The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) claimed it orchestrated Sunday’s triple suicide bombing that killed more than 70 people and injured at least 100 others in a Damascus suburb amid the United Nations-brokered peace talks to end Syria’s brutal civil war, which has been raging since March 2011.
Contents: Dozens killed in ISIS attack on a Shia shrine in Damascus Syria; Damascus shrine attack deals another blow to the Syria ‘peace talks’ in Geneva
An AFP-Reuters report on Tuesday highlighted the difficulty of getting Syria’s many warring factions together for U.N.-brokered peace talks, as many of the parties involved consider the presence of other parties to be non-starters. Turkey, for example, has announced that it strongly opposes participation by Kurdish groups.
Syrian peace talks brokered by the United Nations were scheduled to begin on Monday, but opposition groups indicated that they would only attend if the Bashar al-Assad regime and its Russian allies stop bombing their territory and lift sieges on towns that are being starved.
During a Sirius XM town hall meeting hosted by Stephen K. Bannon of Breitbart News, Senator and presidential candidate Rand Paul was asked the question that has defined much of his political career: how can Americans be effectively protected from terrorist threats like ISIS, without unduly compromising individual liberty?
The city of Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria, scene of a recent mass abduction by the Islamic State, looks to be a decisive battle between ISIS and the Syrian army in the eastern region of the country—and there are indications ISIS is winning.
Contents: Previous attempts at Syria ‘peace talks’ ended in farce; Syria peace process ‘proximity talks’ to begin this week in Geneva
Saudi Arabia is reportedly recruiting young Afghans who visit to fight against the Iran-allied Shiite rebels known as Houthis in the ongoing Yemen war.
Contents: Reader comments on xenophobic ‘Soldiers of Odin’ in Finland; European Union said to be collapsing over migrant crisis; Mideast borders set by Sykes-Picot and Balfour declaration under fire; The 2016 market meltdown raises fears of financial crisis
JAFFA, Israel – Hezbollah’s involvement in the Syrian civil war has delivered a significant blow to the Lebanese militia’s popularity in the Arab world. Pan-Arab adulation for Hezbollah culminated in the wake of its 2006 war with Israel, when it was
Amid reports that the new strategy of hitting ISIS economic targets, including its cash reserves and oil infrastructure, is significantly harming the Islamic State comes a complaint from the Syrian government that it is harming them as well.
A senior Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer reportedly believes that Russia’s increasing intervention in Syria on behalf of dictator Bashar al-Assad will improve the capabilities of Iran’s terror proxy, Hezbollah.
The termination of nuclear sanctions means Iran will pocket about $215 billion in cash, sell another million barrels of oil a day (bpd), and produce 5 million more bpd within 10 years; while the West gets 20 years of cheap oil.
In one of their most gruesome slaughters to date, Islamic State militants stormed the city of Deir al-Zour in eastern Syria over the weekend, reportedly decapitating upwards of 150 people, including women and children, and abducting hundreds more. “At least
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared the use of man-made famine in Syria to be a “war crime” on Thursday. He described “all sides, including the Syrian government” as “committing this and other atrocious acts prohibited under international humanitarian law.”
The Chinese government has published an official “Arab Policy Paper” on the cusp of President Xi Jinping’s upcoming Mideast world tour, stopping in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Iran, specifying economic goals China has in the region and emphasizing that China is not an interloper in the region.
Contents: UN’s Ban Ki-moon calls Syria’s Bashar al-Assad a war criminal; Second aid convoy arrives in the starving Syrian city of Mayada
Love him or hate him, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military intervention in Syria unquestionably upended Middle Eastern politics. Putin supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, established several military bases in Syria, created a de-facto Russian-Shi’ite axis, confronted Turkey and forced the
Contents: Iran releases American sailors as end of sanctions approaches; Report: Sri Lankan government repeatedly torturing and raping Tamils; Sri Lanka joining the torture club, with Syria, Burundi, Zimbabwe
A U.S. non-governmental organization called the Syrian Emergency Task Force told Foreign Policy their field office in the Idlib province was hit by a Russian airstrike on Saturday. Other civilian damage in the area has been reported, and the strike is being cited as evidence Russia is not focusing its attention on Islamic State targets, as it frequently claims.
At least five U.S. citizens, all related, are reportedly trapped in the Syrian mountain town of Madaya where thousands of residents are being starved by Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad and Iran’s terrorist proxy Hezbollah.
Britain’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, appeared in front of a House of Commons Select Committee today where he was forced to admit that the UK government’s widely touted estimate of “70,000 moderate” fighters in Syria actually includes Islamists and “hardline
Russian President Vladimir Putin defended Russia’s annexation of Crimea but also pushed for more cooperation against terrorism in an interview with German publication Bild.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other high-ranking Indian officials on Monday in a renewed effort to garner international support for the dictatorship of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, particularly in Asia.
Officials in Syria have announced they are ready to participate in peace talks in Geneva, but will not attend if the UN also invites the opposition.
The Associated Press reports it has seen documents that show the State Department expects Syrian dictator Bashar Assad to remain in power until at least March 2017, which is “two months after President Barack Obama leaves office and more than five years after Obama first called for Assad to leave.”
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who is being supported by Russia and Iran, is reportedly starving the residents of a besieged mountain town located northwest of Syria’s capital, Damascus, as the freezing and hungry townspeople prepare to endure a cold winter.
A watchdog group called the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons reports finding more evidence of chemical weapons deployment, including sarin gas, or a substance very similar to it.
Beijing will welcome the head of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), an umbrella group of Syrian opposition groups, this week to discuss political solutions to the ongoing civil war in Syria.
Contents: Sectarian Sunni-Shia split deepens over Iran – Saudi split; President Obama may have to choose between Saudi Arabia and Iran; Hezbollah-Israel violence growing on Lebanon border; Residents of Tel Aviv Israel in panic after Friday’s gunfire attack; European and Wall St stocks fall sharply, following China
The Wall Street Journal ran an editorial on Sunday afternoon titled, “Who Lost the Saudis?” It lays out a convincing case for why Russia and Iran are out to get the House of Saud—which, for all of its many, many flaws, is still an impediment to the agenda of America’s primary geopolitical adversaries.
An Islamic State terror attack in Europe is being planned by a dying woman intent on disguising herself as a Syrian refugee, security sources have revealed. Anti-terror police are desperately searching for the 21-year-old, identified only as Oygul M, after
Chinese state media are promoting a more prominent role for the communist country in resolving the civil war in Syria, with a column in the People’s Daily suggesting China could “build on the basic consensus reached by the international community that the Syrian crisis should be solved politically.”
State Department Spokesman John Kirby on Monday provided a boastful recap of his cabinet’s achievements in 2015 and highlighted “bringing peace [and] security” to war-torn Syria as one of its wins this past year.
TEL AVIV – The UN Security Council passed a resolution seemingly legitimizing the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria and invited Iran to join the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), MEMRI reported. On December 18, 2015, the UNSC unanimously passed Resolution 2254,
The Obama administration, in a failed effort to reduce violence and remove Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad from power, attempted to encourage a military coup in Syria, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports.
Embattled Syrian ruler Bashar Assad wanted to restart peace negotiations with Israel in 2012, when it appeared his grip on power was weakening, but was rebuffed by Jerusalem, according to a report in the London Review of Books. The lengthy report,
Contents: Merry Christmas, happy Kwanza, belated happy Hanukkah, Ramadan, Winter Solstice!; Hezbollah promises revenge for deadly Israeli airstrike in Syria; Israel and Hezbollah may be close to war again; Russia is sharing information with the Taliban in Afghanistan to fight ISIS
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saluted Kurdish efforts against the Islamic State, and offered Moscow’s support, by way of Damascus.
Amnesty International has released a new report detailing how Russia is killing hundreds of innocents in its bombings of heavily-populated areas in Syria.
