Alwaght- Over the last year, the confrontation between Axis of Resistance and the US forces became more serious with rocket and drone attacks on the American military bases in eastern Syria. Latest attacks took place on Monday as combat drones targeted for several times Al-Tanf bases on the border with Iraq. Meanwhile, there are reports of increased American suspicious moves in the Syrian desert. Media reports talked about American military drills in '55 Kilometer Area' in the Syrian desert. Starting from Friday, the drills are using light and heavy arms and equipment with the presence of fighter jets simulating real battleground. These are the second American military exercise in the last month. In the past year, the American military conducted several exercises in the Syrian desert. The Syrian desert is important because it actually forms a border triangle between Syria, Jordan, and Iraq, and very likely the Americans have hatched new plots for regional countries specially Iraq and Syria.
Drills to boost ISIS sleeper cells
The selection of the Syrian desert region for the exercises by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) contains important points. This vast area is almost uninhabited and has become a safe haven for terrorists in recent years. It is said that ISIS terrorists use this area for hit-and-hide attacks in the cities and villages around this desert, and this area itself was the launching pad of ISIS campaigns to capture many parts in Syria, including the historical city of Palmyra. Therefore, the selection of this area is not accidental, rather, it is very purposeful.
In recent years, Syria and Iraq roughly managed to obliterate terrorist groups and restore relative peace and stability, and this questioned the continued military presence of the Americans in these countries. Therefore, Washington is seeking ways to unsettle the region, and to this end, ISIS terrorists make the best instrument.
At present, ISIS remnants in Syria and Iraq are in touch with the American forces, and recently 700 of ISIS fighters captured by the Syrian government were handed over to Iraq and thousands others are kept in prisons in Kurdish-controlled areas and should they escape, they generate new crisis to the region.
The fact that hundreds of dangerous ISIS fighters have been transferred to Iraqi prisons is an American plan so that they can more easily take advantage of the influence of these terrorists on Iraqi soil. Because the Americans have a significant influence in the security layers of Iraq and especially its prisons, and if necessary, with the help of Iraqi affiliates, they can free ISIS elements from prison. We should not forget the experience of the release of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi from Bucca prison in 2009, which led to the establishment of ISIS. ISIS threats in Iraq have been growing in the past year, and it seems that the White House officials want to use the ISIS lever to put pressure on the Iraqi leaders for concessions.
The US selected an area for its drills to which the Syrian army has no least access and Washington can easily realize its plans. Ahmad Rahal, a regional analyst and a former Syrian army officer, suggests that the Syrian government does not have a strong front around the desert and security intelligence about the region and lacks trained forces for desert operations while ISIS fighters received desert combat training.
ISIS is the US's handiwork, and former American officials have admitted many times that they founded this takfiri group to overthrow the Syrian government and with the funding from the Persian Gulf sheikhdoms and Western arms, in order to realize the broader 'Greater Middle East' plan.
Although the US officials claimed that they eliminated ISIS leaders with air strikes in Iraq and Syria, they have so far declined to present documents as proofs and stopped at show statements. While the terrorists were running rampant in the two Arab countries, the Americans formed a belated coalition with their Western allies to uproot ISIS but their fighter jets and drones struck Iraqi army and voluntary forces instead of the fundamentalists. Therefore, the claims of killing ISIS leaders, as many analysts agree, is simply a lie and aimed at deceiving the public opinion in order to clear Washington from the accusations of supporting the group.
Also, by claiming to have obliterated the takfiris, the Americans tried to insinuate that this group weakened and poses no threat to the region and therefore distract Iraqi and Syrian governments from focusing on threats from this group, and in the event of re-rise, be surprised and unable to adopt an immediate strategy to deal with the challenge. ISIS has shown that it can recruit soldiers in Iraq and Syria in the shortest possible time if the conditions are appropriate, as some tribes, such as the Baathists, are opposed to the central government and aligned to the terrorists and this issue can pose a threat to the security of Iraq.
However, the Iraqi resistance forces have proven that they will not succumb to the false American-created optimism and are always fully prepared to face any abruptly emerging threats. Over the last year, they have launched several operations, arresting and killing a large number of ISIS elements.
Despite the White House claims of providing security of West Asia region, their moves in Iraq and Syria these days are meant to disrupt the security order in the region in general and Iraq and Syria in particular. Washington-sponsored terrorists can once again undertake this mission.
