By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Thomas Friedman’s column this week made several allegations about the danger of an explosive situation in Syria, about which he is certainly correct. He pointed out that the US-UK-France missile strikes on Syria in reprisal for the alleged use of chlorine gas at Douma by the […]
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Syria
With Turkish Troops in Syria, is Erdogan’s Neo-Ottomanism a Diplomatic or Military Project?
By Nicolai Due-Gundersen | (The Conversation) | – – On our third trip to Istanbul, my wife and I visited the 19th century Dolmabahce Palace, once the administrative centre of the Ottoman Empire. As we toured the 285-room palace my wife was struck with not just how well preserved it was, but that it was […]
Syria After Trump’s Withdrawal: Top Reasons an “Arab Force” will Fail
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – President Trump’s determination to withdraw US troops from eastern Syria by October, so that GOP candidates for representative and senator can run on having defeated ISIL and having then brought the troops home, has created a policy dilemma for the Department of Defense and for the […]
Trump can’t Actually care much about Syrians if he only let in 11 Refugees this Year
TeleSur | – – “We are seeing the impact of the Trump administration’s words and policy and actions that slams the door on refugees,” says Oxfam America. The United States has accepted only 11 Syrian refugees so far this year, human rights organizations announced Saturday, just hours after President Donald Trump ordered airstrikes against strategic […]
The Tragedy of American Great Power Moves on the Middle East: Trump Can, so he Will
By Mohammed Nuruzzaman | (Informed Comment) | – – As assumed, the US, the UK and France launched their coordinated airstrikes on Syria in the early hours of Saturday, April 14 to punish the Bashar Al-Assad government’s alleged chemical attacks on the rebel fighters in Douma, a city close to Damascus. Russia’s counter-threats to shoot […]
Iraq on Syria Strikes: We’ve seen this Movie and it doesn’t End Well
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Iraq’s foreign ministry came out strongly against the US, British and French missile strikes on Syria. In a statement issued Saturday, the ministry called the attacks “an extremely dangerous step”that could result in a weakening of regional security. Spokesman Ahmad Mahjub said, “The ministry underlines the […]
Reality Show violence in the Age of Trump: Striking Syria
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – President Trump along with allies British prime minister Theresa May and French president Emannuel Macron struck Syria on Friday evening. It was not a piece of military strategy designed to win any war aims. It will have no effect on the situation in Syria at all. […]
Russia, Iran and Syria respond to Trump’s Threats
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The UK-based Arabic language daily, al-Arabi al-Jadid (a secular, left-leaning newspaper helmed by Azmi Bishara from Qatar) reports on the responses of Syria and its allies to sabre-rattling from Trump and from the UK and France. A key advisor to Ali Khamenei, Iran’s clerical leader, is […]
Syria: would a new foreign military intervention be legal?
By James Sweeney | (The Conversation) | – – Just days after an alleged chemical attack killed and injured scores of civilians in Douma, Syria, the US, UK and France agreed in principle that international action is needed to hold the perpetrators to account. But they didn’t make clear what form their action would take […]
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