Friday, September 12, 2014

I congratulate France in calling Iran to the conference. Iran needs to be there.

September 12, 2014
AP and Reuters
Paris/Baghdad: (click here) France is prepared to invite Iran to an international conference on Monday aimed at coordinating actions to knock out the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) — even though that runs counter to the US refusal to deal with Tehran.
The position reflects a recent shift in France’s policy toward Iran, a neighbour of Iraq that joins regional states and the West in adamantly opposing the advance of the radicals. Tehran’s long-time influence in Iraq, including at times a military presence, makes it a logical partner in France’s eyes.
French President Francois Hollande landed in Baghdad on Friday and held closed door talks with Iraqi leaders on humanitarian aid and military support for Iraq’s fight against Isil insurgents, ahead of a Paris meeting on Monday of opponents of the militant group.
Hollande said France was the first European country to provide military aid to Iraq and was in the process of delivering its fourth shipment. He did not specify details.

This isn't just about who the USA approves of, this is the survival of tribes and nations of peoples and the countries they live in. That is what makes this mission by The West so difficult. There are nations of people unable to sustain their own ethnicity against such heavy armaments and munitions that are currently the reality in the Middle East. The West did this. Better said, the USA did this. It highhandedly destroyed a country. The USA alienated a nation of people in the Ba'athists.

The conclusion of this struggle for power in Syria will be told in CONTAINMENT. Currently, the countries surrounding Syria are well prepared to end any conflict at their borders. The exception is the border between Syria and Israel. The best strategy may be to allow Israel to defend it's border with Syria while relieving the UN Peacekeepers to other areas in or near Gaza and The West Bank. That might hold true for the Lebanon border as well, but, Israel has to respect it's own sovereign border and not practice an expansionist agenda. I can't honestly say the UN and Israel work in harmony. They don't. Israel won't commit to any other idea than their autonomous control without regard to borders, ie: the current settlements in the West Bank. But, currently, Peacekeepers along these borders with Israel are proving to be inadequate. The UN should not put them in harms way at this point.

France also has to accept there are a variety of ways of addressing this complication after the USA's occupation of Iraq for a decade. Why would any country expect those boundaries to hold up? The USA also needs to be dealt with when it comes to it's politics as usual seeking control of the Middle East to it's own political ambitions. The USA is a danger to the region as much as a necessary partner. If it weren't for the USA's ambitions in leaving huge amounts of war hardware and munitions this problem would not exist.

Iran has to be part of this. Iran is capable of protecting it's own borders, but, also the nations of people near the border with southern Iraq. To that realization is the fact Iran needs to provide a secure strategy for southern Iraq. With Iran having an active interest in the nations of people in southern Iraq there can be no misguided assault against Iran masked as protections for these people. There cannot be a war that breaks out while pretending to fight the problem that already exists. 

The countries that border Syria have to bring to bear their defense of their borders and the nations of people currently in Iraq. The Kurds with Turkey and the Shi'ites with Iran, with An Albar a greatest concern for Saudi Arabia. I don't see it any differently. If a strong country called Iraq is emerging from this tragedy than so be it, but, until that manifests the people of these lands need to be secure and safe.

With safe guards in place, the real question facing the conference on Monday is what occurs with Syria. Has it already broken down into nations of people and there is no further sovereignty that is Syria or is there a chance Assad still will be the victor in what is a civil war? The conference has to recognize the reality of the circumstances and find an answer. If nothing else is true the people are suffering unmercifully. The regional conference must address all these issues otherwise the strategy they adopt will be incomplete.