Mattis: "War Is Not Over" In Iraq And Syria


Declarations of victory over ISIS by both Iraq and Syria, along with Russia, are not having an impact on US military policy in the region, according to Defense Secretary James Mattis, who insisted on Friday that “the war is not over.”

Which isn’t to say that the US is determined to keep fighting a war against ISIS, as such, but rather that there’s definitely going to be a war against somebody in those countries. Mattis in particular has been keen to talk up the idea of an “ISIS 2.0” emerging in areas ISIS has been expelled from.
Mattis’ comments are very interesting in the context of other Pentagon statements, which have insisted that US troops would stay in Iraq and Syria long after the ISIS war has ended. This had long been assumed to be just a quiet, permanent garrisoning of the two countries, particularly controversial in Syria since they don’t welcome a US military presence.
Instead, Mattis seems to be presenting this as not just an open-ended deployment, but an open-ended war against an ever-changing collection of enemies. In Syria in particular, this is likely to mean a shift away from Islamist rebels and toward pro-government militias.
In Iraq, the continuation of the war is likely to be very much like the last US occupation of Iraq, fighting with any and all forces that are aligned in opposition to the Iraqi government, or against the occupation itself.








  • Now, people in Iran are demanding not just limited reforms but regime change. The government has been doing all it can to stoke the flames of hatred, but has been trying to deflect it to "Death to America" and "Death to Israel".

  • The Trump administration is taking the right side by supporting the Iranian people; they are the principal victims of the Iranian regime and its Islamist agenda.

  • Let us not be on the side of history that would remain silent in the face of such crimes against humanity, let us not join the ranks of other dictators, terrorists, and criminals, that turned a blind eye to violence, and the will of brave, innocent people.




Protests have grown and have spread across Iran in cities such as Tehran, Kermanshah, Shiraz, Rasht, Qom, Hamedan, Ahvaz, Isfahan, Zahedan, Qazvin, and Sari.

The political nature of the protests has been made clear from the outset and the regime is experiencing a political earthquake. The regime's gunmen have been out in full force. Despite the brutal power being deployed to crush these peaceful demonstrators -- four protestors have already been reported killed -- more people are flooding the streets in defiance of the regime.

The scale of these sudden protests is unprecedented during the last four decades of the Islamic Republic of Iran's rule.

These demonstrations, however, are different from other protests in Iran since 1979, when the theocratic regime was established. In 2009, during the popular uprising in the name of the "Green Movement," people were protesting against rigged elections and the presidency of the anti-Semitic politician Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Chants echoed through the streets, "Where is my vote?" while the government ratcheted up its power to silence the protestors.

Now, people are demanding not just limited reforms but regime change. After almost four decades of living under a theocracy -- with Islamist mullahs controlling them, rampant corruption, and the regime's persistent dissemination of propaganda -- the people have reached the boiling point. The government has been doing all it can to stoke the flames of hatred, but has been trying to deflect it to "Death to America" and "Death to Israel".

Protesters, risking their lives, have been chanting, "Death to Khamenei" -- a serious crime according to the clergy, and punishable, according to the Sharia law of the regime, with death.


People are also chanting, "Death to Rouhani", "Shame on you Khamenei, step down from power", "Death to the Dictator" and "Death to the Islamic Republic". Protesters are tearing down the banners of Iran's Supreme leaders, Khomeini and Khamenei.
Chants being heard all over the nation are, "Forget about Palestine, forget about Gaza, think about us", "Death to Hezbollah", "The people live like beggars / [Khamenei] lives like a God," and "Leave Syria alone, think about us instead".

The outcry leaves no question about the needs of the people, and the real voice of Iran. Demonstrators are making a clear distinction between the Iranian people's desired policies and those being carried out by the regime. All political and economic indications are that protests in Iran will continue to grow.

The Trump administration in the United States is taking the right side by supporting the Iranian people; they are the principal victims of the Iranian regime and its Islamist agenda.

US President Donald Trump tweeted:
"Many reports of peaceful protests by Iranian citizens fed up with regime's corruption & its squandering of the nation's wealth to fund terrorism abroad. Iranian govt should respect their people's rights, including right to express themselves. The world is watching! #IranProtests"
In another statement, the U.S. State Department said:
"On June 14, 2017, Secretary Tillerson accurately testified to Congress that he supports 'those elements inside of Iran that would lead to a peaceful transition of government. Those elements are there, certainly as we know.' The Secretary today repeats his deep support for the Iranian people."

Let us be clear. The fault lines are completely visible. If you are on the side of justice, freedom, and basic human rights, and if you respect humanity, you will not be able to remain silent. Let us at least give moral support, if not more, to the Iranian people. Justice and truth need to prevail. This is what history has repeatedly shown us. Let us not be on the side of history that would remain silent in the face of such crimes against humanity, let us not join the ranks of other dictators, terrorists, and criminals, that turned a blind eye to violence, and the will of brave, innocent people.









Tehran's iron fist has been unleashed. On Monday, the Wall Street Journal's Farnaz Fassihi - a well-known Iran watcher who has been following protests inside the country closely, reported  that Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has announced it is taking charge of security in Tehran after nationwide protests entered their fifth day, and as new reports of gunmen amidst the crowds of demonstrators have emerged.
The IRGC announcement was first reported by Iranian media outlets on Monday - a day after the IRGC reportedly warned that anti-government protesters will face the nation's "iron fist" if the unrest continues. Though demonstrations did not initially center on the country's capital, instead popping up last Thursday mostly in a handful of cities across the ultra-conservative northwest Khorasan Province, fresh videos purporting to show angry crowds confronting security forces in Tehran have emerged, and state-run media also reports that a police officer was shot and killed Monday.
The killing of the police officer happened when a demonstrator opened fire with a hunting rifle in the central city of Najafabad, police spokesman Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi was quoted as saying by state TV. Three policemen were wounded. It was not clear when the incident took place.

This comes after at least 13 people have been reported killed across the country - mostly demonstrators either reported shot or in a couple of instances accidentally killed by other rioters. But new reports of government buildings and vehicles being burned, along with today's death of a police officer, as well as claims of armed rioters among the opposition certainly indicates dramatic escalation of what many analysts say are protests driven fundamentally by widespread anger over economic mismanagement and corruption.

Thus these latest reports of the paramilitary group taking charge in Tehran indicates the government is increasingly choosing to view the demonstrators as unlawful rioters and potential armed criminals engaged in destruction and aggressive acts targeting authorities.



Meanwhile, unconfirmed videos purporting to show Iranian security forces firing on demonstrators have increased on social media:



And late Monday the head of a prominent Iranian opposition group in exile which has close ties to Washington and runs its own paramilitary organization issued a call for the UN Security Council to act: "I urge the UN Security Council, the US and the EU to undertake urgent actions to prevent the Iranian regime’s slaughter of protesters. The clerical regime has killed and wounded dozens of demonstrators in cities across Iran over the past five days," tweeted Maryam Rajavi of People's Mujahedin of Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq), an organization which has for decades devoted itself to the violent overthrow of the Iranian government.
Rajavi had previously in the day condemned western and UN "inaction" over the situation in Iran.

Also on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a televised message directed at Iran via YouTube wishing "the Iranian people success in their noble quest for freedom" - something which is likely to have an adverse effect on protests, considering that authorities in Tehran have accused protest leaders of serving the interests of and being in league with foreign "enemies" like Saudi Arabia and Israel.
For this reason Netanyahu expressly denied that Israel was responsible for the unrest, as previously suggested  by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in a speech given earlier in the day.


"I heard today Iran's President Rouhani's claim that Israel is behind the protests in Iran," said Netanyahu in the video. "It's not only false. It's laughable - unlike Rouhani, I will not insult the Iranian people. Brave Iranians are pouring into the streets. They seek freedom. They seek justice. The seek the basic liberties that have been denied to them for decades."
Netanyahu further accused the Islamic Republic of mistreating its people and wasting its money to "spread hate" abroad instead of taking care of its people. The unexpected speech came after Israeli ministers were previously told to "minimize" their comments on the situation in Iran - though in an irony not lost on many commentators, Israel has long lobbied the US and UN to enact crippling economic sanctions which have served to make the plight of the common Iranian citizenry worse.
Netanyahu's speech also came the same day that a viral Times of Israel story claimed  the United States has quietly given Israel the green light to assassinate Iran's top military officer, Iranian Revolutionary Guards al-Quds Force commander Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani.