Syria

Muslims of Syrian town of Saraqeb put up Christmas tree for local Christians. The young man who is being interviewed stresses the unity of all Syrians, whether Muslim, Christian, Druze, etc. The Syrian revolutionaries took it at the beginning of November. It was subsequently the site of the execution of captured Syrian army troops. Last […]

Syria

Obama Recognizes Syrian Opposition as Government, as Fighters advance in Aleppo, Damascus

Juan Cole

President Obama announced on Tuesday that the US now formally recognizes the Syrian opposition as the legitimate government of Syria: US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said Tuesday that there were no further indications of the Syrian regime priming itself to deploy chemical weapons. (My own suspicion is that Israeli intelligence planted that story in […]

Syria

South Damascus a Battlefield, as Bodies Pile up, and Bread Crisis in Capital Worsens

Juan Cole

The forces seeking to overthrow the Baath government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad have made further advances both in the north in Aleppo and its surroundings, and in the suburbs of the capital of Damascus. But the civilian population in the war-torn country’s urban areas are facing food and electricity shortages: On Damascus, the USG […]

Syria

Syria Rebels make Advances as Hillary Clinton calls for ‘a Concerted Push’ for Democratic Transition (Videos)

Juan Cole

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for a ‘concerted push’ on Friday to begin a political transition in Syria. She said that the transition must eventuate in a unified, democratic Syria. AFP reports: Meanwhile, former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s chief of staff, Lawrence Wilkerson , expressed severe reservations about what he called ‘politicized’ […]

Syria

Syrian Regime flies 60 bombing Raids against Rebel City Quarters

Juan Cole

The Baath regime of Bashar al-Assad spent the final day of a supposed 4-day cease-fire on Monday intensively bombing its own cities, with fighter jets flying dozens of sorties against rebel positions. Some bombs were so powerful that they kicked up mini mushroom clouds. Neighborhoods of the capital, Damascus, were bombed, as were rebellious cities […]

Iran

Syria crisis Shakes Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia as Cease-Fire Crumbles

Juan Cole

The inability of the Syrian government to crush an 18-month-old revolutionary movement is putting increasing pressure on its neighbors. Not only have hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria poured into Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq, but political forces in each of those countries are having to choose sides and to reevaluate their choices over […]

Iraq

10,000 Syrian Refugees Trapped on Iraq & Turkish Borders

Juan Cole

Human Rights Watch is calling on Iraq and Turkey to open their borders in Syria’s northeast to allow the passage of some 10,000 Syrian refugees, caught in the desert without proper sanitation. Aljazeera English reports on the closed Iraqi border at Qa’im. The Shiite-dominated Iraqi government fears that some of the Syrians seeking to escape […]

Afghanistan

Romney’s Five Wars

Juan Cole

Mitt Romney’s speech at VMI on foreign policy has been widely condemned as vague and lacking in substance, sort of like the man who gave it. But the speech is also full of suggestions and criticisms of the Obama administration that are simply not realistic. The speech is Romney’s “Mission Impossible,” only without the cool […]

Afghanistan

Top Seven Errors President Obama has made on the Middle East

Juan Cole

Yesterday I explored the errors and fantasies in Gov. Mitt Romney’s WSJ op-ed on the Middle East. Here I will briefly go over the mistakes that the Obama administration has made in the region. Unlike the proposed blunders of Romney, I have to say, most of these are errors of omission or of an abundance […]