Author: Steven Sahiounie

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Thousands of Druze in Suwayda, in the southwest of Syria near Jordan, have been protesting inflation and economic woes facing all of Syria because of US-EU sanctions, and the economic collapse after the long armed conflict. But, recently, they are calling for regime change, and the US is supporting them. In late August, Ben Cline of Virginia, French Hill of Arkansas and Scott Fitzgerald of Wisconsin, all Republicans in the US House of Representatives, entered Syria from Turkey illegally, without any VISA, via the Bab al-Salam crossing north of Aleppo, under the control of…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator A Libyan official has said they will investigate to find those responsible for the dead in the recent flooding at Derna, Libya which may be more than 11,000. They don’t need an investigation to know the responsible party is US President Barack Obama, who devised and engineered a US-NATO attack on Libya in 2011 for regime change. “The U.N. Security Council never aimed to topple the Libyan regime,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in April 2011. “All those who are currently using the U.N. resolution for that aim are violating the U.N. mandate.”…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator The US military occupation of the oil fields in north east Syria came under attack recently, and there were some who said it could foreshadow a US military withdrawal. However, the violence ceased, and the US supported Kurdish separatists are continuing to hide under the Pentagon’s wings. The Obama created US-NATO attack on Syria for regime change began in 2011, but has failed. However, it was successful in destroying the country and preventing its recovery from an armed conflict utilizing terrorists supported by the US and its allies. Neighboring Lebanon has been decimated, not…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Armenia continues to be under attack by Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region which has simmered between Armenia and Azerbaijan for 30 years. Russian peacekeeping troops try to maintain calm, but recent comments concerning Armenia and NATO have put nerves on edge. Since its independence, Armenia has maintained a policy of friendly relations with Iran, Russia, and the West, including the United States and the European Union. Armenia-NATO partnership relations date back to 1992 when Armenia joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, later renamed the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council. In an effort to understand the…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator A power struggle in the eastern Syrian desert might end with the US withdrawal from Syria, as the occupation allies battle each other for power and lucrative energy resources. On August 27, Ahmed al-Khubail, the commander of the Deir ez-Zor Military Council (DZMC), was lured to Hasakah by the US sponsored Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on the pretext of a meeting. After arriving, Khubail, his brother Adham, and four other commanders were arrested and held. Khubail is connected to the Arab tribe al-Bakir, and the ensuing response has left at least 50 SDF fighters…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Turkey and France are not far apart on a map of the Mediterranean Sea; however, they are miles apart on political views and culture, even though both are NATO members, and Turkey’s army represents the largest, and strongest of all NATO members. Turkey has been at odds with France over policies in Syria, Libya, the Eastern Mediterranean and Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as over the publication of cartoons of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad in France. Paris has led a push for EU sanctions on Turkey. France has backed the Radical Islamic terrorists supported by the US,…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Lebanon’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdallah Bou Habib, shocked the UN on August 25 in New York by rejecting the proposal that is being forced upon Lebanon by the United States Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield. In a surprise act of national defiance, and rejection at being dictated to by Washington, Bou Habib would not acquiesce to moving to Chapter VII. Chapter VI calls for “the peaceful resolution of conflicts,” while Chapter VII “calls for the imposition of Resolution 1701 by force.” At question is the yearly renewal of a UN mandate of the United Nations…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator The current government ruling Israel is the most far-right Jewish extremist in history. Senior members in power have been asking for the forced deportation of Palestinians, in a frightening echo of the Nakba of 1948, when three-fourths of the Palestinian population was expelled in a massive ethnic cleansing while the US and western nations stood by in silent complicity. The Israeli Defense Forces have repeatedly attacked refugee camps in the West Bank, especially Jenin. Meanwhile, the Jewish citizens of Israel have been in the street protesting their own issues, which have nothing to do…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator The battlefields in Syria lie silent, the US-NATO attack for regime change failed. But, in the northeast the conflict continues between the US occupation forces and those who are trying to oust them. Syria, Russia and their allies have a strategic plan to free the area of terrorists and communist separatists supported by the US. In 2016, the US military invaded and occupied areas in the northeast of Syria. Currently, there are 900 US troops at 19 occupation posts in Syria, while the number of US security contractors there is unknown, but suspected to…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Lebanon is a failed state economically, politically, and socially. Very little movement has occurred to help Lebanon recover from the depths of hopelessness. Steven Sahiounie of MidEastDiscourse interviewed Alberto García Watson, a Beirut based expert in the Middle East, terrorism and Islamic radicalism as well as a television correspondent. #1. Steven Sahiounie (SS): Finally, after 30 years as head of the Central Bank of Lebanon, Riad Salamah has left office. He left under a cloud of accusations of very serious crimes in Europe, but has not yet been held accountable in Lebanon. In your…