Tag: Syria

Syria

Did John McCain meet with jihadists in Syria?

Upon his death, many are reviving the discredited claim that John McCain met with ISIS on his Syria trip in 2013. But some are settling for the less ambitious, and perhaps plausible, claim that he met with jihadists who were implicated in atrocities. Ben Norton tweets: “John McCain was a staunch supporter of the CIA-backed, al-Qaeda-linked Salafi extremist opposition in Syria. In fact the late senator posed in a photo with a rebel who was involved in kidnapping 11 Lebanese Shia civilians.” But Norton is repeating as “fact” what are actually unproven claims—while he still equivocates about “alleged” chemical attacks by the Assad regime. It’s a bitter irony. McCain participated in war crimes in Vietnam. Two generations later, those who gloat at his death are covering up for equivalent war crimes by Assad and his allies. It fell to McCain, who was unapologetic about his Vietnam role, to try to drum up some support for the resistance in Syria. (Photo: John McCain Twitter feed)

Iraq

Turkey bombs Yazidi territory in Iraq

Authorities in Ezidikhan, the self-declared Yazidi autonomous homeland in northern Iraq, issued a statement protesting a Turkish air-raid on their territory. The attack was apparently a targeted assassination of Yazidi leader Zeki ?engali, who is a representative of the Union of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK), the international body in the political orbit of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Four members of the Yazidi territorial militia, the Sinjar Protection Units (YBS), were also killed in the attack, and a home destroyed. The raid actually took place as Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was on an official trip to Turkey, sparking outrage from some Iraqi officials. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

Syria

Afrin and Raqqa: fearful symmetry

Reports of rights abuses in the north Syrian enclave of Afrin, taken by Turkish forces and rebel allies from Kurdish defenders in March, continue to mount. Amnesty International charges that Afrin residents have been arbitrarily detained and tortured, with houses and businesses looted and confiscated, and schools destroyed or taken over by militia forces. Meanwhile the Syrian opposition cited sources on the ground accusing the Kurdish militia that was driven out of Afrin, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), of press-ganging youth for compulsory military service in Raqqa. Afrin is a formerly Kurdish-majority city where displacement of Kurds and an influx of Arabs under Turkish occupation is affecting a demographic shift. Raqqa is an Arab-majority city which has been under occupation by Kurdish-led forces since it was liberated from ISIS last October. This situation obviously further heightens the risk of Kurdish-Arab ethnic war in northern Syria. (Photo: SDF)

Syria

Propaganda and the accounting of death in Syria

The US State Department harshly condemned the Syrian regime over thousands of death notices it has released in recent weeks, saying they confirm suspicions of mass detentions, torture and murder. The State Department said that over 117,000 are believed to have been detained or forcibly disappeared in Syria since the conflict began in 2011, “the vast majority” by the regime. Amnesty International meanwhile issued a statement protesting the US-led Coalition’s “flurry of responses” rejecting the findings of its recent report on devastation wrought by the aerial bombardment of Raqqa last year, revealing “how deeply in denial the Coalition leadership is about its failure to protect civilians caught in conflict.” (Photo: SDF)

Iran

Trump administration reimposes sanctions on Iran

US President Donald Trump issued an executive order reimposing certain sanctions against Iran. In a press statement, the White House criticized the Iran nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) of July 2015, signed by Iran, Germany, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and the EU. The US withdrew from the JCPOA in May, prompting a legal challenge from Iran before the International Court of Justice. The White House stated that JCPOA "threw a lifeline of cash to a murderous dictatorship that has continued to spread bloodshed, violence, and chaos." The administration claims Iran used funds obtained from the JCPOA to fund nuclear-capable missiles, terrorism, and to support conflict abroad. (Map: Myket.ir)

Syria

Book review: Impossible Revolution

This book is a necessary corrective to the dominant perception—left, right and center—that the opposition in Syria are all jihadists and dictator Bashar Assad the best bet for “stability.” Long a left-wing dissident in Assad’s Syria, Saleh is a veteran of the dictator’s prisons. Here, he traces the origins of the Syrian revolution to agony caused by the regime’s “economic liberalization” (socialist phrases aside), describes the initially unarmed opposition’s popular-democratic nature, and discusses the struggle to keep the Free Syrian Army accountable to this grassroots base after it became clear a military dimension to the revolution was necessary. He makes the case that the Assad regime can be termed “fascist” even by the most rigorous definition, and has been making good on its pledge to “burn the country” before ceding power. (Image: Haymarket Books)

Syria

Druze women and children abducted by ISIS

During the wave of coordinated ISIS attacks that left 250 dead in Syria’s regime-held southern governorate of Suweida, the militants also went door-to-door in Druze villages, abducting some 35 women and children. The militants are believed to have escaped with them into their remaining strongholds in Syria’s eastern desert. The attack wave followed visits by Russian military delegations to Suweida, during which Druze elders were urged to cooperate in disarming the populace. This was apparently aimed at suppressing the Rijal al-Karama (Men of Dignity), a Druze self-defense militia that had emerged over the past years of violence in Syria. The ISIS assault came immediately after regime weapons seizures in Druze villages, leading to theories of regime complicity in the attacks. (Photo via Syria Call)

Syria

Syria endgame: Rojava seeks deal with Assad

Representatives of the US-backed Kurdish-led alliance known as the Syrian Democratic Forces are holding talks in Damascus with the Assad regime, apparently with an eye toward regime recognition of the Kurdish autonomous zone in exchange for unity against further Turkish expansion in northern Syria. The SDF controls more than 27% of Syrian territory. In effect, that means this region is under the Rojava autonomous administration, which is the real political force behind the SDF. The Rojava leadership’s cooperation in a Syrian carve-up deal may be the price of survival for their autonomous zone. But it would certainly vindicate the long-standing accusations of Kurdish collaboration with Assad—despite Assad’s previous refusal to recognize the autonomous zone. It would also yet further heighten the risk of Kurdish-Arab ethnic war in northern Syria. (Photo of Kurdish fighters in Rojava via Rudaw)

Syria

Syria endgame: whither Idlib?

With the fall of Syria’s southern province of Daraa to Assad regime forces, only Idlib in the north remains as a last pocket of opposition control. The besieged rebel forces there are anticipating a final offensive by Assad and his Russian backers. But a complicating factor is that Turkey is occupying areas of Idlib, which means an offensive there threatens international escalation. Speaking to reporters before heading for a summit of emerging market countries in South Africa, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would speak there with Vladimir Putin about how to resolve “the issue of Idlib.” This points to a possible carve-up deal, in which the bulk of Syria falls under Assad with Russian protection, Idlib remains under rebel control with Turkish protection, and the northeastern Rojava region will remain a Kurdish autonomous zone under US protection. (Photo: Syria News)

Syria

Syria: fall of Daraa; regime prepares Idlib offensive

Three weeks into the Assad regime’s offensive on Daraa governorate in Syria’s south, the Free Syrian Army’s Southern Front have entered into a surrender deal brokered by Russia, which calls for their phased withdrawal of towns they still hold over the coming days. The Russian military plans to evacuate up to 1,000 people via a “humanitarian corridor” to Idlib in the north, the last significant pocket of rebel control. But the fate of many thousands more remains uncertain, even as the UN hopes for the return of the over 250,000 displaced from Daraa over the past weeks. Meanwhile, refuge in Idlib will be precarious at best, as the regime and its Russian backers are preparing a final offensive there. UN Secretary General AntĂłnio Guterres is calling for an investigation into deadly Russian air-strikes last week on the Idlib town of Zardana, in which at least 47 civilians were reported killed. (Photo: Assad regime troops under rebel flag in Daraa. Via Enab Baladi)

Syria

Syria: 270,000 displaced in Daraa offensive

At least 270,000 people—about a third of the population—have been displaced by the Assad regime offensive on Daraa governorate in southern Syria. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) expects the number to rise, with civilians fleeing to the borders with Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights—but with both countries refusing to allow entry. The UNHCR said about 164,000 displaced are now in camps and villages in the neighboring small opposition-held governorate of Quneitra, close to the Golan border. The Assad offensive to regain Daraa governorate, where the Syrian uprising began in March 2011, has been backed by Russian air-strikes, violating a “de-escalation zone” Moscow had declared with the US last July. UNHCR noted reports that “suggest indiscriminate attacks on health facilities, schools, civil defense centers, and offices of local NGOs.” (Photo: EA Wordlview)

Syria

Trump betrays Syrian rebels —surprise!

As the Assad regime, backed by Russian air-strikes, opens its offensive on the Free Syrian Army’s Southern Front in Daraa governorate—and towns start to fall to pro-regime forces, with thousands fleeing their homes in fear of reprisals—the White House has issued a statement to the rebels, warning, “[Y]ou should not base your decisions on the assumption or expectation of a military intervention by us.” This despite Washington’s earlier warning to Assad and Putin that any violation of the so-called “de-escalation zones” would have “serious repercussions.” Not surprisingly, this betrayal comes just as Trump reportedly told Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House that he is seeking a deal with Putin on terms for a withdrawal of remaining US forces from Syria. The US has long been constraining the rebel forces from fighting Assad as a condition of receiving aid, insisting they fight only ISIS and other jihadists. Now that ISIS is essentially defeated, we appear to be witnessing the betrayal of the Syrian opposition in a Trump-Putin carve-up deal. (Southern Front logo via Wikipedia)