Yemeni officials say warships shell al Qaeda positions, U.S. denies involvement
Reuters: Warships shelled suspected al Qaeda strongholds in a mountainous region of southern Yemen on Thursday, government officials said.
Will Assad ever be tried for his crimes?
Al Jazeera: As enticing as it is to imagine Bashar al-Assad and his cronies on trial for heinous crimes against the Syrian people, a reality check is in order.
Dwindindling, Unorganized Opposition in Syria
In Syria, the last rebel held province is Idlib. Two of the more influential rebel groups in Idlib, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS) and Ahrar al-Sham have long fought together against Syria’s government forces. This past week the two groups turned against each other, creating a division that threatens to further weaken the already fragile opposition to support the rebellion against… Read more »
UN agency cuts food aid to 1.4 million displaced Iraqis
Al Jazeera: The World Food Programme (WFP) has slashed food rations distributed to 1.4 million displaced Iraqis by 50 percent because of delays in payments from donor states. The sharp cutbacks come at a time when a growing number of Iraqis flee the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group. At least 160,000 people have… Read more »
US admits civilians ‘likely’ killed in Yemen raid
Al Jazeera: Civilians were “likely” to have been killed in a US commando raid in Yemen over the weekend and children may have been among the dead, the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said. “A team designated by the operational task force commander has concluded regrettably that civilian non-combatants were likely to have been killed in the midst of a firefight… Read more »
Syrian army captures Wadi Barada near Damascus
Al Jazeera: Syrian government forces have recaptured all towns and villages in the Wadi Barada valley near the capital, Damascus, according to a statement by the Syrian military. “Units of our armed forces, together with … allied forces have achieved their mission in returning security and stability” to the area, said the statement, read out by a military spokesman on Syrian… Read more »
Abadi: Iraq will not retaliate against US travel ban
Al Jazeera: Iraq will not retaliate against US President Donald Trump’s travel ban because it does not want to lose Washington’s backing in its battle against ISIL, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said. When asked at a news conference on Tuesday if he would act on the Iraqi parliament’s vote a day earlier in favour of a reciprocal ban, Abadi said:… Read more »
Idlib’s rebel split: A crossroads for Syrian opposition
Al Jazeera: Rebel divisions in Idlib threaten to further weaken an already fragile opposition in northern Syria, analysts have said, ripping two ostensible allies apart and throwing into question the direction and shape of the remainder of the armed rebellion.
Abdullah bin Zayed: Trump’s travel ban not Islamophobic
Al Jazeera: The United Arab Emirates’ foreign minister has said that US President Donald Trump’s travel ban on citizens of seven mainly Muslim countries, which has triggered global outrage, is not Islamophobic and does not target any one religion.
Reevaluating our relationships in the Middle East
The United States’s relationships with Middle Eastern states have been built on economic interests. The CIA assassinated the democratically-elected Prime Minister of Iran and replaced him with the US-friendly, export-friendly Shah. We spent 1990 through 1991 fighting off Saddam Hussein to defend our oil interests in Kuwait (though ostensibly for preserving Kuwait’s national sovereignty). It can also be argued that the… Read more »