Syria

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – I just watched the 5 pm news hour on CNN anchored by Wolf Blitzer, and the editors had clearly decided that the lead was that Russian bombing in south Aleppo risks creating a new wave of refugees. They also stuck to the cover story that the […]

Bashar al-Assad

Is the Syrian Crisis Nearing the point where Diplomacy Can make a Difference?

contributors

Jo Comerford and Mattea Kramer | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – Introduction by Tom Engelhardt : Whatever happened to the “imperial presidency”? In mid-September, in the midst of the serial collapse of a $500-million Pentagon program to train “moderate” Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State (ISIS), President Obama suddenly claimed, through White House Press […]

Featured

Syrian Army advances under Russian air Support, al-Qaeda no. 2 Killed

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Arabic press is reporting that under cover of Russian air support, the Syrian Arab Army of Bashar al-Assad has made some advances against al-Qaeda in Syria and hard line Salafi rebels fighting for imposition of sharia or their conception of Islamic law on the country. […]

Iran

Will Iran’s Alliance with Russia Strengthen its hand in Mideast?

contributors

By Nader Habibi and Harith Hasan Al-Qarawee | (The Conversation) | – – The sudden launch of Russia’s military operations in Syria late last month caught the United States and regional players by surprise. It began with an announcement that defined the primary objective of the mission as a confrontation with the Islamic State (ISIS) […]

al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda in Syria Leader: Kill Alawite Minority, Russians; Christians fear West Backs Him

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The leader of al-Qaeda in Syria, Abu Muhammad al-Julani, has called for an escalation in attacks on the population centers of the Alawite Shiite minority. The president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, and other leading members of the ruling Baath Party belong to this folk sect of […]

Afghanistan

Still underestimating al-Qaeda & Taliban despite 1500 Military Analysts

contributors

By Tom Engelhardt | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – That figure stunned me. I found it in the 12th paragraph of a front-page New York Times story about “senior commanders” at U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) playing fast and loose with intelligence reports to give their air war against ISIS an unjustified sheen of success: […]

Featured

Iran in Syria? Reports its Troops plan Idlib, Aleppo Campaigns

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Jordanian newspaper al-Ghad (Tomorrow) is reporting that the commander of the Jerusalem Brigade of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards has been spotted near Latakia, urging on a volunteer militia of Alawite Shiites. The report comes as AP says it was told by a senior Western official […]

al-Qaeda

ISIL, al-Qaeda in Syria call for Holy War against Russia

contributors

By Joanna Paraszczuk | ( RFE/ RL Both the [so-called] Islamic State (IS) group and Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, the Al-Nusra Front, this week called for attacks against Russia, as Russian air strikes in Syria continue — though not against IS targets. IS broke two weeks of silence on the Russian air strikes in Syria on […]

Russia

Can Russia afford Its Syria Campaign?

contributors

By Charles Recknagel | ( RFE/ RL ) Rough estimates suggest that Moscow has spent at least $87 million for air and cruise-missile strikes in the first two weeks of its bombing campaign in Syria that began September 30. With that relatively modest investment, the Kremlin has made itself a player that cannot be ignored […]