"Clearly the shooting down of the Russian jet was done as a provocation in the hopes that Russia would retaliate in some dramatic fashion that could then be used for political and propaganda effect in turning the world against Russia at a time when she is achieving great success both in Syria and in terms of world opinion", Mark Glenn underlined.
In an interview to Mehr News, American political analyst Mark Glenn answered the questions on the issue:
Syria seems to have been turned into a battleground for western coalition and Assad supporters. How do you compare the achievements of Russia's military campaign, so far, and that of the US-coalition in Syria?
I think it's important that we begin answering this question by stating that it was never the intention of the United States or its western partners to do anything about the situation in Syria except to make it worse as a pretext to replacing the government of Bashar al Assad with something more cooperative and pliable with the interests of Israel, America, and the West. The entire drama of America and its coalition partners ‘engaging’ ISIL was merely that--a drama--meant for public consumption so as to create the appearance that the United States and the West were serious about defeating terrorism in Syria when in fact the terrorists themselves were the creation of the CIA, Mossad, MI6, and other anti-Assad/anti-Iran/ anti-Russian intelligence services. Where Russia, Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah obviously showed brilliant political strategy was in allowing America and the West to continue with the facade of pretending to fight the very same terrorists they themselves created but with no success, setting the stage then for those aforementioned countries making up the Axis of Resistance to deal with ISIL, and in the process, achieve for themselves a great victory in terms of public perception around the world.
The EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has warned Russia risks a repeat of the doomed Afghan war in Syria--Do you think this is true? Is the current Russian campaign being carried out at request of the Syrian government comparable to the Soviet campaign in Afghanistan?
We have to understand the coded language Mogherini is using here. Remember that the reason the Russians suffered the disaster they did in Afghanistan was because the Americans armed the Mujaheddin (the very same militants that would one day come to call themselves Al Qaeda) with the most sophisticated and high-tech weaponry that the US possessed at that time. So, in making this statement, what Mogherini was in effect doing was acting as a messenger on behalf of Western and American interests in conveying the warning to Putin that they--America and the West--are willing to arm ISIL and the other terrorist groups in Syria with the same type of hi-tech weaponry that made the campaign so difficult for the Russians in the 1980’s.
However, I think that the field has changed quite a bit. Politically speaking and in terms of world opinion, the upper hand has been won by Russia and by Putin and therefore the West (and principally the US) is going to have a very difficult time trying to paint the Russians as the bad guys in this scenario and are therefore going to find themselves without the kind of popular support from their own people in funding/arming/training the very same terrorists that are now credited with murdering 130 Parisians just last month.
This in itself poses a very dangerous possibility, which is that according to the plans laid out by Israel, America, NATO, and the West, something dramatic must be done to turn what is now very favorable public perception for Putin and Russia in the opposite direction, and we know what this entails--a false flag event, possibly an attack on an American or British military asset leading to significant loss of life and subsequent public outrage on the part of the ‘attacked’ country that is then blamed (falsely) on Russia. Let us remember that this was precisely the scenario the US and Israel jinned up in 1967 when the Israelis attacked the USS LIBERTY, hoping to create a political situation whereby the then-Soviet Union would be pushed out of the Middle East by virtue of its close association with Egypt who was supposed to be blamed for the attack.
The military campaign reportedly costs $4 million per day according to IHS Jane’s; what interests and benefits push Russia to launch and continue its fight against terrorism in Syria?
Again for a proper understanding of what is occurring right now viz a viz Russia coming to the aid of Syria we must go back to the events of June 8th, 1967. It was the time of the Six Day War when Israel was busy stealing land from Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, who at the time were allied with Russia. The United States, working in collusion with Israel, conspired to attack a United States ship, the USS LIBERTY, with the intention of sinking the ship and blaming it on Egypt. At that tie, Egypt was Russia's biggest client state in the Middle East and this would obviously have put enormous political pressure on Russia that would eventually have led to worldwide outrage against Russia, leading then to a breakdown in relations between Russia and the aforementioned countries in the Middle East. As increased political pressure was put on Russia for the sinking of the ship, thus would increase Russia’s isolation and loss of influence in the Middle East, thus the paving the way for the United States to move into the region as the only uncontested world power. Despite the fact that the LIBERTY was not sunk, nevertheless in some respects this plan worked in that both Egypt in Jordan fell into the American sphere of influence. The one nation obviously remaining with Syria. Therefore what we see taking place right now is the attempt to finish a job that was begun on June 8th, 1967, i.e. the removal of all Russian influence in the Middle East.
Russia’s interests in Syria are simple--She maintains a navy base at the Syrian port of Tartus that affords her the ability to project military power throughout the Mediterranean Sea which she is unwilling to give up. Furthermore Russia understands very well that being a nation that is rich in natural resources means that the United States, the West, and Israel also have their sights set on Russia and on her wealth and therefore what Russia has been quietly yet steadily doing now during both presidential terms of Vladimir Putin is to begin building a block of resistance to the West that is intent upon invading country after country and stealing not only the wealth of those nations but their sovereignty as well.
How do you evaluate the consequences of Turkey’s downing of a Russian fighter jet? Why has Russia answered Turkey's act in such a way?
In my opinion there is no way to view Turkey’s actions viz a viz the shooting down of the Russian jet other than within the context of Turkey acting as the hired gun for the US, NATO, and Israel. It is true that Eragon has dreams of becoming the new Sultan of a reinvigorated Ottoman Empire but he would never have moved in such a dangerous way had he not had the backing of the United States and NATO beforehand. Clearly the shooting down of the Russian jet was done as a provocation in the hopes that Russia would retaliate in some dramatic fashion that could then be used for political and propaganda effect in turning the world against Russia at a time when she is achieving great success both in Syria and in terms of world opinion. As I indicated earlier however, we must watch the situation very carefully because America, Israel, and the West are not going to sit idly by and watch as Russia and as Vladimir Putin win the lion's share of favorable world opinion, a situation that could very easily upset the delicate balance that has been created now for decades with America seen as the world's lone superpower.
It seems Turkey has downed the fighter jet feeling support from NATO against possible Russia retaliation. Considering previous cases in Georgia and Ukraine, do you think NATO would take measures in case of Russian military measures against Turkey?
I believe this is precisely what NATO was and is planning, i.e. eventual armed conflict with Russia despite the fact that Russia is a nuclear power and can defend herself very capably. It would appear as though the various military and political planners in the countries making up NATO have somehow arrived at the unrealistic conclusion that a military conflict with Russia can be waged short of it going nuclear. We can therefore expect that there will be other provocations that will take place in the future with NATO or one of her hired agents goading Russia into some type of situation where she lashes out, at which point Russia will be painted as the aggressor that must be dealt with.
What is the impact of Russia’s military involvement in Syria on the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the region, as the most important ally of the Syrian government?
As we have seen from various news reports it has not been only the Russians who have been engaging against ISIL. Besides the Syrian army we also have the brilliant efforts of General Soleimani and of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards working alongside Hezbollah. What this is done in terms of public perception for all of the aforementioned players (who up to this point have been painted as terrorists or as state sponsors of terrorism) has been nothing short of a miracle in role reversal. Besides the liberation of Syria itself from the terrible suffering she has endured at the hands of these Western-created/Western-backed terrorism, perhaps the greatest victory that has been achieved has been the reversal of perception for nations such as Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and Russia.
Mark Glenn is an American author and journalist in Idaho who has co-founded Crescent and Cross Solidarity Movement. He regularly writes on different topics on The Ugly Truth.
Interview by Lachin Rezaian
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