Syria

AJ+ | (Video report) | – – “While U.S. governors say no to refugees in response to the Paris attacks, France says it will take in 30,000 Syrians.” AJ+: “France Still Welcoming Syrian Refugees, Unlike Many U.S. Governors”

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Did Daesh/ ISIL’s Paris attacks bolster al-Assad? Spain calls him ‘lesser of evils’

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Spanish foreign minister José Manuel García Margallo said Wednesday in the course of a television interview: “At the end of the day, the thesis has begun to clarify that it is the lesser evil to make an agreement with Bashar al-Assad and to thereby achieve a […]

France

Paris attacks: how effective has the military response been?

contributors

By Scott Lucas | (The Conversation) | – – Even as Parisians were trying to assess the scale of the attacks by Islamic State (IS) which killed 132 people on November 13, politicians were promising a decisive and effective military response. French President Francois Hollande assured, “We will be merciless toward the barbarians of Islamic […]

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Is Daesh/ ISIL a modern Raiding Pirate state?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Some analysts trying to understand Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) had suggested that it differs from al-Qaeda in its emphasis on taking and holding territory, thus becoming a state– something that al-Qaeda was largely uninterested in. They expected the self-proclaimed “caliph” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to concentrate his resources […]

Europe

Paris at Midnight: Attempt to push France out of anti ISIL coalition in Syria?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Update: Daesh (IS, ISIS, ISIL) has said they were behind the attack. Paris was hit by at least two well-trained and -equipped terrorist cells in a coordinated attack on 6 or 7 soft targets on Friday night. The attack that took the most lives, over 120 […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

The life of ‘Jihadi John’: how one man became the symbol of ISIL

contributors

By Scott Lucas | (The Conversation) | – – Dubbed “Jihadi John” by the British media after video footage of his murderous exploits was seen around the world, Mohammed Emwazi became a symbol of a complex conflict – a shorthand for the evil threatening the West as well as those in Syria and Iraq. On […]

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Kurdish Fighters cut Road between ISIL centers of Raqqa and Mosul

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Al-Arabiya reports that the Security Council in Iraqi Kurdistan has announced that their paramilitary, the Peshmerga have taken 150 square kilometers of the city of Sinjar from Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) and has the entire city surrounded. Some sources say that 70% of the city has fallen […]

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Are 2,000 Gulf fighters in Syria a terrorist threat to . . . the Gulf?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – A Saudi preacher has given a press briefing on young men from the Gulf fighting against the al-Assad regime. Although the Hizbullah fighters from Lebanon are often mentioned in the US press as an example of foreign interference, there is little mention of this Gulf contingent. […]

Jabhat al-Nusra

Syria: The Other Front, not ISIL or Assad: al-Qaeda al-Nusra

contributors

Medyan Dairieh | VICE News | (Video Report) – – “VICE News filmmaker Medyan Dairieh gains exclusive access to the Syrian branch of al Qaeda, al Nusra, a jihadist group fighting against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and the Islamic State (IS). Spending more than a month with al Nusra and exploring their expanding territory, Dairieh […]