“McGurk was accompanied by a number of French and British officials,” Kurdish sources said Sunday, adding that the Western delegation held talks with members of the Kurdish-Arab alliance fighting ISIL, that is known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), where McGurk defended “Kurdish autonomy.”
Brett McGurk
The weekend visit to the war-torn country – confirmed by a US official – appeared to be the first public visit by a senior US government figure inside the Syrian territory ever since US hawkish senator John McCain visited Northern Syria and met with al-Nusra and ISIL members back in 2012.
This is while back in December, Iranian Supreme Leader’s top adviser for international affairs Ali Akbar Velayati had warned that Washington plans to disintegrate regional states into smaller countries to make them weak and guarantee Israel’s security.
“The US is after implementing its plot to create a Greater Middle-East whose aim is disintegrating Iraq into three countries and dividing Syria into five states in a bid to downsize countries to provide security to the Zionist regime,” Velayati said.
He also referred to the regional developments, and said, “What we are witnessing today, including the creation of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and the ISIL, is aimed at confronting the Islamic Awakening and annihilating the chain of resistance.”
“Today, Syria is the golden chain of resistance and the US, the western states and their allies in the region are attempting to destroy this chain,” Velayati said.
His remarks came as General Vincent Stewart, the head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, claimed in September that Iraq and Syria were unlikely to emerge intact from years of war and sectarian violence.
In Iraq, the Defense Intelligence Agency boss indicated that he believes it unlikely that a government in Baghdad could hold authority over the disparate regions within the country’s official borders;
Stewart claimed that he is “wrestling with the idea that the Kurds will come back to a central government of Iraq”.
Also in the same month, CIA Director John Brennan echoed Stewart’s idea that the borders of the Middle-Eastern countries have irreparably broken down as a result of war and sectarianism.
“I think the Middle East is going to be seeing change over the coming decade or two that is going to make it look unlike it did,” said Brennan, remarking that Iraqis and Syrians now identify themselves more by their tribe or religious sect, than by nationality.
After the comments, Iraqi Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmad Jamal lashed out at the US intelligence officials for their comments about disintegration of Iraq and Syria.
“The US officials’ remarks on the possible disintegration of Iraq and the zero chance for the country’s return to its past conditions are strongly rejected,” Jamal told FNA.
Noting that the terrorists active in Iraq today have come from 80 different world states, he said, “The westerners had better prevent the flow of terrorists from their countries to Iraq instead of raising doubt about Iraq’s unity.”
