Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

TomoNews | (Video) “Bridgeman, who was captain of his rugby team, graduated from high school in November 2014. He then traveled to Indonesia for humanitarian work, according to the teenager’s Facebook page and 9 News. When he failed to return home from his trip, his parents alerted officials. The Australian Federal Police tracked Bridgeman down […]

al-Qaeda

Did the US DIA see ISIL as a strategic Ally against al-Assad in 2012?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment)- The answer, in a word, is “no.” Fabius Maximus is right that this is just a clickbait story or an unfounded conspiracy theory. The Defense Intelligence Agency’s correct assessment of where things were going in Syria, done in 2012, doesn’t say that the US created sectarian groups and it […]

Iraq

Iraq Can’t Get Ramadi back without an Inclusive Policy toward Sunnis

contributors

By David Alpher | (The Conversation) – Last Friday, the city of Ramadi – provincial capital of Iraq’s Anbar Province, and symbolic seat of its Sunni population – fell to an ISIS assault. The loss is devastating, and not only because of the city’s size or symbolic value, or because it’s another reminder that ISIS […]

Featured

Daesh/ ISIL blows up Shiite Mosque in Saudi Arabia, seeking Sectarian Civil War

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – A suicide bomber with a concealed weapon detonated his payload during Friday prayers at the Ali b. Abi Talib Mosque in Qadif, a suburb of the major Shiite city of Qatif in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. It killed 21 and wounded 102, according to the […]

Bashar al-Assad

ISIL beheaded Dozens in Palmyra, but how Strategic is the City?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – Nearly 500 people died in the campaign by Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) to take the Syrian city of Palmyra, including 49 who were executed before the fundamentalists reached the city center. On Thursday, they are alleged by the Syrian Observatory on Human Rights to have beheaded at least […]

Bashar al-Assad

As Palmyra Falls, Who Supports Bashar al-Assad in Syria? (Charles Glass)

contributors

VICE News | (Video) “VICE News and the New York Review of Books have partnered to create Talking Heads, a series about the big issues of the day as seen by the Review’s distinguished contributors. In this episode, Charles Glass discusses his essay “In the Syria We Don’t Know.” He drove through Syria in October […]

al-Qaeda

Washington asks, “Who lost Ramadi?” But Washington never had Ramadi

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | — The inside-the-Beltway debate set off by the fall of the Iraqi city of Ramadi to Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) on Sunday is, as usual, Dadaistic in its disconnection from reality. Republican talking points blame Barack Obama for withdrawing US troops from Iraq in 2011, as though Daesh suddenly […]

Bashar al-Assad

Syrian Opposition, Caught between Assad & Extremists, Despair at World’s Neglect

contributors

By Haroro J. Ingram with L. T. Anthony | (The Conversation) | – Syrian civilians are trapped in the middle of a holocaust: prizes in a ruthless contest for popular support and cannon fodder mercilessly slaughtered by forces with little regard for human life. Despite many groups being implicated in actions targeting civilian populations, the […]

Featured

Iraq: 25,000 Shiite Militiamen gather for Battle of Ramadi

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | — Al-Zaman (The Times of Baghdad) reports that Iraqi Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi met Tuesday with leaders of the Shiite militias to plan the retaking of Ramadi, a Sunni Arab city about 78 miles due west of Baghdad that fell on Sunday to Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) as the […]