Bashar al-Assad

By Juan Cole The al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra (the Succor Front) not only took the territory of the moderate Muslim Syria Revolutionaries Front this weekend, it also polished off the Movement of the Resolute . The Movement of the Resolute (Harakat al-Hazm) represented itself as secular, but had its roots in a fundamentalist group backed […]

Bashar al-Assad

US Dilemma in Syria: Moderate Stronghold Falls to al-Qaeda, Fighters desert to Extremists

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole In a big setback for the Obama administration’s Syria policy, the al-Qaeda affiliate Succor Front (Jabhat al-Nusra) took the town of Deir Sunbul and its environs this weekend away from the Syria Revolutionaries Front, a relatively secular-minded group viewed as “moderates” by the United States. Deir Sunbul lies in the Jabal al-Zawiya […]

Arab Spring

Syria: If Violent Extremists are the Problem, why is al-Assad Jailing Peaceful Democracy Advocates?

contributors

By Lama Fakih, Human Rights Watch In a speech before the European Parliament in 2009, Syrian activist Mazen Darwish warned that unless civil society was strengthened “[the whole] region, not only Syria … could explode at any moment and leave behind thousands of refugees.” A dire warning at the time, Darwish’s prophetic words fail to […]

Bashar al-Assad

Syrian Media Hail America as Damascus Ally, Support UN Ban on Foreign Fighters

Juan Cole

by Juan Cole Aljazeera Arabic reports on the reaction in Syria to US air strikes against ISIL, which included attacks on Wednesday on their oil installations, an important revenue stream for the terrorist organization. It turns out that the Damascus press is giving President Obama an uncomfortable embrace. This kind of talk is deadly to […]

Bashar al-Assad

Syrian regime Propaganda coup as Israel Downs Syrian Plane over Golan

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Israel shot down a Syrian MiG fighter jet on Tuesday, saying it had penetrated into Israeli airspace over the Golan Heights. The regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad took little time to imply that the Israelis were thus protecting the al-Nusra Front, instead of joining in the fight against al-Qaeda offshoots. The […]

Bashar al-Assad

The Syrian Maelstrom: How Repression, Drought & Climate Change Drove the Civil War

contributors

By Tareq Ramadan Long before March of 2011, when Syrian demonstrations calling for reform and in some cases, regime change, morphed into a full-blown military conflict that has transformed into a supranational bloodbath, the economic and political policies of Bashar Al-Assad’s Baa’thist regime undoubtedly fomented major discontent among various segments of Syria’s population. While both […]

Bashar al-Assad

Changing US-Iran Relations: Kerry: Iran has a Role in Defeating ISIL Militants

Juan Cole

by Juan Cole Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday that Iran has a role to play in defeating ISIL. Addressing a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, he said that the military alliance put together by the US and its allies is only one part of the task, and that the other […]

Barack Obama

Russia denounces Obama Plan for Syria Air Strikes as Violation of Int’l Law

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Russia on Thursday pushed back against President Obama’s state plans for taking on the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) in Syria. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich remarked on television: “The US president has spoken directly about the possibility of strikes by the US armed forces […]

Bashar al-Assad

Would a US/ NATO war in Syria be Legal in International Law?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Efforts are being made in Congress give to President Barack Obama the formal authority to conduct air strikes in Syria against ISIL. Vice President Joe Biden is now talking, as well, about a concerted and long-term NATO response to the brutal fundamentalist movement, which controls desert territory and some oil resources in […]