Syria

By Juan Cole| (Informed Comment) | – – The Israeli press is reporting that Iran has made a firmer military alliance with the Russian Federation in Syria, and that Moscow is sending pilots to Damascus to fly missions in that country against Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) and other Muslim extremist groups. The Syrian regime of Bashar […]

Alawites

Can a Loose Federal system save Syria and Iraq?

contributors

By Jerome Joffe | (Informed Comment) | – – In recent months, prospects for applying the principles of federation and constitutional protection for minorities as a basic political solution for the conflicts in Syria and Iraq have dramatically improved. On the foundation of state restructuring, coordination of military force to degrade ISIS and the Nusra […]

Climate Change

Water Being Used as Weapon of War in Syrian Conflict, UN Warns

contributors

By Lauren McCauley, staff writer. | (Commondreams.org) | – – Compounded by scorching heat wave, Syrians are experiencing ‘deliberate’ water cut-offs, often for weeks at a time The United Nations on Tuesday said it has reason to believe that groups in the Syrian conflict are using the country’s scarce water supply as a weapon of […]

Syria

ISIL’s Assault on History: Blows Up 1st Century Baal Shamin Temple in Palmyra

Juan Cole

RFE / RL | – – Gunmen from the Islamic State (IS) militant group have blown up a first century A.D. temple in the ancient city of Palmyra, Syrian government officials and a monitoring group have said. However, there is confusion over when the detonation is thought to have taken place. Syria’s directorate-general of antiquities […]

Christianity

ISIS Desecrates, Razes Ancient Christian Monastery in Syria

contributors

Iraq-Syria News | (Video News Report) | – – “Yet again, ISIS violated the sanctity of Christianity in the Middle East and in Syria in particular. This time, the target was the Monastery of Mar Elian [St. Julian of the East] in the town of Qaryatain, 68 miles northeast of Damascus. ISIS posted photos on […]

Bashar al-Assad

Syria: Impose Arms Embargo on Regime Following Deadly Airstrikes

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – (New York) – The United Nations Security Council should impose an arms embargo on the Syrian government following the government’s repeated air attacks on Douma’s popular markets and residential areas on August 16, 2015. The attacks killed at least 112 people, whom witnesses and first responders described as overwhelmingly […]

Archaeology

Syria: Daesh/ ISIL Kills aged Archeologist who refused to reveal hidden Palmyra Antiquities

contributors

AJ+ | (Video News Report) | – – “ISIS beheaded 82-year-old Khaled Al-Asaad on August 18, 2015, in the 2,000-year-old city he spent his life restoring. Syria’s most prominent antiquities scholar is the latest victim of the Islamic State group’s war on history.” AJ+: “ISIS Kills 82-Year-Old Scholar In Ancient City Of Palmyra He Helped […]

Alawites

Iran’s Support for Syria Pragmatic, not Religious (or, Who are the Alawites?)

contributors

By Ari Heistein | (Informed Comment) | – – The Shia government in Teheran and the Alawi regime in Damascus have had warm relations since Iran’s Islamic Revolution, and many attribute that to a common affinity for Shia Islam. While Alawis have embraced their relatively recent inclusion in the Muslim world, for the vast majority of their history […]

Bashar al-Assad

How many thousands US troops would GOP Hopefuls send to Iraq and Syria?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Bill Barrow of the Associated Press took a look at the specifics of plans for US troop deployments in the Middle East put forward by some of the GOP presidential hopefuls. Several Republican politicians have pledged a return of US combat troops in large numbers to […]