Headlines:

• Astana Talks End in more Discontent
• Erdogan continues with his Rhetoric
• US Troops to go into Afghanistan Again

Astana Talks End in more Discontent

Aside from the fact that the Higher Negotiations Council (HNC) is made up of largely insignificant rebel groups, even those who are seen to be “pro-western” have shown significant discontent at plans backed by foreign powers for Safe Zones in Syria.  This was demonstrated in the Astana talks where Turkey, Russia and Iran proposed the creation of four military “safe zones” where no fighting is allowed with the view to extending this across the country. Whilst the HNC casted doubts on the deal with some rebel representatives walking out upon hearing the involvement of Iran it became clear that the rebels, as afar as the regional nations are concerned are to play no part in the direction of the conflict despite the rhetoric from world powers being such.

Erdogan continues with his Rhetoric

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has compared the Jewish entity’s policies against the Palestinians to the racism of the early days of the United States and the apartheid-era in South Africa. “What’s the difference between the present acts of the Israeli administration and the racist and discriminatory politics that were practised against black people in the past in America – and up until a short time ago in South Africa,” Erdogan said on Monday. Erdogan – speaking at an event in Istanbul that focused on the Middle East conflict – also cautioned the US not to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Such a move is “extremely wrong” and such talk should be abandoned, he said. The Turkish leader criticised the Jewish entity over legislation working its way through the Knesset that would place restrictions on the Islamic call to prayer. One such bill would ban calls to worship via loudspeakers between 11pm and 7am. However, Erdogan’s government currently has multiple peace and economic treaties with the Zionist entity having recently signed a reconciliation deal with them in January.

US Troops to go into Afghanistan Again

As US President Donald Trump reviews US engagements abroad, the Pentagon recommended a series of “options” for the US in its 16-year-long war in Afghanistan. Each of these plans involves sending a minimum of 3,000 more US ground troops into the country, with some reportedly seeking as many as 5,000. Afghan forces have been losing ground significantly to the Taliban across the country, and the US is keen to put more ground troops in sensitive areas, trying to slow territory losses. It was a foregone conclusion this would involve new deployments of troops, as indeed the US has sent more troops to its other various wars across the world to escalate them. All of this shows the US is good at invading nations but a complete failure at nation building, something both its British and Russia allied know all too well.