Syria

By Akil N Awan | (The Conversation) | – – The wave of recent attacks in Tunisia, Kuwait and Turkey, all apparently linked to Islamic State in some way, have reinforced the spectre of the unstoppable “Daesh death cult” whose tentacles of terror can reach deep into every corner of the globe The omnipresence of […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Turkish Gov’t Worries about Kurdish, Leftist Mobilization after Bombing, briefly bans Twitter

contributors

BBC | (Video News Report) | – – “In Turkey authorities have blocked access to Twitter in a bid to prevent the broadcast of images of the suicide bomb attack in the border town of Suruc. A state run news agency also said the ban on social media was put in place to stop anti […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

On Edge over Syria, Kurdish issues, Turkey tense after horrific Bombing

contributors

By Cengiz Gunes | (The Conversation) | – – Islamic State appears to have stepped up its war with the Kurds by bombing a meeting of socialist activists as they gathered in the town of Suruç. The incident is not only a terrible blow to the Kurds, but threatens further unrest in Turkey, where a […]

Iraq

Is the ISIS War About Oil After All?

contributors

By Jack Werner | (Foreign Policy in Focus) | – – The unfolding intervention against the Islamic State shows that oil doesn't just guide U.S. foreign policy. It constrains our ways of thinking about it. Foreign intervention is 100 times more likely if oil reserves are present in a country experiencing civil war. That’s the […]

Human Rights

On ‘Death Road’: Women, Civilians Flee ISIL Extremists in Iraq & Syria

contributors

By Shalaw Mohammed | Kirkuk | (Niqash.org) – – As extremists rule harshly and coalition airstrikes hit, there’s a mass exodus of civilians out of Hawija. And one of the ways they are getting out is with people smugglers on the “death road”. A few days ago Mahmoud Fathallah arrived with his family and another […]

Bahrain

Iran’s Khamenei Praises Nuclear Deal, but slams US Foreign Policy

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s clerical Leader, appeared to be attempting to mollify hard liners on Friday in his Friday prayers addresses. On the one hand, he praised the negotiators at Vienna who in long and arduous negotiations crafted the deal on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. He […]

Children

Wars targeting Children: 20 mn Homeless, 300K Conscripted & now Mass Abductions by ISIL

contributors

By Beatriz Ciordia | (Inter Press Service) | – – UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – Whether in Palestine, Ukraine or Somalia, wars result in millions of children threatened by the brutality of armed conflict. The numbers speak for themselves: more than 300,000 child soldiers are currently exploited in situations of armed conflict and six million children […]

Druze

How the Washington Post got Taken in by Syria’s Taliban

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) Making alliances of convenience is a perennial temptation in Washington, where policy-makers often have more ambition than ethics or common sense. Thus, the Washington Post just published a slick op-ed by a representative of the Islamic Movement of Syrian Free Men (Ahrar al-Sham) claiming that the group is “moderate” […]

Bashar al-Assad

4 Million Syrian Displaced Abroad: ‘Biggest Refugee Population From a Single Conflict in a Generation’

contributors

By Kanya D’Almeida | – – UNITED NATIONS, (IPS) – Barely 10 months ago, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said the refugee population from Syria had reached the three million mark. Today, the latest data from the field show that the number has passed four million. “This is the biggest refugee population from a […]