Syria

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Well, I say Trump is losing, but it isn’t clear that Trump has a policy in Syria or cares whether he wins. The Department of Defense is losing. Its policy was to 1. defeat ISIL with the help of the leftist Kurds of the YPG (People’s […]

Kurds

Kurdish Civilians pledge to shield Afrin from Turkish Invasion with their Bodies

contributors

TeleSur | – – The YPG and allied forces, under the umbrella organization the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), control over 60 percent of the Syrian border with Turkey. The Kurdish residents of Afrin have said they would act as human shield to confront a Turkish assault on the local Kurdish militia YPG who rules the […]

Bashar al-Assad

Surprise withdrawal of Syrian guerrillas from East Ghouta as Regime advances

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Syrian War is largely over, but the regime of Bashar al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian backers appear determined to mop up the remaining enclaves of rebel opposition, despite sweet talk of de-confliction zones and of negotiations in Sochi or Astana. It would be better […]

Syria

Syria’s war at home is giving way to dangerous proxy conflicts

contributors

By Moritz Pieper | (The Conversation) | – – As Syrian government forces crush the country’s largest remaining rebel strongholds and with Bashar al-Assad apparently here to stay, Syria is turning into an arena for three new proxy conflicts. In the south, Israel is facing off against Iran; in the northern region of Afrin, Turkey […]

Bashar al-Assad

Yes, Newsweek & RT, Syria’s Regime uses Chemical Weapons

contributors

By Brian Whitaker | ( al-Bab.com) | – – False claims in the UN security council: Syria’s Bashar Ja’afari At a meeting [last month] of the UN security council Syria claimed the US and France now doubt that the Assad regime has ever used chemical weapons. The claim was false but it provides an interesting […]

Featured

UN: War Crimes being Committed in Syria’s East Ghouta

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Reuters reports that Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, warned Syrian (and Russian?) officials that there is credible evidence that they are committing war crimes in East Ghouta, and perhaps crimes against humanity. A war crime is a single action that violates […]

Bashar al-Assad

Britain may join US strikes against Syria if chemical weapon use proven

contributors

Middle East Monitor | – – UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told BBC radio “If we know that it has happened, and we can demonstrate it, and if there is a proposal for action where the UK could be useful then I think we should seriously consider it.” Britain would consider joining US military strikes […]

Featured

UN Security Council calls for 30-Day Ceasefire in Syria’s East Ghouta

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The United Nations Security Council finally passed a resolution calling for a 30-day ceasefire between the Damascus government and the al-Qaeda-dominated guerrillas in Eastern Ghouta. UN Secretary-General António Guterres reminded all sides of their absolute duty in international law to safeguard the life of innocent noncombatants. […]

Bashar al-Assad

Rescuers say cannot keep up with air strikes battering Syria’s Ghouta

contributors

Middle East Monitor | – – Rescuers in Syria’s eastern Ghouta said the bombing would not let up long enough for them to count the bodies, in one of the bloodiest air assaults of the seven-year war. Warplanes pounded the rebel enclave on Saturday, the seventh day in a row of a fierce escalation by […]