For decades, Israel has had significant links to Kurdish groups throughout the Middle East. Long before President Erdogan led what in many ways amounts to a counter-revolution in Turkish politics, Israel’s support of Kurdish separatist movements throughout the region, was often a sore point between Ankara and Tel Aviv, who apart from this issue, tended …
Continue reading Israel Supports the Creation of a Kurdish State
Something rather unprecedented just happened in Syria: US backed “good terrorist” forces attempted a surprise attack against Syrian government forces stationed to the north and northeast of the city of Hama. What makes this attack unique is that it took place inside a so-called “de-escalation zone” and that it appears that one of the key …
With Pro-Assad forces liberating Deir-Ezzor the real war in Syria begins as the full-extent of the U.S.’s ‘Plan B’ is revealed. How Russia responds to this will determine the future of the region. Thanks to the Syrian Army’s breaking of the three-year long siege of Deir-Ezzor the war for Syria’s future is back on the …
The lifting of the siege of Deir ez-Zor by Islamic State (IS) militants quite rightly raised hopes that the civil war in Syria would soon be coming to an end. As soon as it became clear how the battles for the city were going to end, however, Kurdish forces from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), …
Continue reading The Siege of Deir ez-Zor Is Over: What Next?
The race between legitimate Syrian government forces and the US-backed SDF umbrella group to control the oil rich Deir ez-Zor province has intensified following the lifting of the blockade by Syrian troops last week and risks turning into direct confrontation. Last Tuesday, the Syrian military backed by the Russian air force finally broke the IS …
Throughout the conflict in Syria, the Syrian Arab Army and its Russian/Iranian and Hezbollah allies have tended to operate in different regions vis-a-vis the Kurdish led US proxy army known as the SDF. Over the last year however, this has increasingly changed. As Syrian forces along with their allies continue to liberate Deir ez-Zor city …
Continue reading Syria, Turkey and the Kurds: A Devil’s Triangle That Only Russia Can Navigate
As Syrian forces reach the Euphrates River, breaking the siege of the eastern Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, Damascus and its allies, along with the state sponsors fueling the militancy that has consumed Syria for the past 6 years, are putting in place their final pieces as the endgame approaches. Syrian forces having already retaken …
Recently, a columnist-friend, Matt Kenney, sent me a 25-year-old newspaper with his chiding that my column had been given better play. Both had run in The Orange County Register on June 30, 1991. "Is there no room for new nations in the New World Order?" was my title, and the column began: "In turning a …
The latest scandal coming out of Turkey reads like a novel by Tom Clancy or John le Carre: spies, kidnapping, assassination attempts and terrorists. Given the seriousness of the allegations, the utter lack of reaction by Turkish officialdom and media is stunning. Last week, Al-Monitor reported that militants in Iraqi Kurdistan claimed to have captured two high-level Turkish intelligence officials. Cemil Bayik, one …
Continue reading Gauging the Aftermath of Turkey’s Great Intelligence Gaffe
