Russia Not Seeking War with US: American Analyst

"Contrary to the lies in the western mainstream media, Russia like Iran and Syria, do not want war with the United States. They simply want to continue supporting the resistance against Salafist terrorism,” Adam Garrie told the Tasnim news agency.

He added, "Russia and Iran have made no public statements calling for retaliation against American forces. Reports to the contrary are based on fake documents which I have personally exposed in The Duran.”

Garrie is an expert in Russia, Eurasian, Middle Eastern and US history. He is the managing editor of The Duran and a frequent Bullhorn on RT's CrossTalk debate show.

Following is the full text of the interview.

Q: What is your take on Trump's missile attack on Syria?

Garrie: America’s illegal act of aggression towards Syria was not only morally wrong but it was manifestly ill-advised.

The attack did little to materially impede Syria’s ability to fight the war against terrorism, but it has turned the geopolitical situation which had been slowly improving, from bad to worse.

It is fair to say that in terms of geopolitics, this is more serious and more dangerous than the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1961, no missiles of any kind were fired. Today, the missiles have been fired.

The attack was unprovoked. The government of Syria has never threatened to harm the US, its citizens or its interests. On the contrary, President Assad is a defender of the lives of Christians in Syria. Indeed, one of the intellectual fathers of Ba’athism, the guiding principle of President Assad’s Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party was a Christian man, Michel Aflaq.

The attack will have emboldened terrorists in spite of the Syrian Arab Army’s continued victories against Salafist forces in Syria.

In this sense, it was strategic insanity.

The most likely motivating factors were Donald Trump’s desire to get his domestic critics of his back. Although in the short term this has succeeded, many all are already calling for more.

An apparent crisis has broken out between hard-line neo-cons and more moderate players, best represented by Rex Tillerson. The apparently anti-war conservative Steve Bannon has been demoted from his position on the National Security Council, indicating that the neo-con influence may be pervasive.

Q: Trump has been silent on relations with Russia since the missile attack. Do you believe that the US and Russia are on road to a final collision? Do you think that the US is beating the drum for World War III?

Garrie: Contrary to the lies in the western mainstream media, Russia like Iran and Syria, do not want war with the United States. They simply want to continue supporting the resistance against Salafist terrorism. Russia and Iran have made no public statements calling for retaliation against American forces. Reports to the contrary are based on fake documents which I have personally exposed in The Duran.

Many in the US, however, do seem not to care about a Third World War. Russia has suffered due to war, more than any other country in the 20th century. It has made Russians understand that peace is a sign of strength. But for many in the US, flexing might across the globe is the def-facto policy when nothing else comes to mind.

Things are closer to war than they have ever been at any time during the Cold War, but because of the tremendous amount of restraint shown in Moscow and Tehran, it is still not entirely likely to balloon into a world war.

One also has to acknowledge that Washington may back down of its own accord, but this can only happen if moderates prevail over the neo-cons and liberal interventionists. Because of the mysterious and confused signals coming out of Washington, this is not a certainty.

Q: Do you believe that Trump's attack was an attempt to ingratiate himself with rulers of certain regional Arab states, Saudi Arabia in particular?

Garrie: Whether Trump intended to ingratiate himself to the leaders of Saudi Arabia or not is now inconsequential, like Obama before him, he is now fighting their battle.

However, the fact that Trump’s meeting with Mohammed bin Salman was considered highly positive should have been a warning sign, one that many overlooked.

America is back to business as usual in the Middle East. This means that Riyadh and Tel Aviv are in and everyone else is out. Whether he knows it or not, President Sisi is the next Arab leader that the US will try to force out of power unless the neocons can be reined in.

Q: The situation across the world, Middle East in particular, is very confusing. What are your predictions regarding the future of the Middle East and the world?

Garrie: Arab leaders are their own worst enemies. The Arab league is a vile, corrupt organization who are more interested in antagonizing Iran and fellow Arabs than they are about creating a united front against western Imperialism and Zionist aggression.

Ba’athist leaders like President Assad are now a rarity as other modernists in the Arab world have been overthrown and murdered. They have been replaced either by compromised governments as in Iraq or by a failed state such as the one in Libya since the illegal executing of Gaddafi by NATO-backed terrorists.

The only future for the Middle East is for Arab unity along the lines Nasser proposed and Ba’athists envisaged.

Arabs must also dispel the notion of a Sunni/Shiite conflict. This propaganda was invented in Saudi Arabia and Israel. Ba’athism, for example, is a belief system that encourages unity and fraternal relations between all Muslims and all Christians. It is a pity that many Arabs, especially in Iraq have been foolish enough to believe the lie.

Anything less than modern Arab unity will spell doom for the Arab world. Increasingly Arab unity can only be made possible with the respectful assistance of Russia and Iran. Turkey is, like the Gulf regimes, an enemy of all peace loving Arabs. Under Erdogan, Turkey has become the most dangerous state in the region, where Iran has emerged as a moderate power-broker and effective force against terrorism

SOURCE: Tasnim News Agency