Iran helping build “New Syrian Army;” ISIL fighters Fleeing to Iraq from Russian Airstrikes

[unhappycamper]

http://www.juancole.com/2015/10/fighters-fleeing-airstrikes.html

Iran helping build “New Syrian Army;” ISIL fighters Fleeing to Iraq from Russian Airstrikes
By Juan Cole | Oct. 28, 2015

Alarabiya television is reporting 16 new casualties in Syria since October 9 among Iranian fighters there. There are thought to be some 1,500 Iranian military personnel in Syria, though some of these are actually Afghans. Several of those Iranian personnel killed during the past 2 years have been high-ranking officers of the Iranian revolutionary Guards Corps.

AFP Arabic is saying that Russian airstrikes have forced “a large number” of Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) fighters and their families, especially foreigners, to flee Syria for Western Iraq.

On Monday, the deputy commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, Brig. Gen. Husayn Salami, gave a wide-ranging interview on the Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran Network 2, a transcript of which was translated by BBC Monitoring. I have often complained at this blog that the US press follows the government line too much, and seldom lets us hear voices branded “enemy” voices. For that matter we almost never see English translations of speeches even by American allies such as French President Francois Hollande. So I thought it is worthwhile sharing some of what Salami said, so we can see what the Iranian hardliners are thinking about Syria. I personally think the Iranian backing for the Baath regime of Bashar al-Assad is shameful, but we should try to understand it nevertheless.

Here are some excerpted highlights, especially Salami’s own words, as translated by BBC:

Salami said that Syria was the “focal point of strategic efforts made by an international coalition” to implement a “destructive political scheme in the Islamic world” [he means the USA, Western Europe, and Saudi Arabia]. He alleged that the US wanted to overthrow the Syrian government so as to put into practice its “political and security goals” in Lebanon and elsewhere.