By Pepe Escobar CENTCOM commander Army Gen. Joseph Votel channeled his full Dr. Strangelove in front of the US House Armed Services Committee this past Wednesday. "We need to look at opportunities where we can disrupt [Iran] through military means or other means." As Orwellian as our times may be, this still ranks as a declaration of war. With the inbuilt consequence of smashing to bits the UN nuclear deal struck with Iran in the summer of 2015. Joseph Strangelove did not bother to chainsaw his words. Iran is one of the greatest threats to the US today (Pentagon official doctrine; number four after Russia, China and North Korea). Iran has increased its "destabilizing role" and poses "the greatest long-term threat to stability" in the entire Middle East. Iran is sneaky; "I believe that Iran is operating in what I call a gray zone." And that’s "an area between normal competition between states — and it's just short of open conflict.&qu

Source: anadoluajansi.com Turkish President Recep Erdogan has announced that Ankara is now preparing new military operations in Syria. “We have completed the first phase of the Euphrates Shield Operation with the cleaning of Syria’s al-Bab from terrorists. It is now over and there will be [operations] from now on. Right now, we are preparing for new operations to walk all over terror organizations in other regions. We will give new names to new operations. We have very good surprises for all terror groups, including the PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party], YPG [the People’s Protection Units], DEASH [ISIS], FETÖ [Fethullahist Terror Organization], waiting for the spring. With God’s will, the upcoming months will be the dead winter of terrorists while it will be the spring of Turkey and the Turkish nation,” Hurriyetdailynews quoted Erdogan’s statement on a rally in the province of Trabzon on Monday. Erdogan’s statement clearly shows that Turkey is not going to limit its military involve

T his map provides a general look at the military situation in Yemen on April 4, 2017. Click to see the full-size map

Syrian government forces have been developing an advance against ISIS terrorists along the Salamiyah-Palmyra highway in the province of Homs. Earlier this week, government troops captured the Abu Duhur Mountain west of the ash-Shair field. The advance was confirmed by the Syrian Defense Ministry. According to pro-government sources, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies are now aiming to capture the al-Mahr and ash-Shair areas. However, it is not clear how much government troops are really deployed for this task. So, all will depend on the ISIS ability to use their reinforcements in the area. Click to see the full-size map