Syria

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Reuters Arabic reports that a wave of anger swept the Syrian refugee camps of southern Lebanon Monday and Tuesday when they learned that Trump intends to ban Syrians and five other nationalities from coming to the US for at least 3 months and all refugee entries […]

Archaeology

Syrian Musicians Celebrate Palmyra’s Liberation

contributors

TeleSur | – – The city and its ruins, designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 1980, have traded hands several times during Syria’s six-year civil war. The 15-year-old’s voice floated over the ancient Roman theater, heavily damaged then abandoned by Islamic State group members Thursday as Syrian army forces drew near, eventually liberating the […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Palmyra: Trump about to find out that Hizbullah best anti-ISIL Fighters

contributors

TeleSur | – – The so-called Islamic State group [ISIL] has razed ancient monuments during both of its spells in control of Palmyra, a destruction the United Nations has condemned as a war crime. Syrian government forces and their allies fought their way into Palmyra Wednesday, driving back ISIL who have held the historic city […]

Donald Trump

Eight People Flee U.S. Border Patrol to Seek Asylum in Canada

contributors

TeleSur | – – As the U.S. looks to tighten its policies on refugees and illegal immigrants, people seeking refugee status have been pouring over the Canada-U.S. border. Eight asylum-seekers, including four children, barely made it across the Canadian border on Friday as a U.S. border patrol officer tried to stop them and a Reuters […]

Donald Trump

Pentagon To Recommend US Deploy Ground Troops in Syria?

contributors

TeleSur | – – Countries opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will meet on Friday for the first time since Donald Trump’s U.S. administration took office. The U.S. Defense Department may recommend that the United States deploy regular combat troops to Syria to fight Islamic State group militants, CNN reported on Wednesday. The idea is […]

Syria

Al-Qaeda Rising? After Aleppo defeat, Syrian Rebels turn on Each other

contributors

By David Patrikarakos | ( RFE/RL ) | – – 2017, it seems, will be no less chaotic than its predecessor — an aphorism made plain by a mere glance at the state of international politics extending from Paris to Washington. But nowhere is this trend clearer than in that most tumultuous of countries, Syria. […]

Donald Trump

The Catch-22 of Trump’s Muslim Ban: First, Bomb them, then Demand Vetting

contributors

By M. Safa Saracoglu | (Informed Comment) | – – On January 30, 2017, the President issued an executive order suspending entry of people from seven countries for 90 days. This ban proclaimed that people coming from these nations “would be detrimental to the interests of the US.” The suspension was designed to “temporarily reduce […]

Donald Trump

Syrian refugees ‘detrimental’ to Americans? The numbers tell a different story

Juan Cole

By Jeffrey H. Cohen | (The Conversation) | – – President Donald Trump wants to close the door on Syrian refugees, barring them indefinitely from settling in the U.S. In an executive order signed on Jan. 27, the president wrote: “I hereby proclaim that the entry of nationals of Syria as refugees is detrimental to […]

Donald Trump

Trump sends heavier weapons to Leftist Syrian Kurds to Fight ISIL

contributors

TeleSur | – – A Syrian militia led by the Kurdish leftist group YPG said they received armored vehicles from the U.S. military, the first such support. The U.S. has boosted support for its Syrian ally, Syrian Democratic Forces, SDF, alliance, supplying them with armored vehicles for the first time as they prepare for a […]