Syria

The rebel strategy of taking Syrian government bases and airports in north Syria to prevent the regime from resupplying its forces in the north has made strides this week. The LAT reports that the revolutionaries are fighting for Aleppo International Airport, having taking Jarrah military airport a couple of days ago. The regime cannot easily […]

Egypt

On How the visit of Iran’s Ahmadinejad to Egypt was a Dud

Juan Cole

The first visit of an Iranian president to Egypt, in the wake of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran and the 2011 Egyptian Revolution against Hosni Mubarak, was expected to be a big deal. It wasn’t. Oh, it marked a change. The Mubarak regime despised the Khomeinist government of Iran. Egypt’s staff generals helped Iraq […]

Syria

Syria: Rebels take Aleppo Airport Road; NYT: Obama Nixed Clinton/Petraeus Plan to Arm Rebels

Juan Cole

Syria’s revolutionaries are saying that they have taken a key Aleppo district, Sheikh Said, that enables them to block the road to the airport. The Baath regime has been using its airports and air bases to resupply troops in the north. If the rebels can block the use of Aleppo airport for this purpose, they […]

Israel

Russia slams Israeli bombing of Syria as Violation of UN Charter

Juan Cole

The USG Open Source Center translates the statement at the website of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sharply condemning Israel: Text of “Russian Foreign Ministry statement in connection to reports about air strikes by the Israeli Air Force on targets on Syrian territory” published on the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs website on 31 […]

Syria

Syrian Horror Show, as Obama, Kuwait Pledge Refugee Aid (+ Cole Interview)

Juan Cole

The UN donors’ conference in Kuwait made some progress on Wednesday morning toward its goal of $1 billion in aid to the some 700,000 Syrian refugees, many of whom are shivering in tents in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. Kuwait stepped up big time, pledging $300 million. Kuwait has a long tradition of careful and well-executed […]

Syria

237 Dead in Syria day of Horrors, 87 killed at Aleppo U

Juan Cole

An enormous explosion hit Aleppo University on Tuesday, killing some 87 students and wounding over 150. The motive for the bombing is obscure. The regime holds the university and the area around it, so there is no reason for it to bomb the campus (though government bombing can go astray). But there is also nothing […]

Syria

Syrian Regime Bombards Damascus Suburb, Kills 36, as Rebels close on Air Base

Juan Cole

The Baath regime of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad showed its increasing desperation on Sunday when it had fighter jets bombard the eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus, killing some 36 people (some of them non-combatants). The regime bombed this area because the revolutionaries are using it as a base from which to attack the Muleiha air […]

Israel/ Palestine

Cole : “The Syrian Regime Will Likely Fall, but it Could Take Time” (WorldView Show)

Juan Cole

I was interviewed by Denis G. Campbell of the UK Progressive for his internet news and affairs program, the WorldView Show, and the exchange has just been posted. We mainly talked about the ongoing violence in Syria and its regional implications, and about the plight of the Palestinians.

Syria

The Syrian Opposition Attacks Bashar al-Assad’s Defiant Speech (Aljazeera & Alarabiya via OSC)

Juan Cole

The USG Open Source Center translates broadcasts from Arabic satellite television concerning the speech on Sunday of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in which he again dismissed his opposition as terrorists and blamed outside hands at the same time as he called for a vague political process. The revolutionaries were scathing in their responses. Pan-Arab TVs […]