Syria

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The left-leaning Beirut daily al-Safir (Ambassador) points out that less than two weeks after the Syrian Democratic Forces announced their campaign against al-Raqqa, the capital of the phony caliphate of Daesh (ISIS, ISIL), the SDF instead has veered off to the west in a bid to […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

In Fight against ISIL, does US have to Choose between Turkey & YPG Kurds?

contributors

By James Miller | ( RFE/ RL ) The fight against extremists from the Islamic State (IS) militant group is heating up on two fronts. Since May 23, a coalition consisting of the Iraqi army and primarily Shi'ite militias, backed by U.S. air strikes, has advanced towards Fallujah, 40 kilometers west of Baghdad. There are […]

Free Syrian Army

ISIL Advance Traps 165,000 Syrians at Closed Turkish Border

contributors

By Gerry Simpson | ( Human Rights Watch ) | – – There are two walls on the Turkey-Syria border. One is manned by Turkish border guards enforcing Turkey’s 15 month-old border closure who, according to witnesses, have at times shot at and assaulted Syrian asylum seekers as they try to reach safety in Turkey […]

Featured

US Spec Ops Troops on Front Line in Syria with Leftist Kurdish Insignia: AFP

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Agence France Presse got the scoop on Thursday, with their reporters in Fatisa just 19 miles from Daesh territory in northern al-Raqqa Province, Syria saying they saw some 20 US special operations troops embedded with leftist Kurdish YPG units and wearing YPG insignia. (The latter move […]

Featured

US-Backed Kurds begin Campaign against ISIL in Northern Syria

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The left-leaning Beirut daily al-Safir (The Ambassador) discusses the beginning of a new campaign by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) in the northern half of al-Raqqa Province. The south of the province and its capital, also named al-Raqqa, are a base […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Why total Victory for Russia and Assad is a Pipedream: ISIL strikes in deep in Regime Territory

contributors

By Scott Lucas | (The Conversation) | – – Months after Russia spectacularly entered the Syrian conflict, [the so-called] Islamic State (IS) is still thumbing its nose at both Moscow and the Assad regime in murderous fashion. On May 23, the group detonated between seven and nine car and suicide bombs in the coastal cities […]

Alawites

ISIL hits Syrian Regime in Shiite northwest, killing 150

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The leftist Beirut daily al-Safir reports that security in Syria broke down dramatically on Monday, as seven bombs timed to go off simultaneously hit soft targets in the Syrian Mediterranean cities of Jebleh and Tartus, killing some 150 persons and wounding 225 , the vast majority […]

Kurds

As they Liberate Villages from ISIL, Kurds drawing Syrians into Feminist Democracy

contributors

By Rahila Gupta | ( OpenDemocracy | – – Rojava is a fast moving, dynamic place where things change by the minute. What are the material conditions which support this woman-centred revolution ? Part 5 of 50.50’s series Witnessing the revolution in Rojava, northern Syria. There is a real sense of a people responding to […]

Featured

US Centcom Commander in Syria to Coordinate Kurds, Arabs against ISIL

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Robert Burns of AP reported on the visit inside Syria of the head of the US Middle East Command (Centcm), Army Gen. Joseph Votel, to assess the progress in US training of the Syrian Democratic Forces division. It is said to comprise 25,000 Kurdish fighters of […]