Group items tagged

This link is a biography of President Bashar al-Assad. Towards the end of the biography Assad's role in human rights and use of chemical weaponry is mentioned. Additionally, the link provides his early life and life in presidency which is crucial to understanding the current situation that exists in Syria.

This article details were certain countries, that are most affected by the Syrian conflict, stand within the conflict and how they would like to solve the issue. 

After Western powers suspected that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against the Syrian people, tensions grew against them and Russia, China, and Syria. The Eastern Powers believe that Western powers are overstepping their bounds for their need of power but the Western powers think that they need to interfere to help the people. 

Not only is Russia aligning with Syria, but it is also getting closer to Egypt and its government. Egypt's president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi believes that its relationship with Russia is a "strategic alliance" which is what other middle eastern countries, such as Syria, believe. 

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi met with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Cairo this Saturday (September 13, 2014). He said that the US coalition to defeat the Islamist State should also combat "terrorist hotbeds" across the Middle East and Africa. Egypt, unlike many other countries in the area, has supported the United State's anti-IS military action.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi met with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Cairo this Saturday (September 13, 2014). He said that the US coalition to defeat the Islamist State should also combat "terrorist hotbeds" across the Middle East and Africa. Egypt, unlike many other countries in the area, has supported the United State's anti-IS military action.

This is an article for Hurriyet Daily News, an online newspaper based in Istanbul.On October 5, many neighborhoods on Turkey's border with Syria were evacuated. I thought this news article was interesting because it quotes a speech by Turkey's president in which he addresses his viewpoint on the PKK. The organization has been banned in Turkey and is considered a terrorist organization. He says that ISIS/ISIL and the PKK are equivalent groups, and that the PKK is using the current conflict with ISIS to manipulate public opinion.

This is an article for Hurriyet Daily News, an online newspaper based in Istanbul.On October 5, many neighborhoods on Turkey's border with Syria were evacuated. I thought this news article was interesting because it quotes a speech by Turkey's president in which he addresses his viewpoint on the PKK. The organization has been banned in Turkey and is considered a terrorist organization. He says that ISIS/ISIL and the PKK are equivalent groups, and that the PKK is using the current conflict with ISIS to manipulate public opinion.

The news today says that ISIS has all but taken a Syrian Kurdish border city with Turkey, called Kobane. Not surprised that Erdogan would conflate the two groups, while the US is trying to activate Kurdish militants to resist ISIS. I was chatting with another student in my office today and we were wondering if the duty and suffering that have devolved onto the Kurds in this crisis might reinvigorate their push for a nation-state of their own.

(CNN) -- Airstrikes against ISIS militants are a "psychological operation," not a military one, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an interview that aired Friday. "It is a common threat for all of us," he said. "And this requires a unison effort from all of us."

Syria's President Assad claims that Western powers are trying to "weaken" Russia. Russia and Syria have been long time allies and so it is unclear what Russia will say to this. 

Turkey has denounced the United States for providing support to the Democratic Union Party, who any are calling a terrorist group. This is contributing to the bloodshed. 

Turkey is mad at U/S over their support for Syria's Kurdish group. Turkey claims them as a terrorist group. Refugees are still fleeing from Syria.

US support of Syrian extremist group, the Democratic Union Party, has been denounced by Turkish president Erdogan. The recent fighting has displaced 50,000 people and cut off key supply routes for bringing in aid. Turkey has vowed to continue to accept refugees.w

This article is about the a recent US drone attack in Yemen which killed 3 AQAP fighters. Also mentioned are the reassurances of the US that drone attacks will continue.

Syria is determined to keep Russia in the loop when it comes to its presence in the Middle East. As the United States increases its presence so to those Russia and Syria claims that they encourage Russian presence solely to "keep the balance" in the Middle East. 

Sissi calls for internationals support on fighting Islamic power in Libya.

The Voice of America reported President Sissi's call to the US and Europe to aid the Libyan army in their fight against ISIS, saving the country from requiring intervention on the scale of Iraq and Syria. Egypt has been training anti-Islamist forced on its own soil and sending them out to fight in Libya, but they have yet to intervene directly. He calls on the international community to help prevent further Islamic insurgency for the sake of stability throughout the region as a whole. 

This article basically lays out the faults in US intervention in Libya during the fall of Gaddafi and condemns the US officials for their lack of hindsight in their agenda. The US claimed that they could not "turn a blind eye" to atrocities and human right violations in other countries and to intervene in Libya was a matter of upholding "universal values." After the successful ousting of Gaddafi, the US hypocritically turned their back on the country as a whole, leaving them to pick up the pieces and re-build themselves in the midst of socio-political and economic chaos. The US claims that military intervention is sometimes necessary to address human right violations, but in the case of Libya more violations have occurred as a result of a fallen regime rather than because of its reign. The author basically says that the US should have predicted that short-term intervention strategies achieves nothing without years of sustained support for rebuilding the civil institutions. 

The Obama administration says there is little doubt that President Bashar Assad's regime is to blame for last week's reported attack, but there has been research into the possibility of the rebels using chemical weapons. It is possible but not likely. If the rebels were to use chemical weapons they would not use it in an area with such little soldier population. additionally it is the regime that has the controlled stockpiles of chemical weapons, not the rebels.

This article states what I have seen many times that President Bashar Assad denies the use of barrel bombs. This link goes into the fact that barrel bombs are crudely made and are indiscriminate killers. The bombs have killed thousands of people but the UN is still waiting to take action.

Both Britain and France have shunned Syrian President Assad in their quest to fight terrorism. They oppose all that the Syrian government stands for and this is why they will continue to dismiss the Syrian government and any ties with them. 

Arab states have began to jump on board offering support to the coalition against ISIS. UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon have recently voiced their support. Turkey, the only Arab member of NATO has voiced their lack of support in the coalition thus far. Saudi, the home to major religious cities, feels like a direct threat to ISIS and have made it clear that they will be playing a major role in the war against the Islamic State. UAE allegedly initiated bombings from Egyptian bases on Libya due to islamic militia takeovers of major cities and institutions. Arab states along with France, Germany, and Britain have agreed to form a "coordinated military campaign." Bringing in Assad from Syria is somewhat crucial, but the coalition is hesitant due to the loss of the Assad Regime's legitimacy over the past years of civil strife. Official plans of attack are still sketchy, but are definitely in the works. The coalition of states have made it clear that in order to tackle this ISIS threat, they must band together to dynamically exterminate the Islamic State from all angles.

This news report in International Business Times covers quite a bit of information, as a lot has happened during the past week in regards the conflict with ISIS. The US has declared support for the PKK and other Kurdish forces, because they are fighting against ISIS. Meanwhile, Turkey's President Ergodan, has condemned the US for supporting the PKK, as the US and Turkey are long-standing allies, and the PKK and Turkey have been embroiled in a decades-long conflict. Kurdish fighters are currently battling ISIS forces in the Syrian town of Kobani, and Turkey is opposing giving the fighters any weapons, and equating them with the PKK.

Stability in Yemen has deteriorated in recent months as the government of US-backed President Hadi was driven out of power in September 2014. The United States has maintained a counterterrorism partnership with Yemen since the 2002, the early phase of the US war on terror.