RBT's Defense Blog

  Introduction As I had predicted long ago about repercussions of Fall of Syria , today exactly that is happening.  For over a decade, the Syrian Civil War was defined by a mosaic of shifting frontlines: Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Damascus, rebel coalitions in the west, the Islamic State in the desert, and a unique experiment in Kurdish-led self-governance in the northeast. Following the historic collapse of the Assad regime, Ahmed al-Sharaa assumed leadership of the central government in Damascus, marking the formal end of Syria’s 13-year civil conflict. However, the post-civil war era did not bring immediate stability. Instead, it accelerated a massive power shift in the northeast. With the military integration of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into the unified Syrian Army and the formal dissolution of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), a domestic war ended—only to turn Syria into a zero-sum geopolitical battleground be...

The diplomatic tightrope across the Persian Gulf has snapped. Following the expiration of the 60-day Pakistani-mediated "Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding" (MoU) without an extension, and with the United Arab Emirates completely halting trade and financial relations with Iran after detecting incoming ballistic missiles in its waters, the Middle East faces its most severe threshold of conflict to date. The brief window meant to de-escalate hostilities and restore navigation through the Strait of Hormuz has disintegrated into a fresh wave of economic isolation, naval blockades, and military posturing. The collapse of the 60-day Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and the UAE's formal severance of trade and financial ties with Tehran mark an abrupt end to temporary diplomatic safeguards in the Persian Gulf. As maritime security dissolves and the risk of active conflict spikes, the economic shockwaves are cascading across global oil markets, marine insurance s...

The explosive revelations published by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times few weeks back exposed one of the most daring, highly classified, and politically explosive covert operations in recent Middle Eastern history. The construction and defense of two secret Israeli military bases inside Iraq’s western Al Anbar province is being considered integral to US & Israel Vs Iran war . Note that distance between Israel (Tel Aviv) and Iran (Tehran) is near about 1600 kms or 900+ miles. Operating right under the nose of Baghdad, and directly tied to the escalating regional wars with Iran; these 2 clandestine installations completely shocked Iraqi politics and military. 1. How the 2 Airbases Were Exposed The 2 airbases were exposed when an Iraqi man Awwad al-Shammari (also spelled Awad al-Shammari ), a local Bedouin shepherd was searching for missing sheep. al-Shammari stumbled upon the hidden outpost while traveling in the desert looking for missing sheep. He had se...