crisis devastating wars, terrorism, the israeli lobby, crackdown, diplomacy, anti-us sentiments in west asia.

what i think, thank you. of

hello and welcome to press tv spotlight and

much for being with us. well, as the united states continued to give its full support to the israeli regime in its ongoing genocide in gaza, the islamic resistance has increased its attacks on american basis and interests in the region. since 2020, after the us's assassination of anti-terrorist icon, lieutenant general qasim soleimani. the resistance in the region had been demanding an end to american presence, and since october of 2023, as the us openly supports the genocide in gaza. "the resistance has increased his attacks by rockets, missiles and drones on us interests, and now the americans are themselves considering if it is worth it for them to stay in the region as they continue to lose more soldiers in these acts of resistance in west asia. well, we're going to take a look at this on this spotlight. i'd like to welcome my guests to the program. said mutalabi, iraqi politician and former" advisor to the iraki government

out of baghdad and rick sterling, activists syria solidarity movement out of welnut creek, california. thank you both for being with me. let's start this off in baghdad. well, that's according to washington, there are about 2,500 american troops serving in iraq and 900 in syria. let's start from here, why are they there when both governments have? the american troops to leave. yes, thank you very much. best regards to you and the your viewers, in 2014 when isis was introduced into iraq by the americans and certain arab countries, the government at the time asked the united nation and the security council for assistance in combatting isis.

daesh, and the americans took this opportunity and sent number of forces, alongside canada, australia, france, and number of other countries. and uh they stayed after we finished with isis and we uh destroyed the daesh completely uh with the help that we had from uh iran and russia and partial help from the united states and france and australia and canada uh now um after that the americans took this opportunity and remained in iraq. and ask the government to change the status from fighting forces into advisers and trainers, so basically they are a fighting force, but their their title is trainers and advisors,

and now iraq is asking them to leave after the repeated assault on iraqi sovereignty, repeated attacks and with the high level, high high... "a number of casualties that they caused among iraqi troops, troops that work for the iraqi government and paid by the iraqi government, they were attacked, basically they belong to public mobilization units, which answers to the prime minister uh, after attacking number of these forces and causing the number of martidom between marters among these forces, the..." is now under tremendous amount of pressure from the public and asking the americans maybe to find a solution to their presence here in iraq, okay, stay with me, stay with me, let me get rick b in on this conversation, your perspective, do you think that the americans

will actually leave iraq? i think they are are ultimately going to be forced to, and we've seen a... originary sign in in syria where the us has closed down a base um near the kamchili airport, um, the neoconservatives in the us are highly alarmed by these reports that the us is seriously considering removing the bases from iraq and syria at the request of of course of the those sovereign governments uh because they are most concerned that uh the signal that it will send to their staunch ally israel um so at the same time the excuse that the neoconservatives in the us are giving for maintaining the bases is that they need to be there to uh quote and quote fight against isis which is in resurgence of course as as

your other guest was noting the us has had has a has used isis as a tool in its war to undermine the sovereignty of syria and iraq. well son, let's look at syria, i mean the resistance has attacked american bases many times there, and let's start with the legality to begin with, of american bases in syria, when the sovereign government there does not want them there, and and of course we know that the americans are there uh in the near the oil fields and and stealing syrian oil, well the americans are there under uh basically occupation, there's no legal - precedence for any reason for the americans to be in syria, they won't ask by the syrian government, they they don't have an authorization from the security council, they're just there as an occupiers and basically what they're doing is they are stealing syrian oil, and maybe the next move

will be for them to ask to join opec, because their job now is only to steal oil and gas. "and that's basically the their role, of course, with assisting uh isis and al nosra and the other terrorist organizations that operate in syria, so there's no excuse for any american troops in syria, the syrian government definitely didn't ask for their assistance, and as i said, there is no mandate from the united nation or the security council for their presence. okay, well um, rick, even prior to this genocide that's taking place in gaza,..." and the american support for it, do you think that the resistance had a right to attack american bases in syria? well definitely there uh, you know, as as was stated there, it's an occupation force um, and so it's against the wishes of the uh, the uh sovereign government

of syria, and um, actually about eight or nine months ago, the russian intelligence chief, uh, the uh, the chief officer of the russian intelligence agency, accused the us of training isis forces at at their their base in el tempf um and that they would be used both against syria and against russia and indeed. uh some months after that accusation we saw a resurgence of isis attacks near palmira in eastern syria. well uh sad, there have been hundreds of attacks by the iraqi resistance on american basis and interests since, especially since october of 2023, and this has become quite common. would you say that iran's 2020 missile strike on the american base of val assad, it's somewhat removed the taboo of actually striking out at american bases or how do you see it? oh,

definitely, definitely. the idea that the americans consider themselves invincible and untouchable, and no one dares to attack their bases or their interests. so the repeated attacks, as you said, by the iraki resistance and by the the famous attack from from that originated from iran, and on that base was... on the inal assad base uh that was historic and definitely this untouchableness that the americans were boasting about was completely shattered and followed by now i don't know hundreds of iraqi attacks uh or resistance basically attacks on on the basis and they basically it's a tit for tet now the americans attack killing public mobilization unit and the public mobil unit answers them back with more uh missiles and more drones,

booby trap drones, so now we've reached a situation where the americans need seriously to sit with the iraki government and decide on the future of these forces, how they are going to leave, when they are going to leave, and will there be a cease fire for until they leave, so there is a question, in here sad, do you think that one of the reasons they want to sit down and talk to the iraqi government is is partially because of the number of attacks and and the number of american troops that they've been losing? definitely, it's very embarrassing for the americans to sit to be a sitting duck to receive these attacks and they every every time they attack iraq, attack the sovereignty of iraq, they're losing... political influence here in iraq and converting the

public whoever maybe had some sympathy to the americans are now completely turning against the americans, so politically, psychologically, it's very damming, damaging to the americans whenever they retaliate against the public mobilization unit or against any other target here in iraq, so definitely they need to sit with the iraq government and find. solution to their position. okay, well rick, washington's continued support for the zionist genocide in gaza is making u.s. more of a sitting target in the region. um, first of all, do you agree with that, and if so, why is the israeli regime worth so much to the united states? well, while the uh, or why the israeli regime is worth so much is is increasingly coming to the to the four in the question as the us public is becoming a... and and is realizing the extent of of us investment in israel and

the the cost, which of course now we just had the international court of justice issue its ruling, and if if genocide is happening then the us is a collaborator in that because we've been supplying all the weapons, they didn't wait a single day to to cut off funding to unwa uh because of accusation that that some members had. hamas, some members among 12,00, they didn't wait, basically in one day they cut off funding, meanwhile they have continued funding the genocidal operations of israel, so lot of people, the the recognition of the reality of of design state is increasing daily in the us, the israeli reputation is plumiting daily and along with that the us, so um that's they're realizing the cost, and i think now the figure that i've seen is that there have been

150 separate attacks on us bases in syria and iraq in the last three months, this is um, this has made a real big impact, and and now uh there's the contradictions are emerging in the us as well between those who are have a longer term vision of uh us interests and those who are just want to fall... israel's lead wherever it goes, well rick, staying with you, i mean, is the average american though getting this news about these attacks that have taken place in iraq and syria in your perspective? uh, no, they're they're they're not, that's not really being emphasized in the media, they're hearing that the us is talking about withdrawing, the administration is most concerned that they don't have fiasco like they had happened when they withdrew from afghanistan, so i think uh, on the one hand, their negotiation with with baghdad, uh, they may be uh legitimately

seeking to find a way out, or they're just stalling from time, which is what i think the iraqi resistance is saying, uh, we can't let them stiring this along, they need to leave uh asap, right? well, sad, um, the main reason for the increased number of attacks against, excuse me, against us interest is because of washington support for the israeli genocide in gaza, yet, instead of the us demanding an end to the zionist genocide, it labels the resistance front as terroris, when zionist terrorists get washington. full support, how do you explain this? well, there is a historic guilt in the west, we know the holocaust didn't happen in palestine or iraq or iran or any other islamic country, the holocaust happened in europe, and wasn't only one holocaust, wasn't just germany, all

european countries, including britain and many, many, all the... european countries participated in the slaughter of the jews, so now the only way to cover for this criminal event that happened at the beginning of the century, last century, they have to pay for this historic guilt by doing whatever the designist require of them, and as a retribution for their actions in europe, now they're trying to move the guilt from europe into the middle east, where historically jews and muslims and christians lived in harmony for a thousand year, even more than a thousand year, so the the idea the americans

in particular, the americans, they feel this guilt because they didn't assist in what happened. europe against the jews and with the excidus of jews from europe into america and creating this very powerful uh lobby groups that actually change and select representative in the government and in the in the senate and in the different arms of the us government uh therefore they do receive this unlimited support from the united states to to help uh in covering for their historic guilt. okay, well rick, i mean it is quite mindbockling when we we think about all of this, um, of course what is happening in palestine as we speak, this genocide that is taking place, and of course we know that the uh genocide of in the 40s

now it's being commemorated and yet they're not paying much attention. to the genocide that is taking place at hand, but if we look at everything and with the us and if it is removed from the west asian region, how do you think that that would affect this area? uh, very positively, um, if the us was to to end its support of israel, israel would have to come to an accommodation with its neighbors, which should have been what what happened right from the start, but instead you have... the uh the gradual spread of the zionist ideology and the gradual spread of american jewish support for israel, especially following the sixth day war in 1967 and until it it it basically had lockhold on the us, the western political establishment, not only the us but in the the

uk as we see it also in france and and in germany, this is... now crumbling as we see increasing numbers of people in the west saying what are we doing supporting a country that's committing genocide and especially among young american jewish activists, young jewish people as well as throughout throughout the youth in in america, they're starting to question uh what's go what's going on there, why are we supporting a country that's committing genocide, we should be on the other side supporting the palestinians, so there's... massive protest continuing here, there was a big action yesterday in the city of oakland at the judicial court as a case is being filed against uh joe biden for collaborating with the genocidal actions in gaza. right, definitely it seems to be change on the

horizon, where, well, sad, as we continue to see increase in attacks by the resistance on american basis. is this another indication of the ultimate collapse of american hagem? i do believe so, i do believe that the rot is now more. moving or started from inside the united states, the civilization that they have started few hundred years ago, it is collapsing from within side, there is an unworkable relationship now in the united states between different sectors of society, prices are going up, income are less are the same or being reduced, medical care doesn't exist, they are... of problems, education is its lowest form in the united states, there are many, many problems that the united states is civilization is crumbling, and

definitely that will lead to to reduce the american control overseas and the american hj, and the american influence that they had in the past is reducing, we have to remember there's now talks of new world currency to replace the dollar that... will mean the end the any american control over the world if the dollar is replaced by new world currency uh to be controlled by other other national uh or other entities uh so yes the americans are losing in the inside their country and definitely outside they are losing your final thoughts about this are we looking at the beginning of the end of... and also with the so-called international rules-based system. yes, i totally agree with with your the other

guest, that this is a real milestone, what we're seeing now is going to go down in the history books as a an important milestone in the in the decline of the west. of course the american public is doesn't benefit from the one trillion dollars a year that spent. on uh military armaments, we're not uh supporting that, the infrastructure in the us is is crumbling apart, the cost of higher education is gone through the roof, it's something like $40 or $50,00 to year to go to university, so i think just as the people in in west asia will benefit from the us withdrawing from the area um uh so will the so will the public in in the united states and on that note, i think... of you being with us on this spotlight: sadan mutalabi, iraqi politician and former political advisor to the iraki government out of baghdad, and rick sterling, activist, serious solidarity movement member

out of walnut creek, california, and thank you viewers for being with us once again on press tv spotlight, i'm marzia hashimi, signing out for myself and all the group right here in tehran, hope to see you right here next time, goodbye. since mid november 2023, the yemen-based anseral movement has attacked dozens of commercial ships destined to the occupied territories. the tags have practically halted commercial activities in the port de vilat in the occupied territories. i think that that shipping companies uh will will not... rush uh back to the uh red sea. the us and uk have militarized the region with their strikes on yemen, and excidus of shipping companies from the region now threats to scuttle supply

chains and increase consumer prices. well, definitely there will be some influence on inflation. mean it's a little difficult at this stage to to predict how much of a jump in inflation. the us militarizing the red sea and the global. economic impact in this edition of economic divide.