Introduction In the mainstream view, al-Qaeda did not play a role in the Syria conflict until Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi dispatched his deputy, Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, to Syria in August 2011 to establish a wing of the group there, called Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Nusra Front. Additionally, al-Qaeda allegedly did not carry out any military operations until December 2011 and did not announce its establishment until January 2012. However, there is evidence that al-Qaeda affiliated militants were involved in the Syrian conflict much earlier. Saudi intelligence...
Damascus
For One Day, Protestors Stopped the War Machine
I’ve attended most of the major antiwar protests in Washington since 9/11. At a 2005 protest, a cop tried to whack me on the head with a wooden pole. At a 2007 protest, I snapped a picture showing George W. Bush hanging next to the U.S. Capitol. But my favorite protest was a potent little ruckus that I almost missed. On a sunny late summer day in 2013, I ambled to downtown Washington to hike with a bunch of folks who enjoyed bantering as much as I did. The route for the jaunt started on the National Mall, passing by the Smithsonian, heading toward the World War II Memorial and points...
Syrian Christians were Quietly Warned Before the War
Years ago I wrote about my first encounter with Syria as a young twenty-something year old fresh out of active duty service in the Marines: "My first visit to the region while desiring to study Arabic in 2004, just after completion of active duty service, and while still on the inactive reserve list, began a process of undoing every assumption I’d ever imbibed concerning Middle East culture, politics, and conflict." I introduced in that fairly widely-read essay with the provocative title, A Marine in Syria, "An initial visit to Syria from Lebanon was the start of something that my Marine...
Danny Makki to the ‘Dark Side’? Joins Charles Lister At Middle East Institute
Sun Tzu, or if you prefer Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in “The Godfather” gave the wise advice: Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. There's much more going on under the surface than meets the eye regarding Danny Makki's joining the Middle East Institute's Syria Program as a non-resident fellow. Of course, the pro-Syria crowd along with independent journalists piled on in response to Danny's very unexpected announcement on Wednesday, "Delighted to be joining @MEI_Syria as a non-resident scholar, look forward to covering Syria in-depth and working with some great talent."...
The Kurds have lost the chance to decide their fate: only Damascus can save them
Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of Syria “very soon” and to deliver the city of Manbij to Turkey fell as a shock to the Syrian Kurds gathered in the northern part of the country. These Kurds, who act on a day-to-day basis as a shield for the US forces, have been deliberately manipulated by the US establishment to cover and protect its occupation forces in the north-east of the Levant. Trump is apparently ready to dump the Kurds from one day to the next. Not content with that, Trump is now putting the Kurds “up for auction”, betting on which Arab country will occupy the Kurdish...
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