ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Ankara on Saturday rejected American plans to install military observation posts along its border with Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), a fledgling US-allied de facto entity whose destruction it has long sought. “We have stated that the observation points to be established by US troops on the Syrian border will have a very negative impact,” Turkish Defense Minister… Read more »
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – US forces have deployed along the border between Rojava and Turkey to deter Turkish aggression against Kurdish forces, according to multiple sources. On Friday, US forces started “patrolling on the border… to ease tensions and stop Turkey from launching attacks,” Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) media representative Mustafa Bali stated. This week, Turkish forces have targeted Kurdish… Read more »
(THE INDEPENDENT): One of the largest ever lawsuits relating to the September 11 terror attacks has been filed against Saudi Arabia in New York. Families of 850 victims who died and the 1,500 injured, are suing the Middle Eastern country’s government, accusing it of providing material and financial assistance to al Qaeda in the years leading up to worst ever terrorist attack on US… Read more »
Since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, at least 3,613 Kurdish soldiers have been killed fighting the totalitarian Islamic State and the little-better authoritarian alternative, Bashar Al-Assad’s government. The Kurdish YPG (“People’s Protection Units”) is the largest portion of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a military coalition of Kurds and Arabs that the United States backs through weapons sales… Read more »
(DEUTSCHE WELLE): An alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters has seized a dozen villages in eastern Syria. The move is part of a drive to encircle the so-called ‘Islamic State’ (IS) group’s stronghold of Raqqa ahead of new peace talks. Backed by air strikes from the US-led coalition, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – an alliance dominated by the Kurdish People’s… Read more »
(REUTERS): The U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance has crossed into Deir al-Zor province for the first time as part of an offensive against Islamic State, a Kurdish military source said on Tuesday. The advance into the province, most of which is under the control of the ultra-hardline group, is part of an operation to encircle and ultimately capture its de… Read more »
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 »
(REUTERS): Iran’s defense minister said on Wednesday it had tested a new missile but this did not breach the Islamic Republic’s nuclear accord with world powers or a U.N. Security Council resolution endorsing the pact. Iran has test-fired several ballistic missiles since the nuclear deal in 2015, but the latest test was the first during U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. Trump… Read more »
(BBC News): The Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen’s Houthi rebels says two crew members have been killed in an attack on one of its warships in the Red Sea. A coalition statement said three Houthi “suicide boats” had approached a Saudi frigate west of Hudaydah on Monday. One of the boats collided with the rear of the frigate and exploded, causing… Read more »
(BBC): US special forces operatives carried out a raid in central Yemen on Sunday, targeting the house of a suspected leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). US officials have confirmed that one Navy commando died and three more service members were wounded, and say 14 al-Qaeda fighters were killed. The US operatives targeted the house of a suspected senior… Read more »