President Obama likes to list “our friends and partners” who have signed up for his military campaign in Iraq and Syria. If only he knew how to lead such a wartime coalition. This week’s handling of the crisis on the Syrian-Turkish border is a case study in mismanagement. True to […]
by Michael Young, The Daily Star, Lebanon Summary President Barack Obama’s attitude toward the Syrian conflict is the equivalent of wanting to win the lottery without buying a ticket. Obama has used his aircraft to bombard ISIS in Syria, but the president does not want to do anything yet, or […]
GENEVA: Thousands of people “will most likely be massacred” if Kobani falls to Islamic State fighters, a UN envoy said on Friday, as militants fought deeper into the besieged Syrian […]
OCT 8, 2014 – SWISSINFO.CH Defence Minister Ueli Maurer has performed a U-turn regarding the Islamic State The Swiss government has decided to outlaw the militant Islamic State group and similar organisations. The ban includes activities, as well as propaganda and financial support of the jihadist fighters. “Islamic State has […]
The Daily Star Turkey appears to be playing a game on its border with Syria, but it does not appear to have figured out how to win it, nor what […]
Rebecca Collard / Beirut @rebeccacollard Oct. 7, 2014 Smoke rises from the city centre of the Syrian town of Ain al-Arab, known as Kobani by the Kurds, as seen from […]
Arab compatriots show little sympathy for Syrian families fleeing violence ROBERT FISK Author Biography BEIRUT Monday 06 October 2014 The shooting went on for hours, heard even in the centre of ancient Baalbek as Hezbollah and the Jabhat al-Nusra/Isis insurgents from Syria fought it out on the ridgeline above the […]
Islamic State (IS) militants are reported to have entered the key Syria-Turkey border town of Kobane and are engaged in street-to-street fighting with Syrian Kurd defenders. IS fighters entered eastern districts, raising their black flag on buildings and high ground. Hundreds of civilians are reported to be fleeing to the […]
Is there a “Plan B” in Barack Obama’s brain? Or in David Cameron’s, for that matter? I mean, we’re vaguely told that air strikes against the ferocious “Islamic State” may […]
By Katrin Elger, Hasnain Kazim, Christoph Reuter and Holger Stark spiegel.de Islim Ali is dragging a torn trash bag behind her, clothes spilling out of the growing holes. Twenty-two years […]
Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum| The Daily Star The global financial crisis taught the world how profoundly interdependent our economies have become. In today’s crisis of extremism, we must recognize that […]
RAF jets have carried out their first strikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq, attacking a “heavy weapon position” and an armed pick-up truck. The Ministry of Defence said the attacks were in support of Kurdish units in the north-west of the country. The strikes – by two GR4 Tornados […]
• Locals say strikes have reduced checkpoints • Militants travel on two wheels instead of four • Hide in trenches in backyards of civilian houses RAHEEM SALMAN AND YARA […]
by Robert Fisk, The Independent He’s offered to do a deal with Isis. No, not David Cameron. Not Obama, of course. I’m talking about Walid Jumblatt, the Lebanese Druze leader. He’s demanding that the Lebanese government swap Islamist prisoners for 21 soldiers and policemen held by Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra. […]
Syrian refugees’ reactions mixed to airstrikes against Islamic State [9/27/2014 3:17:19 PM] AMMONNEWS – Ask Syrian refugees sheltering in neighbouring Jordan about the advent of U.S.-led strikes against Islamic State militants in their homeland, and the reactions will be mixed. Some welcome the surprise military intervention, saying it could lead […]
Syrian refugees’ reactions mixed to airstrikes against Islamic State [9/27/2014 3:17:19 PM] AMMONNEWS – Ask Syrian refugees sheltering in neighbouring Jordan about the advent of U.S.-led strikes against Islamic State militants in their homeland, and the reactions will be mixed. Some welcome the surprise military intervention, saying it could lead […]
Rami G. Khouri| The Daily Star The upheaval of ideological forces and reconfiguration of geostrategic conditions across the Middle East took a dramatic turn on Sunday and Monday, with in three principal developments in and around the Arab world: the combined American-Arab Gulf states airstrikes in Syria; the control of […]
The number of Europeans joining Islamist fighters in Syria and Iraq has risen to more than 3,000, the EU’s anti-terrorism chief has told the BBC. Gilles de Kerchove also warned that Western air strikes would increase the risk of retaliatory attacks in Europe. US-led forces have launched nearly 200 air […]
The number of Europeans joining Islamist fighters in Syria and Iraq has risen to more than 3,000, the EU’s anti-terrorism chief has told the BBC. Gilles de Kerchove also warned that Western air strikes would increase the risk of retaliatory attacks in Europe. US-led forces have launched nearly 200 air […]
David Cameron has said the UK is ready to “play its part” in fighting Islamic State, which he called an “evil against which the whole world must unite”. Speaking at the UN in New York, the prime minister said “past mistakes” must not be an “excuse” for inaction. He spoke […]