Syria

Human Rights Watch (New York) – The Russian-Syrian coalition committed war crimes during a month-long aerial bombing campaign of opposition-controlled territory in Aleppo in September and October 2016. The Violations Documentation Center, a Syrian civil monitoring organization, documented that the bombing campaign killed more than 440 civilians, including more than 90 children. Airstrikes often appeared […]

Featured

Russian Pundit: Fall of East Aleppo a Geopolitical Turning Point toward Multi-polar World

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – By Friday evening outside observers like Rami Abdelrahman of the Syria Observatory in the UK were saying that even more of the East Aleppo pocket had fallen to the Syrian Arab Army, Hizbullah and Iraqi militias and that the government forces had consolidated their control over […]

Bashar al-Assad

Why Russia and Regime want all of Aleppo before Trump is sworn in

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – In the past two days, the Syrian Arab Army and its Shiite militia allies (Hizbullah from Lebanon and others from Iraq) has taken a third to forty percent of the Eastern Aleppo pocket. The northeast zone of the pocket has collapsed, with rebel fights apparently declining […]

Displaced and Refugees

In Trump’s Shadow, is East Aleppo on Verge of falling to Regime, Russia?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | – – In the wake of the election of Donald Trump, the regime of Bashar al-Assad and its Russian backer have thrown caution to the wind. No less than the Republican Congress, Damascus and Moscow know that Barack Obama is a lame duck. Understanding that Trump campaigned on giving Syria to […]

Donald Trump

Syria’s al-Assad: Trump “a natural ally”

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – In an interview with Portugal television Wednesday, according to al-Hayat, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad said that Donald Trump will be “a natural ally” for Damascus if his administration fights “terrorism.” Asked if he was prepared to work with Trump, al-Assad said, “Naturally, I say that is […]

Displaced and Refugees

Dear Mayor Giuliani: We can’t turn our backs on Syrian Refugees

contributors

Akil Awan | (Informed Comment) | – – I recently visited Jordan as part of my work on political violence and youth radicalisation for the United Nations on Security Council Resolution 2250. Jordan borders Syria to its north, and although Jordanians display a remarkable sense of normalcy in their everyday lives, visitors cannot really escape […]

Featured

Putin targets East Aleppo rebels; Did Trump’s Election doom them?

Juan Cole

by Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Some 2,000 rebel fighters, most of them Muslim fundamentalists, others remnants of the Free Syrian Army, are trying to break the Syrian regime’s blockade of East Aleppo. But they may soon face cruise missiles launched at them from Russian submarines in the Mediterranean, along with other […]

Displaced and Refugees

Civilians in both Aleppos are Hurting

contributors

By Hadeel al-Shalchi | (Human Rights Watch) | – – The small child cries hysterically on the hospital bed, covered in dust and blood. The video, posted by the pro-Syrian government news agency al-Akhbariya, shows scene after scene of civilian men, women, and children injured from what they say were rockets launched by armed opposition […]

Iraq

Int’l Conflict over Aleppo & Mosul is Making local Civil Wars Worse

contributors

By Christopher Hill | (Project Syndicate) | – – DENVER – The Middle East’s tragic tale of two cities – Aleppo in Syria and Mosul in Iraq – speaks to a fundamental lack of consensus in the region and within the broader international community. The lack of order in the international order is greatly complicating […]