak Afghan region, with terror spillovers into the countries of the region including India .

 

May that as it may be, I am proposing that since Gwadar –Kashgar corridor will be opposed by US, perhaps, even Russia and others and unlikely to fructify with growing terrorism, India could at least consider possibilities of a project to offer China another option, from a Saurashtra port in India via Rajasthan, etc and J and K's Ladakh region. It will give a stake to China in India's stability and economic growth .This will be a win-win situation for both India and China .Beijing is flush with funds in trillions and is even planning a canal in Nicaragua parallel to Panama canal for $ 40 billion .Look at China, Russia and other Central Asian states collaborating on energy and other projects.

China is already building corridors linking it to Bay of Bengal via Myanmar and Bangladesh.

 

Do not rely on US led bankrupt West for investment in projects in India .They will oppose such a project via India tooth and nail .US will be supported in India by its proxies led by media ignorantis and pimps and Indian diplomats , especially those who were once posted in USA and have been brainwashed on eternal US hegemony . Like Indian PM MM Singh they loved deeply George Bush and now Osama.

 

With almost the same population, hard working Chinese GDP based on industrial production is almost 3 times India's and the gap is increasing. (When the European traders arrived in the subcontinent, Hindustan's (i.e. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) share in world manufacturing was 24.5 percent (in 1750) and after the British had done with India, the sub-continent's share had fallen to 1.7 percent (It was 32.8% and 6.1% respectively for China) and that of Britain had increased from 1.9 percent (in 1750) to 22.9 percent (in 1880) - [Rise and fall of Big Powers by Professor Paul Kennedy].

 

China has many internal and external aggravating problems and should be amenable to a border settlement or its freeze .I do not see India succeeding by force. Let the uninformed and ill informed Western pimps and ultranationalists in India shout at the top of their voice .China, Russia and other powers in Asia want stability and peace for economic growth to consolidate the incoming Asian century.

 

At least give it a thought.

 

Look at US ally Pakistan which while serving US interests in the region and Middle East , has been reduced to terror hub and narcotic paradise oozing into Indian Punjab and other states .In this do not forget the destructive role of Saudi petrodollars and Wahabi ideology in Pakistan and similar role in bringing Islamist PM autocrat Erdogans AKP govt ruled Turkey towards the precipice , as a result of which Ankara is now embroiled in a disastrous entanglement in Syria which is burning Turkey's border provinces with Syria and might even lead to separation of its Kurdish majority provinces if the region explodes like Iraq and Libya.

 

One of the greatest strategic thinkers and executors of all times ,Ataturk had followed the motto of 'Peace at home and peace abroad '. Before his death on the eve of WWII , he had advised his successors not to join any side , which they did not ,so as not to be occupied by the Nazis and then be 'liberated' by the Soviets . In Iraq-Iran war and the 1991 US led war on Saddam Hussein Turkey did not join nor in 2003 .In this the Turkish armed forces played a key role and in 1990 , the military chief even resigned when President Ozal was itching to join in .In 2003 , military would have joined only if Ankara was asked to put its troops in north Kurdish Iraq , over which it has residual claims .

 

Alas , the Turkish  armed forces have been humiliated and demoralized .How well can they fight if hundreds of its officers, retired and active , including top generals have been imprisoned and convicted .The backlash will come from the middle level officers .

 

Kautilya, a strategic Indian thinker in ancient times had rightly said that

 

"One shall make an alliance with a king who is stronger than one's neighboring enemy; in the absence of such a king, one should ingratiate oneself with one's neighboring enemy, either by supplying money or army or by ceding a part of one's territory and keeping oneself aloof; for there can be no greater evil to kings than alliance with a king of considerable power, unless one is actually attacked by one's enemy."

 

 "When the advantages derivable from peace and war are of equal character, one should prefer peace; for disadvantages such as loss of power and wealth, sojourning and sin are ever attending upon war."

 

K.Gajendra Singh , 10 August , 2013.

 

 

Pakistan to become the new 'major terror ground' in just six months

 

William Engdahl is an award-winning geopolitical analyst and strategic risk consultant whose internationally best-selling books have been translated into thirteen foreign languages.

 

http://rt.com/op-edge/pakistan-terrorism-separatism-economy-272/

 

Developing Pakistan-China ties which can drastically change the economic map of the region are threatened by Pakistani separatism, which might suddenly transform into another 'terror ground.'

As Washington continues sending its development assistance aid in the form of drones to bomb civilians illegally inside Pakistan's borders, allegedly to go after Taliban fighters, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif recently completed a trip to Beijing where he met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, his first foreign visit after the May elections. The Pakistani Federal Cabinet subsequently approved the start of negotiations and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on developing a "China-Pakistan Economic Corridor" long-term plan, and an action plan between the development ministries of the two countries.

 

The core of the new agreements between China and neighboring Pakistan calls for accelerated development of a 2,000-km trade infrastructure corridor linking Gwadar Port on Pakistan's Indian Ocean coast to Kashgar, the westernmost city in China's Xingjiang province. Pakistan has offered China a 'trade and energy corridor' via Gwadar, linked to inland roads. The plan would import oil from the Middle East, to refineries at Gwadar and sent on to China via roads, pipelines or railway. 

 

Xinjiang is also the heart of China's known oil resources and a transit area for major oil and gas pipelines. The development will cost billions of euros, which China reportedly has now pledged in the form of 'soft loans'. The railway infrastructure will provide crucial links for transporting oil and gas from the Persian Gulf and minerals and food from Africa will be the heart of the new project.

 

http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_61094.shtm

 

However, in six months this area will "suddenly" become a major "terror ground" that conveniently will disrupt the rail infrastructure link. It reminds me of the German Berlin-Baghdad Rail link to the Ottoman Empire before WWI that was the major cause for Britain to ally with Czarist Russia and France in the Triple Entente that became WWI in 1914.

 

Asian-gulf economic powerhouse?

China's needs for energy resources, food and minerals from the Gulf and Africa have boosted trade between the regions in the recent years. China's trade with the UAE alone has grown 15-fold since 2000 to reach $37 billion. It is expected to reach $100 billion by 2015. Some 2,500 Chinese firms have offices in Dubai. China's largest bank ICBC and the Bank of China also have branches in the Gulf sheikhdom where they are beginning to transact bilateral trade in Chinese renminbi rather than dollars.

 

The Chinese are currently upgrading some 600 kilometers of the China-Pakistan highway. The KKH was built in 1986 from Kashgar through Pakistan and the upgrade will make it suitable for heavy container traffic and linking it to Gwadar Port. China and Pakistan are also working to link Gwadar port and Xinjiang through a new Chinese-financed railway network. This will turn Gwadar Port and the KKH into a trade corridor for China and other Central Asians countries and create in Gwadar an energy, transport, and industrial hub providing direct and economical access to the Arabian Sea for both China and resource rich Central Asian states. 

 

It will generate billions of dollars in revenue for Pakistan and likely create about two million jobs.

Pakistan and China have signed agreements to help energy starved Pakistan to utilize the hydro-electric potential offered by the area by constructing the Diamer-Bhasha and Bunji dams.

China also wants to import gas from Iran by joining the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline that will pass through Gilgit Baltistan on the Pakistan border to Xinjiang in China.

 

Also Pakistan and China have signed agreements to develop entirely new industrial cities in various parts of Pakistan along the route of the rail link, including at Gwadar.

 

Close to the Straits of Hormuz, Gwadar has the potential to become the gateway to Central Asia and China. It's at the junction of the world's three most important strategic and economic regions–Middle East, South Asia and Central Asian states—giving it the potential, barring new wars, to generate billions in annual transit trade. As part of a shift in policy, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have recently been eagerly pursuing trade and economic links with China. 

 

The availability of a major alterative trade route that cuts distance and time from the present long and slow 8000 km route by ship from the Persian Gulf through the Malacca Strait to the eastern seaboard of China will give both the Gulf states, as well as parts of Africa where China is very active, and Asia, huge economic benefits.  

 

Enter Baluchistan 'Separatism'

Conveniently for Washington, which has no interest in fostering greater Chinese independence of energy supply, in recent months a growing militant separatist movement has erupted on the scene in Baluchistan, the Pakistan province where Gwadar is located. 

 

On June 15 this year, terror attacks including a suicide bombing of a bus filled with students and a gunfight in the city that left two dozen dead, hit the Baluchistan provincial capital of Quetta. 

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a militant separatist group, claimed responsibility. The BLA wasn't acting alone. As the injured students were being rushed to hospital, they ran into an ambush by the 'Pakistani Taliban', Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ).

 

The BLA has been involved in attacks on government oil fields and gas pipelines. The Pakistan government accuses India of being behind the BLA. India recently has been moving closer to the US and to Japan in a military alliance that has a distinct anti-China bent.

 

Further, on July 29, jihadist militants armed with rockets and heavy weapons launched a concerted assault on a major prison in Dera Ismail Khan, close to the South Waziristan tribal agency in northwestern Pakistan, along the route of the rail-highway-pipelines from Gwadar to Xinjiang, freeing an estimated 250 militants affiliated with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.

 

Terror attacks in Xinjiang too

Xinjiang has recently suffered from new rioting by separatist Muslim Uyghurs. In late June in Xinjiang, home to some 10 million Uyghurs, two terror attacks killed 35 people days ahead of the fourth anniversary of the July 5, 2009 riot in the capital Urumqi that left 197 people dead.

The Jihadist Uyghur terrorists apparently are being recruited in Turkey by an Uyghur independence organization, sent to Syria for combat experience and, if they survive, sent back to Xinjiang to carry out terror deeds there.

 

China's official daily, Global Times, reported in early July that a Muslim Uyghur from Xinjiang, Memeti Alili was arrested in Xinjiang during the new wave of terrorist acts and riots. The Chinese daily reported that the 23-year-old Alili confessed to police that he had been recruited as a student in Istanbul by something called the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM). Aili was arrested when returning to Xinjiang to complete his mission to "carry out violent attack and improve fighting skills." He confessed that he had been assigned to return by the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM). ETIM is a terrorist group that aims to create an Islamist state in Xinjiang, which works alongside the East Turkistan Education and Solidarity Association (ETESA), an Istanbul-based exile group. 

 

Muslim Uyghur youth are being recruited to go to Istanbul to "study", then recruited by ETIM and ETESA to fight as Jihadists in Syria with Al Qaeda and other jihad groups, according to China's anti-terrorism authority. If they survive the Syrian battlefield training, the Uyghur jihadists are recycled back to Xinjiang in China, the end-point of the new Gwadar to China rail and road infrastructure"land bridge."

 

The headquarters of ETESA, located in Istanbul include research, media, social affairs, education and women's affairs departments. It aims to "educate and train Muslims" in Xinjiang and "set them free"by forming a Muslim state, according to a Chinese official.  In 2004, in Washington Anwar Yusuf Turani established the East Turkistan Government in Exile. Washington seemed not to object, though many other countries did, including China.

 

The Istanbul link of ETIM and ETESA is no accident. Istanbul's Islamist Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan openly backed the Uyghur separatists in 2009 during the riots, calling them fellow Turkic peoples.

 

Meanwhile, as if to further underscore how vulnerable any China-Pakistani energy and trade corridor from Gwadar to Xinjiang would be, on the eve of US Secretary of State Kerry's visit to Islamabad to meet Pakistan's Prime Minister just after the China deal of Pakistan, the US made several drone attacks inside Pakistan in the North Waziristan tribal region. They killed at least six people. It was the fourth US drone strike since Sharif was re-elected as Prime Minister in June, all in the crucial North Waziristan en route to Xinjiang. Despite Pakistan's strong protests Washington refuses to halt the CIA-run drone attacks.

 

With the CIA drone attacks, the Baluchistan attacks of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Baloch Liberation Army, as well as Jihadists being sent into Xinjiang from Turkey and Syria, we can expect unrest to increase in Baluchistan province and upwards to Xinjiang as the huge China-Pakistan infrastructure plans materialize in coming months.

 

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

 

NOTES;

 

Gwadar is the world's largest deep sea port. It lies in the southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan in the warm water Arabian Sea. The design and construction of the final stages of the port, which began in 2002, is being carried out in collaboration with China. It has an immense geostrategic importance at the entrance to the Persian Gulf and is a likely substitute for the Port of Dubai. In 2011 Pakistan invited China to build a Naval base at Gwadar, something the Pentagon is eyeing very closely. China has yet to respond on that.  

 

  On January 30 this year, Pakistan turned over the management and operation of the Gwadar Port Authority to a Chinese company at the same time the Pakistan government signed  up to the Iran–Pakistan gas pipeline, tying Pakistan, Iran and China more closely, something that caused pain in Washington.

 

In 2006 the US Armed Forces Journal published an article by Colonel Ralph Peters titled Blood Borders: How a better Middle East would look. In the piece, which appears to bear uncanny relevance to subsequent Pentagon and US State Department policy in the region, Peters calls for the  creation of a Free Baluchistan. 

 

His call was echoed by US Pakistan "expert" Selig Harrison, who reportedly enjoys strong ties to the CIA. In 2006 after Peters published his sensational article Harrison wrote in Le Monde Diplomatique and the New York Times that a Free Baluchistan movement was "simmering."  The call by Peters and Harrison for a Free Baluchistan began four years after China began building the first phase of the Gwadar Port.