As much as I dislike how the US has handled the Middle East recently, it's difficult to argue against this. ISIS reviving would be the worst case scenario for everyone, and it's the only group...
As much as I dislike how the US has handled the Middle East recently, it's difficult to argue against this. ISIS reviving would be the worst case scenario for everyone, and it's the only group whose victory would be worse than Assad. Even small insurgent pockets of them would be hell on earth for the remote desert settlements.
If more countries would repatriate their captured ISIS fighters there wouldn't be a major prison and refugee camp in Eastern Syria, which makes Eastern Syria a prime location for ISIS cells aiming...
If more countries would repatriate their captured ISIS fighters there wouldn't be a major prison and refugee camp in Eastern Syria, which makes Eastern Syria a prime location for ISIS cells aiming to try to plan Prison Break 2.0: This Time We Don't Get Hellfire'd.
If Trump withdraws and HTS doesn't support the SDF mission that's, like, scenario number one. These guys can wait is all I'm saying.
From the article: … … Also: Biden officials race to help stabilize Syria after regime collapse (Washington Post)
From the article:
The U.S. carried out a major round of airstrikes on Islamic State targets on Sunday, and warned the terror group against trying to regain strength in the country after rebels took over the government.
The operation included “dozens” of airstrikes on over 75 targets involving ISIS operatives and camps using B-52 bombers, F-15 fighter jets and A-10 close-air support attack aircraft “to ensure that ISIS does not seek to take advantage of the current situation to reconstitute in central Syria,” according to a statement from U.S. Central Command.
…
… U.S. forces are in the north and east of the country, hundreds of miles from the recent fighting that saw the Turkish-backed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham race through the countryside, chasing Assad’s troops out of the major city of Aleppo and taking Damascus on Saturday. The United States labels the group as a terrorist organization.
…
Just hours before rebel forces marched into Damascus, [US Senator] Shaheen said she was concerned about the fate of thousands of ISIS detainees who are being guarded by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces that receive training and equipment from American troops.
U.S. officials said the Biden administration is working with Turkey in an attempt to set up a deconfliction mechanism for the northern city of Manbij, where the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have clashed in recent days with Turkish-backed forces.
Israeli forces moved Sunday into buffer areas of the Golan Heights and limited areas on the Syrian side of its border, describing those as temporary moves as Israel seeks to determine who is in the area. The Israeli government informed the Biden administration ahead of time, U.S. officials said.
Some weird quotes in this article. Important why though? Weren't they there to train the Kurds to fight Assad? That is certainly a string of words. Hasn't the US been arming and training some of...
Some weird quotes in this article.
“I think leaving our forces that are there — we’ve got about 900 troops there — and ensuring they can continue to protect themselves is really important,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the incoming ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Important why though? Weren't they there to train the Kurds to fight Assad?
The security situation is “like a Dumpster fire and a trainwreck all wrapped up in a Sharknado,”
That is certainly a string of words.
and “bad news for the United States as we are really trying to stabilize the region,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on emerging threats, said at the conference.
Hasn't the US been arming and training some of the rebel factions for a decade, hoping they would eventually topple the regime?
Speaking at the conference on Saturday, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog said that while the developments represented “a major blow” to Iran, “there are no good guys in this story.”
Not even the Kurds, a faithful and reliable ally since the Iraq war?
“The main question now is what comes next,” said Mick Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East during the Trump administration. “Will ISIS make a resurgence with a sympathetic power in Damascus? What will the international [community] do and who will they recognize as the leader of Syria? Is there even a Syria?”
Other articles I've read has implied that the rebels have run a pretty successful government for years in the areas they've controlled. And while the new government is Islamist, I'm not so sure they're sympathetic to ISIS, considering they've previously fought against them.
Overall these comments seem alarmist. Maybe because the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham is labelled a terrorist organisation, so US politicians have to pretend they're worse than they actually are.
Ruling is easy when there’s an Assad to be against. Reaching consensus in peacetime is another story. While there’s some indication Hay’at may be more moderate than they make themselves out to be,...
Ruling is easy when there’s an Assad to be against. Reaching consensus in peacetime is another story. While there’s some indication Hay’at may be more moderate than they make themselves out to be, it’s still a strict, fundamentalist Islamic group, and we know how rule by fundamentalist Islamic groups go in other areas.
It’s also questionable to what extent they can create a government at all. They were not the only rebel group by far, and reaching consensus when there is no common enemy often turns into civil war 2 electric boogaloo.
Seems like the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army has captured Manbij from the SDF. As good as it is that Assad fled, and that corridor of the civil war has hopefully ended, I expect Turkey to...
As good as it is that Assad fled, and that corridor of the civil war has hopefully ended, I expect Turkey to continue its campaign of ethnically cleansing the Kurds in Syria along its borders, and for the United States to continue letting it happen.
They're now known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), or at least the faction that went after Manbij is. The SDF wasn't very popular in Manbij from what I heard so it's not likely they would have...
They're now known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), or at least the faction that went after Manbij is. The SDF wasn't very popular in Manbij from what I heard so it's not likely they would have been able to hold it anyway.
Yes, they changed their name, but there were like four different "Syrian National Army" groups in Syria at one point, so I stick with the more descriptive name. Of course, it doesn't help that...
Yes, they changed their name, but there were like four different "Syrian National Army" groups in Syria at one point, so I stick with the more descriptive name.
Of course, it doesn't help that there's another Free Syrian Army group as well.
I don't know the geography or topology over there, but it did seem strange that the SDF held Manbij, given that it's across the river from the rest of their territory in northeastern Syria.
I don't know the geography or topology over there, but it did seem strange that the SDF held Manbij, given that it's across the river from the rest of their territory in northeastern Syria.
As much as I dislike how the US has handled the Middle East recently, it's difficult to argue against this. ISIS reviving would be the worst case scenario for everyone, and it's the only group whose victory would be worse than Assad. Even small insurgent pockets of them would be hell on earth for the remote desert settlements.
Yes, but I’m wondering how effective bombing alone can be. Maybe it will give other groups a head start.
If more countries would repatriate their captured ISIS fighters there wouldn't be a major prison and refugee camp in Eastern Syria, which makes Eastern Syria a prime location for ISIS cells aiming to try to plan Prison Break 2.0: This Time We Don't Get Hellfire'd.
If Trump withdraws and HTS doesn't support the SDF mission that's, like, scenario number one. These guys can wait is all I'm saying.
From the article:
…
…
Also:
Biden officials race to help stabilize Syria after regime collapse (Washington Post)
Some weird quotes in this article.
Important why though? Weren't they there to train the Kurds to fight Assad?
That is certainly a string of words.
Hasn't the US been arming and training some of the rebel factions for a decade, hoping they would eventually topple the regime?
Not even the Kurds, a faithful and reliable ally since the Iraq war?
Other articles I've read has implied that the rebels have run a pretty successful government for years in the areas they've controlled. And while the new government is Islamist, I'm not so sure they're sympathetic to ISIS, considering they've previously fought against them.
Overall these comments seem alarmist. Maybe because the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham is labelled a terrorist organisation, so US politicians have to pretend they're worse than they actually are.
Ruling is easy when there’s an Assad to be against. Reaching consensus in peacetime is another story. While there’s some indication Hay’at may be more moderate than they make themselves out to be, it’s still a strict, fundamentalist Islamic group, and we know how rule by fundamentalist Islamic groups go in other areas.
It’s also questionable to what extent they can create a government at all. They were not the only rebel group by far, and reaching consensus when there is no common enemy often turns into civil war 2 electric boogaloo.
Seems like the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army has captured Manbij from the SDF.
As good as it is that Assad fled, and that corridor of the civil war has hopefully ended, I expect Turkey to continue its campaign of ethnically cleansing the Kurds in Syria along its borders, and for the United States to continue letting it happen.
They're now known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), or at least the faction that went after Manbij is. The SDF wasn't very popular in Manbij from what I heard so it's not likely they would have been able to hold it anyway.
Yes, they changed their name, but there were like four different "Syrian National Army" groups in Syria at one point, so I stick with the more descriptive name.
Of course, it doesn't help that there's another Free Syrian Army group as well.
I don't know the geography or topology over there, but it did seem strange that the SDF held Manbij, given that it's across the river from the rest of their territory in northeastern Syria.