Syria

Who are the Syrian Refugees, really, and where are they? Hint: Mainly women and children, & not in the West

By Jeffrey H. Cohen | (The Conversation) | – – Editor’s note: This article is part of our collaboration with Point Taken, a new program from WGBH that will next air on Tuesday, April 19 on PBS and online at pbs.org. The show features fact-based debate on major issues of the day, without the shouting. […]

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Top 7 Reasons Israel must give back the Occupied Golan to Syria

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The far right wing regime of Binyamin Netanyahu pulled the stunt of holding its first cabinet meeting in the Occupied Golan Heights on Sunday, and Netanyahu engaged in some grandstanding, declaring that Israel will never relinquish this patch of Syria. Israeli propaganda maintains that Israel is […]

Iraq

Daesh and Territorial Control Reconsidered

contributors

By Michael Degerald | ( History X ISIS ) | – – It might seem strange to open this essay by speaking about circulation and vitality in regard to Daesh [ISIS, ISIL]. Yet when we think of a nation-state, circulation is rarely the first thing that comes to our minds. Imagine a room where air […]

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Negotiations, “Elections,” and al-Qaeda’s assault on Syrian Ceasefire

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – There were five major stories in the US and European press about Syria today: 1. The cessation of hostilities is in danger of breaking down (typically Western politicians and press blame this on the Syrian regime, but as far as I can tell, it is because […]

Children

Lebanon: Over 70% of Syrian Refugee Children Forced into Exploitative Child Labor

contributors

TeleSur | – – A report by an anti-slavery group also details how Syrian refugee girls are being forced into child marriage and sex slavery. Up to 70 percent of Syrian refugee children are being forced into child labor in Lebanon, the anti-slavery Freedom Fund group said in a report Tuesday. The report also pointed […]

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Saudi’s King Salman in Turkey signals thaw in Ankara-Riyadh Tensions

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Saudi Arabia’s King Salman is visiting Turkey today, after his trip to Egypt this past weekend (I wrote about that at The Nation). There are things that have driven Saudi Arabia and Turkey apart, and things that have brought them together again. The tensions center on […]

Human Rights

Syria won’t have Peace until there is Accountability for War Crimes

contributors

By Neil Sammonds | (Inter Press Service) | – – GENEVA (IPS) – The negotiations on April 11, 2016 in Geneva and the recent reduction of hostilities in Syria may represent important steps towards a peaceful solution to more than five years of turmoil. Few would not welcome the guns falling silent once and for […]

Iraq

Visualization: How ISIL vastly exaggerated its Influence and Everyone Bought it (The Atlantic)

contributors

By Kathy Gilsinan, Caitlin Cadieux, Daniel Lombroso | (The Atlantic Video Report) | – – “Americans are constantly being told that ISIS is a massive threat—but what does that mean? Are there ways to quantify how big the Islamic State actually is? Atlantic senior editor Kathy Gilsinan breaks down ISIS by the numbers, including the […]

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Syria: Is al-Qaeda rising as ISIL is rolled Back? Is the US de facto Allied with it?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The cessation of hostilities in Syria never included Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) or al-Qaeda (the Nusra Front or Support Front), but it did include some of the de facto allies of al-Qaeda. The Syrian Arab Army and its Shiite militia allies, with Russian air support, have taken […]