The US senate votes to continue wars

In spite of the uncertainties and turnarounds of Donald Trump’s policies and decisions it appears that the US senate is the true warmonger among United States political landscape.

The news come from Al Jazeera.

US Senate rebukes Trump over Syria, Afghanistan withdrawal plans

Senators resoundingly back text saying pullouts could allow ISIL and al-Qaeda to re-group, destabilise both countries.

Senators from across party lines in the United States have backed an amendment opposing Donald Trump's plan to pull troops out of Syria and Afghanistan, in a strong rebuke of the Republican president's decision.

The text, which was passed on Monday by a majority of 70 to 26, says the troop withdrawal could allow the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group and ak –Qaeda  to re-group and destabilise both countries.

The measure was sponsored by Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader of the Senate who said last week it "would acknowledge the plain fact that al-Qaeda, ISIS and their affiliates in Syria and Afghanistan continue to pose a serious threat to our nation".

Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, said the result of the vote constituted "a sharp, bipartisan rebuke from the Senate of Trump".

The amendment, opposed by only three of the 53 Senate Republicans, will eventually be incorporated into a broader security bill on the Middle East which will be voted on later this week.

"Importantly, too, it's then got to go to the House of Representatives, where other aspects of the wider bill are likely to receive stern opposition from the Democrat-controlled body," Hanna said.

In a surprise move in December, Trump tweeted plans to remove the US's 2,000 troops out of Syria, arguing that ISIL had been defeated, even though his intelligence chiefs testified last week that the group's fighters remain a potent threat and are seeking a comeback.

Trump's declaration shocked allies and prompted the resignations of Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Brett McGurk, who was the envoy to the US-led global coalition against ISIL. Last month, McGurk said: "There is no plan for what's coming next" in Syria in Trump's plan to pull troops out of the country.

His comments came days after a suicide bomber in mid-January killed four US military personnel and 15 others in the northern Syrian town of Manbij, the deadliest attack on US troops since their deployment in the country in 2014.

The president has also vowed to pull half of the 14,000-strong US force from Afghanistan, where Washington has had a military presence since its 2001 invasion, citing the high cost in "blood and treasure".

In December, senators, including prominent Republicans, inflicted another resounding rebuke on the president, holding Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman responsible for the October 2 murder of Jamal Khashoggi after the Trump administration had been largely supportive of the kingdom's de facto ruler.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/senate-rebukes-trump-syria-afghanistan-withdrawal-plans-190205022114987.html

Reflections
Middle East: on imperialism, authoritarianism and human nature
D.Anton

Some reflections:

1) The history of the Middle East is very long and complex
2) Political power has historically been associated with military force.
3) Religions have played an important role throughout history, especially as one of the causes of political and military confrontations.
4) The last 1400 years were marked by conflicts and wars between religious organizations and churches, in particular, monotheistic beliefs: between Christians and Muslims, Shiites against Sunnis, Muslims with Jews, among others. In conclusion, religion appears stripped of its spiritual and philosophical content and becomes an instrument of power.

5) Ethnic and cultural differences have also had a strong influence, along with religious beliefs. Both have made possible to justify wars, massacres and genocides.
6) Current wars are related to ancient religious and ethnic conflicts.
7) Conflicts in the Middle East have often been stimulated by external powers (France, Britain, Russia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, and in recent years the USA).

8) In general, political power has emerged from armed force, emperors, kings, caliphs, sultans, dictators and presidents came to their positions and maintained them through arms and violence
9) Power is usually hereditary, forming dynasties that can last several generations.

10) Power tends to be dominante by men. It has been very rare for women to have exercised power in the region.
11) The dominant classes have always been minority groups enjoying the privileges granted by the government, while the majority of the population remains dominated and impoverished.
12) The power is obtained and maintained by force. It is common to kill enemies and adversaries, They can even be tortured to obtain information or simply to make them suffer.

13) Slavery and servitude have been common throughout Middle East history. Only in the last 100 years have these institutions been eliminated, but in practice they continue to have effects on societies.
14) Discrimination on grounds of religion, belief, racial or gender origin was the rule throughout the history of the Middle East and still is.
15) The democratic processes have been exceptional or nonexistent.
16) The few electoral processes that have taken place led to fraud, which was sometimes very evident.
17) Given the age and persistence of this social and political situation, it does not seem likely that these societies can establish democratic systems that are reliable in the short term.
18) The presence of important natural resources (hydrocarbons) has exacerbated conflicts and foreign intervention.
19) In today's global world, the conflict in the Middle East affects and will affect all countries and regions of the world, whether economically, politically or by the influx of migrants and refugees.
20) It can be predicted that these conflicts will continue and even worsen due to the lack of sustainability of regional societies with high population densities, vast unproductive arid territories and extreme differences between a privileged few and a large number of impoverished people.
21) The struggles for territorial and resource control by the world powers will continue to be expressed in the Middle East and various armed conflicts will continue to occur.
22) For some powers with important military industries, particularly the US actual and potential wars will continue to represent opportunities for the sale of large volumes of armaments as well as for the deepening of their respective geopolitical influences. For that reason they will have interest in continuing to promote regional wars independently of the dramatic consequences of death and destruction for the populations of those countries.
Extracted from "Lands of little rain and much blood" by Danilo Antón, Piriguazú Ediciones.