By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Turkish military sources told the Anadol news agency that Wednesday’s military attack on the Syrian border town of Jarabulus, held for years by Daesh (ISIS, ISIL), involved hitting 82 targets. The objective, Ankara said, was to secure the Turkish border and to support the US-led Coalition […]
Archives for August 2016
Top 6 Reasons Turkey is Finally attacking ISIL in Syria’s Jarabulus
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Turkey and coalition allies launch air strikes Wednesday morning against the Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) stronghold of Jarabulus, on the Syrian side near the Turkish border. At the same time, Turkish artillery on the ground pounded the town. With Manbij in the hands of the Kurdish-led Syrian […]
It Could Happen To You: How Trump Could Make America Less Democratic
By David M. Faris | (Informed Comment) | – – Could Donald Trump destroy American democracy? While he muses carelessly about assassinating Hillary Clinton and frequently spitballs plainly illegal ideas like inviting foreign powers to intervene in American elections, it is less clear exactly how Trump would threaten the basic institutions of U.S. democracy. But […]
The Short-Lived Russia-Iran Axis
By Michael G. Roskin | (Informed Comment) | – – Russian use of an Iranian airbase led some to see a Russia-Iran axis. They jumped the gun and surmised too much. In less than a week, Tehran, perhaps remembering that the constitution of the Islamic Republic prohibits foreign bases on Iranian soil, pulled Iranian permission. […]
Gilbert Achcar, Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising
Notice: Gilbert Achcar, Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising In this eagerly awaited book, foremost Arab world and international affairs specialist Gilbert Achcar analyzes the factors of the regional relapse. Focusing on Syria and Egypt, Achcar assesses the present stage of the uprising and the main obstacles, both regional and international, that prevent any […]
Is Turkey’s Pivot to Russia about Erdogan’s Survival?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Turkey’s prime minister, Yildirim Binali, has announced a significant about-face in Turkey’s Syria policy. Murat Yetkin writes: ” “The most important priority for us is to stop the bloodshed as soon as possible,” Yıldırım said at a press conference in Istanbul on Aug. 20, later adding […]
US-Allied Kurds advance in Hasaka City, NE Syria
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Clashes continued on Sunday between the Kurdish YPG [People’s Protection Units] and the Syrian Arab Army in Hasaka, according to the Egyptian press . Surveying Syrian social media, Misr24 said that the Kurds had apparently advanced into Hasaka and driven the Syrian army from some districts, […]
Ex-president Saleh offers ‘all Yemen’s facilities’ to Russia
By Brian Whitaker | ( al-Bab.com) | – – In a TV interview today, Yemen’s ex-president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, appeared to invite Russian military intervention in the country’s conflict. He talked of reactivating old Yemeni agreements with the Soviet Union and offfered “all the facilities” of Yemen’s bases, ports and airports to Russia. Saleh seemed […]
Israel planning new Squatter settlement near Bethlehem to ‘cut Palestine’s West Bank in two’
Ma’an News Agency | – – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Israeli authorities have been conducting a land survey in the southern occupied West Bank near Bethlehem in order to declare state lands to build a new settlement, a move which Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah called “another step towards cutting the West Bank in two” on […]
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