By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – A coalition of extremist groups with al-Qaeda ties managed on Saturday to take the city of Jisr al-Shughur from the Syrian army. Among them were fighters of the Support Front (Jabhat al-Nusra) and the Islamic Movement of the Free Men of the Levant (Ahrar al-Sham). Also involved was […]
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Bashar al-Assad
Juan Cole: Syria, Yemen Conflicts only seem to be about Sunni-Shiite from 30,000 Feet
David Speedie | (Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs) | – David Speedie of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs interviewed me in New York on Monday. Below is an excerpt of the transcript, but the whole thing is at their web site. Also below is the video of the interview. DAVID […]
Situation in Besieged Yarmouk Camp ‘One of the Most Severe Ever’
By Josh Butler | UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees has described the situation inside the Syrian refugee camp of Yarmouk, under attack by Islamic State (IS) militants, as “one of the most severe ever” for the already spartan camp. Fighters allegedly from the IS, and al-Qaeda […]
A Game-Changer in Syrian War? al-Qaeda-led Factions take Idlib
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – The provincial capital Idlib, a city of 165,000 in the old days and administrative center of the northwestern Idlib province, appears to have fallen completely to a Muslim fundamentalist coalition spearheaded by Ahrar al-Sham (Free Men of Syria) and the al-Qaeda affiliate, the Support Front (Jabhat al-Nusra). Most […]
Climate Change helped Provoke Syrian Conflict & it won’t be the Last
By Thalif Deen | – UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – Was the four-year-old military conflict in Syria, which has claimed the lives of over 200,000 people, mostly civilians, triggered at least in part by climate change? A new study by Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory says “a record drought that ravaged Syria in 2006-2010 was likely […]
Syria: Dear Bashar al-Assad: Barrel Bombs Are No Laughing Matter
By Philippe Bolopion | (Human Rights Watch) | — It speaks volumes when the leader of a country feels emboldened to respond with humor when asked on television about a deadly weapon that is responsible for the deaths and maiming of thousands of his citizens. In a BBC interview broadcasted today, a confident Syrian President […]
Paying the Piper: How America’s Iraq War haunts its Failed Syria Policy
By Michael MacDonald, author of Overreach: Delusions of Regime Change in Iraq | (Special to Informed Comment | – If recent reports in the New York Times are to be believed, the Obama administration just got serious about the political realities gripping Syria and Iraq. Up to this point, the US has sought, for reasons […]
Israel’s Syria Strike: Is it trying to Help al-Qaeda vs. Hizbullah & Iran?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — There are several questions around the Israeli helicopter gunship strike on Mazari` al-Amal in Syria’s Quneitra Province, which killed Hizbullah personnel and an Iranian general. First, what were the latter doing there? Second, why did Israel strike them? The Israeli cover story, that Hizbullah was planning attacks inside […]
Did Iran win “2014”? Top 6 Iran Developments this Year
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — In 2014, Iran made news on a number of important fronts. 1. Although there was no decisive breakthrough in its relationship with the United States and the European Union, there was anticipation that some sort of deal would be reached eventually with the permanent members of the UN […]
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