Iran, Deeply Embedded in Syria, Expands ‘Axis of Resistance’
Kiswah base, above: Tiyas air base Compound near Damascus Airport, above Al Shayrat airfield By The New York Times | Source: Institute for the Study of War. Satellite images by Bing….
-
-
What Iran Is Really Up To in Syria
BEIRUT—On the day Syrian anti-aircraft missiles downed an American-made Israeli F-16 fighter jet, a banner boasting of the feat in both Arabic and Hebrew script went up in a village in southern Lebanon. To the northeast, loyalists of Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria, distributed sweets to passersby on the streets of Damascus while the…
-
Mideast tensions get even worse
(CNN)As if the broken, angry, dysfunctional Middle East needed another conflict, along came an unprecedented escalation between Israel, Iran and Syria to make the region even more volatile and dangerous. In the predawn hours of Saturday, an Iranian drone penetrated Israeli airspace and was shot down. Israel retaliated by attacking Iranian facilities in Syria, from where the drone…
-
Mattis dismisses concerns of broader [conflict] after deadly conflict in Syria
WASHINGTON/BEIRUT: US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis dismissed concerns on Thursday that the United States was being dragged into a broader conflict in Syria, after a major clash with pro-Syrian government forces overnight that may have left 100 or more of them dead. The US-led coalition said it repelled an unprovoked attack near the Euphrates River…
-
Turkey is using Syrian refugees as bargaining chips as it moves against the Kurds
Kurdish protestors against the Turkish operation in Afrin outside the EU building in Lebanon on January 28. Wael Hamzeh/EPA When Turkish ground troops rolled into Afrin, a Kurdish enclave in northern Syria, in January, the regime was making a considered political calculation. The campaign, which Ankara called Operation Olive Branch, involves Turkish Army Forces and Free Syrian Army…
-
ISIS Threatens the US Again
Rescue teams evacuate wounded people outside the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels on March 22, 2016 in wake of the ISIS-claimed attack. (AFP) Is the battle against the ISIS terrorist organization still ongoing despite its military defeats in Iraq and Syria? This question has started to trouble the Americans more than others. A survey by…
-
‘This is a massacre’: Turkey’s bombs drive families into caves
(CNN)Kurdish families huddle on blankets in a dimly lit cave. Others hide in the rubble of a bombed-out building, gathered around a campfire. Those that have basements seek shelter there. This is life in Afrin. Turkey’s cross-border military offensive against US-backed Kurdish militias has driven civilians living in the northwestern Syrian enclave underground. An estimated…
-
U.S. Military Options In Syria
Turkish forces continue to attack Kurdish fighters in northwest Syria. Former FBI counter-terrorism agent Ali Soufan talks with NPR’s Michel Martin about how to preserve the U.S.’s relationship with both sides. MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: We’re going to start the program today with a look at a number of important international stories. In a few minutes,…
-
Turkey and the U.S. used to be close allies. Today, they can’t even agree on a phone call
Turkish army tanks are stationed in a field near the Syrian border at Hassa, in Hatay province, on Jan. 25, 2018, as part of a military offensive dubbed “Operation Olive Branch.” (Ozan Kose / AFP/Getty Images) Since the start of the Cold War, Turkey has been one of the United States’ top allies in…
-
Trump Confounded by Turkey’s Invasion of Syria: Fight ISIS or Back NATO Ally?
Turkish offensive against Syrian-Kurdish forces in Afrin leaves U.S. in a bind: “They were ‘our guys’ in Syria, and now they are under attack and the U.S. doesn’t seem to have any real solutions” Turkish troops advance near the Syria border at Hassa, Hatay province, on January 22, 2018, as part of the operation “Olive…