Syria

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Tuesday that he would veto the renewal of a European Union ban on weapons exports to Syria, and hinted that Britain might go it alone in supplying rebels with arms. The Syrian opposition wants the ban lifted, arguing that the rebels would benefit more than the regime (which is […]

Syria

Humanitarian Catastrophe in Syria: Why don’t We Hear More, Do More?

Juan Cole

Oxfam says that the Syrian refugee crisis is ‘spiraling out of control’; Amy Christian reports: The Real News Network interviews Omar Dahi on this humanitarian catastrophe in Syria, with 70,000 dead, a million displaced abroad, and two million displaced internally. Dahi is scathing on the lack of reporting on the direness of the refugee situation […]

Syria

Syrian Rebels capture UN Troops, face Raqqah bombings, are pledged UK Armored Trucks

Juan Cole

The Syrian civil war heated up on several fronts on Wednesday. UK Foreign Secretary William Hague on Wednesday painted a horrific picture of the situation in Syria and went on to pledge armored vehicles and body armor for the Syrian rebels, as a ‘humanitarian’ measure. Russian media accuse the US, Western Europe and Jordan of […]

Iran

Venezuela and the Middle East after Chavez

Juan Cole

The foreign policy of late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez imagined that socialism and anti-imperialism are the same thing, and that he could lead a new sort of socialist international. (He also seems not to have distinguished between anti-Americanism and anti-imperialism.) These considerations shaped his Middle East policy in ways that were contradictory and hypocritical. Chavez, […]

Syria

The Syrian Civil War comes to Iraq, as 8 Iraqi and 48 Syrian Troops are Killed on Iraqi Soil

Juan Cole

So on Saturday, Syrian rebels in the east of the country attacked another government checkpoint along the Iraqi border, al-Ya`rabiya, and took it. Some of the besieged Syrian troops, many wounded, escaped to the Iraqi side and were being escorted by Iraqi troops south when they were ambushed early on Tuesday and 48 were killed, […]

Syria

Syrian Revolution Darkens Further, with Damascus Bombings and Hizbullah Involvement

Juan Cole

The Syrian regime bombed its own people again on Thursday, this time sending fighter jets to bombard the old district of Deraa in the south. The bombings killed 18 persons. It wasn’t the first time the regime has deployed aerial bombardment against civilian cities, but it was the first such strike at Deraa (the place […]

Russia

War of Logistics in N. Syria as Rebel Forces Close in on Aleppo Airport

Juan Cole

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 […]