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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The US government played a role in the collapse of Syria. It continually placed sanctions on this little country, including the 2003 Syrian Accountability act. By 2013 the CIA was apparently passing medium weaponry through Saudi Arabia to fundamentalist militias, the ideology of which cannot easily […]

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US: Turkish-backed campaign against our Allies in Syria ‘unacceptable’

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – On Sunday evening, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told a rally in Gaziantep, a city near the border with Syria, “We will make any kind of contribution to the work to clear Daesh [ISIL] from Syria.” This pledge should have been music to Washington’s ears, since Turkey […]

Climate Change

In Boon for EVs, Solar Panels, California will roll back CO2 Emissions to 40% Below 1990

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The California legislature worked on a carbon dioxide emissions reduction bill for a year, and is finally sending it to the governor for his signature. It is one of the more ambitious pieces of CO2 legislation by any US state, more resembling policies of the European […]

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America’s Syria SNAFU: Pentagon’s Militias fight Turkey & CIA’s Militias

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Turkish incursion into Syria at Jarabulus was advertised as an attack on a Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) stronghold and smuggling station in conjunction with (fundamentalist) remnants of the Free Syrian Army. But the southern outskirts of Jarabulus had already fallen to the Pentagon-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, […]

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French Court lifts Municipal Burkini Ban; & Why should you care what other people wear?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Nicolas Cadène, in an interview at L’Express analyzes the French court ruling issued Friday that struck down the ban by the mayor of Villeneuve-Loubet on Muslim women wearing modest clothing at the public beach. The ban was on the burkini, invented by a Lebanese fashion designer […]

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ISIL sends families out of Mosul as Kurdish, Iraqi Army Forces advance

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Iraqi military forces have taken the strategic town of al-Qayarah near the major city of Mosul from Daesh (ISIS, ISIL). Mosul is the last major city in the hands of the apocalyptic, brutal cult as it has lost almost all the territory it took in 2014. […]

Bashar al-Assad

Is Turkey’s incursion into Syria about Daesh, or about the Kurds?

Juan Cole

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 […]

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Top 6 Reasons Turkey is Finally attacking ISIL in Syria’s Jarabulus

Juan Cole

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 […]

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Is Turkey’s Pivot to Russia about Erdogan’s Survival?

Juan Cole

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 […]