Category: Syria Crisis

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

The Siege Of Homs: 510 Days And Counting

The Jourit Al-Shayah neighborhood in Homs
The Jourit Al-Shayah neighborhood in Homs Lens of a Young Homsi

HOMS — Five hundred and ten days have passed since the siege began in Homs, taking a toll on civilians and fighters alike. Homs, dubbed “the capital of the revolution” by activists for its early role in the revolt, has since been two-thirds destroyed by air raids and shelling. The mass protests that broke out in March 2011 were met with deadly military force, prompting the formation of local units of the rebel Free Syrian Army. Regime forces have worked since to quell the local rebellion; for the past year and a half, 14 neighborhoods have lived under a grinding […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

‘I Sold My Sister To Save The Family’

A woman at the Zaatari camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan
A woman at the Zaatari camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan Jonathan S. Landay/MCT/ZUMA

A young Syrian widow who lost her husband and four children to the civil war describes a miserable life in a Jordanian refugee camp – and a heartwrenching decision.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

No Country For Bad Weapons: Who Will Destroy Syria’s Chemical Arsenal?

No volunteer
No volunteer BrickArt!sAn

MOSCOW — The timing of the Geneva 2 conference about the future of Syria’s chemical weapons has changed once again. According to our sources, it is probably not going to be mid-November — as Russia and the U.S. had first indicated — but rather at the end of that month, or maybe even in December. […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Syrian City Hit By Infamous Chemical Attack Is Now Dying Of Hunger

Al-Mouadamiyah, under siege
Al-Mouadamiyah, under siege SHAMSNN screenshot

Al-Mouadamiyah’s ordeal is not over yet. After being one of the targets of the Aug. 21 chemical attack, this stronghold of the Syrian rebellion, located in the southwestern suburbs of Damascus, is now facing such a severe siege that its inhabitants are starting to starve to death. According to local sources, nine people have already […]

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Ideas Syria Crisis

Uproar In Tunisia After Claims Of Women’s ‘Sexual Jihad’ Trips To Syria

Is the 'Jihad al-nikah' drama a farce?
Is the 'Jihad al-nikah' drama a farce? rana ossama

TUNIS — It is a tale of sex and sheikhs, war and religion, all fueled by a combustible mix of the Internet and ideology. There are YouTube clips of Saudi sheikhs counting men’s celestial sexual partners, devout Muslims offering to adopt illegitimate children, and Tunisia’s anti-Islamist news outlets busily looking for ways to use the […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

A Journey Of Pain And Hope For Syria Refugees In Germany

Syrians landing in Germany

FRIEDLAND — “Germany is a country where rules matter,” declares Martin Steinberg. The pastor in this central German city is standing before a group of people who’ve just fled a country where the only rule that mattered was that of survival. “Here the most aggressive driver with the biggest car doesn’t automatically have the right […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Life And Death Inside An Underground Syrian Hospital

The dark, damp emergency room in the field hospital of besieged Homs
The dark, damp emergency room in the field hospital of besieged Homs Yazan al-Homsy

HOMS – This city in western Syria is nearing 500 days under siege, with no supply route in or out. Medical equipment and supplies are nearly impossible to find. There are no alternatives for the medicine, be it for chronic illness or for wounds sustained during daily shellings of the city. There are few medical personnel on the scene. In Old Homs, a critical wound becomes more terrifying than death itself. A doctor might need to amputate a limb to save a patient’s life. In more critical cases, the lack of medical facilities means the only option for patients is […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

In A Damascus Classroom, Reading, Writing And Trauma

Syrian refugee children play at a school in Damascus on August 23, 2012.
Syrian refugee children play at a school in Damascus on August 23, 2012. Qin Haishi/Xinhua/ZUMA

DAMASCUS — Nada, a teacher, starts her classes by asking her third-grade students to express their feelings. She is trained to deal with children who exhibit signs of trauma after living in a war zone for over two years. The school where Nada works is located in the relatively safe neighborhood of Sahnaya, in southern Damascus, but as in the rest of Syria, war is never out of mind. On the first day of the school year, Nada distributes “face cards” to her class of mostly nine-year-olds, all showing different emotions. She asks them to pick the face that best […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

A Russian Take On The UN Security Council’s Syria Compromise

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Pete Marovich/ZUMA

NEW YORK — At long last, the members of the United Nations Security Council have reached an agreement on a Syria resolution. The West has agreed to give up on including language that Russia had furiously opposed — that is, to automatically sanction the use of force against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad if he fails […]

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Migrant Lives Syria Crisis

On Lampedusa, Italy’s Infamous Destination For Immigrants, New Arrivals From Syria

A boat arriving in waters off Lampedusa on Sept. 7
A boat arriving in waters off Lampedusa on Sept. 7 Francesco Malavolta - NurPhoto/ZUMA

Over the past decade, the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa has become one of the main points of European entry for illegal immigrants. Even though the 90-mile open sea journey from Tunisia has already killed thousands, a new wave of refugees from Syria are following the same route. LAMPEDUSA — Two Syrian mothers with young […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

How Assad Forces Plant Booby-Trapped Bullets In Rebels’ Rifles

Abu Ali, an Free Syrian Army fighter, lost two of his middle fingers when he fired with an explosive bullet
Abu Ali, an Free Syrian Army fighter, lost two of his middle fingers when he fired with an explosive bullet Saeed al-Batal for Syria Deeply

JOBAR — Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighter Abu Ali stood grinning and waving at me with his right hand. Two of his middle fingers were missing. “Look at me, I’m like a Ninja Turtle now,” he said, dry humor intact. It had been three months since I last saw Abu Ali, who used to fight on the front lines of Jobar, a rebel-held district in the eastern city limits of Damascus. “My rifle exploded,” he said, beginning the story of his last few months, of how he lost his fingers, preparing his extra-sweet tea. “This was back in June, while […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Syrian Kurds And The Divisions That Plague Damascus’ Enemies

A Kurdish fighter in Syria
A Kurdish fighter in Syria Benjamin Hiller/NurPhoto/ZUMA

The mainstream Syrian political opposition failed for nearly two years to draw in the Kurdish National Council (KNC), a muddled coalition of 16 Syrian Kurdish political parties. In what was hailed as a breakthrough, the KNC finally decided to join the Syrian National Coalition (NC) last month. Yet the decision will have little practical impact on Arab-Kurdish relations in Syria. Its impact will primarily play out abroad, giving both the KNC and the NC a boost in international credibility, rather than inside Syria. The NC was eager for the Kurdish bloc to join its ranks in order to address a […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Along Syria-Turkey Border, A New Battle Is On Between Islamists And Kurds

A Syrian man covers a dead Syrian army soldier with a blanket after a battle last year near Ras al Ayn, Syria
A Syrian man covers a dead Syrian army soldier with a blanket after a battle last year near Ras al Ayn, Syria David Enders/MCT/ZUMA

CEYLANPINAR – Instantly, spoons stop stirring in teacups and conversations freeze mid-sentence. A mortar has just been heard a few hundred meters from the main street of Ceylanpinar, a small Turkish town on the border with Syria. Through the window, everybody can see a cloud of black smoke rising up from Ras al-Ayn, the Syrian […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Putin’s Diplomatic Victory On Syria Will Do Little To Stop The War

Putin's Diplomatic Victory On Syria Will Do Little To Stop The War
Jiang Kehong/ZUMA

-Analysis- MOSCOW — So Russian diplomats finally prevailed on the Syria question. Since the beginning of the clashes in 2011 between the Syrian army, which is loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, and the armed opposition, Russia has used all of its power to prevent an international intervention, including blocking a UN Security Council resolution condemning […]

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Ideas Syria Crisis

The “New Cold War” Bluff: How Putin And Obama Agreed To Hang Syria Out To Dry

Rebel fighters in Aleppo on Sept. 14
Rebel fighters in Aleppo on Sept. 14 Medyan Dairieh/ZUMA

-OpEd- PARIS — The Kerry-Lavrov agreement finally ends any illusion of a new “Cold War” that would have featured a showdown in Syria between friends of Washington and allies of Moscow. With the deal inked between American Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, it has become clear that the U.S. […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Exiled in Beirut: Upper-Class Syrian Youth Examine Lost Illusions

Cafes in downtown Beirut
Cafes in downtown Beirut Bertil Videt - GNU Free Documentation License

BEIRUT — Meeting for a drink, Lina, Ali and Johnny at first blush seem like normal young people enjoying a pleasant social gathering. But there is also heartbreak behind what has brought them so far from their homes in Damascus. Friends since childhood, these upper middle-class Syrians gather at one of their usual cafés lining […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Diary Of Humiliation And Faith From A Hostage In Syria

Domenico Quirico back at La Stampa's newsroom in Turin
Domenico Quirico back at La Stampa's newsroom in Turin Anna Masera via Twitter

La Stampa’s veteran war correspondent Domenico Quirico was held hostage in Syria for five months by rebel soldiers. Earlier this week, along with Belgian writer Pierre Piccinin, the 61-year-old was released after what he described as a “very dangerous and complex” captivity. Here is his first account of what happened… TURIN — We entered Syria […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Next Door To Syria, Fears In Beirut Of “Total War” Scenario

Aftermath of a car bomb in Beirut on July 2013
Aftermath of a car bomb in Beirut on July 2013 Omar Alkalouti/ZUMA

Though Russia’s proposed diplomatic solution casts doubt over a U.S. military strike in Syria, Lebanese fear being caught in the middle if the fire spreads across the entire region.

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Ideas Syria Crisis

Indecision In Syria: The West’s Public Opinion Problem

London protest against war in Syria on Sept. 9, 2013
London protest against war in Syria on Sept. 9, 2013 Piero Cruciatti - i-Images/ZUMA

A strange thing has happened on the way to the war in Syria: U.S. public opinion, like in Turkey, has lined up this time alongside Europe’s perennial reflex against intervention.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Not Just Russia: Italy, Other Europeans Sold Plenty Of Weapons To Syria

Tanks in Azaz, Syria
Tanks in Azaz, Syria Christiaan Triebert

ROME — Way back in 1998, Bill Clinton bet on the young Assad. He was to be his father’s successor, and the United States believed that the young Bashar al-Assad, once he reached power, would be the person to bring Syria back into the fold among the civilized nations of the world. And so Clinton’s […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

No One Wants U.S. Strikes Against The Syrian Regime More Than They Do

Syrian refugees at Zaatari camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq
Syrian refugees at Zaatari camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq Mohammad Abu Ghosh - Xinhua/ZUMA

A quarter of the two million Syrians fleeing their country have wound up in Jordan, where there is overcrowding and difficulty obtaining work permits. Refugees are rooting for strikes asap.

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Geopolitics Ideas Syria Crisis

Syria And The Russian Reset Fail: How Putin Turned The Tables On Obama

Syria And The Russian Reset Fail: How Putin Turned The Tables On Obama
White House

The Syrian crisis will dominate the G20 summit in St Petersburg. While the U.S. readies a lonely military strike, Russia’s President presents himself as protector of international law.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

France’s President Can Bypass Parliament On Syria, But He Shouldn’t

France's National Assembly in Paris
France's National Assembly in Paris kimdokhac

President Hollande has the power to strike militarily without parliamentary consent. But democratic and political necessities require it.

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Syria Crisis

Israelis Stay Calm, Prepare For Worst As Syria Spillover Risks Rise

Waiting at the Kerem Shalom crossing in Israel
Waiting at the Kerem Shalom crossing in Israel Francesca Paci via Instagram

HAIFA – His pack is ready: spare clothing, two clean uniforms, his combat boots and a charger for his smartphone. If he is called, Haim Halévy, a 32-year-old from Haifa, will only have a few hours to join his field regiment stationed on the Golan Heights. The fateful phone call may arrive today, tomorrow, in […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Syria: Obama’s Delay Could Spell Trouble For Tough-Talking France

A French Rafale fighter jet
A French Rafale fighter jet Sebastien_dupont - Xinhua/ZUMA

French President Hollande has been in step with U.S. calls to strike Syria. Now with Obama’s request for a Congressional vote, France is left flapping in the wind.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Snapshot Of A Syrian Smuggler: Arms, Antiquities And Jihad Along Turkey’s Border

Earlier this year, near the Qah refugee camp in Syria, four miles from the Turkish border
Earlier this year, near the Qah refugee camp in Syria, four miles from the Turkish border Daniel Leal-Olivas - i-Images/ZUMA

As war has made regular work scarce, Ayham has trafficked in anything that has a buyer. But lately he says the face of the black market has started to change.

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Geopolitics Ideas Syria Crisis

Remember Bosnia? Intervening In Syria Must Be More Than Just Punishment

Milosevic, Assad
Milosevic, Assad SSGT Lance Cheung, USAF - Fabio Rodrigues Pozzebom / ABr

Syria is more reminiscent of the Balkan wars in the 1990s than Iraq or Afghanistan. It’s imperative for the West to act to force Assad’s hand, not just to slap his wrist.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Exclusive: French President Hollande Says “Retaliation” Necessary In Syria

Hollande in June 2013
Hollande in June 2013 Yan Ting - Xinhua/ZUMA

“I would not call it a war, but the sanction of a monstrous violation of human rights,” the French president tells Le Monde.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Why War In Syria Makes Kurdish Unity Ever More Elusive

Syrian refugees crossing the border into northern Iraq
Syrian refugees crossing the border into northern Iraq Liang Youchang - Xinhua/ZUMA

The conflict in Syria has reshuffled the deck for Kurds across the region, from Turkey to Iraq. A recent mass exodus from Syria is just one sympton of a deeper problem.

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Geopolitics Ideas Syria Crisis

Syria, Why The West Can’t Turn Back Now

A mother and father weep over the body of their child, killed in a suspected chemical weapons attack on Damascus
A mother and father weep over the body of their child, killed in a suspected chemical weapons attack on Damascus Erbin News - NurPhoto/ZUMA

After the chemical attacks, military intervention is a question of humanity, but also of realpolitik. That does not, however, mean it will resolve the situation in Syria.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Hope But “More Question Marks” – Syrian Rebels React To Potential U.S. Military Strike

Syrian rebel soldiers in Idlib province, northern Syria
Syrian rebel soldiers in Idlib province, northern Syria Daniel Leal-Olivas - i-Images/ZUMA

After months of talk, the United States and its allies may now be on the verge of military intervention in Syria. As American military leaders met with European and regional leadership in Amman to discuss the Syrian crisis, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the BBC Tuesday that the U.S. has “moved assets into place” […]

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