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In today's episode we talk with Alexis Daloumis about his documentary Belkî Sibê. The doc shows his experiences fighting in the International Freedom Battalion during 2017 as part of the Syrian Democratic Forces against ISIS, and the socio-political changes in the liberated areas. We talk with Alexis about the actual real way that the revolution is being implemented on the ground, from what he could tell as an outsider. In the second part we focus on the filming and editing process of the documentary. ===== Re(Sources): Belki Sibe (2023) http://belkisibe.com/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29341560/ Alexis Daloumis https://www.instagram.com/alexisdaloumis/ https://linktr.ee/alexisdaloumis International Freedom Battalion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Freedom_Battalion Rojava Information Center (RIC) https://rojavainformationcenter.org/ Art by Grecu Music Le Daye, by Alexandros Miaris feat. Beshwar Kordy: https://youtu.be/EI8GG2Ux4jU https://www.alexandrosmiaris.com/ Punx for Rojava, by Adrestia https://youtu.be/MeUdfT1AGYU https://adrestia.bandcamp.com/
40 Jahre bewaffneter Kampf, einfach vorbei? Ende Februar forderte der seit über 20 Jahren inhaftierte Anführer der PKK, Abdullah Öcalan die Selbstauflösung der Organisation.Wenige Tage später verkündete die PKK eine einseitige Waffenruhe.Die Türkei fordert nicht nur das Ende der PKK, sondern auch die Entwaffnung aller kurdischen Gruppen, die mit ihnen in Verbindung stehen, auch im Irak und in Syrien. Während im Nordirak viele eine Annäherung an die Türkei erwarten, bleibt die Lage in Syrien selbst nach einem Abkommen zwischen den kurdisch geführten Syrian Democratic Forces und der salafistisch-islamistischen Übergangsregierung in Damaskus noch unklar.Was ist die PKK und welche Ziele verfolgt sie? Welche Entwicklungen führten zu Öcalans Statement, und was treibt beide Seiten in diesem Prozess an? Welche innen- und außenpolitischen Dynamiken spielen eine Rolle, und was bedeuten die Vorkommnisse für die kurdische Bewegung als Ganzes?
Congressional Democrats were split over whether to support the bill that would avert a government shutdown. In the end Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer voted for the bill.A federal judge ordered several federal agencies to rehire tens of thousands of probationary employees who were fired. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff discussed Washington's ceasefire proposal to end the war in Ukraine with Moscow officials. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was "in favor" and agreed in principle to the plan but has some conditions.The government of Syria's Mohammad Al Sharaa announced a partnership with the Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S. backed Kurdish rebel group. The move could be key in Syria's rebuilding.Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Ahmad Sharawi joins Bill for an update on Syria's ongoing conflict, including:The recent Alawite insurgency against the government led by Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani,The role of jihadist groups and involvement of the Syrian National Army and Syrian Democratic Forces,Israel's position on minority protection in Syria, andThe feasibility of military action in the region.
Three months after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Syria's interim President has been struggling to unite the country.In a landmark breakthrough, the government struck a deal to merge the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces into state institutions.While Syrian Kurds celebrate the deal, residents on the northwestern coast remain wary after days of sectarian violence that killed over 1,000 people. The government blamed pro-Assad groups for instigating the violence, and said the security threats had already been neutralized, but will the fragmented country be able to achieve peace and unity after 13 years of civil war?Host Zhao Ying is joined by Wang Jin, Associate Professor with Northwest University in Xi'an, China; Joseph Siracusa, Professor of Global Futures with Curtin University; Steven Wright, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Hamad Bin Khalifa University.
A deal signed earlier this week by Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and the commander in chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazlum Kobane, is viewed by many as a turning point for Syria's Kurds. It also comes amid escalating violence across Syria which has cast serious doubts over al-Sharaa's ability to earn the trust of his people and govern. Steven Cook, the Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, joins Thanos Davelis to explore whether this deal is really a game changer for Syria and Syria's Kurds, and break down the roles of outside forces - particularly the US and Turkey - in this story.You can read the articles we discuss on our podcast here:Syrian Kurds celebrate deal with Damascus as coastal residents remain wary after violenceSyria's Kurds win big as Sharaa shakes hands with Kobane to save his own skinKonstantinos Tasoulas to be sworn in as president ThursdayPM eyes major cabinet shake-upThe EU wants to increase deportations and supports ‘return hubs' in third countriesEurope cracks down on migration. The far right is cheering.
The Trump administration has revoked Chevron's license to pump oil in Venezuela, accusing its president of not making progress on electoral reforms. In response, Venezuela said it will stop receiving deportees from the US. Also, a new abortion clinic opens across from the Polish parliament despite the country's strict abortion ban. And, Syria's interim government signs a deal with the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurdish militia that controls the northeast. Plus, a London comedy club bans audience members with Botox injections after performers complain about unresponsive faces in the crowd.Listen to today's Music Heard on Air. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Former Philippine Pres. Rodrigo Duterte is arrested, The US and Canada agree to renegotiate the USMCA trade agreement, The Syrian Democratic Forces agree to integrate with the government, The US resumes aid to Ukraine as Kyiv says its open to a 30-day ceasefire, A militant group claims to have taken 182 civilians hostage in an attack on a Pakistani train, A former Meta executive alleges that Facebook developed censorship tools for China, RFK Jr. seeks to end a ‘self-affirm' rule for food ingredient safety, A report finds that only seven countries breathe clean air, Katie Porter announces a run for California governor, and doctors confirm that Pope Francis' health is no longer in immediate danger. Sources: www.verity.news
Ukrainian and US officials are holding three days of discussions in Jeddah in an effort to end the war with Russia. A deal signed by Syria's interim government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces has been welcomed by Arab countries. Negotiations over a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas have resumed in Doha. This episode features Taylor Heyman, Assistant Foreign Editor and Jerusalem Correspondent Thomas Helm.
In this episode of Hold Your Fire!, Richard Atwood is joined by Crisis Group experts Berkay Mandıracı, Lahib Higel and Dareen Khalifa to discuss the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)'s announcement of a ceasefire with Türkiye following imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan's call for the group to disarm and dissolve. They discuss the motivations behind the Turkish initiative to end the 40-year conflict with the PKK (a group designated as terrorist by Ankara and several Western capitals). They unpack how the PKK's leadership in northern Iraq's Qandil Mountains has reacted to Öcalan's call and how the conflict has influenced Ankara's relations with Baghdad. They discuss implications for north-eastern Syria, where the PKK-linked Syrian Democratic Forces have clashed with Türkiye-backed groups, whether the efforts by Syria's new leadership to integrate the SDF into a new state structure can address Ankara's security concerns and Israel's potential support for the SDF. They also assess how the public in Türkiye has reacted to the latest initiative to end the conflict and where the process might be headed next.Click here to listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. For more, check out our visual explainer “Türkiye's PKK Conflict: A Visual Explainer”, our latest War & Peace podcast “After Assad – Implications for Türkiye in Syria and Beyond” and our Türkiye country page. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode of War & Peace, Olga and Elissa speak with Berkay Mandıracı, Crisis Group's senior Türkiye analyst, about Ankara's evolving role in Syria following the Assad regime's collapse and about the apparent progress of efforts to resolve the conflict between Türkiye and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). They examine Türkiye's relations with Hei'at Tahrir al-Sham, the new rulers in Syria, and what Ankara stands to gain from the shifting political landscape in its neighbouring country. They assess the situation in north-eastern Syria, where tensions remain high between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA). They also discuss whether the latest attempts to end the decades-long conflict between Türkiye and the PKK have a real chance of success, as well as Ankara's regional ambitions amid rapidly changing security dynamics in Europe.For more, check out Berkay's latest op-ed, co-authored with colleague Dareen Khalifa, “Turkey's tightrope in post-Assad Syria”, and Crisis Group's page “Türkiye's PKK Conflict: A Visual Explainer”, and our Europe & Central Asia and Middle East regional pages. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The future of American troops in Syria is in the spotlight, as Turkey and Israel push competing agendas with the Trump administration regarding the role of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in countering the Islamic State group. The United States' military presence in Syria has been called into question, as President Donald Trump faces conflicting pressure from Turkey and Israel over the 2000-strong US force supporting a Syrian Kurdish-led coalition.The US force is supporting an Arab-Kurdish coalition of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in its war against the Islamic State (IS) group.Thousands of IS militants are currently being held in SDF prisons, but the US military presence now hangs in the balance. Turkey analyst Sinan Ciddi, of the Washington-based research institute, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies says Trump is in a dilemma because he ran on this promise of putting America first. "Getting out of foreign entanglements, not committing US troops and US money to parts of the world in which the US doesn't have any interest," he tells RFI.However, Ciddi warns a quick withdrawal would not be without risk: "The dilemma for Trump is that in a theatre such as Syria, if he were to pull back 2,000 troops, then you've got this major security threat."Turkey's Erdogan sees new Trump presidency as opportunityTurkey labels SDF 'insurgents'However, a US pullout would be welcomed by its NATO ally Turkey. Ankara strongly opposes Washington's military support for the SDF, which it accuses of being linked to Kurdish insurgents fighting Turkey.International relations expert Bilgehan Alagoz, of Istanbul's Marmara University, maintains the US deployment has poisoned relations between the two allies, but says a withdrawal by Trump would offer a reset in ties."I believe that there is going to be a new ground between Turkey and the United States," Alagoz said. "And Turkey will guarantee the safety of US soldiers and a successful withdrawal from Syria. So it is all going to be a kind of new negotiation between Turkey and the United States."Until now, US soldiers in Syria have prevented the Turkish military – massed on the Syrian border – from overwhelming the SDF, but time may be running out for the Kurdish-led forces."Assuming that the US withdraws at one point from Syria ... this will mean the end of the diplomatic umbrella for the SDF that the US was able to put over them," according to Aydin Selcen, a former Turkish diplomat and now foreign policy analyst for Turkey's Medyascope independent news outlet.Selcen warns that the SDF has only a small window to secure its future: "Time is of the essence for the SDF to get their act together and join forces with Damascus... to fold their forces into the Syrian armed forces, which would also satisfy Ankara's security concerns."Turkey steps up military action against Kurds in Syria as power shiftsIsrael sees SDF as key against ISTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has close ties with Syria's new leaders, and is demanding that the SDF disband or face a Turkish assault.However, the Israeli government is voicing support for American backing for the SDF, given the risk posed by the Islamic State."We know that the SDF controls prisons in which there are around 10,000 Islamic State fighters and families," explains Gallia Lindenstrauss, a foreign policy specialist at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv."Nobody wants to see the resurgence of the Islamic State. And I think in this respect, the US understands this is a small number of troops [and] they are effective. So why pull them out?"Paris hosts global conference on shaping Syria's futureLindenstrauss told RFI: "Israel has voiced that it does want to see the West continue supporting the Kurdish presence in northeast Syria, so there will be Israeli diplomatic efforts to keep the [US] troops there."Israel's foreign minister, Gideon Saar, recently underlined the importance of the Syrian Kurds as an ally to Israel – a message that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to have delivered to Trump during his visit to Washington this month, Ciddi believes."We've seen an increase in moves by the Israeli government to provide more formal and government support for non-state actors, such as the Syrian Kurds," he said. "Because they understand that hitherto they've been entirely reliable in thwarting some of the major security concerns that the Israelis hold close to their heart."
In this edition of The New Lines Institute Middle East Center's Post-Assad Podcast series, Middle East Center co-director Nicholas A. Heras sits down with Voice of America (VOA) reporter Sirwan Kajjo to assess how the emerging regime in Damascus will engage with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in Northeast Syria. Sirwan, a well-known Syrian-American intellectual and journalist, works for the Extremism Watch Desk at VOA where he focuses on Islamic militancy, extremism, and conflict in the Middle East and beyond that region. Heras and Kajjo also discuss how the emerging government in Damascus will lead the process of creating a post-Assad order and whether that order can successfully incorporate all the country's different communities.
Good afternoon, I'm _____ with today's episode of EZ News. Tai-Ex opening The Tai-Ex opened up 106-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 23,226 on turnover of 2.4-billion N-T. The market closed marginally higher on Tuesday despite rising by over 200-points early in the session - as investor uncertainty kicked-in over Donald Trump's pending return to the White House. Analysts say Trump's possible tariffs have spooked many investors - which has led to uncertainty in the local market. Lawmakers reject Lai's justice nominees Lawmakers have rejected all seven justice nominees selected by President Lai Ching-te to fill the vacancies on the Constitutional Court. None of the seven nominees, including law professor Chang Wen-zhen and former lawmaker Yao Li-ming received the necessary 57 votes in the 113-seat Legislature for approval. Chang and Yao had also been nominated by Lai to serve as the head and deputy head of the Judicial Yuan. The K-M-T has argued that all of Lai's nominees were partisan (偏袒的). Flu epidemic expected this week And, The Centers for Disease Control says over 90,000 flu-like cases were reported last week - and influenza will enter an epidemic phase later this week. According to the C-D-C, total of 94,882 visits to emergency departments and outpatient clinics (門診) for flu-like symptoms were reported from December 15 through 21. That was a 16-per cent increase compared to the number of cases recorded the previous week. The C-D-C is saying based on predictions, the flu epidemic phase is expected to begin this week, with a peak in the number of cases likely to be seen around the Lunar New Year holiday period. Haiti Journalists Killed by Gangs in Hospital Reopening Two reporters were killed in Haiti, as authorities tried to reopen Port-au-Prince's biggest public hospital after it was shut down by gangs earlier this year. AP's Lisa Dwyer reports Kurds Launch Counteroffensive in Syria Kurdish-led fighters in Syria, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, say they have launched a counter-offensive against the Ankara-backed Syrian National Army to take back areas near Syria's northern border with Turkey. The Kurdish-led force is Washington's critical ally in Syria, targeting sleeper cells (秘密行動人員) of the extremist Islamic State group scattered across the country's east. Since the fall of Bashar Assad earlier this month, clashes have intensified (加劇的) between the U.S.-backed group and the SNA, which captured the key city of Manbij and the areas surrounding it. A Britain-based opposition war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says that since the SNA's offensive in northern Syria against the Kurds started earlier this month, dozens from both sides have been killed. Russia Baby Mammoth Remains The 50,000-year-old remains of a baby mammoth uncovered by melting permafrost have been unveiled to the public by researchers in Russia's Siberia region. They call it the best-preserved mammoth body ever found. The female mammoth nicknamed Yana weighs more than 100 kilograms and is 120 centimeters tall. Her remains are one of seven mammoth carcasses recovered worldwide. Yana will now be studied by scientists at Russia's North-Eastern Federal University, which called the find “exceptional” (特殊的). The university has a dedicated (專門的) mammoth research center and museum. That was the I.C.R.T. EZ News, I'm _____.
The fall of the Assad regime in Syria has not solved the country's massive humanitarian emergency, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) insisted on Thursday, with some two million sheltering in the northwest unable to go back to villages and cities shattered by 14 years of war.In an interview with UN News's Daniel Johnson, the agency's regional chief of communications and advocacy in the Middle East, Ammar Ammar, has been describing the dramatic scenes he saw, while on mission this week to Damascus, Aleppo, Hama and Homs.He began with an update on Tishreen Dam in northern Syria, scene of clashes between Kurdish groups of the Syrian Democratic Forces and pro-Turkish elements of the Free Syrian Army.
For review:1. Israel - Hamas Potential Hostage Deal in Two Weeks.An unnamed Israeli official told the Israel Hayom daily on Sunday that a ceasefire-hostage deal will likely be completed by Hanukkah, which begins this year on the evening of December 25.2. Hezbollah leader (Naim Qassem) acknowledges that the supply route from Iran- through Syria- to Lebanon, has been cut. “Yes, Hezbollah has lost the military supply route through Syria at this stage, but this loss is a detail in the resistance's work,” Qassem said.3. Kurdish-led forces in Syria (allied with the United States), accidently shot down a US MQ-9 Drone on Monday. Troops from the Syrian Democratic Forces were conducting operations when they downed the MQ-9, a U.S. official familiar with the situation confirmed to Defense News.4. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to procure more Avante 2200 Corvettes from Spanish-firm Navantia.5. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warns European countries to prepare for war with a volatile Russia. Rutte listed a series of recent “hostile actions” by Russia against NATO allies, including cyber-attacks, assassinations, an explosion at a Czech ammunition depot, the jamming of radars in the Baltic region to disrupt air traffic, and the “weaponization” of migrants to destabilize Europe.6. Japan to Purchase T-6 Texan Trainer Aircraft. The Japanese government has selected the US-built basic trainer aircraft and associated ground equipment for its air force's pilot training program.7. Australia Test Fires Tomahawk Cruise Missile from Destroyer.On Tuesday, Australia announced that destroyer HMAS Brisbane (DDG-41) conducted a successful first firing of an RGM-109E Tomahawk cruise missile off the US West Coast.
The United Nations said on Tuesday that it rejects any aggression against Syrian sovereignty and violations of its territorial integrity, while Israel said it was establishing a "sterile defense zone" in southern Syria after carrying out more than 350 strikes in 48 hours.12月10日,联合国表示,反对任何侵犯叙利亚主权和破坏其领土完整的行为。而在48小时内实施了350多次袭击后,以色列表示正在叙利亚南部建立一个“无菌防御区”。Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said at a news conference that Syria's "turning point" should not be used by its neighbors to encroach upon its territory, and should instead be used by all those in the region to support the Syrian people.联合国秘书长古特雷斯的发言人迪雅里克在新闻发布会上表示,近期局势变化是叙利亚面临的“转折点”,周边邻国不应趁机侵占叙利亚领土,而该地区的所有人应在此时支持叙利亚人民。Dujarric said they were very clear about the violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement following the Israel Defense Forces' occupation of the buffer zone. In 1967, Israel occupied most of the Golan Heights during the Middle East war and later annexed the territory. This was never recognized by the international community.迪雅里克强调,联合国非常清楚以色列国防军占领缓冲区违反了1974年签订的脱离接触协议。1967年,以色列在第三次中东战争中占领戈兰高地部分地区,后将这一被占领土兼并。国际社会不承认以色列对这一地区的主权。Meanwhile, Geir Pedersen, the UN special envoy for Syria, told journalists in Geneva on Tuesday that the conflict in northeastern Syria is not over as there have been clashes between the Syrian National Army, the opposition groups and the Syrian Democratic Forces.与此同时,联合国秘书长叙利亚问题特使裴凯儒10日在瑞士日内瓦表示,叙利亚东北部的冲突尚未结束,叙利亚国民军、反对派团体和叙利亚民主力量之间持续发生冲突。"We are calling obviously for calm also in this area," Pedersen said.裴凯儒说:“我们呼吁该地区保持冷静。”In addition, Israeli troop movements into the occupied Golan Heights and bombardments "need to stop", he said. "The message from New York is just the same — that what we are seeing is a violation of the disengagement agreement in 1974."此外,裴凯儒表示,以色列军队进入被占戈兰高地并进行轰炸的行为“必须停止”。他说:“联合国发出的信息是一样的——我们所看到的是对1974年脱离接触协议的违反。”In a post on X, the Israel Defense Forces reported striking most of what it claimed were the strategic weapons stockpiles in Syria in 48 hours "to prevent them from falling into the hands of terrorist elements".以色列国防军在社交平台X上发帖称,过去48小时内在叙利亚实施的袭击,击中了叙利亚大部分战略武器库,“以防止它们落入恐怖分子之手”。Among the actions were more than 350 airstrikes. A "wide range of targets" included antiaircraft batteries, Syrian Air Force airfields and dozens of alleged weapons production sites in Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Latakia and Palmyra.以军的行动包括350多次空袭。袭击目标广泛,包括大马士革、霍姆斯、塔尔图斯、拉塔基亚和巴尔米拉的机场、防空炮台以及一些武器生产基地。Syria's naval operations were also targeted, including the Al-Bayda port and the Latakia port, where 15 Syrian naval vessels were hit.叙利亚海军也遭到袭击,其中包括位于米奈特贝达湾和拉塔基亚港的15艘叙利亚海军舰艇。Pedersen said Syria is still in a very "fluid" period, adding that there is a real opportunity for change, but it needs to be grasped by the Syrians themselves and supported by the UN and the international community.裴凯儒表示,叙利亚仍处于一个非常“不稳定”的时期。这是一个真正的变革机会,但这个机会需要叙利亚人自己把握,并得到联合国和国际社会的支持。Abu Mohammad Al-Jolani, leader of the opposition group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that led the rebel offensive and wrested control of Syria, told CNN that their goal had been to overthrow Syria's longtime president Bashar al-Assad.领导叛军攻势并夺取叙利亚控制权的反对派组织——沙姆解放组织的领导人阿布·穆罕默德·乔拉尼告诉CNN,他们的目标是推翻长期执政的叙利亚总统巴沙尔·阿萨德的政权。Syria's caretaker Prime Minister Mohamed al-Bashir called for stability and calm amid a leadership change.叙利亚过渡政府领导人穆罕默德·巴希尔呼吁在领导层更迭之际维持稳定和平静。On Wednesday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the toppling of Assad was the result of a plan by the United States and Israel.11日,伊朗最高领袖阿亚图拉·阿里 ·哈梅内伊表示,阿萨德政权被推翻是美国和以色列共同策划的结果。"What happened in Syria was mainly planned in the command rooms of America and Israel. We have evidence of this. A neighboring government of Syria was also involved," Khamenei said in a speech reported by state media, without naming the neighboring country in question.“叙利亚发生的一切主要是在美国和以色列的指挥中心策划的。我们有证据证明这一点。叙利亚的一个邻国政府也参与其中。”哈梅内伊在伊通社报道的讲话中说,但没有点出这个邻国的名字。Dina Yulianti Sulaeman, director of the Indonesia Center for Middle East Studies, told China Daily that Israel, which is "most invested in weakening Syria" because of the latter's historically hostile stance toward it, will not allow Syria to become stable and secure.印度尼西亚中东研究中心主任迪娜·尤利安蒂·苏莱曼告诉《中国日报》,以色列“最想削弱叙利亚”,因为叙利亚历来对以色列持敌对立场,以色列不会允许叙利亚变得稳定和安全。"In recent days, Israel has bombarded Syria, destroying nearly all of Syria's military facilities, effectively leaving the country with no capacity to defend its sovereignty," she said.她表示:“最近几天,以色列轰炸了叙利亚,摧毁了叙利亚几乎所有的军事设施,实际上使叙利亚没有能力捍卫自己的主权。”"The accumulation of Israeli attacks, the collapse of infrastructure safeguarding territorial sovereignty, economic hardships, and internal chaos bring the potential for Syria's balkanization, as long envisioned in Israel's Oded Yinon Plan."“以色列持续的袭击、捍卫领土主权的基础设施的崩溃、经济困难以及内部混乱,都为叙利亚的巴尔干化带来了可能,而这正是以色列的‘伊农计划'长期以来所设想的。”The Oded Yinon Plan refers to a strategy, outlined in a 1982 article by a former Israeli official and scholar, for Israel's expansion in the Middle East and North Africa region.“伊农计划”是指以色列前官员、学者伊农在1982年发表的一篇文章中概述的以色列在中东和北非地区扩张的战略。sterileadj. 无菌的decryv. 公开反对;谴责balkanizationn. 巴尔干化;分割成小国territorial integrity领土完整
Chris Rongey is joined by Jeff McCausland to discuss the overthrow of Syria's Assad regime, analyzing the role of Iran, Hezbollah, and Russia in propping up the regime and their current distractions that have allowed rebel forces to advance. McCausland outlines the power vacuum left in Syria, with three major groups — the Syrian Democratic Forces, HTS, and the Syrian National Army — vying for control. The conversation delves into the potential for instability and future governance in Syria, as well as the broader implications for regional security.
US, Turkey Backed Groups Pushed Out Al-Assad, Takeover Damascushttps://osazuwaakonedo.news/us-turkey-backed-groups-pushed-out-al-assad-takeover-damascus/08/12/2024/#Breaking News #alAssad #Biden #Damascus #Donald #Erdogan #Iran #Joe #Russia #Syria #Trump #Turkey #Ukraine #US ©December 8th, 2024 ®December 8, 2024 6:48 am United States of America, US backed Kurdish led Syrian Democratic Forces, SDF and Turkey backed Islam led Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, HTS have pushed out Iran and Russia backed President Bashar Al-Assad from Syria, with US President-elect, Donald Trump calling President Joe Biden and other government officials at the Whitehouse, warmongers trying to cause World War 3, distancing USA from the civil crisis in Damascus. #OsazuwaAkonedo
pWotD Episode 2775: Syrian civil war Welcome to Popular Wiki of the Day, spotlighting Wikipedia's most visited pages, giving you a peek into what the world is curious about today.With 186,659 views on Friday, 6 December 2024 our article of the day is Syrian civil war.The Syrian civil war is an ongoing multi-sided conflict in Syria involving various state-sponsored and non-state actors.In March 2011, popular discontent with the rule of Bashar al-Assad triggered large-scale protests and pro-democracy rallies across Syria, as part of the wider Arab Spring protests in the region. After months of crackdown by the government's security apparatus, various armed rebel groups such as the Free Syrian Army began forming across the country, marking the beginning of the Syrian insurgency. By mid-2012, the insurgency had escalated into a full-blown civil war.Rebel forces, receiving arms from NATO and Gulf Cooperation Council states, initially made significant advances against the government forces, who were receiving financial and military support from Iran and Russia. Rebels captured the regional capitals of Raqqa in 2013 and Idlib in 2015. Consequently, Iran and Russia launched separate military interventions in support of the Syrian government in 2014 and 2015 respectively, shifting the balance of the conflict. By late 2018, all rebel strongholds except parts of Idlib region had fallen to the government forces.In 2014, the Islamic State won many battles against both the rebel factions and the Syrian government. Combined with simultaneous success in Iraq, the group was able to seize control of large parts of Eastern Syria and Western Iraq, prompting the U. S.-led CJTF coalition to launch an aerial bombing campaign against it, while providing ground support and supplies to the Kurdish-majority Syrian Democratic Forces. Culminating in the Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor offensives, the Islamic State was territorially defeated by late 2017. In August 2016, Turkey launched a multi-pronged invasion of northern Syria, in response to the creation of Rojava, while also fighting the Islamic State and government forces in the process. Between the March 2020 Idlib ceasefire and late 2024, frontline fighting mostly subsided, but was characterized by regular skirmishes. Heavy fighting renewed with a major rebel offensive in the northwest led by Tahrir al-Sham in November 2024, during which Aleppo and Hama were seized. Southern rebels who had previously reconciled with the government subsequently launched their own offensive, capturing Daraa and Suwayda.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:44 UTC on Saturday, 7 December 2024.For the full current version of the article, see Syrian civil war on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Ivy.
It took years for Bashar al-Assad's forces to take back Syria's second city. But it took only days for Islamist rebels to overrun Aleppo. Why has a conflict that has been effectively frozen for four years suddenly sprung back to life? What to make of Hezbollah, which says it won't be sending help for now as it's pinned down at home by a precarious truce with Israel? What role for Assad-backers Russia and Iran? And what role for Turkey, which backs some of the rebel groups with an eye to pushing Syrian Kurdish forces away from its border? Recep Tayyip Erdogan last summer offered a deal with Damascus, which Assad turned down on the grounds that it would mean ceding the nominal sovereignty he has over a territory never really recaptured in eleven years.Back then, it was the Arab Spring and the leader of a hereditary dynasty who looked ready to fall, but Assad proved predictions wrong. Could this time be different? If so, how?Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Ilayda Habip.
Shiraz Maher - Co-Director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) - and Charles Lister - Director of MEI's Syria and Countering Terrorism and Extremism Programs - speak to MEI Editor in Chief Alistair Taylor about ISIS and the detainee dilemma. What is the international community to do with the tens of thousands of foreign ISIS detainees and their families, including children, held in makeshift facilities in northeastern Syria under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces? Today's episode is the second in a several-part series looking at where the group stands today and the challenges associated with it a decade on from the founding of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.
On the version of Hot off the Wire posted Feb. 5 at 7:45 a.m. CT: BEIRUT (AP) — A drone attack on a base housing U.S. troops in eastern Syria killed six allied Kurdish fighters late Sunday. The U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said Monday the attack hit a training ground at al-Omar base in Syria’s eastern province of Deir el-Zour, where the forces’ commando units are trained. No casualties were reported among U.S. troops. LOS ANGELES (AP) — The second of back-to-back atmospheric rivers churned through California, flooding roads, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands and leading forecasters to warn of possible hurricane-force winds and mudslides. The slow-moving storm is expected to dump heavy rain on Southern California on Monday, and officials there warned of potentially devastating flooding. Evacuations have been ordered for canyons that burned in recent wildfires that are at high risk for debris flows. LOS ANGELES (AP) — Taylor Swift has won album of the year for “Midnights,” breaking a Grammys record for most wins in the category with four. Miley Cyrus won record of the year Sunday night for her hit “Flowers.” Victoria Monét won best new artist at the performance-packed show that aired live from Los Angeles. Cyrus' win was her second of the night — and her second Grammy ever. Taylor Swift used her 13th Grammy win to announce her new album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” will arrive April 19. Dua Lipa opened the 66th annual Grammy Awards with a high-octane medley. Phoebe Bridgers took an early lead, winning four trophies ahead of the main telecast. WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators have released a highly anticipated bill that pairs border enforcement policy with wartime aid for Ukraine and Israel. It's already running into opposition in the House. The $118 billion proposal is the best chance for President Joe Biden to resupply Ukraine with wartime aid. BERLIN (AP) — A college student in Berlin beat a Jewish classmate until he was hospitalized after the two got into an argument about the Israel-Hamas conflict Friday night, police said. One of the students was a a 23-year-old, who held strong pro-Palestinian views, the other a 30-year-old Jewish student, who had posted pro-Israel views on social media. Other headlines: President Joe Biden sets his sights on Las Vegas days before Nevada's primary. He's also got November on his mind. Claims that Jan. 6 rioters are "political prisoners" endure. Judges want to set the record straight. No. 2 and No. 6 square off in College Basketball, it's hero's return of sorts for one player in the NBA along with major injury news, mother nature shortens one golf tournament in California and New Jersey will be hosting Soccer's biggest game in 2026. "Argylle," with checkered reviews, flops with $18M for the big-budget Apple release. On this week's religion roundup, the latest season of a popular TV series about the life of Jesus hits the big screen. Marilyn Manson completed community service sentence for blowing his nose on a videographer. The EU is worried that Israel might extend the war in Gaza to a "pressure cooker" town near Egypt. After new U.S. strikes hit Yemen, Iran issued a warning about suspected spy ships in the Mideast. A dog was rescued after more than a week trapped inside shipping container at a Texas port. A skydiver died in Arizona, the second deadly incident involving Eloy skydiving events in less than a month.' Strong hiring in most industries has far outpaced high-profile layoffs. —The Associated Press About this program Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate. Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. Learn more here.
For years, thousands of kids with roots in Canada, the U.K., the U.S. and beyond lived under the Islamic State's so-called caliphate. Some were taken there by their parents. Others were born there. But after the war against the Islamic State was won, many of these children still remain in limbo. They wait in detention camps, run by the group which helped defeat ISIS – the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. On this week's Storylines, four years after the fall of the Islamic State, Poonam Taneja visits one of the camps in northeast Syria where some of the hundreds of children the world doesn't know how to deal with, dream of going home. This is episode 6 of the podcast Bloodlines by CBC Podcasts and BBC Sounds. Bloodlines follows Poonam Taneja's search for a two-year-old British-Canadian boy who disappeared in the final days of the war against the Islamic State. You can find the series wherever you're listening to this podcast.
Have you ever wondered what it's like preparing for a military deployment in a war-torn country? Well, this episode has all that and more, with our guest, Logan Norris, a 27-year-old about to set foot in the Air Force as a CCT Combat Controller. With an impressive military and law enforcement lineage tracing back to his grandfather, Logan's upbringing was steeped in tales of courage and duty that sparked his decision to serve in the military. Listen as he speaks candidly about his family's military history, the influence it had on him, and his decision to join the Air Force. Logan takes us on a riveting journey through the process of preparing for a National Guard deployment in Syria, detailing everything from intensive drills to the nail-biting grading process. He paints a vivid picture of the terrain in Kuwait, Arafaton, and Syria, and the challenges he and his company faced while on the lookout for IEDs. Hold your breath as he shares tales of his time in Syria's Green Village, the safety measures while driving a route clearance package, and encounters with the Syrian Democratic Forces, providing an authentic perspective into life in a combat zone. As our conversation with Logan unfolds, we delve into decisions that shape military career paths, and how personal choices, like his decision to abstain from alcohol, can influence them. Hear Logan discuss the challenges, the triumphs, and the transformation he underwent through rigorous military training. He also shares his admiration for his parents, his pillars of strength, who've been influential throughout his journey. Endearing, engaging, and eye-opening, this episode is a testament to the mettle of our military personnel and their unwavering sense of duty. Tune in as we unpack these stories of resilience and dedication. --------- EPISODE CHAPTERS --------- (0:00:01) - Joining the Air Force (0:09:34) - National Guard Deployment in Syria (0:20:46) - Combat Zone Life and Military Challenges (0:26:23) - Combat Zone and Situational Awareness (0:34:13) - Considerations for Changing Military Career Paths (0:44:43) - Military Training and Personal Resilience Overview (0:52:07) - Career Transformation With Support (1:00:10) - Family and Supportive Relationships --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/warriormindset/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/warriormindset/support
In the latest Contours episode, host Carolyn Moorman approaches the long-term ramifications of late August's clashes between local Arab tribes in Deir ez-Zour and the SDF on the long-term U.S. strategy in Syria with New Lines' Calvin Wilder and Aram Shabanian.
This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Tuesday, July 11th, 2023. Fight Laugh Feast Conference - Ark Encounter This year, our Fight Laugh Feast Conference is at the Ark Encounter in Kentucky on The Politics of Six Day Creation. The politics of six day creation is the difference between a fixed standard of justice and a careening standard of justice, the difference between the corrosive relativism that creates mobs and anarchy and the freedom of objectivity, truth, and due process. The politics of six day creation establishes the authority and sufficiency of God’s Word for all of life: from what is a man or a woman, when does human life begin, and how is human society best organized? Come hear Ken Ham, Pastor Doug Wilson, Dr. Ben Merkle, Dr. Gordon Wilson, me and more, and of course a live CrossPolitic show! Mark your calendars for October 11th-14th, as we fight, laugh, and feast, with beer & psalms, our amazing lineup of speakers, our Rowdy Christian Merch, and a Sabbath Feast to wrap up the occasion. Maybe an infant baptism while we’re at it! Visit fightlaughfeast.com for more information! https://www.theblaze.com/news/ban-on-transgender-surgery-for-tennessee-children-goes-into-effect Tennessee's ban on transgender surgery for kids goes into effect immediately, federal appeals court rules Tennessee can implement its ban on transgender surgery and related medical interventions for minors as a case challenging the law works its way through the court, a divided federal appeals court panel ruled Saturday. Tennessee's 44th House District Representative William Lamberth (R) wrote on Twitter Saturday: "I am thankful to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals for confirming what Tennesseans already know: Children cannot give consent to experimental medical procedures or drugs that destroy their healthy bodies," The Tennessee law now in effect, at least temporarily, prohibits surgical procedures and administration of hormones or puberty blockers for the purpose of gender transition, as Reason explains. Judge Thapar joined Sutton, concluding that the lower court had wrongly stopped the law's implementation. Judge White delivered a separate opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part. The ban, originally set to take effect July 1, will now take effect immediately. The ban was held up when a lower court sided with the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee. ACLU-TN argued that the law interfered with parental rights and was unconstitutional, as The Hill reported. This is the first federal court to allow such a ban, with other courts unanimously blocking similar bans in Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Indiana, and Kentucky, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee. ACLU-TN brought the suit on behalf of Samantha and Brian Williams of Nashville and their 15-year-old daughter, as well as two other anonymous families and Dr. Susan N. Lac. https://dailycaller.com/2023/07/09/portland-distribute-foil-straws-snorting-kits-paraphernalia-drug-addicts/ City To Distribute Foil, Straws, Snorting Kits To Drug Addicts Health officials in Portland, Oregon announced last week they will begin handing out tin foil, straws and snorting kits to drug addicts throughout the city. As part of its “Harm Reduction Program,” the Multnomah County Health Department announced Friday that drug paraphernalia will be offered to those using fentanyl and other hard drugs, KOIN 6 reported. The rise of fentanyl has decreased the need for needle-focused “harm reduction” services, Department spokeswoman Sarah Dean told the Willamette Week. Since fentanyl is smoked rather than injected, clinic visits have dropped 60% since 2019, Dean said. The program is backed by Multnomah County’s Public Health Director, Jessica Guernsey, who says, “The new part of the program is that we’re adding supplies for people who smoke drugs.” Others are not happy with the move. “This misguided approach also results in greater risk to public safety for those who simply want to enjoy our city without walking through a cloud of toxic smoke,” Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said. “Our community would benefit more from the County using its funding to urgently increase treatment and sobering facilities rather than actively enabling this deadly epidemic.” Dean countered the mayor’s statement by claiming providing drug paraphernalia does not increase drug use but encourages addicts to visit clinics where they can get access to fentanyl test strips and the overdose antidote, Narcan, KOIN 6 reported. The Oregon Legislative Assembly recently passed a bill decriminalizing the distribution of “drug paraphernalia” for harm reduction purposes, according to the Willamette Week. Similar programs have been launched in Washington and California. In New York City, vending machines with smoking kits and bubble pipes have recently been installed, the outlet reported. The Oregon bill to decriminalize distribution of drug paraphernalia sits on Governor Tina Kotek’s desk awaiting signature before going into law, the New York Post reported. https://hotair.com/karen-townsend/2023/07/09/the-winner-of-miss-netherlands-2023-is-a-man-n563401 The winner of Miss Netherlands 2023 is a man Transgender activism marches on. The newly crowned Miss Universe Netherlands is a man. The runner-up is a woman. Rikkie Valerie Kollé was crowned Miss Universe Netherlands 2023 on Saturday. Rikkie is 22 years old, a Dutch-Moluccan model and actress in Leusden. He will represent the Netherlands at the 2023 Miss Universe pageant in El Salvador. The first runner-up is Nathalie Mogbelzada, 26, from Amsterdam. The reigning Miss Universe, R’Bonney Gabriel of Houston, Texas, was a special guest at the pageant. He makes history as the first transgender woman to win the national title. In 2018, Angele Ponce, Miss Universe Spain, was the first transgender to participate in the Miss Universe pageant. The question of having a transgender competitor in the Miss Universe pageant goes back to 2012. That is when Trump owned it and he overturned a decision by the Miss Universe organization to disqualify a Canadian model. Jenna Talackova was not being allowed to compete because “she was not a naturally born female.” Trump bowed to the laws of Canada and allowed Jenna to compete. The LGBTQ community applauded Trump. Now he’s running against a very socially conservative Republican, Ron DeSantis, among others, and Trump has flipped on the issue. The Miss America pageant is also having its share of problems. Ever since former Fox anchor Gretchen Carlson came out as super woke and joined the organization, internal battles have leaked into the press. One big issue is that when Carlson joined the organization in 2018, she made the decision to ban the swimsuit segment. Now a former Miss America, Caressa Cameron, says that the pageant feels like a Ted Talk. There is a new docuseries on A&E that exposes scandals, misogyny, and racism in the Miss America competitions. Now in world news: https://www.foxnews.com/us/us-centcom-says-killed-isis-leader-syria-airstrike-no-civilian-casualties US CENTCOM says it killed ISIS leader in Syria airstrike, no civilian casualties U.S. forces killed ISIS leader Usamah al-Muhajir in an airstrike in eastern Syria on Friday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced in a Sunday statement. Al-Muhajir was killed by the same MQ-9 reaper drones that had been harassed by Russian aircraft in the region. The two incidents occurred the same day, the U.S. says, with the drones carrying out the strike after the interaction with Russian craft. "We have made it clear that we remain committed to the defeat of ISIS throughout the region," said CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Kurilla. "ISIS remains a threat, not only to the region but well beyond." CENTCOM clarified that there were no indications that any civilians were killed in the strike, but the U.S. and allies were assessing reports of a civilian injury. The U.S. and allied forces in the region have carried out a consistent campaign against remaining ISIS leaders operating in Syria. The U.S. killed the head of the organization, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in a 2019 raid. Since then, ISIS forces have operated as cells. The MQ-9 drones used in the attack had earlier interactions with Russian SU-35 fighter jets throughout last week. The Russian craft have repeatedly flown into the path of the drones, forcing them to take evasive action to avoid a collision. "Russian military aircraft engaged in unsafe and unprofessional behavior Thursday, 9:30 a.m. local time, while interacting with U.S. MQ-9 drones carrying out our D-ISIS mission in Syria," said Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, commander, 9th AF and CFACC for CENTCOM. "Russian aircraft dropped flares in front of the drones and flew dangerously close, endangering the safety of all aircraft involved." "This is the second instance of dangerous behaviors by Russian pilots within the past 24 hours, with the first happening Wednesday at approximately 10:40 a.m. local time," he added. The U.S. military has also urged Russian forces in Syria to "cease this reckless behavior and adhere to the standards of behavior expected of a professional air force, so we can resume our focus on the enduring defeat of ISIS," he said. The U.S. maintains a force of about 900 troops deployed in Syria. They primarily work with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in their struggle against Islamic State militants. Now in entertainment… https://thepostmillennial.com/cnn-discourages-viewers-from-watching-anti-pedophile-movie-sound-of-freedom?utm_campaign=64487 CNN discourages viewers from watching anti-pedophile movie, Sound of Freedom In a clip from CNN, network host Abby Phillip brought on an author named Mike Rothschild to talk about the new and popular anti-child sex trafficking film, Sound of Freedom. Rothschild charged the film is created out of a "moral panic" and "QAnon concepts." Sound of Freedom is based on the adventures of Tim Ballard, who started an organization known as Operation Underground Railroad (OUR). OUR's mission is to save children from human trafficking. Rothschild wrote a book titled, "The Storm is Upon Us," which details many QAnon conspiracy theories such as the idea that the Democratic Party elites are part of a cabal of Satanic worshippers that drink the blood of children. Rothschild targeted said the film is "being marketed to either specific QAnon believers or to people who believe all of the same tenets as QAnon, but claim they don't know what it is." https://rumble.com/v2yw470-cnn-encourages-viewers-not-to-see-anti-pedophile-movie-sound-of-freedom.html - Play Video CNN has had its own problems with employees being involved in child sex crimes. One former producer at the network, John Griffin, was sentenced to 19 years in prison. Griffin coerced a woman online to bring her nine-year-old daughter to Vermont to engage in illicit acts. The story depicted in the film is of Ballard, played by Caviezel, rescuing children. After much strife with working in the US government, he bumps up against bureaucracy in his position as an agent. He had to quit his job to rescue the kids in the film and did so in reality as well. This was the beginning of OUR as a non-government organization. The movie focuses on Ballard's mission to save the two children and reunite a family torn apart by child sex trafficking. At the end of the movie, Caviezel appears on screen with a special message to share and urges people to "pay it forward" and donate to allow others to see the film. Caviezel says, "Steve Jobs once said, 'The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller.' Abraham Lincoln credited Harriet Stowe when she wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin. This powerful story inspired millions to rise up and fight against slavery. I think we can make Sound of Freedom the Uncle Tom's Cabin of modern-day slavery." "Sound of Freedom is a hero's tale, but I'm not talking about the character I play. It's the heroic brother and sister in this film that work to save each other." Caviezel added, "Together, we have a chance to make these two kids, and the countless children that they represent, the most powerful people in the world by telling their story in a way only the cinema can do." Before we wrap up today’s show, let’s talk about on this day in history! On this day in history, July 11th: 138 Antoninus Pius succeeds Hadrian as Emperor of Rome 1302 Battle of the Golden Spurs (Guldensporenslag in Dutch) near Kortrijk (cor-tray), Belgium: Flemish coalition defeat the French army of Philip IV 1405 Chinese fleet commander Zheng He sets sail on his first major expedition, to the Spice Islands, leading 208 vessels, including 62 treasure ships with 27,800 sailors 1533 Pope Clement VII excommunicates England's King Henry VIII On 11th July 1533, the Pope declared that Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn was null and void, as was the annulment declared by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer in May 1533, and he restored Catherine of Aragon to her “royal state”. He ordered the wayward king to abandon the newly crowned and pregnant Anne Boleyn and return to Catherine of Aragon. If the king refused then the Pope would issue the bull of excommunication that he had drawn up. He’d give Henry until September to sort himself out, but if he didn’t heed the Pope’s warning then he’d be excommunicated, the most severe punishment that the Church could inflict. Of course, Henry took absolutely no notice of the Pope, but he escaped excommunication until 17th December 1538 when Pope Paul III excommunicated him following his break with Rome, his persecution of those who did not accept his supremacy, the dissolution of the monasteries and Henry’s desecration of religious shrines including that of Thomas Becket. 1576 English explorer Martin Frobisher sights Greenland 1740 Jews are expelled from Little Russia by order of Tsarina Anne 1781 Thomas Hutchins designated Geographer of US By the age of 30, the remarkable Thomas Hutchins (1730?-1789) was an experienced frontiersman, a veteran of the French and Indian War, and a skilled Indian agent. He was best known, however, as a formidable surveyor, cartographer, and geographer. A native of New Jersey, the particular combination of skills made Hutchins the perfect candidate for surveying the vast western regions of the British North American empire. In 1766, he was officially assigned to duty as an engineer in the British army, gradually becoming the most respected surveyor and map maker in the colonies. From 1764 through 1768, he took part in expeditions spanning the west from the northern reaches of the Mississippi Valley to New Orleans, and in 1770, was transferred from the Illinois territory to Pensacola, where he was charged with reorganizing the provincial defenses and mapping. 1798 US Marine Corps established by an act of Congress 1801 French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons discovers his 1st comet 1882 British fleet bombards Alexandria, Egypt 1906 The Gillette-Brown murder inspires Theodore Dreiser's "An American Tragedy" 1960 "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee is first published by J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1984 Government orders air bags or seat belts would be required in cars by 1989 1988 Mike Tyson hires Donald Trump as an advisor
This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Tuesday, July 11th, 2023. Fight Laugh Feast Conference - Ark Encounter This year, our Fight Laugh Feast Conference is at the Ark Encounter in Kentucky on The Politics of Six Day Creation. The politics of six day creation is the difference between a fixed standard of justice and a careening standard of justice, the difference between the corrosive relativism that creates mobs and anarchy and the freedom of objectivity, truth, and due process. The politics of six day creation establishes the authority and sufficiency of God’s Word for all of life: from what is a man or a woman, when does human life begin, and how is human society best organized? Come hear Ken Ham, Pastor Doug Wilson, Dr. Ben Merkle, Dr. Gordon Wilson, me and more, and of course a live CrossPolitic show! Mark your calendars for October 11th-14th, as we fight, laugh, and feast, with beer & psalms, our amazing lineup of speakers, our Rowdy Christian Merch, and a Sabbath Feast to wrap up the occasion. Maybe an infant baptism while we’re at it! Visit fightlaughfeast.com for more information! https://www.theblaze.com/news/ban-on-transgender-surgery-for-tennessee-children-goes-into-effect Tennessee's ban on transgender surgery for kids goes into effect immediately, federal appeals court rules Tennessee can implement its ban on transgender surgery and related medical interventions for minors as a case challenging the law works its way through the court, a divided federal appeals court panel ruled Saturday. Tennessee's 44th House District Representative William Lamberth (R) wrote on Twitter Saturday: "I am thankful to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals for confirming what Tennesseans already know: Children cannot give consent to experimental medical procedures or drugs that destroy their healthy bodies," The Tennessee law now in effect, at least temporarily, prohibits surgical procedures and administration of hormones or puberty blockers for the purpose of gender transition, as Reason explains. Judge Thapar joined Sutton, concluding that the lower court had wrongly stopped the law's implementation. Judge White delivered a separate opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part. The ban, originally set to take effect July 1, will now take effect immediately. The ban was held up when a lower court sided with the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee. ACLU-TN argued that the law interfered with parental rights and was unconstitutional, as The Hill reported. This is the first federal court to allow such a ban, with other courts unanimously blocking similar bans in Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Indiana, and Kentucky, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee. ACLU-TN brought the suit on behalf of Samantha and Brian Williams of Nashville and their 15-year-old daughter, as well as two other anonymous families and Dr. Susan N. Lac. https://dailycaller.com/2023/07/09/portland-distribute-foil-straws-snorting-kits-paraphernalia-drug-addicts/ City To Distribute Foil, Straws, Snorting Kits To Drug Addicts Health officials in Portland, Oregon announced last week they will begin handing out tin foil, straws and snorting kits to drug addicts throughout the city. As part of its “Harm Reduction Program,” the Multnomah County Health Department announced Friday that drug paraphernalia will be offered to those using fentanyl and other hard drugs, KOIN 6 reported. The rise of fentanyl has decreased the need for needle-focused “harm reduction” services, Department spokeswoman Sarah Dean told the Willamette Week. Since fentanyl is smoked rather than injected, clinic visits have dropped 60% since 2019, Dean said. The program is backed by Multnomah County’s Public Health Director, Jessica Guernsey, who says, “The new part of the program is that we’re adding supplies for people who smoke drugs.” Others are not happy with the move. “This misguided approach also results in greater risk to public safety for those who simply want to enjoy our city without walking through a cloud of toxic smoke,” Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said. “Our community would benefit more from the County using its funding to urgently increase treatment and sobering facilities rather than actively enabling this deadly epidemic.” Dean countered the mayor’s statement by claiming providing drug paraphernalia does not increase drug use but encourages addicts to visit clinics where they can get access to fentanyl test strips and the overdose antidote, Narcan, KOIN 6 reported. The Oregon Legislative Assembly recently passed a bill decriminalizing the distribution of “drug paraphernalia” for harm reduction purposes, according to the Willamette Week. Similar programs have been launched in Washington and California. In New York City, vending machines with smoking kits and bubble pipes have recently been installed, the outlet reported. The Oregon bill to decriminalize distribution of drug paraphernalia sits on Governor Tina Kotek’s desk awaiting signature before going into law, the New York Post reported. https://hotair.com/karen-townsend/2023/07/09/the-winner-of-miss-netherlands-2023-is-a-man-n563401 The winner of Miss Netherlands 2023 is a man Transgender activism marches on. The newly crowned Miss Universe Netherlands is a man. The runner-up is a woman. Rikkie Valerie Kollé was crowned Miss Universe Netherlands 2023 on Saturday. Rikkie is 22 years old, a Dutch-Moluccan model and actress in Leusden. He will represent the Netherlands at the 2023 Miss Universe pageant in El Salvador. The first runner-up is Nathalie Mogbelzada, 26, from Amsterdam. The reigning Miss Universe, R’Bonney Gabriel of Houston, Texas, was a special guest at the pageant. He makes history as the first transgender woman to win the national title. In 2018, Angele Ponce, Miss Universe Spain, was the first transgender to participate in the Miss Universe pageant. The question of having a transgender competitor in the Miss Universe pageant goes back to 2012. That is when Trump owned it and he overturned a decision by the Miss Universe organization to disqualify a Canadian model. Jenna Talackova was not being allowed to compete because “she was not a naturally born female.” Trump bowed to the laws of Canada and allowed Jenna to compete. The LGBTQ community applauded Trump. Now he’s running against a very socially conservative Republican, Ron DeSantis, among others, and Trump has flipped on the issue. The Miss America pageant is also having its share of problems. Ever since former Fox anchor Gretchen Carlson came out as super woke and joined the organization, internal battles have leaked into the press. One big issue is that when Carlson joined the organization in 2018, she made the decision to ban the swimsuit segment. Now a former Miss America, Caressa Cameron, says that the pageant feels like a Ted Talk. There is a new docuseries on A&E that exposes scandals, misogyny, and racism in the Miss America competitions. Now in world news: https://www.foxnews.com/us/us-centcom-says-killed-isis-leader-syria-airstrike-no-civilian-casualties US CENTCOM says it killed ISIS leader in Syria airstrike, no civilian casualties U.S. forces killed ISIS leader Usamah al-Muhajir in an airstrike in eastern Syria on Friday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced in a Sunday statement. Al-Muhajir was killed by the same MQ-9 reaper drones that had been harassed by Russian aircraft in the region. The two incidents occurred the same day, the U.S. says, with the drones carrying out the strike after the interaction with Russian craft. "We have made it clear that we remain committed to the defeat of ISIS throughout the region," said CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Kurilla. "ISIS remains a threat, not only to the region but well beyond." CENTCOM clarified that there were no indications that any civilians were killed in the strike, but the U.S. and allies were assessing reports of a civilian injury. The U.S. and allied forces in the region have carried out a consistent campaign against remaining ISIS leaders operating in Syria. The U.S. killed the head of the organization, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in a 2019 raid. Since then, ISIS forces have operated as cells. The MQ-9 drones used in the attack had earlier interactions with Russian SU-35 fighter jets throughout last week. The Russian craft have repeatedly flown into the path of the drones, forcing them to take evasive action to avoid a collision. "Russian military aircraft engaged in unsafe and unprofessional behavior Thursday, 9:30 a.m. local time, while interacting with U.S. MQ-9 drones carrying out our D-ISIS mission in Syria," said Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, commander, 9th AF and CFACC for CENTCOM. "Russian aircraft dropped flares in front of the drones and flew dangerously close, endangering the safety of all aircraft involved." "This is the second instance of dangerous behaviors by Russian pilots within the past 24 hours, with the first happening Wednesday at approximately 10:40 a.m. local time," he added. The U.S. military has also urged Russian forces in Syria to "cease this reckless behavior and adhere to the standards of behavior expected of a professional air force, so we can resume our focus on the enduring defeat of ISIS," he said. The U.S. maintains a force of about 900 troops deployed in Syria. They primarily work with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in their struggle against Islamic State militants. Now in entertainment… https://thepostmillennial.com/cnn-discourages-viewers-from-watching-anti-pedophile-movie-sound-of-freedom?utm_campaign=64487 CNN discourages viewers from watching anti-pedophile movie, Sound of Freedom In a clip from CNN, network host Abby Phillip brought on an author named Mike Rothschild to talk about the new and popular anti-child sex trafficking film, Sound of Freedom. Rothschild charged the film is created out of a "moral panic" and "QAnon concepts." Sound of Freedom is based on the adventures of Tim Ballard, who started an organization known as Operation Underground Railroad (OUR). OUR's mission is to save children from human trafficking. Rothschild wrote a book titled, "The Storm is Upon Us," which details many QAnon conspiracy theories such as the idea that the Democratic Party elites are part of a cabal of Satanic worshippers that drink the blood of children. Rothschild targeted said the film is "being marketed to either specific QAnon believers or to people who believe all of the same tenets as QAnon, but claim they don't know what it is." https://rumble.com/v2yw470-cnn-encourages-viewers-not-to-see-anti-pedophile-movie-sound-of-freedom.html - Play Video CNN has had its own problems with employees being involved in child sex crimes. One former producer at the network, John Griffin, was sentenced to 19 years in prison. Griffin coerced a woman online to bring her nine-year-old daughter to Vermont to engage in illicit acts. The story depicted in the film is of Ballard, played by Caviezel, rescuing children. After much strife with working in the US government, he bumps up against bureaucracy in his position as an agent. He had to quit his job to rescue the kids in the film and did so in reality as well. This was the beginning of OUR as a non-government organization. The movie focuses on Ballard's mission to save the two children and reunite a family torn apart by child sex trafficking. At the end of the movie, Caviezel appears on screen with a special message to share and urges people to "pay it forward" and donate to allow others to see the film. Caviezel says, "Steve Jobs once said, 'The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller.' Abraham Lincoln credited Harriet Stowe when she wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin. This powerful story inspired millions to rise up and fight against slavery. I think we can make Sound of Freedom the Uncle Tom's Cabin of modern-day slavery." "Sound of Freedom is a hero's tale, but I'm not talking about the character I play. It's the heroic brother and sister in this film that work to save each other." Caviezel added, "Together, we have a chance to make these two kids, and the countless children that they represent, the most powerful people in the world by telling their story in a way only the cinema can do." Before we wrap up today’s show, let’s talk about on this day in history! On this day in history, July 11th: 138 Antoninus Pius succeeds Hadrian as Emperor of Rome 1302 Battle of the Golden Spurs (Guldensporenslag in Dutch) near Kortrijk (cor-tray), Belgium: Flemish coalition defeat the French army of Philip IV 1405 Chinese fleet commander Zheng He sets sail on his first major expedition, to the Spice Islands, leading 208 vessels, including 62 treasure ships with 27,800 sailors 1533 Pope Clement VII excommunicates England's King Henry VIII On 11th July 1533, the Pope declared that Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn was null and void, as was the annulment declared by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer in May 1533, and he restored Catherine of Aragon to her “royal state”. He ordered the wayward king to abandon the newly crowned and pregnant Anne Boleyn and return to Catherine of Aragon. If the king refused then the Pope would issue the bull of excommunication that he had drawn up. He’d give Henry until September to sort himself out, but if he didn’t heed the Pope’s warning then he’d be excommunicated, the most severe punishment that the Church could inflict. Of course, Henry took absolutely no notice of the Pope, but he escaped excommunication until 17th December 1538 when Pope Paul III excommunicated him following his break with Rome, his persecution of those who did not accept his supremacy, the dissolution of the monasteries and Henry’s desecration of religious shrines including that of Thomas Becket. 1576 English explorer Martin Frobisher sights Greenland 1740 Jews are expelled from Little Russia by order of Tsarina Anne 1781 Thomas Hutchins designated Geographer of US By the age of 30, the remarkable Thomas Hutchins (1730?-1789) was an experienced frontiersman, a veteran of the French and Indian War, and a skilled Indian agent. He was best known, however, as a formidable surveyor, cartographer, and geographer. A native of New Jersey, the particular combination of skills made Hutchins the perfect candidate for surveying the vast western regions of the British North American empire. In 1766, he was officially assigned to duty as an engineer in the British army, gradually becoming the most respected surveyor and map maker in the colonies. From 1764 through 1768, he took part in expeditions spanning the west from the northern reaches of the Mississippi Valley to New Orleans, and in 1770, was transferred from the Illinois territory to Pensacola, where he was charged with reorganizing the provincial defenses and mapping. 1798 US Marine Corps established by an act of Congress 1801 French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons discovers his 1st comet 1882 British fleet bombards Alexandria, Egypt 1906 The Gillette-Brown murder inspires Theodore Dreiser's "An American Tragedy" 1960 "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee is first published by J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1984 Government orders air bags or seat belts would be required in cars by 1989 1988 Mike Tyson hires Donald Trump as an advisor
This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Tuesday, July 11th, 2023. Fight Laugh Feast Conference - Ark Encounter This year, our Fight Laugh Feast Conference is at the Ark Encounter in Kentucky on The Politics of Six Day Creation. The politics of six day creation is the difference between a fixed standard of justice and a careening standard of justice, the difference between the corrosive relativism that creates mobs and anarchy and the freedom of objectivity, truth, and due process. The politics of six day creation establishes the authority and sufficiency of God’s Word for all of life: from what is a man or a woman, when does human life begin, and how is human society best organized? Come hear Ken Ham, Pastor Doug Wilson, Dr. Ben Merkle, Dr. Gordon Wilson, me and more, and of course a live CrossPolitic show! Mark your calendars for October 11th-14th, as we fight, laugh, and feast, with beer & psalms, our amazing lineup of speakers, our Rowdy Christian Merch, and a Sabbath Feast to wrap up the occasion. Maybe an infant baptism while we’re at it! Visit fightlaughfeast.com for more information! https://www.theblaze.com/news/ban-on-transgender-surgery-for-tennessee-children-goes-into-effect Tennessee's ban on transgender surgery for kids goes into effect immediately, federal appeals court rules Tennessee can implement its ban on transgender surgery and related medical interventions for minors as a case challenging the law works its way through the court, a divided federal appeals court panel ruled Saturday. Tennessee's 44th House District Representative William Lamberth (R) wrote on Twitter Saturday: "I am thankful to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals for confirming what Tennesseans already know: Children cannot give consent to experimental medical procedures or drugs that destroy their healthy bodies," The Tennessee law now in effect, at least temporarily, prohibits surgical procedures and administration of hormones or puberty blockers for the purpose of gender transition, as Reason explains. Judge Thapar joined Sutton, concluding that the lower court had wrongly stopped the law's implementation. Judge White delivered a separate opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part. The ban, originally set to take effect July 1, will now take effect immediately. The ban was held up when a lower court sided with the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee. ACLU-TN argued that the law interfered with parental rights and was unconstitutional, as The Hill reported. This is the first federal court to allow such a ban, with other courts unanimously blocking similar bans in Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Indiana, and Kentucky, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee. ACLU-TN brought the suit on behalf of Samantha and Brian Williams of Nashville and their 15-year-old daughter, as well as two other anonymous families and Dr. Susan N. Lac. https://dailycaller.com/2023/07/09/portland-distribute-foil-straws-snorting-kits-paraphernalia-drug-addicts/ City To Distribute Foil, Straws, Snorting Kits To Drug Addicts Health officials in Portland, Oregon announced last week they will begin handing out tin foil, straws and snorting kits to drug addicts throughout the city. As part of its “Harm Reduction Program,” the Multnomah County Health Department announced Friday that drug paraphernalia will be offered to those using fentanyl and other hard drugs, KOIN 6 reported. The rise of fentanyl has decreased the need for needle-focused “harm reduction” services, Department spokeswoman Sarah Dean told the Willamette Week. Since fentanyl is smoked rather than injected, clinic visits have dropped 60% since 2019, Dean said. The program is backed by Multnomah County’s Public Health Director, Jessica Guernsey, who says, “The new part of the program is that we’re adding supplies for people who smoke drugs.” Others are not happy with the move. “This misguided approach also results in greater risk to public safety for those who simply want to enjoy our city without walking through a cloud of toxic smoke,” Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said. “Our community would benefit more from the County using its funding to urgently increase treatment and sobering facilities rather than actively enabling this deadly epidemic.” Dean countered the mayor’s statement by claiming providing drug paraphernalia does not increase drug use but encourages addicts to visit clinics where they can get access to fentanyl test strips and the overdose antidote, Narcan, KOIN 6 reported. The Oregon Legislative Assembly recently passed a bill decriminalizing the distribution of “drug paraphernalia” for harm reduction purposes, according to the Willamette Week. Similar programs have been launched in Washington and California. In New York City, vending machines with smoking kits and bubble pipes have recently been installed, the outlet reported. The Oregon bill to decriminalize distribution of drug paraphernalia sits on Governor Tina Kotek’s desk awaiting signature before going into law, the New York Post reported. https://hotair.com/karen-townsend/2023/07/09/the-winner-of-miss-netherlands-2023-is-a-man-n563401 The winner of Miss Netherlands 2023 is a man Transgender activism marches on. The newly crowned Miss Universe Netherlands is a man. The runner-up is a woman. Rikkie Valerie Kollé was crowned Miss Universe Netherlands 2023 on Saturday. Rikkie is 22 years old, a Dutch-Moluccan model and actress in Leusden. He will represent the Netherlands at the 2023 Miss Universe pageant in El Salvador. The first runner-up is Nathalie Mogbelzada, 26, from Amsterdam. The reigning Miss Universe, R’Bonney Gabriel of Houston, Texas, was a special guest at the pageant. He makes history as the first transgender woman to win the national title. In 2018, Angele Ponce, Miss Universe Spain, was the first transgender to participate in the Miss Universe pageant. The question of having a transgender competitor in the Miss Universe pageant goes back to 2012. That is when Trump owned it and he overturned a decision by the Miss Universe organization to disqualify a Canadian model. Jenna Talackova was not being allowed to compete because “she was not a naturally born female.” Trump bowed to the laws of Canada and allowed Jenna to compete. The LGBTQ community applauded Trump. Now he’s running against a very socially conservative Republican, Ron DeSantis, among others, and Trump has flipped on the issue. The Miss America pageant is also having its share of problems. Ever since former Fox anchor Gretchen Carlson came out as super woke and joined the organization, internal battles have leaked into the press. One big issue is that when Carlson joined the organization in 2018, she made the decision to ban the swimsuit segment. Now a former Miss America, Caressa Cameron, says that the pageant feels like a Ted Talk. There is a new docuseries on A&E that exposes scandals, misogyny, and racism in the Miss America competitions. Now in world news: https://www.foxnews.com/us/us-centcom-says-killed-isis-leader-syria-airstrike-no-civilian-casualties US CENTCOM says it killed ISIS leader in Syria airstrike, no civilian casualties U.S. forces killed ISIS leader Usamah al-Muhajir in an airstrike in eastern Syria on Friday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced in a Sunday statement. Al-Muhajir was killed by the same MQ-9 reaper drones that had been harassed by Russian aircraft in the region. The two incidents occurred the same day, the U.S. says, with the drones carrying out the strike after the interaction with Russian craft. "We have made it clear that we remain committed to the defeat of ISIS throughout the region," said CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Kurilla. "ISIS remains a threat, not only to the region but well beyond." CENTCOM clarified that there were no indications that any civilians were killed in the strike, but the U.S. and allies were assessing reports of a civilian injury. The U.S. and allied forces in the region have carried out a consistent campaign against remaining ISIS leaders operating in Syria. The U.S. killed the head of the organization, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in a 2019 raid. Since then, ISIS forces have operated as cells. The MQ-9 drones used in the attack had earlier interactions with Russian SU-35 fighter jets throughout last week. The Russian craft have repeatedly flown into the path of the drones, forcing them to take evasive action to avoid a collision. "Russian military aircraft engaged in unsafe and unprofessional behavior Thursday, 9:30 a.m. local time, while interacting with U.S. MQ-9 drones carrying out our D-ISIS mission in Syria," said Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, commander, 9th AF and CFACC for CENTCOM. "Russian aircraft dropped flares in front of the drones and flew dangerously close, endangering the safety of all aircraft involved." "This is the second instance of dangerous behaviors by Russian pilots within the past 24 hours, with the first happening Wednesday at approximately 10:40 a.m. local time," he added. The U.S. military has also urged Russian forces in Syria to "cease this reckless behavior and adhere to the standards of behavior expected of a professional air force, so we can resume our focus on the enduring defeat of ISIS," he said. The U.S. maintains a force of about 900 troops deployed in Syria. They primarily work with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in their struggle against Islamic State militants. Now in entertainment… https://thepostmillennial.com/cnn-discourages-viewers-from-watching-anti-pedophile-movie-sound-of-freedom?utm_campaign=64487 CNN discourages viewers from watching anti-pedophile movie, Sound of Freedom In a clip from CNN, network host Abby Phillip brought on an author named Mike Rothschild to talk about the new and popular anti-child sex trafficking film, Sound of Freedom. Rothschild charged the film is created out of a "moral panic" and "QAnon concepts." Sound of Freedom is based on the adventures of Tim Ballard, who started an organization known as Operation Underground Railroad (OUR). OUR's mission is to save children from human trafficking. Rothschild wrote a book titled, "The Storm is Upon Us," which details many QAnon conspiracy theories such as the idea that the Democratic Party elites are part of a cabal of Satanic worshippers that drink the blood of children. Rothschild targeted said the film is "being marketed to either specific QAnon believers or to people who believe all of the same tenets as QAnon, but claim they don't know what it is." https://rumble.com/v2yw470-cnn-encourages-viewers-not-to-see-anti-pedophile-movie-sound-of-freedom.html - Play Video CNN has had its own problems with employees being involved in child sex crimes. One former producer at the network, John Griffin, was sentenced to 19 years in prison. Griffin coerced a woman online to bring her nine-year-old daughter to Vermont to engage in illicit acts. The story depicted in the film is of Ballard, played by Caviezel, rescuing children. After much strife with working in the US government, he bumps up against bureaucracy in his position as an agent. He had to quit his job to rescue the kids in the film and did so in reality as well. This was the beginning of OUR as a non-government organization. The movie focuses on Ballard's mission to save the two children and reunite a family torn apart by child sex trafficking. At the end of the movie, Caviezel appears on screen with a special message to share and urges people to "pay it forward" and donate to allow others to see the film. Caviezel says, "Steve Jobs once said, 'The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller.' Abraham Lincoln credited Harriet Stowe when she wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin. This powerful story inspired millions to rise up and fight against slavery. I think we can make Sound of Freedom the Uncle Tom's Cabin of modern-day slavery." "Sound of Freedom is a hero's tale, but I'm not talking about the character I play. It's the heroic brother and sister in this film that work to save each other." Caviezel added, "Together, we have a chance to make these two kids, and the countless children that they represent, the most powerful people in the world by telling their story in a way only the cinema can do." Before we wrap up today’s show, let’s talk about on this day in history! On this day in history, July 11th: 138 Antoninus Pius succeeds Hadrian as Emperor of Rome 1302 Battle of the Golden Spurs (Guldensporenslag in Dutch) near Kortrijk (cor-tray), Belgium: Flemish coalition defeat the French army of Philip IV 1405 Chinese fleet commander Zheng He sets sail on his first major expedition, to the Spice Islands, leading 208 vessels, including 62 treasure ships with 27,800 sailors 1533 Pope Clement VII excommunicates England's King Henry VIII On 11th July 1533, the Pope declared that Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn was null and void, as was the annulment declared by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer in May 1533, and he restored Catherine of Aragon to her “royal state”. He ordered the wayward king to abandon the newly crowned and pregnant Anne Boleyn and return to Catherine of Aragon. If the king refused then the Pope would issue the bull of excommunication that he had drawn up. He’d give Henry until September to sort himself out, but if he didn’t heed the Pope’s warning then he’d be excommunicated, the most severe punishment that the Church could inflict. Of course, Henry took absolutely no notice of the Pope, but he escaped excommunication until 17th December 1538 when Pope Paul III excommunicated him following his break with Rome, his persecution of those who did not accept his supremacy, the dissolution of the monasteries and Henry’s desecration of religious shrines including that of Thomas Becket. 1576 English explorer Martin Frobisher sights Greenland 1740 Jews are expelled from Little Russia by order of Tsarina Anne 1781 Thomas Hutchins designated Geographer of US By the age of 30, the remarkable Thomas Hutchins (1730?-1789) was an experienced frontiersman, a veteran of the French and Indian War, and a skilled Indian agent. He was best known, however, as a formidable surveyor, cartographer, and geographer. A native of New Jersey, the particular combination of skills made Hutchins the perfect candidate for surveying the vast western regions of the British North American empire. In 1766, he was officially assigned to duty as an engineer in the British army, gradually becoming the most respected surveyor and map maker in the colonies. From 1764 through 1768, he took part in expeditions spanning the west from the northern reaches of the Mississippi Valley to New Orleans, and in 1770, was transferred from the Illinois territory to Pensacola, where he was charged with reorganizing the provincial defenses and mapping. 1798 US Marine Corps established by an act of Congress 1801 French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons discovers his 1st comet 1882 British fleet bombards Alexandria, Egypt 1906 The Gillette-Brown murder inspires Theodore Dreiser's "An American Tragedy" 1960 "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee is first published by J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1984 Government orders air bags or seat belts would be required in cars by 1989 1988 Mike Tyson hires Donald Trump as an advisor
The Syrian Democratic Forces have been one of the most active insurgencies in Syria. Their operations have heavily influenced Syria's contemporary political landscape, and we explore what the future of the SDF holds for the nation along with Alex McKeever, an expert researcher for the Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ) organisation.
This weekend missiles from a drone nearly hit a US convoy carrying American personnel and Mazlum Kobane, a top American ally in the fight against the Islamic State and the commander in chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces. Kobane said he was the target of an assassination, while the Pentagon said the strikes “directly threatened the safety of US personnel” working to defeat IS. Turkey is believed to have carried out the attack. The question now is how will President Biden react? Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a former Pentagon official, joins Thanos Davelis to look into this latest troubling incident and explore what steps the Biden administration should take in order to signal to Erdogan that certain actions cross a red line. Read Michael Rubin's latest piece here: Turkey just tried to kill Americans. Will Biden react?You can read the articles we discuss on our podcast here:US-backed Syrian Kurdish leader Mazlum Kobane says Turkey's attempt on life not the first Turkish foreign minister: sovereignty of some Aegean islands ‘not determined'Dendias: Greece should be optimistic but also careful about relations with TurkeyIsrael inks $400 million sale of anti-tank missiles to GreeceIsrael signs $400 mln deal to sell Greece anti-tank missiles
Planet Poet-Words in Space – NEW PODCAST! LISTEN to my WIOX show (originally aired March 14th, 2023) featuring two remarkable guests: visionary humanitarian, musician and poet Elissa Montanti and writer, producer and director Michael McKinley, both here to discuss their documentary “Our Lady of Staten Island” which focuses in great part on Elissa's work helping African children with Albinism, victims of mutilation, get needed protheses. For more information on the documentary and to view the trailer go to: www.ourladystatenisland.com. Michael will also discuss his book project Meta War and his recent travels to Iraq and Syria. Elissa Montanti, visionary founder and executive director of the Staten Island-based Global Medical Relief Fund (GMRF), has brought more than 500 children of 57 countries to the U.S. for treatment, including surgery, limb prosthetics and other medical necessities. Injured children come from countries or regions able to offer only minimal medical care, poorly fitted prostheses, or none at all. Elissa's appearance on “60 Minutes” and her book “I'll Stand By You” One Woman's Mission to Heal the Children of the World” (written with Jennifer Haupt, Penguin Books, 2012) have helped spread the word about this remarkable woman and her work. The New York Times and The Washington Post, among many print venues, have heralded her extraordinary work. Elissa was featured in “CNN Heroes,” BBC World News, “Democracy Now” WorldVision Radio, and Voice of America. People Magazine voted their story “the Saint of Staten Island”, as one of the five best stories of the year. Elissa received Amnesty International ‘s Modern Day Saints Award and recognition from the Humanitarian Operating center in Kuwait for her bravery and humanitarian work in Iraq and the Shriners Humanitarian Award. “To Walk Without Fear”, a documentary produced by Miracle Mile Films and sponsored by the UN Correspondence Association and the Prince of Jordan, premiered at the United Nations on November 16, 2006. Elissa lives in Staten Island with her adopted son Ahmed who was blinded and lost his arm at 7 years old in Iraq while walking into crossfire. Elissa's passions also include music, poetry and painting. Her poetry has won recognition from the American Poetry Society. Michael McKinley's first novel, The Penalty Killing, was shortlisted for an Arthur Ellis Award as best debut crime novel. His subsequent page-turners include, among others, international bestseller Facetime and Willie: The Game Changing Story of the NHL's First Black Player, nominated for an NAACP Image Award as best biography and one of the top twenty books of 2021. Michael‘s writing credits include the screenplay for the 1992 feature film Impolite, starring Christopher Plummer; a number of Discovery Channel docu-drama series including Perfect Disasters, Solar Storm and I Shouldn't Be Alive. He wrote and produced award-winning films for CNN on the Vatican and on biblical archaeology in the Middle East, and The Jesus Strand for History TV. His most recent show is the 2021 three-part documentary series Epstein's Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell, which he co-created and Executive Produced for Peacock and SKY UK. Michael traveled to Iraq and Syria for projects with US Special Forces operators and Syrian Democratic Forces. Michael, educated at Oxford University, lives in New York City. He is currently directing, writing and producing, with Nancy Bell and Alice Barrett Mitchell, Our Lady of Staten Island.
Facts & Spin for December 8, 2022 top stories: Peru's president is impeached and arrested after attempting to dissolve Congress, Raphael Warnock defeats Herschel Walker in the Georgia Senate runoff, Washington says it 'neither encouraged nor enabled' Ukraine to strike Russian territory, Germany arrests 25 people accused of plotting a coup, Argentina's vice president is sentenced to six years in prison for corruption, Turkey reportedly sets a two-week deadline for the Syrian Democratic Forces to withdraw from Northern Syria, The US Supreme Court hears arguments on congressional district maps, Twitter fires its general counsel over possible internal document suppression, China loosens more COVID restrictions, and the EU agrees that airlines should have to pay more to pollute. Sources: https://www.improvethenews.org/ Brief Listener Survey: https://www.improvethenews.org/pod
Facts & Spin for December 3, 2022 top stories: Arizona County certifies its election results, The Pentagon unveils its first new bomber in 30 years, Biden and Putin say they'd be open to talk under certain conditions, The EU sets a $60 price cap on Russian oil, An appeals court gives the Justice Department access to Trump's Mar-a-Lago documents, The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces announce they're halting anti-IS operations, The Democratic Republic of Congo accuses M23 rebels of killing 50 civilians, The US labor department reports job growth and wage increases for November, Pfizer says it will invest more than $2.5 billion to expand its European manufacturing, and Caltech physicists simulate a tiny “wormhole” in a lab. Sources: https://www.improvethenews.org/ Brief Listener Survey: https://www.improvethenews.org/pod
Britain's Prince William and Princess Catherine are in Boston on Friday to present his second annual Earthshot prize, awarded to innovators around the world working to save nature and combat global warming. And, the Syrian Democratic Forces, a majority Kurdish armed group, has announced it has ended cooperation with the US military in Syria. The announcement comes after the group said it would cease fighting ISIS following threats of a Turkish invasion in the region under their control. Also, amid a crackdown on dissent, Chinese authorities have trained their sights on banning Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs, used to break past censorship. Plus, the classic Christmas song, “Carol of the Bells,” originated in Ukraine 100 years ago. Our reporting is independent, inclusive and in-depth. Best of all, it's listener supported. In other words, we wouldn't exist if it weren't for you. Will you give today to support the tireless efforts of The World's reporters and producers?
As Turkey threatens to mount a fresh ground assault against the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria, America's Syrian Kurdish allies are warning that Washington and the Kremlin need to take a much firmer stance to prevent a Turkish offensive that will further undermine the battle against the Islamic State. While Washington has expressed “strong opposition” to a new Turkish military operation in Syria, sources have also indicated that Turkey is spurning all mediation efforts. Amberin Zaman, a senior correspondent reporting from the Middle East, North Africa and Europe exclusively for Al-Monitor, joins Thanos Davelis to discuss the increasing likelihood of a Turkish offensive, the response from Washington and Moscow, and the options on the table for Syria's Kurds. Read Amberin Zaman's latest reports here: Syrian Kurdish commander says Kobani likely target of threatened Turkish ground offensiveSyrian Kurdish commander slams US response to Turkish attacks as US diplomats evacuated from SyriaAmerican aid volunteer David Eubank says Syrian Kurds feel even more betrayed by US in wake of Turkey's most recent attacksYou can read the articles we discuss on our podcast here:Greece to get EU-funded anti-disinformation hubGreece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary agree to boost gas grid interconnections
On the Middle East with Andrew Parasiliti, an Al-Monitor Podcast
Turkey is threatening to mount a fresh ground assault against the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria after a wave of airstrikes that left 11 civilians and numerous Kurdish fighters dead. US officials say they are trying to de-escalate the situation, but their Syrian Kurdish allies say Washington's response has been weak and is unlikely to stave off another Turkish offensive. David Eubank, founder of the Free Burma Rangers, a volunteer group that assists civilians in conflict zones, came out of northeast Syria yesterday where he witnessed the devastation wreaked by Turkey's latest airstrikes. He told Al-Monitor that the sense of betrayal by the United States is even deeper than when President Donald Trump gave Turkey the green light to invade large chunks of northeast Syria in 2019. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Turkey says it plans to pursue targets in northern Syria following the blast that killed six people and injured more than 80 others in Istanbul on November 13. Ankara blames Kurdish militants for the attack and has detained a Syrian woman they believe to be the suspected bomber. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack and both the Turkish PKK and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces deny any involvement. For more, we talk to Yavuz Baydar, editor-in-chief of the independent news website Ahval.
Armenian News Network - Groong Week in Review - Sep 4, 2022Topics:September 2: Artsakh Independence DaySeptember 2 is a public holiday commemorating the day 31 years ago when the Nagorno Karabakh Republic declared independence from the USSR. Before 2020, this would be a festive holiday. This year, there were protests in both Yerevan and Stepanakert as well as visits to the gravesites of fallen heroes. Developments in Geopolitics There were two major meetings this week between Armenia and Azerbaijan. On August 30, the deputy PMs met in Moscow, then on August 31, Pashinyan and Aliyev met in Brussels.“Normalization” with Turkey Next: we've read reports that the fifth meeting in the Turkish Armenian “Normalization” process will occur in September, so we'll discuss the pros and cons of that process with Prof. Vahram Ter-Matevosyan. Remembering Mikhail GorbachevAs Mikhail Gorbachev passed away this past week, we'll talk to Prof. Ara Sanjian and also Ter-Matevosyan for their recollections of the years leading up to, and following the fall of Soviet Union in 1991.Timing:00:00:06 Intro00:00:57 Topics00:02:15 September 2 & Opposition Reboot00:05:38 Geopolitics - Moscow Meeting00:14:39 Geopolitics - Brussels Meeting00:20:20 Geopolitics - Reactions to the Meetings00:31:48 Geopolitics - Cavusoglu on Syria00:41:00 Turkish Armenian “Normalization” - Vahram Ter-Matevosyan00:58:48 Remembering Gorbachev - Ara Sanjian01:11:45 Remembering Gorbachev - Vahram Ter-Matevosyan01:18:27 Personal Rants - Hovik01:20:02 End of rants and goodbyes01:20:13 Closing noteGuest:Dr. Benyamin Poghosyan - TW/@Benyamin_PoghosDr. Ara SanjianDr. Vahram Ter-MatevosyanHosts:Hovik Manucharyan TW/@HovikYerevanAsbed Bedrossian TW/@qubriqEpisode 162 | Recorded: Sunday, September 4, 2022
Documentary filmmaker (and frm Congressman) Tom Garrett is in Iraq to introduce us to Mohammed Hassan, spokesperson for the Syrian Democratic Forces (who is currently in an undisclosed location) because Turkey is ramping up attacks on them seemingly right after they put aside their objection to Sweden and Finland's admission to NATO... Did we agree to 'look the other way'?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Michael Gordon is the author of Degrade and Destroy: The Inside Story of the War Against the Islamic State. He is currently a National Security Correspondent with The Wall Street Journal. He has covered wars and conflicts for over 35 years with The Wall Street Journal and previously with The New York Times. In this interview, we discus the last decade of conflict against the Islamic State in which the United States applied a “by, with and through” strategy. This strategy supported Iraqi Security Forces and Syrian Democratic Forces with U.S. advisors in the field as well as multiple intelligence and air assets. Topics covered include the following: The conditions that allowed ISIS to capture territory in Iraq and Syria The capture of Mosul followed by the U.S. developing a strategy to respond The “By, With and Through” strategy that the U.S. employed based on a Special Forces concept to back local forces in the field of combat Where the term “Degrade and Destroy” came from and the strategic implications of how it shaped into “Operation Inherent Resolve” Michael discusses his frontline view of the conflict while embedded with Iraq's Counterterrorism Service (CTS) and Kurdish Peshmerga forces The early struggle to take back Mosul and how it led to Lieutenant General Townsend's “Tactical Directive One” The difference between the Battle of Mosul and the Battle of Raqqa How the U.S. and Russia faced off in Syria The current state of “Operation Inherent Resolve” and the current disposition of the Islamic State Lessons learned from “Operation Inherent Resolve” Michael Gordon Bibliography: Degrade and Destroy: The Inside Story of the War Against the Islamic State The Endgame: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, from George W. Bush to Barack Obama COBRA II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq The Generals' War Article: “How the War Against ISIS Was Won” Follow and contact Michael Gordon: Twitter: @mgordonwsj LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelgordonwsj/ E-mail: Michael.gordon@wsj.com and mgwsj@protonmail.com HELP SPREAD THE WORD! If you like the interview and want to hear others, subscribe in iTunes, Spotify, or Audible. Support the show with written reviews, share on social media, and through word of mouth. To request additional shows or guests, e-mail me: tim@professionalmilitaryeducation.com Check out the website: www.professionalmilitaryeducation.com
Earlier this month President Biden proclaimed that the leader of the Islamic State was killed in a Syrian hideout. The raid, which took place a few kilometers from the border with Turkey, did not include Turkish forces. In fact, President Biden praised the Syrian Democratic Forces, with Kurdish fighters at its core, for their contributions in the raid. Turkey's exclusion from the raid, and the fact that the Islamic State leader's hideout was so close to Turkey's border, have raised new questions about Ankara's commitment to the fight against ISIS and its possible links to the terrorist group. Expert David Phillips joins our host Thanos Davelis to talk about the recent counterterrorism operation against the Islamic State's leader and look into the links between Turkey and ISIS.David Phillips is the Director of the Program on Human Rights and Peace-building at Columbia University. Phillips is also a former senior adviser to the UN Secretariat and US State Department, and the author of the books Frontline Syria: From Revolution to Proxy War, The Great Betrayal: How America Abandoned the Kurds and Lost the Middle East, and An Uncertain Ally: Turkey Under Erdogan's Dictatorship.Read David Phillips' latest piece here: The killing of Qurayshi: Are Turkey and ISIS still bonded?You can read the articles we discuss on our podcast here:State Department states that sovereignty of Greek islands is unquestionableAnkara insists on disputing Aegean statusCyprus and USA sign Science and Technology Cooperation AgreementCyprus, US sign science and technology cooperation agreement
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Turkish warplanes struck suspected Kurdish positions in Iraq and Syria early on Wednesday in a new aerial offensive. The Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria condemned Turkey's airstrikes and urged the international community to intervene to stop what it called “Turkish aggression.” It said the Turkish strikes came days after the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces defeated scores of IS militants who broke into a prison where some 3,000 extremists are held. Nadine Maenza, the Chair of USCIRF, joins our host Thanos Davelis to discuss Turkey's actions and explain how they target religious and ethnic minorities and run counter to the US mission to defeat IS. We also discuss USCIRF's overall work on Turkey. Nadine Maenza is the Chair of USCIRF and the President of the organization Patriot Voices. She has represented USCIRF in various delegations, and has traveled in her own personal capacity to better understand religious freedom conditions in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Bangladesh, as well as northeast Syria.You can read the articles we discuss on our podcast here:Tweet by USCIRF Chair Nadine MaenzaTurkish warplanes attack Kurdish fighters in Iraq, SyriaIslamic State hits back, aided by power vacuum in Iraq and SyriaTurkey-Greece border: Twelve migrants die in freezing conditionsMitarakis rejects Turkish pushback claims as ‘false propaganda'Blinken thanks Dendias for Greek contribution to AfghanistanDendias: Greece ready to respond to any security challenge
Today, we hear the Combat Story of Firat Batman, a Swedish citizen from Kurdish roots who spent years with the YPG and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighting one of the most vile terrorist groups of our time: ISIS. [Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Loansteady LLC. A small-by-design lender, Loansteady believes in bringing a much-needed dose of humanity to the mortgage process. They are waiving all lender fees for Veterans in 2021. Visit http://www.loansteady.com/combatstory to request a rate quote or start an application. Loansteady LLC, All rights reserved, NMLS# 1701910, (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org/), Equal Housing Lender. For more licensing information, please visit https://www.loansteady.com/licenses-and-legal.] I found Firat when his friend, another Swede turned freedom fighter named Mike, reached out. Mike's introductory email sums up Firat perfectly: “I am writing you for a friend of mine who would never reach out but his story is amazing. He spent years fighting ISIS in Syria with the YPG. He is not a war tourist!! He left Sweden for Syria after ISIS murdered his cousins and uncle in Syria.” Firat fought alongside coalition forces on the front lines liberating cities from ISIS control. He did this, however, with very few resources, training, ammunition, funding, and support. What he witnessed in terms of ISIS brutality is horrific and has left its scars. He has an amazing story that will inspire anyone who wonders how you can change your life and do something about the evil things in this world. I hope you enjoy this Combat Story as much as I did. This is the first in a two part interview with Firat to make sure we spend sufficient time in his multiple deployments. Find Firat Online: Instagram @tactikurdbruh Find Ryan online: Ryan's Linktree Instagram @combatstory Facebook @combatstoryofficial Send us messages at https://m.me/combatstoryofficial Email ryan@combatstory.com Learn more about Ryan Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle Show Notes 0:00 - Intro 1:01 - A word from our Sponsor (LoanSteady) 2:27 - Guest introduction (Firat Batman) 4:01 - Interview begins 4:35 - Early family life living in Sweden with Kurdish background 10:03 - Being an immigrant and having family in Syria when ISIS formed 14:34 - The personal experience that draws you into the military 21:53 - A memorable ride to the airport to deploy 29:59 - Writing a letter to your mom in case you don't come back 33:56 - Arriving in Kurdistan, the land of his people, for the first time 39:05 - Going straight to the Syrian border after just arriving in Iraq 56:34 - Initial training experiences 1:15:13 - The first time he was told to bring his weapon and be ready 1:21:18 – First time in contact and what it was like to see ISIS remains 1:27:18 – Lead up to his first major operation 1:34:14 - First conflict with ISIS 1:46:33 – The carnage ISIS left behind 1:57:39 - What it was like going back home to Sweden for the first time 2:01:40 - Listener comments and shout outs
As experts debate whether Turkey will engage in a new military operation in northern Syria, the facts on the ground demonstrate that Turkey is already in a perpetual state of war against the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northeast Syria. Not only are drone strikes and shelling now a regular occurence, but Turkey is also weaponizing water supplies in the region at a time when Syria is facing its worst drought in 70 years. Journalist Amberin Zaman joins The Greek Current to discuss Turkey's “war of attrition” against Syria's Kurds and its weaponization of water amid a devastating drought. We also discuss her interview with Mazlum Kobane, the commander in chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces, who touched on - among other things - the prospects of a new Turkish incursion into the region. Amberin Zaman is a staff correspondent for Al-Monitor covering the Middle East, with a particular focus on Syria, Iraq, and Turkey.Read Amberin Zaman's latest reports here: Turkey's war of attrition against Syria's KurdsCamels weep as their young perish in Syria's killer droughtSyrian Kurdish commander says Russia opposes further Turkish land grabsYou can read the articles we discuss on our podcast here:Greece suspends espionage trial of 24 aid workersGreece adjourns trial of aid workers involved in refugee rescuesTurkey's lira dives back into crisis territoryTurkey again cuts interest rates, currency hits new low
Over the weekend, news broke about U.S. prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia indicting Mohammed Khalifa, a Canadian who traveled to Syria in 2013 and later joined the Islamic state where he became the English language voice for a series of Islamic State propaganda videos. The indictment is a big deal, both because of the person it implicates and because it's a U.S. court trying a Canadian man for crimes committed in Iraq and Syria. To break it all down, Jacob Schulz spoke with Leah West of Carleton University in Canada, and with Amarnath Amarasingam of Queen's University in Canada. The two are experts on Canadian foreign fighters leaving Canada to go join the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and they're also in the unique position of having interviewed Khalifa at a Syrian Democratic Forces prison. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
When Islamic State’s capital, Raqqa, finally fell in late 2017, America wasn’t really paying close attention. We’d had nearly a year of turmoil here at home, and, in many ways, Islamic State was old news.And if we weren’t paying that much attention to the fight, we paid even less attention to the fighters. So, today we’ll tell the story of the Kurdish men and women who led the Syrian Democratic Forces.To take us through it, we have Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, who’s just published Daughters of Kobani, which tells the story of the Kurdish fight against Islamic State. Lemmon is a journalist and best-selling author who last appeared on the show to talk about her book Ashley’s War. Angry Planet has a substack! Join the Information War to get weekly insights into our angry planet and hear more conversations about a world in conflict.https://angryplanet.substack.com/subscribeYou can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
ISIS has carried out more acts of violence in the Al Hawl displacement camp in the first quarter of 2021 than in all of 2020. The militant group exploits camp members for propaganda and recruitment, fueling its activities elsewhere in northeast Syria. The US-partnered Syrian Democratic Forces has launched an operation to quell and contain ISIS activity in the camp, but the operation’s long-term prospects for success are grim without consistent international support. On this episode of Overwatch, ISW Evans Hanson Fellow Eva Kahan discusses the ongoing operation and what it means for ISIS in the region.
This episode marks the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the uprising in Syria. This is episode 3/13 in the new GCSP Podcast Series. Dr Paul Vallet interviews Mr Kenneth R. Rosen is an award-winning foreign news correspondent, who reports especially from the Middle East for numerous publications, among which the New York Times New Yorker magazine, The Atlantic, VQR, and now Wired. His work has been translated into Arabic, Spanish, German, and Japanese, and he's the author of two books. He is also a digital fellow with the GCSP's Global Fellowship Initiative Dr Paul Vallet: This week marks the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the uprising in Syria against the regime of Bashar Al Assad, in what was Syria’s part of what was then called the Arab Spring. The results of that spring have been varied in countries across the Middle East North Africa region. In Syria, Libya and Yemen, a civil war emerged from these initial uprisings in 2011, which, despite the varying levels of foreign involvement, have not died down. In terms of casualties and displaced people, Syria’s perhaps among the most complex one that is most edged on international conscience, especially when seeing from Europe. But how is it that the war is being perceived on the outside? How can the story be told when it has been so dangerous for journalists to cover it? To get an idea today, we're talking with Kenneth R. Rosen, who has recently joined to become a digital fellow for the GCSP Global Fellowship Initiative. This is a great favour in joining us from the region in the Middle East. So welcome to the podcast, Ken. My first question to you, of course, has to do with a bit of your work experience, but probably those of your fellows as well. Can you tell us what has been the experience and the role of foreign correspondents and reporting about the war in Syria? Mr Kenneth R. Rosen: Sure, the former press corps is given a lot of access to campaigns and military movements and a lot of the upper political parties who are tied into the region and also into these conflicts writ large. If I if I can just go back a little bit in history, you know, the First World War in the Second World War, foreign correspondents on both sides were granted unprecedented access. I mean, you had AP and Reuters correspondents who were embedded with German troops. And there was a lot of transparency on either side there. And I'd like to mention that only because while we do have access to say the SDF, the Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria or the Peshmerga, in northern Iraq, where I am calling you from today, it's just not the same as it was many years ago, even as even as recent as the invasion of Iraq with US forces, a lot of American media, we're able to embed with the forces and see upfront up close the multiple sides of the conflict. But now it's a little bit more restrained. There's more vetting going on between who's allowed in to report on different campaigns or different situations, such as the internally displaced people's camps within north-eastern Syria, you certainly can't report from regime controlled areas, and it's very difficult to report from Turkish-backed opposition controlled areas. There was a recent report in the New York Times when a correspondent and several other agencies were granted access to the Turkish areas. But generally speaking, it's very difficult. And when you are granted access, you're followed by miner and taken only to areas that are of interest to government agenda. So it's a lot of narratives are coming out of the region. And there are a lot of journalists who are doing really great work. And it's important work. But it's very limited given the situation and the types of parties who are involved with the conflict. You have Russia, you have Iran, you have northern Iraq, you had the autonomous administration in north-eastern Syria, you have the regime controlled areas of the government of Syria in the West.
Journalist and author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon talks about the women who fought ISIS in Syria. She discusses how the female fighters of Kobani helped to deliver the first blow to the previously unstoppable forces of the Islamic State and how that victory convinced the US that it had a reliable partner against ISIS. She shares the individual stories of some of the brave women she encountered, including some who rose to command both women and men in combat, and some who were forced to marry ISIS fighters, survived unspeakable brutality, and then went on the defeat ISIS on the battlefield. Gayle reveals how the women of the Syrian Democratic Forces are now working to establish equality for women in Syrian and throughout one of the most hostile regions for women in the world. Plus how ISIS reacted when they realized they were getting their butts kicked by a bunch of bad-ass women! Order Gayle Lemmon’s new book The Daughters of Kobani: A Story of Rebellion, Courage, and Justice on Amazon, Audible, or wherever books are sold. Keep up with Gayle at www.GayleLemmon.com or on Twitter at @GayleLemmon. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
THEY'RE BACK! The antifa comrades return for Year II of the pod, having taken stock of 2020's crapulence. Alas, there remain plenty of fash to bash, as Kev outlines some of the more reprehensible responses to an Garda Síochána (Irish police) shooting dead George Nkencho. The boys discuss how news media falls short in confronting far right voices, before Seb compares the Capitol Riots to a similar event in apartheid South Africa back in the 90's. After discussing the working class solidarity present in the works of Terry Pratchett, the centenary of Murray Bookchin's birth is commemorated with musing over how his work has become exponentially more & more influential with each passing year since his death. strange greasy days // easy-listening or torture? YOU DECIDE // pod anniversary marked // covid catch-up // POC killed by cops...again // far right exploitation of victim // use of alleged criminality to justify brutal treatment // Black & Irish // 'wellness check' turns lethal // Telegram disinformation // Irish language confuses fascists // police tactical units attract worst people // only so much 1 person can do in rotten system // thin blue line the last to crack in revolutions // extremes historically weak in RoI // a few good apples? // never forget ACAB // My Comrade Vinny // lived experience > memes // teens are idiots (mostly) // INTERMISSION: Cat fight! // We are matter AND we matter // getting foreign language tattoos that don't mean what you think // first season is worst season? // still a need for antifa content // Seb story-time! // No, the USA is *not* Weimar // your historical reference needs more nuance // not white hats, just shite hats // American liberal vs classical liberal // wrong to make fun of far right? // gaslighting a crazy broad // Katzen? Ja. AfD? Nein // hatred of media translates to love of those media belittle // mocking with critique // rip the piss...analytically // stuff you can engage with vs stuff too dumb to deserve reply // devil's in the details...or exceptions // Pratchett's politics // When Murray met Apö // fragmented left // die Linke, Podemos, Syriza // be realistic - demand the impossible! // would Biden veto M4A? // Pompous Pompeo's lies // Cuban medics threaten world with healthcare // U.S. itching for more war // musical chairs in geopolitics Music: Down With The Sickness - Richard Cheese Information on right-wing extremism in Ireland from The Beacon the-beacon.ie Keep abreast of latest Covid-19 numbers at Worldometers www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ Learn more about Syrian Democratic Forces straight from their press office sdf-press.com/en/ Roar magazine's tribute to Murray Bookchin roarmag.org/essays/murray-bookchin-100-birthday/
While the focus of the world has been on the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress has been busy preparing a war authorization for the incoming Joe Biden administration. In this episode, we examine the advice given to Congress in nine recent hearings to learn which countries are on the World Trade System naughty list, as Jen prepares to read the NDAA that's soon to become law. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Click here to contribute monthly or a lump sum via PayPal Click here to support Congressional Dish via Patreon (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank’s online bill pay function to mail contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North, Number 4576, Crestview, FL 32536 Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Recommended Episodes CD208: The Brink of the Iran War CD195: Yemen CD191: The Democracies of Elliott Abrams CD190: A Coup for Capitalism CD186: National Endowment for Democracy CD167: Combating Russia NDAA CD131: Bombing Libya Bills H.R.526: Cambodia Democracy Act of 2019 Congress.gov H.Res.751: Reaffirming the partnership between the United States and the African Union and recognizing the importance of diplomatic, security, and trade relations. Congress.gov H.Res.1120: Urging the Government of Tanzania and all parties to respect human rights and constitutional rights and ensure free and fair elections in October 2020, and recognizing the importance of multi-party democracy in Tanzania Congress.gov H.Res.1183: Supporting respect for human rights and encouraging continued democratic progress in Ethiopia, and for other purposes. Congress.gov Articles/Documents Article: Belarus Will Be an Early Challenge for Biden, By Gregory Feifer, Slate, December 18, 2020 Article: Expanded "America Crece" Initiative Launch Event, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, December 17, 2020 Article: Court Finds Evidence of Crimes Against Humanity in the Philippines, By Jason Gutierrez, The New York Times, December 15, 2020 Article: 2,596 Trades in One Term: Inside Senator Perdue’s Stock Portfolio, By Stephanie Saul, Kate Kelly and Michael LaForgia, The New York Times, December 2, 2020 Article: Africa: From caravan networks to investment projects, By Ahmet Kavas, Daily Sabah, November 25, 2020 Article: Ethiopia’s Problems Will Not End with a Military Victory, By Aly Verjee, United States Institute of Peace, November 24, 2020 Article: Tanzania: Repression Mars National Elections, Human Rights Watch, November 23, 2020 Article: DoD Policy Chief Quits As Leadership Vacuum Expands, By Paul McLeary, DefenseNews, November 10, 2020 Article: Biden landing team for Pentagon announced, By Aaron Mehta, DefenseNews, November 10, 2020 Article: Africa in the news: Unrest in Ethiopia, contentious elections results in Tanzania and Côte d’Ivoire, and a new UK-Kenya trade deal By Payce Madden, Brookings, November 7, 2020 Article: US doing its best to lock China out of Latin America By Vijay Prashad, Asia Times, November 4, 2020 Article: Ethiopia Proposes Holding Postponed Vote in May or June 2021: FANA By Addis Ababa, Reuters, October 30, 2020 Press Release: Crisis in Mali, By Alexis Arieff, Congressional Research Service, October 21, 2020 Article: América Crece: Washington's new investment push in Latin America By Jeff Abbott, Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, October 8, 2020 Article: Ethiopian Region Holds Local Elections in Defiance of Prime Minister By Simon Marks and Abdi Latif Dahir, The New York Times, September 10, 2020 Article: IRI Expert Discusses COVID-19, Protecting Democracy in Europe and Protests in Belarus in Testimony to House Foreign Affairs Committee International Republican Institute, September 10, 2020 Article: Nile dam row: US cuts aid to Ethiopia, BBC News, September 3, 2020 Press Release: Belarus: An Overview, By Cory Welt, Congressional Research Service, August 24, 2020 Press Release: Rep. Omar Leads Letter to Condemn Trump Administration’s Plan to Invest in Controversial Projects in Honduras, Ilhan Omar, August 13, 2020 Article: China Dominates Bid for Africa’s Largest Dam in New Pact By Pauline Bax and Michael Kavanagh, Bloomberg Green, August 7, 2020 Article: Nile dam row: Egypt fumes as Ethiopia celebrates By Magdi Abdelhadi, BBC News, July 29, 2020 Article: Remarks by CEO Boehler at the América Crece Event With President Hernández of the Republic of Honduras U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, July 21, 2020 Article: Can Malian President Keita survive growing anti-gov’t protests? By Hamza Mohamed, Aljazeera, July 10, 2020 Article: Pundits with undisclosed funding from arms manufacturers urge ‘stronger force posture’ to counter China By Eli Clifton, Responsible Statecraft, May 14, 2020 Article: The Three Seas Initiative explained By David A. Wemer, Atlantic Council, February 11, 2020 Article: FORMER OBAMA OFFICIALS HELP SILICON VALLEY PITCH THE PENTAGON FOR LUCRATIVE DEFENSE CONTRACTS By Lee Fang, The Intercept, July 22, 2018 Article: Is John McCain's Pick to Lead the International Republican Institute a Strike Against Donald Trump? By Timothy J. Burger, Town & Country, August 10, 2017 Article: The River That Swallows All Dams By Charles Kenny and John Norris, Foreign Policy, May 8, 2015 Document: The Grand Inga Illusion By David Lunde, University of Denver, 2014 Article: Can DR Congo's Inga dam project power Africa? By Maud Jullien, BBC News, November 15, 2013 Article: A New Take on the 1961 Murder of Congo’s Leader By Slobodan Lekic, Los Angeles Times, September 3, 2006 Article: How Biden’s Foreign-Policy Team Got Rich By Jonathan Guyer, The American Prospect Article: Christopher Fomunyoh Grabs Man Of The Year Award By Bama Cham, Eden Newspaper Article: Reform in Ethiopia: Turning Promise into Progress, Yoseph Badwaza and Jon Temin, Freedom House Article: Beijing and Wall Street deepen ties despite geopolitical rivalry, Financial Times Article: THE HISTORY OF DR CONGO TIMELINE, Welcome to the Congo Reform Association Article: Business: The Big Dreamer, By LOUIS EDGAR DETWILER, TIME, August 01, 1960 Additional Resources About The Jamestown Foundation Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. African Union Alyssa Ayres Council on Foreign Relations DEREK MITCHELL National Democratic Institute Douglas Rutzen International Center for Not-For-Profit Law Daniel Serwer, LinkedIn Daniel Serwer, Middle East Institute Daniel Twining LinkedIn Dr. Daniel Twining International Republican Institute Elbridge Colby, LinkedIn Elbridge Colby, The Marathon Initiative Elbridge Colby, Senior Advisor, Westexec Advisors Employment Timeline: Albright, Madeleine K OpenSecrets.org Eric Farnsworth, LinkedIn Eric Farnsworth Americas Society Council of the Americas Flagship Projects of Agenda 2063 African Union History: IDEA TO REALITY: NED AT 30 National Endowment for Democracy Investing in Development U.S. International Development Finance Corporation Jamie Fly The German Marshall Fund of the United States Jamie Fly U.S. Agency For Global Media Janusz Bugajski, The Jamestown Foundation Jon Temin Freedom House Joshua Meservey, LinkedIn Lauren Blanchard, LinkedIn Michael Camilleri, The Dialogue Mission Statement, Growth in the Americas Monica de Bolle International Capital Strategies Our Experienced Team McLarty Associates Philip Reeker, LinkedIn Summary: Albright Stonebridge Group OpenSecrets.org Susan Stigant, United States Institute of Peace Team, The Beacon Project, October 2020 Team ALBRIGHT STONEBRIDGE GROUP Therese Pearce Laanela, Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance Yoseph Badwaza, Freedom House Sound Clip Sources Hearing: THE BALKANS: POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE NEXT ADMINISTRATION, Committee on Foreign Affairs, December 8, 2020 Watch on C-SPAN Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Madeleine Albright Chairman of the National Democratic Institute Chairman of the Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategy firm Chairman of Albright Capital Management , an investment advisory firm Member of the Council on Foreign Relations 2003-2005: Member of the Board of Directors of the NYSE 1997-2001: Secretary of State 1978-1981: National Security Council Staff Daniel Serwer Director of American Foreign Policy and Conflict Management at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University Former Vice President at the US Institute of Peace Former Minister Counselor at the State Department during the Clinton years Janusz Bugajski Senior Fellow at the Jamestown Foundation Former Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) Hosts a tv show in the Balkans Transcript: 40:03 Rep. Eliot Engel (NY): Serbia has been importing Russian fighters and tanks and conducting military exercises with the Russian Army. A US Defense Department report told us that Belgrade's drift towards Moscow has mostly occurred since President Vučić took power. The same time democratic space in Serbia has shrunk in recent years. Freedom House describes Serbia as a, 'hybrid regime', not a democracy because of declining standards in governance, justice, elections and media freedom. If Serbia wants to become part of the European Union, and the North Atlantic family of nations, it needs to get off the fence and embrace a Western path. 56:17 Madeleine Albright: As you know, Mr. Chairman, the President Elect has been personally engaged in the Balkans since his time in the Senate. And he was one of the most outspoken leaders in Congress calling for the United States to help end the complex and I was honored to work closely with him throughout my time in office. And I know that he understands the region and its importance for the United States. The national security team that President Elect Biden is putting in place is deeply knowledgeable and committed to helping all the countries of the region move forward as part of a Europe that is whole free and at peace. And that's important, because today this vision is in peril. The nations of the Western Balkans are suffering deeply from the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Corruption remains a serious problem, and nationalist leaders continue to stoke and exploit ethnic tensions. China and Russia are also exerting new influence in the region, with Serbia in particular the target of much anti Western propaganda. As the pandemic eases there will be an opportunity for the United States and Europe to help the region build back better, particularly as Western European countries seek to bring supply chains closer to home. And as new funds become available to invest in energy diversification and environmental protection. 59:36 Madeleine Albright: The answer is for the United States and the EU to work together to champion initiatives that help custom Bosnia and others build economic ties to Europe and the neighborhood while also pushing for needed political reforms. 1:00:00 Madeleine Albright: On Bosnia, the Dayton accords stopped a war and continue to keep the peace. But the governing arrangements are not captured by leaders among the three groups that negotiated the peace. They want to hold on to power even if it means holding their society back. While Bosnia is neighbors move toward EU membership, the United States and the European Union must focus their efforts in Bosnia on the abuse of government and state owned enterprises. Taking away the levers of power that keep the current system in place. 1:05:30 Daniel Serwer: Europe and the United States want a post state in Bosnia, they can qualify for EU membership. That Bosnia will be based not on ethnic power sharing, but rather on majorities of citizens electing their representatives. [?] entities as well as ethnic vetoes and restrictions we'll need to fade. the Americans and Europeans should welcome the prospect of a new Civic constitution. But no one outside Boston Herzegovina can reform its constitution, a popular movement is needed. The United States along with the Europeans needs to shield any popular movement from repression while starting the entities with funding and redirecting it to the central government and municipalities. 1:12:07 Janusz Bugajski: Moscow views Serbia in particular, and the Republic of Srpska in Bosnia as useful tools to subvert regional security and limit Western integration. 1:12:40 Janusz Bugajski: Western Balkan inclusion in the Three Seas Initiative and its North South transportation corridor will enhance economic performance and help provide alternatives to dependence on Russian energy and Chinese loans. 2:00:41: Rep. Gerry Connolly (VA): Why do you think longer term in the Balkans its Chinese influence we need to be focused on? Janusz Bugajski:Thank you very much for that question. Let me begin with why Russia is not a longer term danger. Russia is a country in serious decline, economic decline. Its economies size of a medium sized European state. China has the second largest economy in the world. Russia has internal problems with its nationalities with its regions, with increasing public unrest with increasing opposition to put in them even be power struggles during the succession period over the next four years, Russia faces major internal problems. China, on the other hand, unless of course, there is opposition to the Chinese Communist Party from within, is in a different stage. It continues to be a very dynamic country in terms of its economic growth. It doesn't face the sort of internal contradictions and conflicts that Russia does. And it's increasingly.. China's always looked at the longer term. In other words, they don't even have to look at succession cycles, because of the dominance of the Communist Party. They are looking eventually to replace Russia as the major rival of the United States. And the best way to do that is to increase their influence not only militarily in East Asia, South Asia and other parts of the world, but economically, politically, diplomatically, culturally, and through the media and that's precisely what they're doing, not only in Europe, but in other continents. 2:18:38 Madeleine Albright: I think that democracy and economic development go together also. Because as I put it, people want to vote and eat. Hearing: THE UNFOLDING CONFLICT IN ETHIOPIA, Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, December 3, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Yoseph Badwaza Senior Advisor for Africa at Freedom House Former Secretary General of Ethiopian Human Rights Council Susan Stigant Director of the Africa Program at the United States Institute of Peace Former program director at the National Democratic Institute, focused on South Sudan Tsedale Lemma Editor in Chief and Founder of Addis Standard Magazine Lauren Ploch Blanchard Specialist in African Affairs at the Congressional Research Service Former East Africa Program Manager at the International Republican Institute Transcript: 35:32 Yoseph Badwaza: The devastating developments of the past four weeks have brought inmeasurable human suffering and the destruction of livelihoods and appear to have returned to yet another protracted civil war and nearly 30 years after it emerged from its last. These tragic events have also dealt a deadly blow to what would have been one of the most consequential democratic transitions on the African continent. 37:09 Yoseph Badwaza: A series of missed opportunities in the last two and a half years led to the tragic derailment of a promising democratic experiment. A half hearted effort at implementing reforms by a ruling party establishment reluctant to shape its deeply authoritarian roots. Roots stands in the way of a genuine inclusive political process. Hearing: U.S. DEFENSE POSTURE CHANGES IN THE EUROPEAN THEATER, Committee on Armed Services, September 30, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Dr. James Anderson Former Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Department of Defense (resigned the day after Trump fired DoD Secretary Mark Esper) 2006-2009: Director of Middle East Policy for the Secretary of Defense 2001-2006 - Gap in LinkedIn resume 2000-2001: Associate at DFI International, a multinational consulting firm 1997-1999: Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation Lt. Gen David Allen: Director for Strategy, Plans, and Policy, Joint Chiefs of Staff Transcript: 17:14 Dr. James Anderson: As we continue to implement the NDS or efforts at enhancing our European posture beyond Eucom Combat Command Review, have shown recent successes, including the signing of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement with Poland in August that will enable an increased enduring US rotational presence in that country of about 1000 US military personnel. Hearing: DEMOCRATIC BACKSLIDING IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, September 30, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Christopher Fomunyoh Senior Associate for Africa at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs Has been at NDI since 1993 Has worked for the Cameroon Water Corporation and Cameroon Airlines Corporation Dorina A. Bekoe, PhD Research Staff Member at the Institute for Defense Analyses Jon Temin Director of the Africa Program at Freedom House Freedom House gets most of its funding from the National Endowment for Democracy 2014-2017: U.S. Department of State’s Policy Planning Staff Director of the U.S. Institute of Peace’s Africa Program Member of the Council on Foreign Relations Non-resident Senior Associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies Joshua Meservey Senior Policy Analyst for Africa and the Middle East at the Heritage Foundation since 2015 Former Associate Director of the Atlantic Council Former Field Team Manager for the Church World Service Resettlement Support Center Former Volunteer with the US Peace Corps Former intern for the US Army Special Operations Command Former Loss Prevention Coordinator for Dollar Financial Corporation Transcript: 7:13 Rep. Chris Smith (NJ): I fear that 2020 may see an even greater decrease in democracy on the continent. Today's hearing is also timely, as elections are approaching next month in Tanzania and the Ivory Coast, both countries which appear to be on a downward trajectory in terms of governance and respect for civil and political rights. And I want to note that Chairwoman bass has introduced legislation with respect to Tanzania, and I'm very proud to be a co sponsor of it and I thank you for that leadership. 8:37 Rep. Chris Smith (NJ): For example, was quite obvious to outside observers in the DRC that the declared winner of the latest presidential election held in late 2018. Felix Tshisekedi received less votes than Martin Fayulu low because of a corrupt bargain between the outgoing strongman Joseph Kabila Tshisekedi. The Constitutional Court packed by Kabila declared him to be the winner. What happened next was troubling, as our State Department issued a statement that said and I quote, 'the United States welcomes the Congolese Constitutional Court certification of Felix Tshisekedi as the next president of the DRC,' which was apparently driven by a handful of diplomats, including our ambassador. 9:26 Rep. Chris Smith (NJ): Elections in Nigeria were first postponed by sitting President Buhari and marred by irregularities in advance of the election date, quitting arson attacks on the independent national Electoral Commission offices in opposition strongholds in Buhari's his removal of Supreme Court Justice Walter Onnoghen. 10:40 Rep. Chris Smith (NJ): Before Sudan is delisted as a state sponsor of terrorism, I also believe there must be justice for all victims of its past bad acts including the victims of 911, many of whom live in my home state of New Jersey and in my district. 14:44 Rep. Karen Bass (CA): Most concerning is the situation in Tanzania, which I recently addressed in House Resolution 1120 where current leadership is repressing the opposition and basic freedoms of expression and assembly in a blatant attempt to retain power. 15:00 Rep. Karen Bass (CA): We see similar patterns in Cote d'Ivoire as the executive branch legalizes the deviation in democratic institutions to codify non democratic actions. We have similar concerns about Guinea and are going to be very watchful of upcoming elections there. And in Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Chad, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria and Somalia. 15:57 Rep. Karen Bass (CA): What concerns me most is the democratic backsliding is not limited to Africa and we seem to be in a place of retreat from democracy that I only hope is an anomaly. In Europe, we see the egregious behavior of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, who claimed success in a disputed August 9 election and sought support from extra national resources such as Russia to justify his claim to power. 17:28 Rep. Karen Bass (CA): President Duterte of the Philippines is accused of lawfare, or weaponizing the law to deter or defeat freedoms, personalities and establishments that promote human rights, press freedoms and the rule of law while also cracking down on individual freedoms. 24:39 Christopher Fomunyoh: NDI has over three decades of technical assistance to and support for democratic institutions and processes in Africa and currently runs active programs in 20 countries. 26:09 Christopher Fomunyoh: Notably, West Africa, previously commanded as a trailblazer region has seen serious backsliding, as Mali experienced a military coup, and major controversies have arisen about candidacies of incumbent presidents in Guinea, Conakry and Cote d'Ivoire. The Central Africa region remains stocked with the three with the highest concentration of autocratic regimes with the three longest serving presidents in the world. In that sub region, notably Equatorial Guinea forty one years, Cameroon 38 years, and Congo Brazzaville 38 years. 26:50 Christopher Fomunyoh: In southern and East Africa, continued persecution of political opposition and civil society activists in Zimbabwe and similar worrying signs or patterns in Tanzania since 2016 seriously diminished citizen participation in politics and governance and also stand my prospects for much needed reforms. 31:31 Dorina A. Bekoe: Mali's 2012 coup took place even though there was a regularly scheduled election just one month away. And the coup in August of this year took place despite the fact that in 2018 there was a presidential election and last year there were legislative elections. 38:44 Jon Temin: The United States should consider changes to term and age limits that allow incumbent leaders to extend their time in office as essentially a coup against the constitution and respond accordingly. These moves by leaders who have already served two terms are an usurpation of power, that deny the country and its citizens the many benefits of leadership rotation. 40:07 Jon Temin: In Sudan the long overdue process of removing the country from the list of state sponsors of terrorism may soon conclude, but that is not enough. The United States needs to support the civilian component of Sudan's transitional government at every step of the long road toward democracy and do all that it can to revive Sudan's economy. 40:25 Jon Temin: In Ethiopia, there are deeply concerning signs that the government is reaching for tools of repression that many hoped were relegated to history. Nonetheless, Ethiopia remains on a tentative path to democratic elections that can be transformative. In this context, the decision by the United States to withhold development assistance from Ethiopia in a quixotic and counterproductive effort to influence Ethiopia's negotiating position concerning the grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is bad policy that should be reversed. 41:00 Jon Temin: Nascent democratic transitions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Gambia and Angola also call for strong US support. 1:10:21 Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN): I want to start with Dr. Fomunyoh. In your testimony you discuss the massacres committed in the Anglophone region of Cameroon. Did the United States provide training funding or arms to the Cameroonian security forces who committed those massacres? 1:12:20 Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN): Did the Millennium military officers who led the recent coup [??] receive US military training? And if you can just say yes or no, because I have a few more questions and we have limited time. 1:29:23 Jon Temin: Freedom in the world, which we do every year rates every country in the world that includes the United States, the United States score was decreasing before this administration, we have seen a slow slippage of democracy in America for some time, rating based on our scores. That decrease has accelerated under this administration. 1:30:00 Jon Temin: I think part of it has to do with freedom for journalists. I believe there's been some concern there. Part of it has to do with corruption and some of the indications that we've seen of corrupt activity within government. I'll leave it there. We're happy to go dig into that and provide you more detail. And I'm sure that when we look at the scores again later this year, there will be a robust conversation on the United States. Hearing: THE ROLE OF ALLIES AND PARTNERS IN U.S. MILITARY STRATEGY AND OPERATIONS, Committee on Armed Services, September 23, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Christine Wormuth On Joe Biden's presidential transition team 2018- present: Director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at the RAND Corporation 2017-2018: Founding Director of the Adrienne Arsht Center for Resilience at the Atlantic Council 2017-2018: Senior Advisor for the Center for Strategic and International Studies 2010-2014: Various DoD positions, rising to Under Secretary of Defense for Policy 2004-2009: Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies 2002-2004: Principal at DFI Government Services, an international defense consulting firm Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges Center for European Policy Analysis Board of Advisors for the Spirit of America (not listed on hearing bio) Board of Directors is made up of CEOs of mulitnational corporations Board of Advisors is full of corporate titans and big names, including Michelle Flournoy, Jeh Johnson, Kimberly Kagan, Jack Keane, James Mattis, Stanley McChrystal, H.R. McMaster, & George Shultz 2014-2017: Commanding General of the US Army in Europe Elbridge Colby Principal and co-Founder of the Marathon Initiative Formed in May 2020 Senior Advisor to WestExec Advisors (not listed on hearing bio) Co-Founded by incoming Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Michelle Flournoy, who told the Intercept in 2018, "we help tech firms who are trying to figure out how to sell in the public sector space, to navigate the DOD, the intel community, law enforcement." 2018-2019: Director of the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security Northrup Grumman is one of its biggest donors, also gets funding from Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Bell Helicopter, BAE Systems, General Dynamics, Boeing, and DynCorp. 2017-2018: Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development Lead official in the creation of the 2018 National Defense Strategy 2010-2017: Center for a New American Security GWB administration (not listed on his LinkedIn) 2005-2006: worked with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence 2004-2005: President GWB's WMD Commission 2003: worked with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq Transcript: 17:14 20:08 Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges: Second point of emphasis requires us to place importance on the greater Black Sea where. I believe the great power competition prevents great power conflict, failure to compete and to demonstrate interest and willingness to protect those interests in all domains, power vacuums and miscalculations which can lead to escalation and to actual conflict. This is particularly true in the greater Black Sea region, where Russia is attempting to maximize its sphere of influence. The Black Sea region should be the place where the United States and our NATO allies and partners hold the line. The Black Sea should matter to the west in part because it [was to the Kremlin.] taking the initiative away from the Kremlin denies the ability to support the Assad regime in Syria and then to live will reduce the flow of rich into Europe, or General Breedlove called the weaponization of refugee. Limit the Kremlin's ability to spread his thoughts of influence in the Balkans which is the Middle East and North Africa. 21:28 Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges: We must repair the relationship between Turkey and the United States. And see Turkey [?] as an exposed ally at the crossroads of several regions and challenges. Turkey is essential for deterrence of the Kremlin in the Black Sea region. And it is a critical both against ISIS and Iran we need to consider this relationship to be a priority, [but] condone or excuse several mistakes or bad choices about the Turkish Government. There are times are very quiet, but we think long term. The current Turkish administration will eventually change. But the strategically important geography of Turkey will never change. 23:31 Elbridge Colby: Allies and partners are absolutely essential for the United States in a world increasingly defined by great power competition, above all with China. Indeed, they lie at the very heart of the right US strategy for this era, which I believe the Department of Defense's 2018 National Defense Strategy lays out. The importance to the United States of allies and partners is not a platitude, but the contrary. For the first time since the 19th century, the United States is not far and away the world's largest economy. More than anything else, this is due to the rise of China. And that has become very evident. Beijing is increasingly using its growing power for coercive purposes. 24:08 Elbridge Colby: United States faces a range of other potential threats, including primarily from Russia against NATO, as well as from transnational terrorists, Iran and North Korea. In other words, there exists multiple challenges to US national security interests. Given their breadth and scope, America can no longer expect to take care of them essentially alone. Accordingly, we must address this widening shortfall between the threats we face and the resources we have to deal with them by a much greater role for allies and partners. 24:59 Elbridge Colby: Because of China's power and wealth, the United States simply must play a leading role in blocking Beijing's pursuit of hegemony in Asia. This means that the US defense establishment must prioritize dealing with China and Asia and particularly vulnerable allies and partners such as Taiwan and the Philippines. 25:24 Elbridge Colby: In particular, we will not be able to dedicate the level of resources and effort to the Middle East and Europe that we have in the past. We will therefore need allied partners to do their part not just to help defend our interests and enable a concentration on Asia but to defend themselves and their interests. 26:00 Elbridge Colby: The contemporary threats to us interest stem from China across Asia. Transnational terrorists largely in the Middle East, Russia and Eastern Europe, Persian Gulf area and North Korea in Asia. 26:11 Elbridge Colby: Yet the United States is traditional, closest and most significant allies are largely clustered in Western Europe in Northeast Asia. Many of these countries, especially Europe feel quite secure and are little motivated to contribute to more distant threats. This leaves wide areas such as South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East, for which long standing US alliances are of minimal help. The natural way to rectify this is for the United States to add partners and form necessary alliances to help address these gaps. 35:13 Elbridge Colby: In this effort, though, we should be very careful to distinguish between expanding our formal alliances or [?] alliances from expanding our partnerships, the former should be approached derivatively while the latter can be approached more liberally, when we extend an alliance commitment or something tantamount to it as in the case of Taiwan, we tie our credibility to that nation's fate. We should therefore be [cheery] about doings. In light of this, we should seek to expand our partnerships wherever possible. In particular, we should focus on increasing them in South and Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands, where China otherwise might have an open field to [subordances] and add them to its pro hegemonium coalition. 27:41 Elbridge Colby: I do not see a near term need to add any allies to the US roster. But I do think we will increasingly need to consider this as the shadow of Chinese power darkens over the region. 27:53 Elbridge Colby: Our effort to expand our network of allies and partners should really be focused on states with shared threat perceptions. It has become something of a common place that shared values form the bedrock of our alliances. It is true that such values help allies, but the most useful alliances generally proceed from shared fears. The best motivator to fight is self defense. The states that have a shared interest in preventing Chinese or Russian or Iranian hegemony selves have a natural alignment with our own. This is true whether or not they are democracies. 29:00 Elbridge Colby: In Asia, given the scale proposed by Beijing, we should concentrate most of our allies like Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Taiwan on readying to defend themselves alongside US Armed Forces and provide access to US forces in the event of a contingency. 29:16 Elbridge Colby: Meanwhile, we should assist partners like Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, with whatever means available to enable their defense against an ever more powerful China while concurrently seeking greater access and logistics support for US and other allied forces. 29:39 Elbridge Colby: Europe Finally, the overall us goal should be while preserving the fundamental us commitment to NATO's defense to have Europeans especially in northern and eastern Europe shoulder more of the burden of defending the Alliance from Russia assault. The reality is that given the stakes and consequences, the United States must prioritize Asia. United States must therefore economize in its second theater Europe. 35:13 Elbridge Colby: And move away from using these tools as leverage for key partners for domestic political reform or secondary geopolitical objectives. United States should always of course, stand proudly for free government that treats its people with dignity. We must keep our eye on the prize though China is the primary challenge to our interest in the world, including our government, both at home and abroad. Our top priority must therefore be to block its gaining predominance in Asia, which is a very real prospect. This means strengthening states in the region against Chinese power, whether or not they are model democracies. 35:15 Rep. Adam Smith (WA): When we should we just say, look, we're not going to worry about your domestic politics. We want to build the Alliance, however possible. How would we deal with extreme human rights abuses, as are alleged in the Philippines in terms of extra judicial killings, or in the case of India, and of course, we're dealing with this with Turkey and Europe as well, as you know, doing the arm sales with Russia, should we significantly back off on our sort of sanctions policy for those things? And if so, how do we signal that without without undermining our credibility? 40:55 Elbridge Colby: In a sense, what we're going to need to do to leverage this greater power of this network, you know, allies, partners, whatever their role is going to be interoperability, the ability to work to different standards to communicate with each other. That's partially a technical problem and an equipment problem, but a lot of it is human training and an organizational issue. And Taiwan, I think I'm very enthusiastic about the arms sales to Taiwan. And I know that one was recently reported, I hope it goes through because it's the kind of equipment that we want to see this kind of A2AD denial kind of capabilities to Taiwan, but actually, where I think would be really valuable to move forward with. And that's a sensitive issue, but I think this would be within the context of our trade policy would personally be on training, you know, and that's something we could think about with Vietnam as well. Obviously, the Indians have a very sophisticated military, but they're maybe we can offer there too. So I think that's a real sort of force multiplier. 42:00 Rep. Mac Thornberry (TX): Turkeys geography, history, critical role is always going to be important is certainly valid. And yet, not only are there human rights and governance issues, the current leader of Turkey has policies that contradict the, in many ways the best interests of the United States. So, take that specific example. We don't want to make enemies of Turkey forever. But yet, what do we do now? To to preserve that future when there's a different government, but yet make clear or in some way help guide them on a better policy path? 57:50 Christine Wormuth: We need to make adjustments to our posture in the region to be able to better deal with China. And so the announcement by Palau, for example, that it's willing to host US airfields and bases could be quite helpful to us. Even though they're relatively small. We do need to diversify our footprint. 1:24:52 Christine Wormuth: The challenge is that the many of the countries in the indo Pacific don't want to have to choose between the United States and China. They want to engage with China for very clear economic interests, while most of them lean towards the United States for security interests, and I think they're trying to sort of thread that needle. 1:32:07 Christine Wormuth: Turkey is a very challenging geostrategic problem. I was in the Obama administration when we were fighting ISIS, and we knew there was tension between the necessity to have partners on the ground and the Syrian Democratic Forces were what we had. We knew Turkey had issues with that. In my experience, however, the United States worked very hard and very closely with Turkey to try to assuage their concerns and nothing was ever enough for them. So we do have a challenge, they are very important in terms of where they are located, but the authoritarianism that Erdogan has turned to is concerning. So I think we have to keep the dialogue open and continue to try to keep turkey inside the fold, but at the same time, communicate that doing whatever they want is not acceptable. And the the S400 for example, is a key example of that. 1:34:07 Christine Wormuth: AFRICOM’s Zero Based review, I hope will shed light on which kinds of activities are helping us and helping our African partners. 1:35:36 Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges: The UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain all have extensive efforts going on in Africa. So this is an opportunity once again, where we can work with allies to achieve what our objectives are. 1:40:00 Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges: What for sure brings a lot of military capability air landed forces to the a lot and that if for some reason, you know that it would have to be filled by us or the state or other allied to then that's a problem right? Sorry. But more importantly is control the strokes that can help the blacks in the Mediterranean. And so having a NATO ally has control and sovereignty over the strait we have the mantra. Hearing: Stemming a Receding Tide: Human Rights and Democratic Values in Asia, Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Nonproliferation, September 22, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Derek Mitchell President of the National Democratic Institute Returned to NDI in September 2018 after leaving in 1997 2012-2016: Former US Ambassador to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (Burma) 2011-2012: U.S. Department of State’s first Special Representative and Policy Coordinator for Burma 2009-2011: Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Asian and Pacific Security Affairs (APSA) 2001-2009: Senior Fellow and Director of the Asia Division of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) 1997-2001: Special Assistant for Asian and Pacific Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense 1993-1997: Senior Program Officer for Asia and the former Soviet Union at the National Democratic Institute 1986-1988: Foreign policy assistant for Sen. Ted Kennedy Dr. Alyssa Ayres Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations Consultant for the Japan Bank for International Cooperation Senior Advisor for McLarty Associates A global consultant firm "at home in corporate board rooms & government cabinet rooms, anywhere in the world" Member of the United States Institute of Peace 2010-2013: Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asia 2008-2010: Founding director of the India and South Asia practice at McLarty Asssociates 2007-2008: Special Assistant to the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Daniel Twining President of the International Republican Institute since 2017 Picked by outgoing President, Sen. John McCain 2009-2016: Former director of the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund 2007-2009: GWB State Department Policy Planning staffer 2001-2004: Foreign Policy Advisor to Sen. John McCain Transcript: 16:12 Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges: Last year I introduced the bipartisan Cambodia democracy act which passed the House overwhelmingly, it would impose sanctions on those in Cambodia responsible for undermining democratic rule of law in the country. We must be especially cognizant of democracies in Asia in danger of backsliding into autocracy, with China's help with their alternative to Western democracies, and that is Chinese socialism with Chinese characteristics that is communism, regardless of how they paint it and try to rename it. 21:10 Derek Mitchell: For nearly four decades, my organization, the National Democratic Institute, working alongside our partners at the International Republican Institute, and the National Endowment for Democracy has assisted the spread and institutionalization of democracy around the world. Let me say at the start that we can only do this work thanks to the sustained bipartisan support of Congress, including from this subcommittee. So for that we are truly grateful. 21:50 Derek Mitchell: Today NDI maintains nearly a dozen offices in the Indo-Pacific region. And last week we just received clearance from the Taiwan government to open an office in Taipei, which we will do soon. 30:07 Dr. Alyssa Ayres: Sri Lanka after a five year period of improvement is now moving in the other direction with the return of the Rajapaksa government. The new political configuration will not pursue progress on reconciliation and accountability for the end of the Civil War, and the newly elected parliament is already hard at work, the constitutional amendment to expand presidential powers. 34:21 Daniel Twining: Beyond China the past year has seen countries once viewed as bright spots for democracy like Malaysia and Sri Lanka, regress due to political infighting, personality politics and failure to deliver promised reforms. 1:48:50 Dr. Alyssa Ayres: I do believe that the creation of the DFC is important. It is my understanding that it is not quite up and running 100%. So we have yet to really see what it can do as a potential alternate to these kinds of infrastructure under writings. The other piece of the DFC is that is it in part designed to help crowd in private sector engagement and private sector investments. So that's another part of the story. I think we may need more time before we're able to see how effective this mechanism can be. 1:49:22 Dr. Alyssa Ayres: I would note that we also had another very effective source of US government assistance that depends on, his premise on good governance indicators. And that's the Millennium Challenge Corporation. And I would just caution that in the South Asia region, we have now seen two examples in Nepal and in Sri Lanka, were the long process of engaging toward a Millennium Challenge compact agreement, large investments, about 500 million in each case towards transportation and power infrastructure. These have actually been held up in both of those countries because of political concerns. The Nepali government doesn't want to be part of the US-Indo Pacific strategy or feel that it is somehow being brought into the Indo-Pacific strategy. The Rajapaksa government is suspicious of the US MCC. So I would just offer those two examples of cases where we've got a terrific tool, but it's run into some challenges for political reasons and the countries of concern. 1:50:29 Daniel Twining: Thank you, Congressman, you've been such a leader, including with your Cambodia democracy act. And you know, that's a reminder that we do have the tools and, and leverage. The Europeans in Cambodia have suspended trading privileges that they had offered to Cambodia. Cambodia is very reliant on our GSP still. So some of these economic instruments matter in both a negative sense, but also in a positive sense. When countries do well, we should be working with them on new trade and financial arrangements, the Chinese do come in and do this in their own way. And we should get back to that as a country. Sir, you mentioned, do we withdraw support when a country backslides, on democracy? You know, I would argue that most of our support for country should not go directly to their governments, should go to independent civil society, free media, independent institutions and not just go into a central coffer that disappears. In the past, we've gotten a lot smarter about this as a country, but in the past, a lot of us development assistance disappeared because we were giving it to friendly autocracies in some cases, who did not have any means of accounting for it. So let's make sure that we invest in these democracy and governance instruments because we want to make sure that US taxpayer money is being used well. Hearing: U.S. ENGAGEMENT IN THE INDO-PACIFIC AND BEYOND, Committee on Foreign Relations, September 17, 2017 Watch on C-SPAN Read Transcript Witnesses: Julie Chung Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the State Department Philip T. Reeker 2019 to present: Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs 2017-2019: Civilian Deputy to the Commander of the US European Command 2014-2017:Principal Officer and Consul General at the US Consulate General in Milan, Italy 2011-2014: Deputy Assistant Secretary of State fo rEuropean and Eurasian Affairs 2008-2011: US Ambassador to Macedonia 2007-2008: Counselor of Public Affairs at the US Embassy in Iraq 2004-2007: Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Hungary 1999-2004: Spokesman for the US State Dept David R. Stilwell Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the State Department Transcript: 17:44 David R. Stilwell: For years, we in the international community credited Beijing's commitments that facilitating China's entry into the rules based international order would lead to increasing domestic reform and opening. Beijing's persistent flouting of these commitments has shattered those illusions. It is now clear to us and to more and more countries around the world that PRC foreign and security policy seeks to reshape the international environment around the narrow interests and authoritarian values of a single beneficiary. That is the Chinese Communist Party. 22:19 David R. Stilwell: We sincerely appreciate congressional leadership in establishing the new counter China influence fund in fiscal year 2020 Appropriations Bill. This very important provision provides the department with a flexible mechanism that will bolster our efforts to strengthen our partners resiliency to Chinese malign influence worldwide. The initial round of CCIF funding solicitation resulted in over 400 project submissions from around the globe, with demand far outstripping the appropriate funding. 29:57 Philip T. Reeker: By using platforms like the One Belt One Road initiative, the Chinese Communist Party endeavors to create dependencies and cultivate client state relationships through the 17 Plus One initiative which involves 12 countries that are both NATO and EU members primarily in Central and Eastern Europe, China aims to achieve access and ownership over valuable transportation hubs, critical infrastructure, ports and industries. 31:09 Philip T. Reeker: Using authorities granted by legislation members of this committee introduced, as mentioned the bipartisan Build Act and the European Energy Security and Diversification Act, we've been able to begin leveraging the New Development Finance Corporation to try to catalyze key investments in strategic projects. Most notable I'd point to Secretary Pompeo. His pledge at the Munich Security Conference earlier this year of $1 billion, a commitment to the Three Seas Initiative in the Czech Republic which Secretary Pompeo visited just last month, they have transformed from a target of Chinese influence to a leader in the European awakening. 33:29 Philip T. Reeker: Although China's GDP is about eight times the size of Russia's, Russia remains the primary military threat to Europe and the strategic priority for most of our allies and partners, particularly those in Central and Eastern Europe. Russia and China are more closely aligned strategically than at any point since the 1950s. And we see growing cooperation across a range of diplomatic, military, economic and information activities. 46:15 Julie Chung: In terms of [cepheus], and investment screening, we have extensive engagements in the region. We have been sending technical delegations to countries in the region to explain how public procurement processes and transparent processes work. We have helped governments build that capacity through the America Crece initiative. We have 10 mo use now signed with countries throughout the region. And that's part of the the tool to use in addressing the corruption issues that China is bringing to the region. How do we ensure the countries have the right tools in place, the practices in place, the procurement practices and regulatory framework to the private sector companies want to come and invest in those countries and ensure they have a level playing field to be working through the America Crece initiative. 47:17 Julie Chung: DFC has been a wonderful tool and resource that we've been able to now utilize more than ever, in from the former OPEX utilities, not expanding that broader base in Latin America and the Caribbean. So DFC in our region has already invested and has pledged to invest $12 billion in just the Western Hemisphere alone, and in Central America, $3 billion. So it's already invested in Central America, in El Salvador, for instance, on an LNG project, and other projects that are forthcoming. 1:17:16 Philip T. Reeker: Three Seas Initiative was developed by countries dozen countries in the Central and Eastern European region to provide alternatives particularly in a north-south direction for trade and infrastructure, and we have stepped in to support the Three Seas not as a member, but as an interested partner. And Secretary Pompeo outlined, as I mentioned, that the development Finance Corporation is offering up to a billion dollars in matching investment funds for opportunities throughout that region. 1:35:00 Julie Chung: Taiwan and the United States are working together in Latin America. So they announced financing to provide SME loan support for Latin American Central American region through the kabe. The Central American Bank of Government Integration. So that's one example of where we're providing that funding into the region. There's also a $26 million loan that DFCS provided to provide telecom towers in Peru and Ecuador 500 telecom towers, and this addresses both our strategic interest as well as a 5G telecommunications interest that where China is trying to take over and really control that that sector. 1:50:29 Julie Chung: In terms of DFC and working on digital authoritarianism, there's no better example in the region then in Maduro's regime, the authoritarian regime of Maduro and working in close concert with China, and China's ZTE has long had a relationship with the Maduro regime and providing the carnet de patria which spies on civil society and opposition leaders and determines how who gets what food allocations within that country. And so right now, of course, we are not engaging in DFC in Venezuela. But in a democratic future. When we have a democratic transition in that country. We would love to bring DFC into it and help rebuild. Hearing: THE HEALTH, ECONOMIC, AND POLITICAL CHALLENGES FACING LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN, Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security, and Trade, September 15, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Monica de Bolle, PhD Professor of Latin American Studies at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics Senior Advisor with International Capital Strategies (not listed on her hearing bio) Former professor of macroeconomics at the Pontifical Catholic Universtiy of Rio de Janeiro Managing partner of Galanto MBB Consultants, a macroeconomic consultancy firm based in Brazil Former economist at the International Monetary Fund Michael Camilleri Director of the Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program for Inter-American Dialogue Senior Advisor at WestExec Advisors since February 2018 (not listed on his hearing bio) The firm founded by the incoming Secretary of State, Antony Blinken Former Western Hemisphere adviser on Obama's Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff and Director for Andean Affairs at the National Security Council from 2012-2017 Former human rights specialist at the Organization of American States Former senior staff attorney at the Center for Justice and International Law Member of the Council on Foreign Relations Eric Farnsworth Vice President of the Council of the Americas since 2003 Former Managing Director of ManattJones Global Strategies, a consulting firm from 1998-2005 Former member of the global public policy division of Bristol-Meyers Squibb, a multinational pharmaceutical company Former Senior Policy Advisor to President Bill Clinton from 1995-1998 Former Foreign Affairs Officer at the State Department from 1990-1995 Former Services and Investment Industry Analyst at the Office of the US Trade Representatives in 1992 Transcript: 25:10 Rep. Francis Rooney (FL): US international development Finance Corporation will play a crucial role in investments in the region, which I believe can help the recovery and also as long term economic well being 2:08:13 Eric Farnsworth: Notably, Washington is taking actions to build a forward looking economic recovery agenda. Among them the Americas Crece, a program announced at the end of 2019 and enhanced financing facilities through the newly minted Development Finance Corporation. 2:09:21 Eric Farnsworth: Economic Recovery must be at the forefront of the pending summit of the Americas. Latin America already suffers from one of the lowest levels of intra regional trade worldwide, for example. The gains from expanded intra regional trade would establish sounder economic footing while helping to moderate the cyclical nature of commodities markets, as well. Nations across Latin America and the Caribbean can focus more attention on improving their respective investment climates. Mr. Rooney, the ranking minority member has made this case effectively many, many times. For its part, the United States should come to the 2021 summit with a robust economic expansion initiative. Absent a massive economic financial package of debt relief and new lending, renewal of a hemispheric trade and investment agenda will be the best way to promote regional recovery, support US and regional economic interests and renew a regional strategic posture that China has begun to challenge. 2:11:03 Julie Chung: So how does the United States continue to advocate democracy in Venezuela? I say sham of legislative election and the end of Guaido's mandate are rapidly approaching. How do we do that? Well, I don't if know if [inaudible] wanted this question. 2:13:03 Eric Farnsworth: There are huge amounts of illicit money being made and moved in Venezuela through illegal activities, illegal gold mining, drug trafficking and the like. And one of the best ways I think to get at the regime is to stanch the flow of those financial resources. And frankly, to identify and to freeze those funds and then also to begin to seize them and take them back at once the economic incentives for illegal behavior are removed or at least reduced, perhaps the political dynamic in Venezuela will change that people will begin to see that they really have to find a way out from this mess frankly, that Nicolas Maduro has created. 2:14:14 Monica de Bolle, PhD: It will be very hard to get other Latin American countries to focus on the issues in Venezuela given that they have runaway epidemics in their own countries. And we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that amongst the 10 countries that have the largest or the highest per capita death rate in the world right now are all in Latin America. 2:16:00 Michael Camilleri: Unfortunately, the Guaido interim government, the the National Assembly, the G4 are not in the same position they were in a year or your half ago, the balance of forces on the ground in Venezuela has tilted in favor of the Maduro regime. And so that will that will require us to calibrate our own efforts and invite view we need to be realistic about the fact that some sort of negotiated pathway to free and fair elections ultimately is the most realistic and the most peaceful, frankly, path out of the the awful situation that the country finds itself in. 2:23:21 Monica de Bolle, PhD: Apart from corruption, which is certainly a problem in the oil sector as well as in other parts of the Venezuelan economy, there's also been dramatic underinvestment in the oil industry, which has now led the country to this situation where, rather than being a very big net oil exporter, as they used to be in the 1980s in the 1990s, they've now become a net oil importer, which shows exactly how much you can squander your country's resources and just basically run an economy to the ground. 2:33:58 Eric Farnsworth: And what we're seeing is some concern in the investor community about actions that have been taken perhaps on the backtracking on the reform agenda around energy in particular, but in other sectors as well, canceling contracts that have been previously agreed, and some other actions like that and the investment community is very cautious. Hearing: PROTECTING DEMOCRACY DURING COVID–19 IN EUROPE AND EURASIA AND THE DEMOCRATIC AWAKENING IN BELARUS, Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, Energy, and the Environment, September 10, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Douglas Rutzen President and CEO of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law Professor at Georgetown University Law Center Advisory Board member of the United Nations Democracy Fund Therese Pearce Laanela Head of Electoral Processes at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance Joanna Rohozinska Resident Program Director for Europe at the Beacon Project at the International Republican Institute Senior program officer for Europe at the National Endowment for Democracy at least as of 2019. She has worked there for about a decade Jamie Fly Senior Fellow at the German Marshall Fund and Co-Director of the Alliance for Security Democracy Senior Advisor to WestExec Advisors Co-founded by incoming Secretary of State, Antony Blinken Former President and CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 2019 & 2020 Former counselor for foreign and national security affairs for Sen. Marco Rubio from 2013-2017 Former Executive Director of the Foreign Policy Initiative from 2009-2013 Former member of GWB's National Security Council from 2008-2009 Former member of GWB's Office of the Secretary of Defense from 2005-2008 Transcript: 53:30 Joanna Rohozinska: Lukshenko must be held responsible for his choices and actions. Word mating strategies with transatlantic allies should be priority and to call for dialogue, immediate release of political prisoners and support for the political opposition's demands for holding elections under international supervision and beginning negotiations on a Lukshenko transition. 53:56 Joanna Rohozinska: Support for democracy requires patience as well as long term commitment and vision. This has been made possible with the support of Congress to IRI and the family. Thank you and I look forward to your questions. 1:03:05 Therese Pearce Laanela: Institutions that are as strong...What we are seeing... those that are able to safeguard and against disinformation for example, they are working in innovative ways because this isn't a challenge that existed really as much before social media and one of the things that we're seeing is a kind of interagency cooperation, a partnership between private and public. That's really hasn't been seen before. Let me just take Australia as a case, but the working together with social media companies and government agencies and security agencies and election officials for rapid reaction to anything that comes in and that kind of seamless communication between agencies, that is one of the ways in which we can protect. 1:04:15 Jamie Fly: We have tools. Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty has a Bella Russian language service Radio Svoboda which has significant of followers inside Belarus. The problem is that Lukashenko like many other authoritarians have realized that when they face significant pressure, they should take the country offline. And Belarusian authorities have done that on a regular basis, which makes it much more difficult to communicate and allow information to spread freely. So what they really need outlets like Svoboda and other independent media are access to internet circumvention tools, which are also funded by the State Department and the US Agency for Global Media. 1:09:57 Douglas Rutzen: China is providing surveillance technology to countries including Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Serbia. They also provided a $2 billion dollar loan to Hungry to construct a railway which Hungry then classified as a state secret in terms of the construction. 1:19:28 Brian Fitzpatrick: In 2013, in 2000, and he saw large scale protests in Ukraine, following what many believed to be a falsification of elections by their federal officials. So my first question for the entire panel, do you believe that Belarus protests could lead to a revolution similar to the one we saw in Ukraine and secondarily, on Tuesday, President Lukashenko, refused to rule out the idea of holding new elections, and acknowledge that he may have overstayed his time at office, whether or not you see revolutions similar to Ukraine, do you think that these protests could lead to an actual change in leadership? Joanna Rohozinska: So I take it as a question to me. I mean, I think that things have been building up and I would say that with this similarity to Ukraine was that there was also a deep seated frustration with corruption. Here, it's less about corruption. But it's still meets, where you have the accountability and transparency aspect of it that I was mentioning in my testimony. And I think that the frustration with the lack of responsive government and being treated like animals, frankly, is what they say, is what finally boiled over, but there's been, there's been an uptick in protests in Belarus, if you watch these kinds of things over the past two years, over the parasite tax, for example, which was also was a special tax that was put on unemployment, and on to penalize people who are unemployed, is trying to target civic activists, but it ended up reaching far farther than that. So you can see things percolating below the surface for quite a long time. Now. You never know when it's going to blow. Here, I think that there was just the COVID, underlay everything and it mobilized such a broad swath of society, that the trigger event was finally the elections, which again, demonstrating a degree of hubris they decided not to put off right, they figured that holding the elections at the beginning of August was the best thing to do, because there is always a low torque turnout and all this, frankly, because people tend to go out to the countryside. So they simply miscalculated. They did not understand how the people were feeling
The New York Times reported Friday that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked fighters to kill American soldiers and other coalition forces in Afghanistan. The report asserts that US President Donald Trump was made aware of the intelligence finding in late March. Top of The World: Trump denies knowledge of Russian bounties in Afghanistan; pandemic death toll reaches half a million; attack in KarachiTrump denied that he had been made aware of the situation, saying the US intelligence community told him they didn't brief him on the allegations because US intelligence agents didn’t find the reports credible. Trump also referred to the story as "Possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax," and to The New York Times as "fake news." The World reached out to Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen, who denied the reports. "I refute this report. It is not true," Shaheen said. "It is only to create confusion and to derail the peace process." Russia also denied the allegation; the embassy tweeted that The Times had invented "fake stories" to blame Russians. David Petraeus, retired US Army general and former CIA chief, says he wasn't surprised by the reports of Russian bounties for coalition forces."We were looking for this kind of activity, frankly, from Russia also, by the way, from Iran and from some other countries in the region, other entities," Petraeus told The World. "We looked for any support that the Russians might be providing to not just the Taliban, but perhaps some of the other extremist insurgence organizations. But certainly, according to the various news sources that clearly have been briefed on this by folks inside the community, it appears that this certainly took place during 2019."Related: Trump escalates attacks on International Criminal Court over Afghanistan investigationPetraeus spoke with The World's Marco Werman about the report. Marco Werman: So, based on what you've read and heard so far, do you believe the reports of the Russian bounties are true?Gen. David Petraeus: The level of specificity, the confirmation level of various legitimate, respected news organizations all suggests that this did transpire. There's quite a bit of detail about the cache of money that was captured in a raid and then followed up with information during interrogations of individuals that were detained during those operations. And indeed, it appears, apparently, that there was at least one American soldier for whom this bounty was paid out. Keep in mind that we are many months after an agreement between the US and Taliban representatives back in February. Since then, reportedly, there have been no Taliban attacks on US positions. So, we're really looking back at something that took place rather than something that has been taking place recently. That doesn't mean that it is not absolutely outrageous, unacceptable, reprehensible. And clearly, again, if founded, if the degree of confidence is sufficient, clearly we should have conveyed to the Russians how outrageous and unacceptable this is.Related: Amb Lute on Afghanistan: The US is 'taking a very hard look at itself' Intelligence officials told the AP that President Trump was briefed on the bounty matter earlier this year. But Trump is now trying to swat those allegations aside, tweeting last night that the intelligence community told him he was not briefed about these allegations because intelligence officials did not find the reports credible. What do you make of that?Well, it's a back and forth. Who knows? And, you know, you can parse words and so forth. [It's] very difficult to know whether this is in the presidential daily briefing or in one of the actual sessions that was held with the National Security Council or with the president.Typically, Gen. Petraeus, how does this work? If intelligence of this sort is gathered in the field, how does it move up the chain of command? And at what point is it decided that it should reach the president's ear?There is a team that's literally working all the time on what will be in the next presidential daily briefing. They put it together overnight. It is eventually delivered from the CIA headquarters, where it's still put together, to the office of the director of national intelligence. The assessments are all locked down because this is from the entire community. And you could have signals intelligence, you could have other forms of intelligence, in addition to what it is that the CIA has gathered in the field.Related: What can the US learn from the conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan? If this is true and the Russians were offering bounties for the lives of US troops, how will Washington respond to this?One would hope that perhaps there already had been a response, but if not, then clearly there are various options that can be employed. Everything from a diplomatic outreach to them about how unacceptable this is, how reprehensible. And then on up the ladder, whether it's clandestine operations, covert action, and not just in Afghanistan, although certainly if this were discovered there, there should be some pretty substantial targeting against those who were engaged in it. But, of course, there are Russian forces operating in southeastern Ukraine. There are forces in Syria, there are proxies in various other places around the world where, if necessary, something further could be pursued.Related: After a deadly Syrian battle, evidence of Russian losses was obscuredIf there was already a response, what would it have been?Very difficult to speculate. One would think that there would be a denial, but perhaps also some kind of tacit, "Well, this never would have taken place, but, of course, had it taken place, that would be unacceptable. We understand that and it won't happen again." There is some speculation that this is a bit of a payback for what you may recall taking place a few years ago in northeastern Syria, where some Russian proxies, essentially the Wagner group — this is a security contract group with some Syrian forces — crossed in a very menacing formation with some very substantial weapons and so forth, armored vehicles, crossed into what was accepted as the Syrian Democratic Forces zone where the US was supporting them. And there were warnings given. When those forces did not turn around, the US hammered them with precision air attacks and so forth. Again, it's possible that this is some kind of payback for that, except that, again, that was a violation of what was understood to be respective spheres within Syria.Related: Is the US ready for the rising tide of mercenaries? General, what should US troops on the ground make of all this? What is the message it's sending to the boots on the ground?Clearly there's always a desire and a need to know that those above you, if you will, have your back. And that will be among the factors, I'm sure, as this is evaluated further and as additional actions are taken.This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
“The legacy of our civilization is a state based on a hierarchical system of control and specialization of labor, which leads to all of the modern problems we have. To create a different kind of society, that's free, where people have liberty and natural wealth, the emerging field of cryptography offers us power." -Amir Taaki With markets around the world plunging into a downward spiral, now is a great time to revisit the original reasons why people started working on Bitcoin. Amir Taaki was one of Bitcoin’s first-ever dedicated developers and perhaps the one most infamously focused on maintaining privacy and freedom from authority. In 2014, Taaki created Dark Wallet, the first privacy-focused Bitcoin wallet to include a CoinJoin mixer. That same year, he received even more notoriety as Dark Wallet was twice named in the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) report on the potential money-laundering and terrorist-financing risks posed by cryptocurrencies. In this episode, Dave Hollerith talks with Taaki, who after years spent working with the Syrian Democratic Forces fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and helping build their society, is now contributing to multiple cryptocurrency and privacy projects not yet revealed to the public. Taaki takes a critical, perhaps unwarranted, view on the Bitcoin movement of today, but he also has a valuable perspective on many of the topics covered. Topics: What Bitcoiners can learn from the Free Software movement How Bitcoin has changed between 2014 and today, and why Taaki believes the ecosystem needs to create a new narrative. The pros and cons of American startup culture on Bitcoin's development How Taaki' opposing views of Bitcoin led to conflict with Gavin Andresen, and later the creation of the BIP system. How Taaki believes the Bitcoin of today is not radical enough The limits of mesh networks at a large scale Why Bitcoin needs a stronger narrative to defend against co-option by larger corporate and state entities. What Bitcoiners can learn from Taaki's experience helping build an autonomous free society in Syria The narrative the Bitcoin ecosystem needs to adopt according to Taaki Nym, the Barcelona hacker academy and Taaki's other unpublicized projects The similarities and limits of comparing Bitcoin to religion. Resources: Unix philosophy Amir Taaki on Bitcoin and Building Dissident Technology in 2020 The Rojava movement Anarchy in Kurdistan Twitter: Amir Taaki (@Narodism) Dave (@dshollers) Bitcoin Magazine Sponsors: Etoro DISCLAIMER: The following content is for informational purposes only. You should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Nothing contained in this presentation constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by BTC Media, The Let’s Talk Bitcoin Network, or any third party service provider to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments.
After the Arab Spring, Kurdish forces took control of North-East Syria, known as Rojava – or western Kurdistan in the Kurdish language. They began implementing a radically democratic system of governance. Each locality is independent, while under a regional constitution guaranteeing wide ranging freedoms. Each sub community in a locality – women, ethnic groups, youth, etc – are asked to organise themselves, and are given an equal voice in the local organising meetings. If the decision is about a technical matter, experts are brought in for consultation by the community. These meetings are similar to the Peoples Assembly model used worldwide in many democratic movements. Local meetings then federate to form municipal and regional bodies to do larger tasks. Power is maintained at the level of the locality. The economy is being transformed into a Co-operative dominated system. We are joined in this interview by Ismet Tastan, who tells us much about how the system works and how the various elements fit together. The Syrian Democratic Forces (yes, the armed forces are democratically run) have been closely allied with the USA for years, and have been the only effective on the ground force opposing – and defeating – ISIS in the region. Unfortunately in late 2019, USA president Donald Trump pulled out the last USA troops, knowingly allowing Turkish president Raccip Erdogan, who has been at war with the Kurdish people for many years, to invade northern Syria. Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad and aly Vladimir Putin have regained control of the rest of north-east Syria. The fate of the people and the democratic system looks grim. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. To give attribution for this work, include the URL of this page. Any work based on this work must also be released under this license.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), America’s local partner in northeastern Syria, was instrumental in the fight against ISIS and is working to fill the vacuum it left behind. In this episode of Overwatch, ISW’s Research Director Jennifer Cafarella, new Middle East Portfolio Manager Nicholas Heras, and Syria Research Assistant John Dunford discuss the structure and behavior of the SDF, the group’s relationship with the US military, the unique challenges it faces in governing, and its efforts to prevent the resurgence of ISIS within local populations.
Our guest speaker and main presenter this podcast is Ed Nash, author of Desert Sniper. Ed took part in the fighting against the so-called Islamic State when he traveled to Syria to fight with the Syrian Democratic Forces, ending up as a precision rifleman in the campaigns of Hasakah, Shadaddi, and eventually Minbij where he ended his tour. He covers everything from the odd tactics in use with the YPG, types of precision rifles employed, and some of the bits of kit that helped him through the fighting. Our next speakers are Daniel Casingena and Analyst Mick from Twitter who both have significant small arms they came across in their research that they would like to share. As provided by Mick, Daniel came across an early SMLE rifle captured from the Taliban in Helmand province, Afghanistan, complete with volley sights and pre-World War One round-nosed ammunition still in the stripper clips. Mick then showed a counterfeit revolver that has both Smith & Wesson and Colt markings on it, yet has features of neither. Check out the published post when it goes live with accompanying photographs here- http://silahreport.com/2019/12/28/v16-sniper-rifles-and-tactics-against-is-in-syria-a-smle-lee-enfield-in-afghanistan-and-an-odd-revolver-in-iran Credits- Introduction audio is taken from the movie Son of a Lion, with permission of the director Benjamin Gilmour. The conversation takes place in the Kyber Pakhtunkwa (KPK) region of Pakistan and is between a customer examining a "Krinkov"-patterned rifle that is for sale. Music is traditional Arabic Dabkha by the name of اغاني دبكة تي رش رش Patreon Shoutout- If you want to support our work on researching small arms and light weapons in the MENA and Central Asian regions, please consider joining our Patreon support network that allows us to get articles, videos, and podcasts such as these to an international audience. Check us out here! www.patreon.com/SilahReport
Faye and Austin collect eyewitness accounts of the revolution in Rojava — the remote corner of northeastern Syria where Kurds and other peoples organized to defend themselves from ISIS, and constructed an experimental new society in the midst of the Syrian Civil War. Based on the political theory of Abdullah Ocalan, synthesizing socialism, feminism, and the writings of American anarchist Murray Bookchin, northeast Syria's Democratic Confederalist system has been an inspiration to socialists and anarchists the world over. Today the Rojavan Revolution is in a dire and uncertain position, betrayed by the Trump administration, caught between a genocidal invasion by Turkey from the north, and the authoritarian Syrian state to the south.To document what has transpired in the region, we've interviewed journalist Robert Evans who visited Rojava in August 2019, as well as Josh and Charlie, two members of the International Brigades of the Syrian Democratic Forces, who fought in the liberation of Raqqa from ISIS in 2016-2017. We hope that their first-hand perspectives can help shed light on the situation in the region, and inspire western socialists and anarchists to learn from Rojava and apply lessons from their revolution to their own activism and organizing.Guests:Robert EvansTwitter: @IwriteOKBehind the Bastards: https://www.behindthebastards.com/It Could Happen Here: https://www.itcouldhappenherepod.com/Worst Year Ever: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-worst-year-ever-49377032/Charlie & JoshTwitter: @SabCharlieSocialist Rifle AssociationWebsite: https://socialistra.org/Twitter: @SocialistRAInstagram: @SocialistRAFacebook: @SocialistRifleFaye's Twitter: @FayeEcklar
Please note that this event involved a translator, as a result there may be some background noise in parts of the recording where translation is taking place. This event will analyse current developments on the ground in Northern Syria with Ilham Ehmed, co-president of the Executive Council of the de-facto autonomous region of North and East Syria. Following the recent Turkish incursion and US withdrawal, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) have stated that they are ready to negotiate with Damascus. This event will take a look at a general overview of what led up to this decision, what the future holds for the Kurdish project in North and East Syria and how these negotiations will impact the future of Syria in all it's regions. Ilham Ehmed is a Syrian-Kurdish politician. Until July 2018, she was a co-chair of the SDC, the political wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. She is a senior member of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and a member of the executive committee of the Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM) coalition. Ahmed is an active member of the Syrian Women’s Initiative for Peace and Democracy (SWIPD), a network of civil society organizations from inside and outside of Syria. Robert Lowe is Deputy Director of the Middle East Centre. Join the conversation on Twitter using #LSEKurds
On October 9, Turkey launched an offensive into northeastern Syria dubbed Operation Spring Peace in which Turkey provided air and artillery support to thousands of Syrian rebels in an assault on an area governed by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). At the onset of the operation, Turkish president Erdogan stated “The main aim of the operation is to take out “PKK/YPG terror organizations from the area and to facilitate the return of Syrian refugees,". Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) are the main component of the Syrian Democratic Forces, but the Turkish government claims that the YPG is an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been in conflict with the Turkish State since 1984. Ankara launched its assault two days after a green light was given by Donald Trump in which he announced that the U.S. would withdraw its forces from the area. Scores were killed in this Turkish offensive, and more than 300,000 people were displaced before a US-brokered ceasefire went into effect, and a Russian-Turkish agreement was subsequently reached. This week, we bring you an in-depth conversation about the worsening situation in North Eastern Syria, the future of The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (also known as Rojava), and the role of regional and international players Guest: Dr Cengiz Gunes, faculty of Arts & Social Sciences at the Open University, and the author of three books including his forthcoming The Political Representation of Kurds in Turkey: New Actors and Modes of Participation in a Changing Society
Episode Notes Intro [The Fire Alarm Theme by Tenny Tsang]Welcome to the very first episode of the fire alarm from North by Northwestern. I am Roman Raies, and today we are discussing what President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw 1,000 U.S. troops from Northern Syria means for Syrians, the U.S. and everyone in the region. Since his 2016 campaign, ending the U.S. policy of being the “world’s police” and “bringing the troops home” have been hallmarks of Trump’s rhetoric. One of these regions where U.S. troops have been stationed is Syria. Troops were first sent there in 2015 to fight Islamist extremism alongside Kurdish allies in the Syrian Democratic Forces, who are considered to be one of the most effective forces against Islamist extremism to have ever existed. In December of 2018, Donald Trump ordered the withdrawal of 2,000 troops in Syria, declaring that the war against ISIS had already been won, ignoring advice from civilian and military advisors who warned that it could destabilize the region. October 13, of this year, Trump decided to withdraw nearly all of the remaining 1,000 U.S. troops stationed Northern Syria, a move which once again drew widespread criticism from Republicans, Democrats and our Kurdish allies, who called it a betrayal. In anticipation of this move, the Syrian Democratic Forces formed an uneasy alliance with the Syrian Dictator, Bashar Al Assad.Since then, Turkey ,which opposes the SDF’s attempt to establish a Kurdish led, self governing region, has begun a vicious bombing and ground troop campaign in parts of Northeastern syria controlled by the SDF, plunging the area into chaos. Tens of thousands of residents are fleeing south, several major towns and hospitals have been abandoned, and without U.S. forces there to aid Kurdish allies, ISIS militants have broken out of Kurdish-run prisons. I interviewed Northwestern professor of Political Science and Expert of Syrian studies Wendy Pearlman to discuss what led us to this situation. Pearlman: Now, if the Turks, the Turkish forces went into northeast Syria and there was only the Kurdish forces because the U.S. forces are no longer there, and the Assad forces and the Russian forces were no longer there, then I think the Kurdish forces would be at tremendous vulnerability before the invading Turkish forces. I think it's because, precisely because of that, that the Syrian Democratic Forces reached out to make a new alliance with the Assad regime. Now, the Assad regime, itself, they're war criminals that carried out tremendous violence, it's a dictatorship that has committed all sorts of crimes against humanity. And there's a long-standing conflict between the Kurds, and the Assad regime. So this is an alliance of convenience. Many are saying it's a military alliance, rather than a political alliance, there's still major differences in the Kurdish right hopes and aspirations and the Assad regime’s interest and Russia's interests, but you have different players, all of which want different things. And their interests overlap in some respects, and are in contrast at other respects. And it's a shifting situation in which different parties are going to try to advance their own interests as much as possible. And if there comes to be at some juncture, a confluence of interest between two parties, they pursue that, and for that the Kurds that see their options are violence from the Turks and making agreement with the Assad regime that they hate, they've chose the Assad regime and Russia which will then take advantage of that opportunity for the Assad regime to re-conquer this territory in northeast Syria, which had effectively slipped from its control for several years. Russia is taking advantage of the opportunity to reassert itself as the dealmaker, as the most important superpower in the Middle East, now that the United States is showing less and less interest in being an active party. So different parties are showing their interest. The Turks want the Kurds, far from the border, the Assad regime wants to retake territory. The Russians, Russia wants to support the Assad regime, and also become a real player and the Kurds don't want to be slaughtered. And that's what we have seen, essentially, unfold in the latest agreements that are being made.Raies: Right, and, if I'm not mistaken, the conflict started mostly after 2011 after the Arab Spring. Pearlman: Yeah. Yeah, that's the context, so you know the Arab Spring begins with a protest in Tunisia and then Egypt and spread to other countries, and there was also a popular uprising in Syria, of Syrians going out into the streets and calling for Democratic change calling for freedom, calling for an end to corruption – calling basically for reform, not even the overthrow of the Assad regime but wanting greater freedoms, and the Assad regime responded to those peaceful protests with tremendous violence. Protests remained peaceful for many months. Eventually the opposition also took up arms against the onslaught of this of this state, wanting to crush it. Other non-state and state actors became involved in the very chaotic situation. And in the context of this you had Al-Qaeda, created a presence, ISIS emerged as its own group and Kurdish groups also formed militias and armed and became players in this fragmented situation with many different players. So, this is all the evolution of a violence-complicated situation since 2011.Raies: And what is the characteristic of Assad's regime, does he try to keep his people's opinion in favor of him? Is it common for Syrian civilians to be pro-Assad? Or what I'm saying is, does anyone view the opposition as the problem.Pearlman: Yeah, it's split. It's a complicated war in which you have many Syrians who went out into the streets wanting, as I said before, calling for reform – they weren't even calling for the overthrow of the regime. They were just, it was a security state in which the government can basically arrest anybody they wanted on no cause, there was an enormous problem of, there were, you know, 10s of thousands disappeared and tortured and political imprisonment. There was rampant corruption nothing going to get done unless you pay bribes and you had enough people went out into the streets, just as they did in Tunisia and Egypt and said, ‘We want a better, freer, society. We want rule of law. We want accountability.’ And, and you had a regime that responded basically saying it would make no real concessions, no real power sharing, and it would use force to stamp out that movement. Now, so there were great numbers that wanted change. At the same time, there were always some loyalists who stuck with the regime, and some because they benefited from that status quo. One. Two, there were some who are afraid that should the regime collapse, the alternative would be even worse. The regime, always for decades has presented itself as a protector of religious minorities. So the, the majority in Syria is Sunni Arab Muslim, but there are other religious and ethnic minorities, and because the Assad family is itself from a religious minority, it has often tried to portray itself as a protector of other religious minorities, like itself, and has used real techniques of fear mongering essentially to communicate to the public that should this Sunni Arab majority come to power, it might institute Islamic law and be extremists and they're funded by Saudis and they want to ruin Syria's secular, national way of life. So for that reason, especially many religious minorities stuck with the regime, although they all know also noticed, were convinced the regime was corrupt and repressive, they were afraid that the alternative, should the region collapse, would be even worse, and the regime worked very deliberately to build that fear. So you have some people who support the regime because they're part of the regime. Others, out of fear, uncertainty. Also a portion of the population simply sort of put their head down, they're not with one side or the other. They're simply afraid and they want to get by. And they don't want to be caught on the losing side and be punished for it, because the opposition's paid an enormous price of over half a million dead, of 12 million people displaced, tens of thousands disappeared. You know there were people who didn't want to get caught on the wrong side and pay a price for themselves and their family. So yes, there are some who still remain in favor of the regime, and there are others who are against it. And there's a whole lot in the middle that are just hoping for life to go back to.Raies: Right. But I've read that although the Syrian Democratic Forces have also committed some human rights abuses. I've read that the Syrian Kurds and the Kurdish-controlled, or partially controlled regions I guess it's not they're not recognized by Assad, but I've read, they also portrayed themselves as defenders of religious liberty, so is that characterization self characterization accurate?Pearlman: There have been abuses on all sides, so there have been ethnically or religious – so there are some who have accused some of the Kurdish forces to have forced Arabs from their homes and things of that sort. So there are accusations and there are abuses by every single party in this conflict. There is for sure, no bigger human rights violation in the Assad regime, right, that is that is definitive. It has killed and it has tortured the most, and it is it is the party responsible for the most deaths, both the Assad regime and its international backers, like the Russian Air Force that's been involved in destroying cities and so forth.Raies: Okay, I'm gonna move to ask about Tulsi Gabbard who made a pretty interesting stance at the last Democratic debate by [insinuating] that the conflict is really rooted in U.S. efforts for regime change and if the U.S. simply stays out, then this, the violence we're seeing today, would not be occurring. Is there any legitimacy to that claim?Pearlman: Zero. I mean, I was stunned when I heard her words, it, it sounded like 100% Assad regime propaganda or Russian propaganda. To me, this is not any sort of regime change operation, what you had was a genuine grassroots popular uprising of Syrian citizens who wanted better lives. The United States did not start that uprising. Not only did it not start it, it did not help it or defend it in any real way. I would say the problem was not that the U.S. intervened too much to overthrow Assad. If anything, my own view is that the U.S. intervened too little as we basically sat back and watched the Assad regime slaughter people with chemical weapons, with barrel bombs, with every imaginable weapon. And we did too little to defend defenseless civilians against the full weapons in the arsenal of an army. There's nothing that civilians can do to protect themselves from bombs from above, they're being bombed by airplanes and helicopters. We watched it. We know it. We've watched it day by day for over eight years and have done basically nothing. So, to say that the U.S. has led a regime change operation in Syria for me is, is completely the opposite of reality.Conclusion: Since I interviewed Professor Pearlman, not much has been done to help defend our longtime allies, the Kurds. However, U.S. troops have increased their presence in Eastern Syria’s oil-rich region to “prevent the oil fields from falling back into the hands of ISIS or other destabilizing actors,” according to a U.S. Defense official interviewed by the Washington Post.Thank you for listening, this is the Fire Alarm from North by Northwestern Audio. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.
Mit dem Abzug von US Truppen gab Donald Trump den Weg frei für einen völkerrechtswidrigen Angriffskrieg der türkischen Streitkräfte gegen das überwiegend von KurdInnen besiedelte Gebiet Rojava/Nordsyrien. Es droht eine humanitäre Katastrophe - wenn nicht ethnische Säuberung und Völkermord - und die Befreiung von tausenden von jihadistischen Kämpfer des sogenannten Islamischen Staates. Unter dem Namen "Operation Friedensquelle" beabsichtigt Präsident Recep Tayyip Erdogan offen, eine koloniale Besatzung zu errichten - wie schon letztes Jahr im nordsyrischen Kanton Afrin. Aus der Türkei sollen Millionen von syrischen Flüchtlingen dorthin umgesiedelt werden. Damit wird das kurdische Rojava massiv "arabisiert" - ein demographischer Eingriff der von der Genfer Konvention explizit verboten ist. Die kurdisch geführten Demokratischen Kräfte Syriens (engl. Syrian Democratic Forces, SDF) haben mit großen Verlusten Nordsyrien von der IS-Terrorherrschaft befreit. Rojava wurde ein Versuch basisdemokratischer Selbstverwaltung, wo insbesondere die Rechte von Frauen und von ethnischen Minderheiten explizit hochgehalten wurden - ein Lichtblick inmitten der Grausamkeiten des andauernden syrischen Bürgerkriegs. Ohne Flugverbotszone, und mit wenig Waffen gegen türkischen Panzer und Flugzeugen, sind die Aussichten der SDF gegen die Übermacht der türkischen Streitkräften düster. Heute bei uns zu Gast sind Kerem Schamberger und Rosa Burç, um den Ernst der Lage zu besprechen. Was können wir aus Rojava lernen? Und was können, was sollten wir tun?
In March 2019, Islamic State officially lost its caliphate. The last remaining sliver of territory under its control was overtaken by Coalition forces, and US President Donald Trump declared the militant group “100% defeated”. Yet Islamic State remains defiant. Its reclusive leader has made two public pronouncements encouraging his followers since the fall of the caliphate. It retains affiliate networks around the world, and in the wake of its defeat, it committed one of the largest terrorist attacks ever – the Easter Bombings in Colombo, Sri Lanka. But what does Islamic State mean without its caliphate, and in what ways does the organisation still pose a global threat? How are we to deal with the thousands of supporters, mostly women, who remain held with their children in camps run by Syrian Democratic Forces? How has Islamic State managed to maintain its presence in Asia while it has lost its caliphate? Has Asia become a new growth area for the group after its decline in the Middle East? Daniel Flitton, the Managing Editor of the Lowy Institute's digital magazine, The Interpreter, discussed these questions and more with Lowy Institute Research Fellow Lydia Khalil, following her latest analysis on the future of Islamic State.
Hanim Tosun feels at home at the Istanbul office of the Human Rights Association, also known as the IHD, its acronym in Turkish. It was here that she and a group of Kurdish women launched the first Saturday Mothers vigil 24 years ago.The Saturday Mothers is one of the longest-running peaceful protest movements in the world. On Saturdays since 1995, the women would gather in Istanbul's Galatasaray Square, a popular pedestrian shopping area, to demand the whereabouts of their sons, fathers and husbands who disappeared after Turkey's 1980 military coup. Their protest was inspired in part by the Argentine women in white who demanded to know the fates of loved ones who disappeared during their country's dictatorship.Today, Turkey's Saturday Mothers continue to meet in Istanbul — at the IHD office. And while many of the founding protesters are growing frail, their daughters are taking the reins. Some men have joined the movement, as well.Hanim Tosun's husband, Fehmi Tosun, was among hundreds of Kurds who disappeared in the '80s and '90s, when Turkey's conflict with its minority Kurdish population was at its height. Anyone who sympathized with Kurdish separatists could be targeted. Related: Biden said ISIS is ‘going to come here.' Is he right?In the wake of another war Turkey is now waging against the Kurdish region of Syria, many Kurds fear that more of their loved ones will be kidnapped by militias and authoritarian regimes.US troops are crossing into Iraq as part of a broader withdrawal from Syria ordered by President Donald Trump, a decision that allowed Turkey to launch an offensive against the Syrian Democratic Forces, which for years was a US ally battling ISIS. (SDF is a leftist Syrian Kurdish militia considered terrorists by Turkey.)Turkey agreed to pause its offensive for five days under a deal with Washington. The truce expires late on Tuesday, just after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to discuss next steps in the region at a meeting in Russia with President Vladimir Putin.‘They're going to catch me. They're going to kill me.'The last time Hanim Tosun saw Fehmi Tosun was October 1995. She was upstairs in their Istanbul apartment when the yelling started. It was around 7 p.m., and a group of men were taking him away.“He was shouting a lot. He tried not to get in the [men's] car, but they forced him to get in the car ... they were dragging him in. While I was trying to go downstairs, I yelled, ‘Get that car's license plate,'” she said. Her daughter, Jiyan Tosun, who was 9 years old at the time, heard her father scream. “[He shouted,] ‘They're going to catch me. They're going to kill me,'” Jiyan Tosun said. “I ran downstairs. My brother ran up to the car, but my father told him to let go because they might do the same to him.”Related: Does the chaos in Syria help ISIS?They never heard from Fehmi Tosun again.“We didn't understand that it was undercover policemen at first.”Hanim Tosun, Saturday Mothers“We didn't understand that it was undercover policemen at first,” who took her husband away, Hanim Tosun said.Fehmi Tosun is among at least 1,300 Kurds who have disappeared in Turkey's conflict with its minority Kurdish population since 1935, according to Maside Ocak, a researcher with Turkey's Human Rights Association. Only 200 bodies of Kurds who've been killed have been identified, she said.Her own brother, Hasan Ocak, is among the dead — his body was identified by a Turkish soldier — while a local journalist found bones from two teenage Kurdish boys in a cave in 2016.At 53, Hanim Tosun is one of the youngest of the Saturday Mothers. Many of them are in their 80s and 90s now, and some have died without getting answers. The Turkish government banned them from meeting for 10 years, from 1999 to 2009.Related: Syrian civilians plea for 'no-fly' zoneIn recent years, Turkey has been cracking down on dissent by women. In March, police tear-gassed and stopped the International Women's Day protest in Istanbul after 17 years of allowing it.Successive Turkish governments have targeted and harassed the Saturday Mothers. But the current government, led by the AK Party, generally left them alone.Until August 2018. On the 700th vigil, police swooped in with tear gas. They arrested dozens of protesters, including one of the pioneering Saturday Mothers, 83-year-old Emine Ocak, who is Maside Ocak's mother. An image of Emine Ocak in 1997 alongside a photo of her last year being detained by police went viral on Turkish social media. Video of Turkey: Clashes erupt as Saturday Mothers protest for missing Since then, the government has banned the Saturday Mothers from gathering at Galatasaray.“The world heard about our struggle from Galatasaray. We want to return there. It's like a sacred ground, for us.”Hanim Tosun, Saturday Mothers“The world heard about our struggle from Galatasaray. We want to return there. It's like a sacred ground, for us,” Hanim Tosun said.Turkish officials say they blocked the vigils because the Kurdish militia group, the PKK, was using them as propaganda on social media. The Saturday Mothers say they have no connection to the PKK.Amnesty International is advocating for the government to allow the group back to the square.“It's a place of historic importance. It's a place of peaceful protest, not just for the Saturday Mothers actually, but sit-ins [and] small-scale protests over the years have taken place there,” said Milena Buyum, a campaigner for Amnesty. “Now, it's encircled by iron barriers, and there's a permanent police presence there discouraging and stopping anybody else. And this is a really big problem. The public space is being banned for people.”Keeping the protest aliveFor now, the Saturday Mothers have moved their sit-in to the human rights office.Jiyan Tosun is 34 now, and when her mom can't make it to the Saturday sit-in, she often steps in. She's studying to become a lawyer, she said, because she wants to fight in court, as well as the street.“Until the disappeared are found and the perpetrators are tried, our demands will remain the same. This has been my mother's struggle since we were kids.”Jiyan Tosun, Saturday Mothers“Until the disappeared are found and the perpetrators are tried, our demands will remain the same," she said. "This has been my mother's struggle since we were kids. Every week, my mother was going to the demonstration on Saturday … If we didn't go with her, we were waiting in front of the TV, to see how much she would be beaten that week,” said Jiyan Tosun.At one Saturday protest earlier this year, Jiyan Tosun was stationed in front of the human rights office. About 150 people gathered for the vigil, carrying red carnations and photos. Nearby, about a dozen police officers in riot gear stood on alert.“I'm angry because the reason we're here is the government … They are just standing in front of us and actually preventing us from finding our relatives,” she said. Fariba Nawa/The World Credit: Saturday Mothers meets every Saturday to demand the whereabouts of their missing husbands, fathers and sons. But Hanim Tosun says she doesn't go as often as she used to.Related: For many US military vets, the offensive against the Kurds is personalShe said it's painful to keep retelling her husband's story. “When I was getting arrested, there was a lot of violence: kicking, slapping, tear gas, batons. But in jail, they didn't touch us. One time, they put us in solitary confinement,” said Hanim Tosun, who has been arrested numerous times over the years.And she doesn't like to discuss the details in front of her kids.“The hardest thing for me has been hiding the pain from my kids and enduring it in silence when I'm with them.”Hanim Tosun, Saturday Mothers“The hardest thing for me has been hiding the pain from my kids and enduring it in silence when I'm with them,” Hanim Tosun said.But she said that despite the pain, she will continue her activism. It's still important for the world to hear them, so more people don't disappear like her husband did.She and the Saturday Mothers have gotten recognition and support for their struggle. The Irish band U2 recognized Fehmi Tosun in their 1997 album, “Pop,” and the Tosun family met the band members after an Istanbul concert in 2010.“Our government doesn't hear our voice. Somewhere far away, they hear us," Hanim Tosun said. "Our struggle is not in vain. I'm happy to see that."Reuters contributed to this story.
On today's episode, we take a deep dive into the ongoing Turkey/Syria conflict and what the United States' involvement has been. Additionally, we talk on the upcoming NBA season to include fantasy basketball.
Hanim Tosun feels at home at the Istanbul office of the Human Rights Association, also known as the IHD, its acronym in Turkish. It was here that she and a group of Kurdish women launched the first Saturday Mothers vigil 24 years ago.The Saturday Mothers is one of the longest-running peaceful protest movements in the world. On Saturdays since 1995, the women would gather in Istanbul's Galatasaray Square, a popular pedestrian shopping area, to demand the whereabouts of their sons, fathers and husbands who disappeared after Turkey's 1980 military coup. Their protest was inspired in part by the Argentine women in white who demanded to know the fates of loved ones who disappeared during their country's dictatorship.Today, Turkey's Saturday Mothers continue to meet in Istanbul — at the IHD office. And while many of the founding protesters are growing frail, their daughters are taking the reins. Some men have joined the movement, as well.Hanim Tosun’s husband, Fehmi Tosun, was among hundreds of Kurds who disappeared in the ’80s and ’90s, when Turkey’s conflict with its minority Kurdish population was at its height. Anyone who sympathized with Kurdish separatists could be targeted. Related: Biden said ISIS is ‘going to come here.’ Is he right?In the wake of another war Turkey is now waging against the Kurdish region of Syria, many Kurds fear that more of their loved ones will be kidnapped by militias and authoritarian regimes.US troops are crossing into Iraq as part of a broader withdrawal from Syria ordered by President Donald Trump, a decision that allowed Turkey to launch an offensive against the Syrian Democratic Forces, which for years was a US ally battling ISIS. (SDF is a leftist Syrian Kurdish militia considered terrorists by Turkey.)Turkey agreed to pause its offensive for five days under a deal with Washington. The truce expires late on Tuesday, just after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to discuss next steps in the region at a meeting in Russia with President Vladimir Putin.‘They’re going to catch me. They’re going to kill me.’The last time Hanim Tosun saw Fehmi Tosun was October 1995. She was upstairs in their Istanbul apartment when the yelling started. It was around 7 p.m., and a group of men were taking him away.“He was shouting a lot. He tried not to get in the [men’s] car, but they forced him to get in the car ... they were dragging him in. While I was trying to go downstairs, I yelled, ‘Get that car's license plate,’” she said. Her daughter, Jiyan Tosun, who was 9 years old at the time, heard her father scream. “[He shouted,] ‘They’re going to catch me. They’re going to kill me,’” Jiyan Tosun said. “I ran downstairs. My brother ran up to the car, but my father told him to let go because they might do the same to him.”Related: Does the chaos in Syria help ISIS?They never heard from Fehmi Tosun again.“We didn't understand that it was undercover policemen at first.”Hanim Tosun, Saturday Mothers“We didn't understand that it was undercover policemen at first,” who took her husband away, Hanim Tosun said.Fehmi Tosun is among at least 1,300 Kurds who have disappeared in Turkey’s conflict with its minority Kurdish population since 1935, according to Maside Ocak, a researcher with Turkey's Human Rights Association. Only 200 bodies of Kurds who've been killed have been identified, she said.Her own brother, Hasan Ocak, is among the dead — his body was identified by a Turkish soldier — while a local journalist found bones from two teenage Kurdish boys in a cave in 2016.At 53, Hanim Tosun is one of the youngest of the Saturday Mothers. Many of them are in their 80s and 90s now, and some have died without getting answers. The Turkish government banned them from meeting for 10 years, from 1999 to 2009.Related: Syrian civilians plea for 'no-fly' zoneIn recent years, Turkey has been cracking down on dissent by women. In March, police tear-gassed and stopped the International Women’s Day protest in Istanbul after 17 years of allowing it.Successive Turkish governments have targeted and harassed the Saturday Mothers. But the current government, led by the AK Party, generally left them alone.Until August 2018. On the 700th vigil, police swooped in with tear gas. They arrested dozens of protesters, including one of the pioneering Saturday Mothers, 83-year-old Emine Ocak, who is Maside Ocak’s mother. An image of Emine Ocak in 1997 alongside a photo of her last year being detained by police went viral on Turkish social media. Video of Turkey: Clashes erupt as Saturday Mothers protest for missing Since then, the government has banned the Saturday Mothers from gathering at Galatasaray.“The world heard about our struggle from Galatasaray. We want to return there. It’s like a sacred ground, for us.”Hanim Tosun, Saturday Mothers“The world heard about our struggle from Galatasaray. We want to return there. It’s like a sacred ground, for us,” Hanim Tosun said.Turkish officials say they blocked the vigils because the Kurdish militia group, the PKK, was using them as propaganda on social media. The Saturday Mothers say they have no connection to the PKK.Amnesty International is advocating for the government to allow the group back to the square.“It’s a place of historic importance. It’s a place of peaceful protest, not just for the Saturday Mothers actually, but sit-ins [and] small-scale protests over the years have taken place there,” said Milena Buyum, a campaigner for Amnesty. “Now, it’s encircled by iron barriers, and there’s a permanent police presence there discouraging and stopping anybody else. And this is a really big problem. The public space is being banned for people.”Keeping the protest aliveFor now, the Saturday Mothers have moved their sit-in to the human rights office.Jiyan Tosun is 34 now, and when her mom can’t make it to the Saturday sit-in, she often steps in. She’s studying to become a lawyer, she said, because she wants to fight in court, as well as the street.“Until the disappeared are found and the perpetrators are tried, our demands will remain the same. This has been my mother’s struggle since we were kids.”Jiyan Tosun, Saturday Mothers“Until the disappeared are found and the perpetrators are tried, our demands will remain the same," she said. "This has been my mother’s struggle since we were kids. Every week, my mother was going to the demonstration on Saturday … If we didn’t go with her, we were waiting in front of the TV, to see how much she would be beaten that week,” said Jiyan Tosun.At one Saturday protest earlier this year, Jiyan Tosun was stationed in front of the human rights office. About 150 people gathered for the vigil, carrying red carnations and photos. Nearby, about a dozen police officers in riot gear stood on alert.“I’m angry because the reason we’re here is the government … They are just standing in front of us and actually preventing us from finding our relatives,” she said. Fariba Nawa/The World Credit: Saturday Mothers meets every Saturday to demand the whereabouts of their missing husbands, fathers and sons. But Hanim Tosun says she doesn’t go as often as she used to.Related: For many US military vets, the offensive against the Kurds is personalShe said it’s painful to keep retelling her husband’s story. “When I was getting arrested, there was a lot of violence: kicking, slapping, tear gas, batons. But in jail, they didn’t touch us. One time, they put us in solitary confinement,” said Hanim Tosun, who has been arrested numerous times over the years.And she doesn’t like to discuss the details in front of her kids.“The hardest thing for me has been hiding the pain from my kids and enduring it in silence when I’m with them.”Hanim Tosun, Saturday Mothers“The hardest thing for me has been hiding the pain from my kids and enduring it in silence when I’m with them,” Hanim Tosun said.But she said that despite the pain, she will continue her activism. It’s still important for the world to hear them, so more people don’t disappear like her husband did.She and the Saturday Mothers have gotten recognition and support for their struggle. The Irish band U2 recognized Fehmi Tosun in their 1997 album, “Pop,” and the Tosun family met the band members after an Istanbul concert in 2010.“Our government doesn’t hear our voice. Somewhere far away, they hear us," Hanim Tosun said. "Our struggle is not in vain. I’m happy to see that."Reuters contributed to this story.
In Episode 105 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Jake Hanrahan about the crisis unfolding in the border region between Syria and Turkey following the US withdrawal of forces from northern Syria. This withdrawal precipitated the subsequent assault by Turkish Armed Forces on the Kurdish YPG-controlled region of Rojava. Jake Hanrahan is an independent journalist and documentary filmmaker based in the UK. He has reported from Syria, Iraq, southeast Turkey, and other conflict zones for HBO, Vice News, PBS Newshour, and BBC News, to name a few. Turkish President Erdogan, after obtaining the consent of President Trump, began his invasion into the Kurdish YPG controlled region of Syria known as Rojava this past Wednesday. During Sunday’s “Face the Nation,” Secretary of Defense Mark Esper confirmed to Margaret Brennan that roughly 1,000 U.S. troops would be evacuated from northern Syria following Trump’s troop withdrawal announcement. There are also multiple reports of ISIS families and fighters previously captured and held by Kurdish forces starting to escape after Tukey’s bombardments. Also, Lebanese broadcaster al-Mayadeen reported Sunday that the Syrian army would enter Manbij and Kobani in the next 48 hours, based on an agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces (the latter, according to Mohammed Shaheen, the deputy chairman of Euphrates region told North-Press). It seems that what we are seeing transpire in the Middle East is the disintegration of artificially constructed national borders around sectarian lines. The forces being unleashed have thus far remain contained within the Greater Middle East, but Turkey’s involvement creates the further potential for spillover into the Balkans and southern Europe at some indeterminate future date. Additionally, Turkey has been flexing its geopolitical muscles where Greece is concerned in recent years, and it is no longer inconceivable to imagine that its troubled relationship to the EU and its membership in NATO will prove insufficient as deterrents for curbing Turkish military aggression or the expansionary ideas of Erdoğan in the Aegean. This conversation is meant to help Hidden Forces listeners develop some context for what has transpired over the past week, the significance of Trump’s decision, and the implications moving forward. Hidden Forces is listener funded. We rely on you to help us keep the program free of corporate advertising. You can help us do that by subscribing to one of our three content tiers through the Hidden Forces Patreon Page. All subscribers also gain access to our overtime feed, which can be easily be added to your favorite podcast application. Your support is deeply appreciated. Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou Subscribe & Support the Podcast at http://patreon.com/hiddenforces Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @hiddenforcespod
Two business associates of Rudy Giuliani are under arrest. They were reportedly taken into custody for conspiracy and campaign finance violations, and an unnamed congressman is also referenced in the federal indictment. The case is said to be linked to US President Donald Trump's efforts to get Ukraine to open an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden. Giuliani is Trump's personal lawyer, as well as the former mayor of New York City. What are the connections, and will this amount to anything?Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey's air and ground offensive in Syria has killed over 100 "terrorists." The advance of Turkish forces into northeastern Syria is now in its second day. It's unclear whether those killed in the operation were fighting with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The Turkish invasion began Wednesday after President Trump pulled US troops back from the area, clearing the way for Turkish forces, a move that drew condemnation from both parties as an abandonment of US allies. The UN Security Council will meet Thursday in an emergency session to discuss Turkey's military actions against the Kurds in northern Syria. Thousands have already fled in the face of ground and air attacks.Shopping malls in Hong Kong are closing early Thursday in anticipation of protests. For the past four months, pro-democracy demonstrators have been staging protests in a variety of areas. During these demonstrations, shops have been vandalized, and protesters have used malls as locations for sit-ins. As a result, Hong Kong, one of the world's top shopping cities, is seeing a decline in revenue, and the Asian financial hub is looking at its first recession in 10 years. The day after dozens of groups from around Washington State gathered at Tacoma City Hall to launch a new campaign calling on the Tacoma City Council to shut down the infamous Northwest Detention Center (NWDC aka Northwest ICE Processing Center), new reports from people detained there describe a new low for the GEO Group, the company that operates the center: a screw was found in the food during lunch. A relative of a person detained was able to take screenshots of the incident during a video call. La Resistencia, a grassroots group that supports the leadership of those detained at NWDC and calls for an end to detention and deportations in Washington state, received the pictures and report from the relative earlier Thursday. During Wednesday's campaign launch, La Resistencia presented a letter from people detained to the Tacoma City Council detailing the conditions, which included finding of blood on a plate and multiple instances of finding hair and maggots in the food. The letter is signed by nearly 40 people who are detained at the facility who have witnessed or experienced these incidents themselves. They explained that a complaint hadn't been filed because they didn't know whether they were allowed to do so, and because many times guards have ignored their complaints. The letter ends with a report that kitchen workers saw rats in the kitchen.GUESTS:Lee Stranahan — Co-host of Fault Lines on Sputnik News Radio. Daniel Lazare — Journalist and author of three books: "The Frozen Republic," "The Velvet Coup" and "America's Undeclared War." Dr. Gerald Horne — Professor of history at the University of Houston and author of many books, including "Blows Against the Empire: US Imperialism in Crisis." Maru Mora-Villalpando — Nationally known immigrant rights activist, co-founder of the Latinx organization Mijente and community organizer with Northwest Detention Center Resistance Dr. Jack Rasmus — Professor of economics at Saint Mary's College of California.
Force for Hire's hosts have focused primarily on American military contracting. We're changing it up this week as Michelle and Desmon look at a private Russian paramilitary force that is a global threat, even though it isn't formally recognized by its government. The Wagner Group, believed to be run by former Russian military intelligence officer Dmitriy Utkin, is shrouded in secrecy. A 2017 Bloomberg article placed its membership as high as 6,000, even though mercenary forces are not allowed under Russian law. (https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2017-12-06/putin-wants-to-win-but-not-at-all-costs) The group has reportedly worked in Africa, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, Ukraine and Syria. In early 2018, forces believed to be a part of the Wagner Group engaged in a battle with U.S.-led Syrian Democratic Forces troops near the Syrian town of Khasham. That led to a U.S. airstrike that killed numerous Russian mercenaries fighting alongside pro-Syrian government forces. Some reports put the number of Russian deaths as high as 200, although that has been contested. (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/13/russian-mercenaries-killed-us-airstrikes-syria) Critics allege that Russia uses mercenaries in Syria to keep official military losses low. Even with high-profile battles, the Wagner Group largely flies under the radar, leaving questions about its members and its mission, and who's ultimately calling the shots. To help explain the issues, Force for Hire welcomes Sergey Sukhankin, a research fellow at the Jamestown Foundation think tank in Washington; and Peer Schouten, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, a research institute in Denmark. ogether, they'll talk about how the Wagner Group and other Russian contractors are influencing policies, affecting trade and shaping the politics of central African nations. Their operations on that continent remains a hot topic among the contracting community and those that follow it. Schouten and Sukhankin explain all this and more on the latest episode of Force for Hire. podcast@stripes.com
Force for Hire’s hosts have focused primarily on American military contracting. We’re changing it up this week as Michelle and Desmon look at a private Russian paramilitary force that is a global threat, even though it isn’t formally recognized by its government. The Wagner Group, believed to be run by former Russian military intelligence officer Dmitriy Utkin, is shrouded in secrecy. A 2017 Bloomberg article placed its membership as high as 6,000, even though mercenary forces are not allowed under Russian law. (https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2017-12-06/putin-wants-to-win-but-not-at-all-costs) The group has reportedly worked in Africa, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, Ukraine and Syria. In early 2018, forces believed to be a part of the Wagner Group engaged in a battle with U.S.-led Syrian Democratic Forces troops near the Syrian town of Khasham. That led to a U.S. airstrike that killed numerous Russian mercenaries fighting alongside pro-Syrian government forces. Some reports put the number of Russian deaths as high as 200, although that has been contested. (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/13/russian-mercenaries-killed-us-airstrikes-syria) Critics allege that Russia uses mercenaries in Syria to keep official military losses low. Even with high-profile battles, the Wagner Group largely flies under the radar, leaving questions about its members and its mission, and who’s ultimately calling the shots. To help explain the issues, Force for Hire welcomes Sergey Sukhankin, a research fellow at the Jamestown Foundation think tank in Washington; and Peer Schouten, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, a research institute in Denmark. ogether, they’ll talk about how the Wagner Group and other Russian contractors are influencing policies, affecting trade and shaping the politics of central African nations. Their operations on that continent remains a hot topic among the contracting community and those that follow it. Schouten and Sukhankin explain all this and more on the latest episode of Force for Hire. podcast@stripes.com
Trump's Syria decision was partially reversed, what does that mean for American relations with Syria. – Why does America have a strained relationship with Turkey? ----- Porter Goodman was deployed to Iraq with the United States Army in 2006 and 2007. Then In January 2016 he flew himself to Syria and was smuggled across the border into Northern Syria where he joined the Syrian Democratic Forces. There he worked as a medic until he was injured in an explosion and was transported out of Syria. Porter was recently featured on Fox 13, and has been quoted in the LA Times. ---- Please subscribe and leave a review! Join me for sassy stories on Instagram @ConservativeBabes -- www.instagram.com/conservativebabes/?hl=en Find my fire tweets on Twitter @ConservBabes -- twitter.com/conservbabes Subscribe & watch this episode on YouTube at: -- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY7AqCy6mED9Hw34KlHw9Tg?view_as=subscriber Connect with me on FaceBook to make our friendship official! -- https://www.facebook.com/conservativebabes Feel free to email questions/angry letters anytime at ConservativeBabes@gmail.com
In this edition of Wilson Center NOW we are joined by Middle East Program Fellow Amy Austin Holmes who was conducting research in Northeast Syria on the day coalition forces declared the territorial defeat of the Islamic State. Amy discusses her work conducting surveys with Kurdish and Arab members of the Syrian Democratic Forces as well as the political and economic outlook for this war-torn region of Syria.
Syrian Democratic Forces are slowly extinguishing what’s left of the Islamic State. The US-backed SDF has the grouped trapped in a tiny sliver of land along the Euphrates River. Baghouz, Syria, is a small farming village. Before it became home to the last pocket of ISIS, it was just a dot on the map that many Syrians hadn’t even heard of. Now it’s the centre of a months-long battle between the SDF and what’s left of ISIS. Assistant Foreign Editor, Campbell MacDiarmid and Multimedia Producer Willy Lowry travelled to Baghouz to cover ISIS’s last stand. In this edition of Beyond the Headlines, we take you to the frontlines in the fight to end ISIS.
What's next for the thousands of foreign women who have been living with Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria? The situation was highlighted after a British and an American woman expressed the desire to return to their countries of origin. With the Islamic State's rapidly shrinking territory, thousands of foreign born women - many with children - have fled the fighting and are sheltering in refugee camps. Ritula Shah and a panel of expert guests discuss what should happen to them now. Do they deserve to be resettled in their countries of origin? Or are their governments right to reject their citizenship? And what will happen to the children of IS fighters who have a right to reside in Europe or America? (Photo: A fighter with the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces keeps watch near veiled women standing on a field in Syria by Fadel Senna / AFP/Getty Images)
For years the Canadian government has avoided the question of what to do with returning ISIS fighters and their families. As many as 5,000 alleged ISIS fighters and their families are being held in makeshift prisons in Syria. The number is swelling daily as ISIS loses its final strongholds in eastern Syria. As many as 32 Canadians are currently held by the U.S-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led group that's been fighting ISIS. Some of the Canadians in custody were captured in battle. Others include two women believed to be from Ontario and Alberta, who surrendered to the SDF along with their children last week after fleeing one of the last ISIS-controlled villages in Syria. if suspected militants are returned to Canada, prosecuting them for their actions overseas presents significant challenges.
Jailed Press TV anchor Marzieh Hashemi appeared in court in Washington, DC , today before a grand jury. Her children were also called in to testify and were not allowed to speak with her. No charges have been filed. We are desperately trying to get any detail on her detention from the FBI; but we have not been able to. Her son Hossein Hashemi told The Associated Press that his mother would have been willing to cooperate with the FBI and did not need to be jailed as a material witness. He says no one in his family can fathom why she would be considered a material witness for federal investigators. She hasn't been charged with a crime. She was born Melanie Franklin, in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is most famous for anchoring news programs and presenting shows for Press TV. She was detained upon arrival at St. Louis Lambert International Airport in St. Louis, Missouri, on Sunday, according to her family and friends. She was then transferred by the FBI to a detention facility in Washington, DC. The US officials have so far refused to provide any reasons for her apprehension either to her or her family. At the time of this program, the FBI has not replied to Sputnik News' request for a statement on charges and her status.Cook County Associate Judge Domenica Stephenson has found three Chicago police officers not guilty of covering up details in the 2014 killing of Laquan McDonald, a black teenager. Former Detective David March, former Officer Joseph Walsh and Officer Thomas Gaffney had been accused of falsifying police reports to protect Officer Jason van Dyke, who was found guilty in October of second-degree murder in McDonald's death. They faced charges of conspiracy, official misconduct and obstruction of justice, but Associate Judge Stephenson said in her ruling the state had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the officers engaged in a conspiracy to prevent a criminal investigation, and acquitted the officers of all charges. What does this mean going forward? BuzzFeed News published a bombshell report Thursday night claiming President Donald Trump directed his former lawyer Michael Cohen to lie during Congressional testimony over discussions between the Trump Organization and Russian authorities about a Trump Tower Moscow project. We now find out that neither of the reporters, Anthony Cormier and Jason Leopold, has seen the evidence supporting their report. Leopold has a “dubious past” at best. He came under scrutiny for faulty reporting for Salon 2002 that led to an article getting removed. In 2006, he incorrectly reported that Karl Rove had been indicted. He has been in trouble for perhaps claiming to have sources he really didn't have. His stories didn't wash. Executive directors and editors have had to apologize after some of his big blockbuster stories. President Trump will meet with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, in late February, the White House announced on Friday, continuing a high-level diplomatic dialogue that has eased tensions but shown little progress in eliminating the North's nuclear arsenal. The announcement came after Mr. Trump met for 90 minutes in the Oval Office with Kim Yong Chol, the former North Korean intelligence chief who has acted as the chief nuclear negotiator for Mr. Kim. The White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said the date and the location of the meeting would be announced later, suggesting that the two sides were still haggling over the site or other logistical details. Vietnam, Thailand and Hawaii have all been mentioned as potential sites.A bombing in Syria claimed by Daesh killed at least four Americans on Wednesday, the Pentagon said, hardening divisions in Washington over President Trump's plan to withdraw troops from the country. The president and vice president told us that Daesh has been defeated. The four Americans — two military service members, a civilian Defense Department employee and a Pentagon contractor — were among 19 believed killed in the blast, including allied fighters with the Syrian Democratic Forces. They were there in a support capacity but still the focus of Daesh ire and attacks. Brexit: Prime Minister Theresa May's deal is voted down in historic House of Commons defeat. The vote was 432 to 202 to reject the deal, which sets out the terms of Britain's exit from the EU on March 29. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn organized a vote of no confidence in the government, which took place on Wednesday. May won that vote 325 to 306. Rebel Tory MPs and the DUP — which 24 hours earlier rejected the PM's Brexit plan by a huge margin — voted to keep her in Downing Street. Corbyn argued that Mrs. May's "zombie" administration had lost the right to govern.GUESTS:John Burris — Lead attorney and founder of the Law Office of John L. Burris. He is primarily known for his work in the area of civil rights, with an emphasis on police misconduct and excessive force cases.Colin Campbell — PhD student in the Department of Communication, Culture and Media Studies at Howard University's School of Communication. He has been a TV news reporter for more than 20 years. As a senior Washington, DC, correspondent since 2008, he has been a reporter-at-large, covering two presidencies, Congress and the State Department.
The United Nations is reporting that there could be as many as 30 thousand DAESH fighters still operating between Syria and Iraq. Interestingly enough, they are concentrated in areas held by US supported Syrian Democratic Forces. The report says that DAESH is also back to controlling some Syrian oil fields and is selling crude. What does it all mean? Stay with us as we take a look at what it all may mean. Watch Live: http://www.presstv.com/live.html YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/videosptv/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/PressTV LiveLeak: http://www.liveleak.com/c/PressTV Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PRESSTV Google+: http://plus.google.com/+VideosPTV Instagram: http://instagram.com/presstvchannel Dailymotion: http://www.dailymotion.com/presstv
It is difficult to describe just the unbelievable amount of destruction that Syria has gone through... since 2011. WAR ROOM welcomes Dean of the U.S. Air War College Christopher Hemmer to the studio to explain the historical and present-day contexts of the on-going civil war in Syria. With possibly over 500,000 killed and untold destruction, it is easily one of the bloodiest wars in recent times. What are the factors fueling the war? Why has it drawn so much international attention? What can be done to stop it? These and many other questions are addressed with the assistance of WAR ROOM podcast editor and Professor of Strategy Jacqueline E. Whitt. https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/18-056-Hemmer-Whitt-Syria.mp3 You can also download a copy of the podcast here. Christopher Hemmer is Dean of the U.S. Air War College and expert on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Jacqueline E. Whitt is Professor of Strategy at the U.S. Army War College and the WAR ROOM Podcast Editor. The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, Air War College, U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, or the Department of Defense. Photo: A veteran Syrian Democratic Forces soldier teaches a group of recruits about improvised explosive devices in Northern Syria on Oct. 10, 2017. Photo Credit: Staff Sergeant Richard Lutz/US Army
Turkey launched this week a military offensive into Afrin, a heavily Kurdish enclave of Syria. Ankara is calling it an 'anti-terror campaign,' targeting the US-backed Kurdish group, the People’s Protection Units. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is justifying the offensive as a pre-emptive strike, or Turkey’s right to self-defence. The war is likely an attempt for the country to hide behind anti-terrorist rhetoric to settle old scores against the Kurds. Kareem Shaheen, a journalist based in Turkey, joins the show to break down why this move shifts Turkey’s political alliances. The Kurdish people have long been a part of the region and believe they have been severely marginalised. Sofia Barbarani, an editor on the foreign desk, has spent several years reporting out of Kurdish-heavy areas of both Syria and Iraq. She joins the show to discuss Kurdish history in the region, their ultimate goals and the political differences among the several factions spread across the region. This is an acronym-heavy show so we’ve provided a guide to the initials below: • Kurdistan Worker's Party, or PKK: the Kurdish organization that have been involved in an armed conflict with Turkey since 1984 with the aim of creating an independent state. They have more recently demanded equal rights in Turkey. • Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units, or the YPG: Syrian rebels fighting president Bashar Al Assad. Accused of displacing local Arabs ot expand the areas of northern Syria under Kurdish control. Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the PKK. • Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF: a militia alliance dominated by the Kurdish YPG and backed by the US. Beyond the Headlines is The National's weekly analysis and insight from the Middle East. Follow, subscribe and rate us at [Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/ae/podcast/beyond-the-headlines/id1256040890?mt=2), [Audioboom](https://audioboom.com/channel/beyond-the-headlines), [Pocket Cast](http://pca.st/rMMR) or your favourite podcasting app.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says it's time for Iranian-backed militias who helped Iraq defeat Islamic State to "go home" after a rare meeting with Iraq and Saudi Arabia. A US-backed The Kurdish-led militia known as the Syrian Democratic Forces has declared victory over the Islamic State group in its former "capital" of Raqqa, declaring the northern Syrian city free of any extremist presence after a four-month battle that left it in ruins. - Suudi Arabistan ve Katarida resmi ziyaretlerde bulunan Amerika Birleşik Devletleri Dışişleri Bakanı Rex Tillerson, Irak'ta IŞİD'e karşı mücadelede sona doğru gelindiği için başta İranlı savaşçılar olmak üzere tüm yabancı savaşçıların ülkelerine dönmesi gerektiğini söyledi.
When an American ISIS fighter turned himself in to Syrian Democratic Forces last month, the subsequent detention of the unnamed enemy combatant by U.S. forces sparked concern. To explore the implications of John Doe’s detention, Steve Vladeck joined Benjamin Wittes for a lively debate on the level of alarm that the American citizen held in military custody should raise. They discussed the facts of the event, the reasons behind the failure to disclose John Doe’s identity or provide him access to counsel, the legitimacy of his detention, and much more.
On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker is joined for the first time by co-host John Kiriakou.In the first hour, John and Brian discuss how the September 11th attacks changed the United States and the world, alongside professor and author Peter Kuznick and author and columnist Patrick Lawrence.To start the second hour, Brian and John address how the FBI is investigating Sputnik for possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act along with Sputnik US editor-in-chief Mindia Gavasheli.Next, Hurricane Irma is ripping through Florida, causing huge devastation in its wake. Were preparations adequate? And how will residents rebuild? Ruth Beltran of the Tampa Chapter of Black Lives Matter and Juliana Musheyev, a board member of the Sarasota Peace Education and Action Center, join the show.The United Nations is set to vote today on additional sanctions against North Korea. Will China and Russia stand up to the United States, which are seeking suffocating new measures? Gregory Elich of the Committee for Peace and Democracy in Korea discusses the vote.Hillary Clinton’s memoir of her election defeat is released tomorrow in which she blames seemingly everyone for her shocking loss to Donald Trump. As Schumer and Pelosi cozy up to President Trump, is the Democratic Party elite completely incapable of learning from their mistakes? Ted Rall, editorial cartoonist and columnist, joins Brian and John to discuss.The Syrian Army is advancing on the city of Deir ez-Zor at the same time that the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have started an operation to clear Daesh from the countryside to the north of the city. Rick Sterling of the Syria Solidarity Movement talks about these developments.
Xander Snyder and Jacob L. Shapiro talk about the geopolitical consequences of new U.S. sanctions against Russia, North Korea and Iran.Sign up for free updates on topics like this! Go here: goo.gl/hfTxMX TRANSCRIPT: Jacob L. Shapiro: Hello, everyone, welcome to another Geopolitical Futures Podcast. I'm Jacob Shapiro. I am joined once more by Xander Snyder. Xander, it's always good to talk to you. XS: Thanks, good to be here. JLS: We've been trying some different things with the podcast in the last couple weeks. Last week, Kamran and I had a little discussion about democracy and geopolitics. We appreciated all your feedback on that. Before that, we were doing some talk about history and battles and geopolitical contingencies. This week, we're going to go in a little bit of different direction. We're going to just try and take a sense of what's been going on this week in geopolitics in 30 minutes and try and talk through some of the major issues and the things that have happened this week that might actually have staying power beyond the week itself. Because some many of the things itself, so many of the headlines and the things that happen in the news really don't matter that much once the headline is out there. So we're going to try and get to the deep stuff that we think is going to matter in the long term. And the major thing I think, Xander, that really affected this week was not just the House but the Senate also apparently has just passed sanctions not just on Russia – although that's getting most of the attention – but also on North Korea and also on Iran. Just this morning as we're recording before we went live, I saw that a bunch of different news organizations were reporting that North Korea also tested some kind of missile this morning too. We don't know whether it was an ICBM or something else. But it seems to me the real magnetic issue of this week has been sanctions, would you agree? XS: Yeah seems like a lot has been revolving around sanctions this week. And very quick timeline of it is back in mid-June, the Senate overwhelmingly approved some form of sanctions and then it kind of got negotiated between the House and the Senate for another month. And then the House earlier this week passed sort of a new and improved version that both houses had agreed to by I think it was like 419 to 3, an overwhelming majority, and then the Senate passed it again with an overwhelming majority of like 98 to 2. And one of the big changes in the new version of the sanctions bill – well compared to the sanctions that were passed against Russia in 2014 when Russia invaded Crimea and took control of that area of Ukraine – basically ties President Trump's hands in a lot of ways. So the way that some of these clauses were phrased in the original sanctions bill was saying the president “may” choose to implement one or several of the different measures that are provided for in the sanctions bill. And in this new one that just passed both houses essentially an amendment was proposed that changes the word “may” to the word “shall,” so the president shall implement all of these sanctions. And what that does is it removes a certain degree of power from the president to decide who sanctions who or what corporate entity sanctions are going to be levied against. And it also reduces his ability to issue waivers against individuals or individual entities that do have sanctions levied against them. So that's just kind of like the starting point for how a lot of activity has revolved around these sanctions over the last week. JLS: Yeah, I think one of the interesting things to point out is that both President Obama and President Bush tried to really reset relations with Russia in a more positive direction. That was definitely something Trump wanted to do as well. And Trump has encountered the same types of geopolitical obstacles externally that both Obama and Bush did. I mean, there are just interests that are divergent between Russia and the United States and no matter how much Putin and Trump may or may not like each other, those issues seem to come to the forefront. But Trump also seems to have on top of that, a domestic situation in the United States that is blocking him from doing anything even in some of the foreign policy realms, right? You talked a little bit about how it's enforcing and making Trump raise a bunch of sanctions that were only there through executive order in which he had some options with. But so Congress is basically forcing his hand in that bit. But there are also some parts of the sanctions that relate to energy and I know that you did a closer look at some of the energy-related stuff, especially in terms of where Russian energy goes, so do you want to talk a little bit about that? XS: Yeah, I think the point that you make speaks to one way that we look at the world, which is leaders always encounter constraints and frequently they encounter constraints that they were not anticipating on the campaign trail. So they're able to use boastful rhetoric and you know say almost anything that they want to. Either not realizing or maybe recognizing but not playing up the fact that they're not nearly going to be able to do as much as they say they're going to when they get into office. And this has just been sort of another one of these constraints in the foreign policy world that Trump has run into when he's been in office. Now, the European Commission and Germany in particular have taken umbrage, they've been a little concerned with the set of sanctions that were passed this week. This is because the sanctions bill provide for measures to be taken against companies with residents in any country really that have a certain degree of involvement with Russian energy companies, and I think the threshold is something like 30 percent investment in a joint venture project. Antonia, one of our senior analysts, wrote a Reality Check on that earlier this week in a little bit more detail so you can go read up on that there. But the idea is that since the sanctions can potentially target companies that are not Russia, and Germany has some energy projects that they've co-invested with Russia because Germany gets a lot of their both natural gas and oil from Russia but especially their natural gas. And now they're concerned that potentially both their companies and potentially their energy securities to a certain degree can be threatened by these sanctions. And they're saying, “Well, you know, the U.S. shouldn't have the right to target non-Russian companies when the point is to go after Russia with these sanctions.” So that's been one of the other issues that's kind of arisen surrounding the sanctions bill. JLS: Yeah. And I think one thing to point out there is that the sanctions themselves I don't think are the major story. Sanctions have been levied a lot of different times by a lot of different countries and I wrote a piece the other day that sort of talked about how sanctions are usually, not always but usually a fairly ineffective obstacle. It's not the sanctions so much that are interesting. I don't think the sanctions are going to compel Russian behavior one way or another. It is though I think from the Russian point of view, a provocation. So especially with the sanctions that are being levied against Russia in this particular case, Russia's not going to be able to not respond in some kind of way. And we've already seen in the last couple days, I would call it weird stuff happening in the Ukraine. Just electricity being cut off to one region, the stuff about Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia who became a Ukrainian citizen and was a governor of Odessa in Ukraine. His citizenship has been revoked. There have just been some signs that Ukraine seems to be feeling a little bit more willing to push back against Russia. And of course, the big thing was that the new special representative to Ukraine that the State Department appointed suggested that the United States would look into arming Ukraine with defensive weaponry. So all of those things mean not that sanctions are going to do what the United States wants necessarily. I think Russia is going to perceive this as a challenge and Russia's going to have to try and push back if not in the Ukraine, probably somewhere else along the periphery and I think that's why this issue is going to be important going forward for a while. XS: Yeah just before I hopped on to do the podcast, I was reading that Russia has begun to retaliate a little. They've basically begun kicking out some U.S. diplomats and reduced the number of U.S. diplomats in Russia to the number of Russian diplomats in the U.S. which was fewer and have begun to seize some U.S. diplomats' vacation properties and some warehouses I guess that were used to store U.S. diplomats' goods. So that's something sort of short term but another way you can look at sort of Russia's flexibility in terms of how they can retaliate in a larger way, I mean one way you could look at that is in the energy world because a lot of Europe is dependent on Russia for its supply of energy. Europe imports really a lot of its energy needs. I think Germany in particular imports approximately 60 percent of its energy consumption. And something like 55-plus percent of its natural gas consumption comes from Russia. So there is some deeper structural dependencies on Russia in the energy market that actually gives it the ability to retaliate at least against U.S. allies in a somewhat more serious way than just kicking out a couple of diplomats. JLS: Yeah, absolutely. Moving on from Russia, though, Russia is not the only player in the sanctions regime. I think that it's getting the most attention because of the complicated and convoluted relationship between Donald Trump and Russia and the United States, but the bill originally was not designed as a sanctions bill for Russia. It was designed as a sanctions bill against specifically Iran. And you know both Russia and North Korea were things that were added on later. Iran and North Korea are both countries that the United States has been having trouble with for a long time and has been trying to use sanctions with for a long time. And it seems that Congress is trying to reinforce that method but I'm not sure it's going to work. You know Iran really was able to come to terms with the United States not so much because of sanctions I think but really because the Islamic State rose and broke Iranian strategy. And Iran really had to measure what was the more important enemy and I think that they prioritized defeating the Sunni Arab force in the Islamic State over basically the nuclear program that they were developing and when you see Iran testing and still using missiles. I don't think they've necessarily abandoned that program. They may not be enriching uranium and I think they are probably abiding by the terms of the deal. But that doesn't mean that they aren't working on other parts of a delivery system. And on top of that we have North Korea which seems to not be going away and I know that a lot of listeners probably have been hearing us talking for a while about how the situation in North Korea is deteriorating and the tensions are high. But we continue to see it that way. You know, I think one of the things that we're doing is there's probably some kind of negotiation or diplomatic process going on there. And you know, I think there's a lot of misdirection coming out of the U.S. right now. On the one hand, you get the three carrier battlegroups there. Then the carrier battlegroups disperse and you have the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff saying, “We're going to give the diplomatic route a couple months.” And we'll see from that so. You've looked a lot at North Korea, Xander, what is your sort of current read on U.S. posture towards North Korea and how do you see it going forward in the next couple weeks after this test, especially if it turns out to be an ICBM that was tested? XS: Yeah, we are still waiting on confirmation on whether it was or not. If this most recent launch was another ICBM, that would appear obviously a lot more threatening because it could potentially show that North Korea is making progress on developing a delivery system that could potentially deliver some sort of nuclear warhead. We don't believe that they're there yet even though they may have missiles that can fly further now as we saw earlier this month. As far as North Korea generally goes, sanctions like you said they generally don't work. When we say generally, we don't mean never. I think you cited a report from the Peterson Institute in your piece that said something like two-thirds of the time sanctions prove ineffective. And North Korea has been sanctioned repeatedly for 20 years and all we've seen them do in that time is basically start a nuclear weapons program, develop it, get to a point where they are very close to, you know, within a year or two having some sort of miniaturized nuclear warhead, potentially having intercontinental delivery capabilities. So sanctions just don't really seem to work a whole lot about North Korea and if you try to put yourself in the mindset of the North Korean regime, it kind of makes a little bit more sense. You know, a lot of people think that Kim Jong Un is just crazy and that the Kim regime is insane, that you know it's this terribly oppressive autocratic regime, and it is an oppressive autocratic regime. But a perspective that doesn't get out there as frequently, is that this is a regime that's been around for 70 years. They've withstood the collapse of their biggest patron, the Soviet Union, for several decades. And they've gotten through increasing pressure placed on them from the United States and arguably China recently, although those numbers are a little bit harder to read. I think it's difficult to claim that a regime that's been around and has stayed stable for that long is truly insane. They have to be acting at least to some degree rationally. And if you look at the effects or lack of effects of sanctions on North Korea, you know, the regime believes that it is at constant threat from the United States and if it gives on some of the things that the United States wants it to give on, that it's going to be at even a greater risk of if not collapse then losing its control on the governing institutions in North Korea. So for a regime that feels completely threatened for survival, it seems like sanctions are, they're going to be more willing to just accept that their country will be hurting than to just give up control, give up reins of power on their country. JLS: Yeah, and I think that the other side of this is that sanctions are probably not going to compel North Korea to give up its program. Like you said, if they haven't given it up already with the sanctions that have been levied against them, it's doubtful that this new batch of sanctions is going to be the one to do it. But I think the other thing that this brings up is that everybody is wondering what is China's role in helping manage North Korea and how much can they actually do? And one of the things that we looked at this week was new data out of Korea that said that while Chinese imports from North Korea have decreased by about 25 percent year-on-year, their exports to North Korea have gone up quite a bit, almost 20 percent that way. And so that's not a new thing, we've seen data from China itself confirming that earlier in the year and Donald Trump even tweeted, you know, about how China wasn't living up to its end of the bargain in terms of taking care of North Korea. But I think this is a good way of showing also the sort of ineffective logic of sanctions because, OK, so you've sanctioned North Korea, but the hard thing with sanctions – it's also the hard thing in getting something like an OPEC agreement to work – is making sure that everybody does it in the exact same way. The problem is that everybody doesn't have exactly the same interests. So you can't necessarily expect everyone to carry out the sanctions the same way or to be completely 100 percent consistent. So maybe China, it's dealing with North Korea in the way that it's dealing with it, perhaps not in the way that the United States wants. Are you just going to go and sanction China then? Like where does it stop? The problem at the end of the day is that North Korea is developing a nuclear weapon that can strike the United States. And you can sanction North Korea all you want and you can sanction China all you want, you know, unless those sanctions are going to compel someone to stop developing a nuclear program or are going to compel China to do something to stop North Korea from developing that program – and I am not convinced China can do anything to stop that – it's not really going to work, right? XS: It seems unlikely, yeah. One thing that we are focused on that we've talked about before, certainly internally, I think maybe we've written some Watch List items on it, is whether or not the United States will be effective in obtaining sanctions on imports of crude oil to North Korea. Late last year, there were sanctions placed on North Korean coal exports to China, and that was seen as a significant or at least sort of a milestone in the development of the sanctions regime against North Korea because that's one way that North Korea receives a lot of hard foreign currency from abroad. But it seems like their supply of crude oil hasn't technically changed that much, and Tillerson mentioned a couple weeks ago that that's one thing that they would be seeking through conversations with China. But North Korea, there's some reports, some data that seems to indicate that they get a lot of crude oil both from China and Russia. It's hard to know because those numbers are no longer officially published by China and I don't think they've ever been officially published by Russia so they come through like North Korean defectors who supposedly have been dealing with imports from Russia. So that might be one area of sanctions where, if somehow the U.S. could pull that off, it might change the game a little bit because it could impact North Korea's ability to wage a conventional war. But there's no reason, or I can't see any reason at least, why China would get in line behind that or certainly why Russia would. It seems like they would want to extract pretty significant concessions from the U.S. in other parts of the world in order to actually implement a sanctions regime like that. JLS: Yeah, and then of course, the last piece to the puzzle of these sanctions here is Iran. And I think Iran has fallen a little bit by the wayside in terms of people's attention and in terms of even the U.S. attention. You know, before he was secretary of defense, James Mattis was very, very focused on Iran in general when he was thinking about U.S. foreign policy. And I think that Iran is going to become more and more of an issue for the United States. I think the Middle East is going to become more and more of an issue for the United States, not necessarily because of Iran itself but because the battle against the Islamic State is progressing. I don't think that it's imminently over. I think the Islamic State is going to stand and fight for quite a while longer. But you can sort of begin to see the end game for the Islamic State and for defeating this particular iteration of the Islamic State. And I think that you're not going to get peace out of that. What you're going to get is that the coalition that formed against ISIS is going to break apart and there's going to be a lot of power vacuums all over the Middle East that different countries are going to be looking to fill, and I think Iran is the one that is most aggressively pursuing those things. So we've had a couple years here with a very uneasy understanding between the United States and between Iran. I don't expect the nuclear deal to fall apart anytime soon or anything like that. And like I said, I think we're still looking at another year maybe two of the Islamic State being a major actor. But I think if you start thinking about the Middle East five years, 10 years out, and you think about what's going to happen once the Islamic State loses some of its what core territory is left remaining to it. Iran and the United States don't see eye to eye in the Middle East. The United States is trying to reconstruct a balance of power there and Iran is trying to set itself up as a regional hegemon. It is expending a lot of money and a lot of even its own soldiers in Iraq, in Syria, even in Lebanon with its relationship with Hezbollah to try and make that come to fruition. So I don't think that these sanctions themselves will be that consequential in terms of the relationship between the United States and Iran, but I think that relationship overall is probably trending in a negative direction. I don't think that we should think for a moment that just because the nuclear accord happened a couple years ago, that things are going to stay rosy there. XS: You mentioned a couple of minutes ago that your of Iran's acquiescence to the nuclear accord was not due to the prior sanctions regime implemented by the U.S. but rather the regional challenge it faced by a potential Sunni leader, ISIS. Could you explain a little bit more what you mean by that? JLS: Sure, and I don't want to fall into the fallacy of saying that one thing is the most determinative or deciding thing, right? Like obviously all these things were working in concert together. And I do think that the sanctions that the U.S. carried out against Iran in 2010, they certainly hurt the Iranian economy. We have plenty of evidence in terms of shrinking GDP and people not buying Iranian oil across the board that indicated that Iran's economy was hurting and that average, everyday Iranians were hurting. Again, though, when you have a country like Iran that has for so long been a U.S. enemy and frankly has some reason to think of the U.S. as an enemy. The U.S. was involved in trying to – I mean, not trying – helped a military coup in Iran in 1953. This is not a country that has a reason to trust necessarily United States motives. So I am saying that to say in the same way that we were talking about North Korea and we're saying, “Well, are sanctions really going to affect a regime that has already sacrificed so much and which has such a level of sort of autocracy and dedication in the population itself?” I sort of see Iran the same way. Iran is a very proud country with a very well-defined national identity, and I don't think that Iran is going to bend just because the United States or the West even is trying to make Iran feel things economically. I think what Iran did was, I think that before 2010, they saw a very real chance of extending their influence from Tehran all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. Iraq was in shambles and that's a majority Shiite Arab country, so they thought that they could dominate there. You had Syria, which was under the control of Bashar al-Assad and that was another Iranian – I don't want to say client state, but another Iranian ally in the region and definitely looked towards Iran for guidance and money and things. And then you had Hezbollah, which had basically taken over large parts if not all of Lebanon and is that rare militant group that has gone from militant group to governing group, and has done that fairly well. That was the story in 2010. There was an arc of Shiite influence going to the Mediterranean and things looked very good for Iran. That all fell apart because ISIS rose in Iraq and significantly challenged the Iranian idea of stability there. Bashar al-Assad faced rebels in his own country, which ISIS eventually came to capitalize on. Brought Hezbollah into that fight, so Hezbollah can no longer focus on annoying Israel or doing any of the other proxy things that it does. It's committed to almost a conventional-style war in Syria. So you had all of these strategic things just fall apart on Iran, and you have to understand that for Iran, it's Iran's Ukraine, basically. You know we talked earlier about how Russia has such a deep interest in Ukraine. Iraq and the state of things beyond the Zagros mountains in that direction is the same type of thing for Iran. So I think sanctions played a role, and I think sanctions hurt the Iranian economy, and I think it would certainly be hard for Iran to go back to where it was before. We've seen very high GDP growth numbers out of their economy, and I think that both Iran and some of the Western companies that are partnering with Iran would make real sanctions hard to enforce. But overall, when I look at the deciding factors over why that deal had to be made, the United States decided that it needed to defeat ISIS and it needed to defeat ISIS first and then it could deal with other problems later. And I think Iran sort of saw the same thing. They were worried about ISIS not just taking over Syria and knocking out one of their client states along the way to the Mediterranean but also significantly threatening Baghdad, and it's not an idle threat and it's not something that they were imagining. I mean Saddam Hussein – the Sunnis were ruling but it was not only a secularist regime – but the point is that was Iran's mortal enemy. They fought one of the worst wars that's not talked about I think in the 20th century between 1980 and 1989. So that's kind of what I meant about that. I think that the United States and Iran, the sanctions stuff is all surface level. The deeper problem there is that the United States wants a balance of power in that region, and Iran wants to be the power in that region. And for as long as that's the case – and I don't see that stopping anytime soon – they are going to butt heads, and sanctions aren't going to do anything to change that underlying reality. XS: So despite these conflicting long-term divergences in national interests, countries can still find ways to cooperate on short-term security interests? JLS: Yeah, absolutely. I mean the United States and Russia are definitely at odds against each other in Ukraine. They're tacitly cooperating in Syria. I mean that goes underreported, I think. I mean there's no way that the United States could have the assets running around that it does in Syria and Russia could have the assets that has running around in Syria and there not be some level of coordination. And when we look at the U.S.-backed forces in the region, especially the Syrian Kurds and the Syrian Democratic Forces, and we look at what the Syrian Army is doing, which is backed by Russia, you can see a coherent strategy of basically trying to cut the ground out from underneath ISIS. And sure maybe there's not a formalization or maybe they're not having tea and cookies in the afternoon together, but there's definitely some level of communication between the United States and Russia on that issue. So yeah, it's very rare that you have a relationship between two countries that is just totally hostile and has no bounds for cooperation. I would say one example, though, of where there isn't a lot of – there's really no grounds of cooperation that I can think of between North Korea and the United States. Can you think of anything there? XS: I mean not really. North Korea's core security imperative is to deter an attack from the United States, which requires developing a weapon which would violate one of the United States' core security imperatives, which is keeping North Korea from having a deliverable nuclear weapon. JLS: And I mean one of the results of North Korea being such a closed regime to the rest of the world is that North Korea really does not on a global stage have a lot of power that it can play with or bargain with, right? There's nothing that North Korea can do for the United States in East Asia if the U.S. did want to make some kind of deal. Whereas Iran is a powerful country and has power over a lot of different actors that the United States sometimes has trouble interacting with. In that sense, Iran is much more like China. China is trying to present itself as an actor that can help the United States or can find common ground with the United States so the United States should cooperate with it. North Korea doesn't really function that way. North Korea really is shut off and is really crouched into a defensive posture. Mostly because I don't think there is any other real way for them to do it. And in some sense, they've succeeded. They have created a situation that is incredibly difficult even for very powerful countries like China and the United States to deal with. XS: So if you're interested in this stuff, we've written a lot about sanctions but really about how sanctions sit on top of a lot of deeper, underlying structural causes for why we see nations acting the way they do. We've written a lot about that this week. You can check out the RC that Jacob you did yesterday. Antonia published one on sanctions earlier this week. I will be having a piece that will analyze Europe's energy dependency on Russia and perhaps give some sense of how Russia could retaliate there and that will published on Mauldin Economics, our partner's website, on Monday. And that should give you a bit of a deeper understanding of what's really going on behind these sanctions. JLS: Yeah, and I think it will be an interesting exercise of maybe 3-6 months from now, Xander, we sit down and we start a podcast and we see where these sanctions are and what impact they've actually had over the course of the last 3-6 months. XS: Let's do it. JLS: Yeah. On that note, thanks, everyone, for listening. We're glad you are enjoying the podcast, we will catch you next week. See you out there.
Coalition Defends Partner Forces from Syrian Fighter Jet Attack, U.S. and Philippine Navies will Participate in the Maritime Training Activity Sama Sama
Jacob L. Shapiro and Kamran Bokhari make sense of the numerous geopolitical developments that occurred in the world's most volatile region this week. Sign up for free updates on topics like this! Go here: hubs.ly/H06mXwR0 TRANSCRIPT: Jacob L. Shapiro: Hello everyone and welcome to another Geopolitical Futures podcast. I am joined this week by Kamran Bokhari, thanks for joining us Kamran. Kamran Bokhari: Good to be here. JLS: What we're going to do this week is we're going to try and sort out some of the mess that's been going on in the Middle East. It's been a very chaotic week in the Middle East and we thought we'd take a step back and try to explain it to listeners in about 30 or 40 minutes. It's a tall task but we'll see how we go. Kamran, I think the first thing that you might be able to help out with our listeners understanding is understanding a little bit more about the history of Qatar – the history of Qatar's relationships in the region, how it's always sort of been on the outside looking in – but what exactly Saudi Arabia, and the states that Saudi Arabia's convinced to go along with this diplomatic isolation of Qatar, are seeing that upsets them so much. KB: So ever since 1995, when the father of the current emir of Qatar took power, his name was Sheikh Hamad Al Thani, and he actually overthrew his father in '95 and ousted him and took power. Qatar has been on a strange trajectory. I say strange because it's not normal for the Arab world or more specifically the Persian Gulf Arab world, the Khaleejis, to behave in this way. I am referring to an openness for lack of a better term. I mean Al Jazeera was started by the current emir's father and it became sort of the standard bearer of 24/7 news in the Arab world. That made a lot of traditional Arab leaders, both Republican regimes and of course the monarchies, particularly Saudi Arabia, very, very uncomfortable because it was not the way that they had ran their political economies. There's no concept of having discourse. But to make matters worse this new regime post-1995 began with a very what I would call pragmatic approach to the region. It could afford to do because it is the world's largest LNG exporter, that brings in a lot of money. The population, those who are Qatari nationals, is very small – less than 300,000 people. In fact, there are more expats in that country, which is also true for a number of other GCC states. But in the case of Qatar, what happened is that this allowed for the regime to flirt with all sorts of radical political forces ranging from the Muslim Brotherhood to more radical elements along the Islamist spectrum. And even give air time to what we used to call secular left-wing Arab nationalists and it began a policy of opening to Iran, developing a relationship that was out of step with the GCC consensus, if you will. And steering towards an independent foreign policy. And a lot of people say, Qatar has been punching above its weight when it comes to foreign policy. It's a tiny, little state. But it's been trying to play major league geopolitics. That's a fair assessment. But I would say that the Qataris are cut from a different cloth if we are to compare them to the rest of the Arab regimes. JLS: Yes, although I think one thing that you perhaps left out was that there's a regional headquarters for U.S. Central Command in Qatar and that Qatar is for all intents and purposes it's sort of in the U.S. camp in the region, or generally has been. And that the U.S. has been able to use Qatar at times in order to have unofficial dialogue with some of these groups that are considered beyond the pale for normal political discourse, right? KB: Absolutely, that's important to note that when Qatar is reaching out to these unsavory characters, from the point of view of the region and the international community, it's not doing so in defiance of the West, it's doing so in concert with its great power ally, the United States. And mind you, that base at Al Udeid where the U.S. Central Command has a major hub in the region, in fact, the regional hub is based in Qatar of Central Command, and that happened after 9/11 and the decision of the United States government, the Bush administration, to pull out of Saudi Arabia. There was a huge base in Saudi Arabia, and Qatar offered space so it was just a minor relocation. At the same time, there are relations between the Qatari government and Israel. There are a lot of rumors about the nature of it. Nobody officially denies or rejects it. But it's well known that there's some form of relationship there. So, Qatar has been reaching out to all sorts of entities and Qatar is the one Arab state that also sees eye-to-eye with Turkey in the region. And so it's had a really diversified foreign policy portfolio. JLS: I want to bring it back to Turkey in a minute but I'll just ask one more thing about Qatar which is that you know you've pointed out that they've always been reaching out to these different groups and they've always had a more independent foreign policy. I think that one of the things that we were discussing internally was that it was very hard to read whether Qatar had simply done something that had gone too far beyond the pale for Saudi Arabia or whether this had sort of been planned for a while and that this is really more of a reflection of the Saudis weakening and not being willing to tolerate Qatar breaking ranks. I noticed recently that Qatar actually asked a lot of people from Hamas, who nominally are based in Qatar, to leave. And it seems like Qatar has actually done some things and has been very open to trying to solve of this diplomatic spat, especially in terms of the United States. So do you think that Qatar actually did something, that it flirted with Iran in a serious way, that both Saudi Arabia and even perhaps the United States didn't mind Saudi Arabia sort of dinging Qatar on the head and saying, nah, that's too far? Or do you think that this really has more to do with Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia trying to consolidate control at the diplomatic level in the same way that Saudi Arabia wasn't going to tolerate internal unrest in a country like Bahrain in 2011? KB: I think it's the latter. I don't see the Qataris doing anything new. The Iranian relationship has been there, there's more made out of it in terms of the public discourse than there is actually. The whole idea of support for Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, that's old stuff, that's been going along for a long time. I haven't seen anything fresh that would suggest that the Qataris crossed some sort of red line. I think it's a lingering dispute and if we go back to 2014, for the better part of that year, the Saudis and the Bahrainis and the UAE, they downgraded diplomatic relations in that year in the spring. And it was not until the fall that they had an agreement of sorts, which was never made public, but according to the reports Qatar had agreed to scale back its involvement with all these groups and not encourage them to where that damaged the interests of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and others. And so, I think that that's a long-standing dispute and I think that now Saudi Arabia is getting desperate because things are not going well for Saudi Arabia. And the last thing it wants is one of its own GCC members doing things that undermine its collective efforts. So, number one, and I think this is foremost, is Iran. If you go back to the Trump visit that was like three weeks ago to Riyadh and there was a gala event attended not just by Middle Eastern leaders but also from the wider Muslim majority countries. It was very clear that Saudi Arabia had finally got the United States to where it wants to be. Remember that under the Obama administration, the Saudis had a terrible relationship with Washington. Under Trump, they know think that they now have Washington where they want it to be and they want to move forward in isolating Iran. And Qatari dealings with Iran really poke holes into the Saudi strategy. So, I think that this is a case of the Saudis not being able to take it anymore and saying you know enough is enough. If the Qataris are not behaving, we have to up the pressure to twist their arm. JLS: Yeah and I think this is a move that could really backfire on Saudi Arabia. You already see it backfiring a little bit in the sense that they were able to assemble an impressive coalition of countries in this diplomatic offensive against Qatar, but they have not really been able to extend the diplomatic offensive outside of its immediate vicinity and outside of those countries that are immediately dependent on it. And even some of the other GCC states have not gone along to the same extent that Saudi Arabia and the Emiratis and the others have gone to. But you bring up good points with Iran and Turkey and this is another reason why I think this might backfire on the Saudis, which is because if Qatar is looking at this and if Qatar is trying to establish some kind of independence of action, Saudi Arabia is really on a downward slope. Especially when you consider that oil prices right now are continuing to go down and that Saudi has basically proven ineffective in getting the price of oil to come back up and that really is the source of Saudi power. Qatar, as you said, has a close relationship with Turkey. Qatar as you also said also has a closer relationship with Iran than perhaps any of the other Arab countries in the region. You brought up the specific point of the fact that Qatar and Turkey have seen eye to eye for a while right now. I know that there's a lot of stuff there in terms of the political ideology that both Qatar and Turkey favor that you can shed some light on. So how about you go a little bit more in depth into how Turkey and Qatar see the region in the same way, and what is the way in which they've been trying to reshape the region, not just recently but for many years now? KB: From the point of view of the Qataris, they're not so much in ideological sync with the Islamists, they take a more pragmatic view. Unlike Egypt, unlike Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Arab states, the Qataris say, look, you know we can't dial the clock back. And what do I mean by that is that the Saudis are using tools that used to be effective back in the day, pre-Arab Spring, where there was no opposition of any sorts to the regimes in the region. And Qatar looks at that and says that thing, that tool kit, that approach is useless because it only makes matters worse. Qatar says, look, these forces, the Hamases of this world, the Muslim Brotherhoods of this world, they are a reality and we can't wish them away and we can't suppress them because it only makes matters worse and we need to somehow reach out to them in order for, and this is based on my conversations with Qatari officials over the years, their view is that these are realities and if we don't control them, if we just leave them to their own devices, then they will do things that will undermine the interests of the region and the security of the regimes. So it's sort of flipping the Saudi argument on its head. The Saudis say well you need to keep them under lock and key and that's the way to go. As far as Turkey is concerned, Turkey is more ideologically in tune with the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas because the ruling AKP party comes from an Islamist heritage although it's not an Islamist party, its roots lie in Islamism. So there's a meeting of minds. And Qatar realizes that it's a small country and the rest of the Arab states are not really getting it. And they realize that if there's going to be a counterweight to Iran, it's going to be Turkey. And the Qataris have accepted the fact that the Arabs do not have any intrinsic power of their own in the region and therefore they must piggyback on Turkey and hence that relationship. So it's a convergence of interests and ideas. JLS: Yeah, although I want to push back a little bit because I think you're right that Qatar reaches out to a lot of different groups that other countries in the region and most countries in the world wouldn't do business with, right? But I don't think when it comes to more Muslim Brotherhood-oriented groups that Qatar sees them sort of as redheaded stepchildren that it's going to let into Qatar. I think there, Qatar has actually more of an affinity to some of those groups and has used some of those groups in order to push Qatar's influence throughout the region, which is why I suggested that perhaps Turkey and Qatar see more eye to eye ideologically. Do you think I am taking that too far or would you agree with that assessment? KB: I think that your argument has some merit to it, and actually a lot of merit to it, but when I was saying ideologically I was meaning the ideology of the ruling family or the regime in Qatar. They're not Islamists. They don't share those ideologies. If you go to Qatar you know it's fairly Westernized and it's fairly open and so it's not necessarily Islamist but they see these actors as, what you just said, tools to pursue their foreign policy agenda, to be able to have influence. And in my conversations, I did feel that the Qataris really believe that there is no way around these actors. Qatar has sort of, in a self-styled manner, appropriated this task of bringing reconcilable – what they call reconcilable – Islamists to the mainstream. And so that's also a foreign policy offering that Doha sort of says that this what we can do for the world. And they find reception in circles in Washington. Back in 2013, the United States Department of Defense dealt with certain Islamist factions within the Syrian rebel landscape in order to find common ground because of the fear that we're not going to get secular Syrian nationalists under the banner of the Free Syrian Army. And that was mediated by Qatar. And if you look at the Taliban relationship, clearly that was very openly Qatar helping the United States deal with the Taliban. It didn't go too far because of other complications, but nonetheless, it's a great example of how Qatar is trying to say: this is our value proposition that we bring to this region and to great powers who are stakeholders in this region. JLS: Yes, although the flip side of that is it means Qatar is playing with fire. I mean I really, I was really struck by what you said that the ruling family is not Islamist. But that Qatar thinks of using the Islamist groups as tools in order to develop Qatar's power or to protect Qatar's position. I cannot think of a more secular entity that used Islamists that didn't have the Islamists come back to bite them in the end. We have seen over and over and over, whether it was the United States, whether it was Saudi Arabia, whether it was Turkey, it doesn't really matter if the country itself was Muslim or if it's Western or not. It's very, very difficult to control Islamist groups once they get going. So the idea that Qatar is going to be able to use these Islamist groups when they want to use them and is not going to face backlash from them, especially because Qatar is playing such a dual game and is really dealing with all sides. It seems to me that that's, I don't want to say shortsighted and I don't even say it's not going to work. I just can't think of another example of that actually working in the long term for a country's foreign policy. Can you come up with any examples? KB: I can't, and you are absolutely right. I mean this is almost like they are holding up and trying to balance two parallel universes. And it's difficult. But I think that, if we look at it geopolitically, from their point of view, they have no other choice. They have to do this and I think what gives them a bit of hope is that they're a small country. They have enough money to where people don't indulge in politics so this is not going to undermine them domestically anytime soon. But yes, for the region, this could all blow up in their face. And I actually believe that it will. Because there's just no way, given the scale of chaos in the region, that somehow the Qataris will be able to fine tune these Islamist proxies to where they will live in a Muslim democracy of sorts. I just don't see that happening. So you are absolutely right. I don't disagree with that. I was just trying to explain the perspective of the Qataris. JLS: Yeah, but that also explains the perspective of not just the Saudis but even the Emiratis and Bahrain and some of these other groups, for whom, they see Qatar messing around with the Islamists and are sort of asking themselves what on Earth are you doing? We've already seen what happens when we mess with these things and now is a time to close ranks and tighten up against this, not to invite them into our own space. But that's a good segue way into a second… KB: I just want to point out one thing and for our listeners, the UAE making this case is more genuine. But the Saudis accusing the Qataris of doing this is like the kettle calling the pot black or vice versa. The Saudis are still playing with this fire, so they don't have the argument. So yes, they are not with Hamas, they're not with the Muslim Brotherhood, but they are the biggest exporter of Salafism and jihadism on the planet. JLS: Yes, and it's a good segue way into you know sort of the other major developments that have been changing things in the Middle East this week, which is ISIS, which Saudi Arabia you know you can't directly prove that they had a role in helping ISIS develop, but certainly Saudi Arabia and some of the groups that it was funding and some of the things that it was doing when it was involved in Syria supporting different proxies, had a role in the Islamic State coming to the prominence that it has. But you know we saw two major things from the Islamic State this week. We saw, first of all, that the Islamic State is finally coming under some serious existential pressure in its self-declared caliphate. Raqqa has really been the capital and center and focal point of ISIS operations, but you've got the Syrian Democratic Forces, who are made up mostly of Syrian Kurds under the YPG group (there are so many acronyms here that it's sometimes hard to keep track of) but we'll say the SDF, those are the Syrian Kurds and they are U.S. backed, and then we've also seen, surprisingly, the Syrian army has been moving on multiple fronts to get closer to Raqqa. The result of all this is that the Islamic State's position in Raqqa is pretty weak and we've seen them pulling back and we've seen some relative successes for the U.S.-backed forces as they get closer to the city. That was one major development we saw this week. And then the other major development was really the unprecedented IS attack they claimed in Iran. So, I want to tackle both of those things. Maybe let's start with the second one first because I know you were looking at this very closely. Talk about why this is such a big deal and why this isn't just another ISIS terrorist attack in the region. What are the greater implications of ISIS hitting Iran the way that they did? KB: I would begin by saying that this is not something that ISIS just sort of said – oh, well I want to attack Iran tomorrow and let's do it. This is something that speaks to the sophistication, especially as an intelligence entity, of ISIS. The Islamic State has been cultivating these assets for a while, and not just in Iran. We see this happening in as far-flung areas as the Philippines as well. So this is something that's been in the works for a while. They've devoted a certain amount of resources to this project. I suspect that over the years that they've been based in Iraq and they've had proximity to Iran that they were cultivating this. And they saw an opening in Kurdistan, and I am talking about the Iranian province of Kurdistan, and there's more than one province where Iranian Kurds live and they're mostly Sunni and over the years what I've learned is that is Salafism and even jihadist ideology has made its way into the Iranian Kurdish community. And the Kurds are, there's an alienation that they feel, as an ethnic community as well, from Tehran and there is this sort of deep resentment that ISIS really exploited and was able to set up at least this cell. I suspect that this isn't just one cell. There are probably others that ISIS has in its tool kit and will activate at some point in the future, so this is not the last attack in Iran. But what is significant is that Iran is not an Arab state. One of the biggest sectors of the Iranian state is the security sector. There are multiple organizations that deal with security. You know in my visit to Iran, I noticed these guys working firsthand, and they're obsessed with security. They're obsessed with security because they fear Israeli penetration, U.S. penetration, Saudi penetration and so this is not an open, if you will, arena where ISIS could just jump in and say, you know, we're gonna send in suicide bombers. It had to do a lot of work to be able to penetrate that and that speaks to ISIS' capabilities and sophistication. As for the implications, I mean look, ISIS has gamed all of these things out. We tend to look in the open sources, when you read stuff there is this assumption that somehow these are all sort of disconnected attacks that are not linked to some strategic objective. And at Geopolitical Futures, that's what we talk about is, we can't look at events as sort of randomly taking place or taking place as some entity hates another entity. There is a strategic objective. The strategic objective of ISIS is to, a) survive, especially now that it's under pressure, that you just mentioned. You know it's in the process of losing Raqqa. It'll take a long time, but that process has begun. At the same time, so there's that threat but there's also an opportunity. The opportunity is that the sectarian temperature in the region is at an all-time high and this would explain the timing of this attack. ISIS would like nothing more than for Iran and Saudi Arabia to go at each other because, a) it gives them some form of respite. You know, they're not the focus, and it undermines the struggle against ISIS. And b) it creates more opportunity for ISIS to exploit. The more there's sectarianism, the more the Saudis go and fight with Iran and vice versa, the more space there is for ISIS to grow. So I think that this attack in Iran has very deep implications moving forward. JLS: Those are all good points and I want to draw special attention to one of the points you made and then ask you to play what you're saying forward a little bit. First thing, I just want to point out is that you were talking about the Iranian Kurds and how they had somehow been radicalized and there was a sense of disenchantment, or disenchantment is probably not even strong enough, but an antagonism with the current regime in Tehran. And I just want to point out that it's very difficult to speak of the Kurds as a monolith. I think often times people say the word the Kurds and they think of you know just all the Kurds in the Middle East and they're all the same. But we really have to think of in terms of – there are Kurds in Iran, there are Kurds in Iraq, there are Kurds in Syria, there are Kurds in Turkey. They have different religious affiliations, different ideological affiliations, sometimes are speaking different languages that are almost unintelligible to each other. So I try very hard in my writing and when I am speaking about these types of things to be very specific about when I am talking about the Kurds and I thought one of the things you did there was you brought up was just how complicated that situation is and that, of course, has relevance throughout the region. We saw that the Iraqi Kurds and the Kurdistan Regional Government are talking about an independence referendum and maybe we can get to that in a little bit. But you gave a really good explanation of why this is extremely important from Iran's perspective. But what do you think Iran is going to do? What response does this mean Iran is going to have to make? What is the next step for Iran both in terms of, you know, Qatar, which it had some sort of relationship with and it can certainly see this diplomatic offensive led by Saudi Arabia as a diplomatic move against Iran, and then second of all this move by ISIS. What are the practical concrete things that Iran is going to have to do to respond here in the next couple weeks? KB: With regards to Qatar, what we have is a situation where its own GCC allies, its fellow Arab states, have shunned Doha. And so Doha right now needs a lot of friends. The United States has not de-aligned from Qatar and joined the Saudi bandwagon, so that's good. It's forging some sort of a relationship today, the Qatari foreign minister is in Moscow, so there's a Russian angle to that as well. We've already talked about Turkey. At this stage, it wouldn't hurt, necessarily, for Qatar to reach out or benefit from Iranian assistance, but it has to be very careful. It doesn't want to do something with Iran or get too close, especially now, and give a bigger stick to the Saudis with which Riyadh can beat Doha. And so, I think from a Qatari point of view, it's essential that they strike a balance when it comes to Iran. Conversely the Iranians, this is a great opening. And they would like to exploit this to the extent that it is possible. But I think that the Iranians are no illusion as to their limitations. They know that – they'll milk this for whatever it's worth. But they're not under the illusion that somehow Qatar will join them and be part of their camp. That's actually taking it too far. I don't think that they can rely on Qatar. But from the Iranian point of view, so long as Qatar is at odds and defying Saudi Arabia, that's good enough. They don't need more from Qatar and they will milk that to the extent that it is possible. As far as ISIS is concerned, I think that there are two things here. One is that both of them will benefit ISIS, both moves that the Iranians make will benefit ISIS. First is that there is an imperative for the government, for the security establishment, to make sure that this doesn't happen again or at least begin to neutralize, before it grows. There's a sizeable Sunni population in Iran. It's not just the Kurds, there's a sizeable Turkmen population in the northeast near Turkmenistan and there are some of the Arabs, not a majority, but a minority of the Arabs in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan, the Ahwazi Arabs as they are called. They are, a minority of them and a significant one, are Sunnis as well. And then you have the big province in the southeast, that's Sistan and Baluchistan, and that province is majority Sunni and ethnically Baluch and already has a jihadist problem and there's cross-border terrorism that takes place where Baluch jihadist rebels go to Pakistan and then you know from there they have a sanctuary that they come in and they strike at the Iranian security forces. They've been pretty successful over the years in killing some very high-ranking IRGC commanders. So from Iran's point of view, this is a lot of vulnerability. So the Sunnis are suspect right now after what happened. I mean it's not easy and I've been to the Khomeini shrine and I can tell you that it's not something, it's not just a cake walk that you can get in there and do all this kind of stuff, let alone parliament. And so from the Iranian point of view, they feel very terrified right now because they used to think they're safe. And this is sort of really a wake-up call for them. So they're gonna go after the Sunnis. The more they go after the Sunnis, the more they are gonna create resentment, not just within their borders, but sectarian tensions are going to rise. And ISIS is going to say, see we told you, and they will have more recruits to go fight the “evil” Iranians and the “evil” Shiites. But at the same time, the Iranians do not think that this is ISIS alone. They deeply believe, at least their security establishment, and I saw a report yesterday where the Iranian intelligence minister was urging caution, saying, let's not jump to conclusions and let's not accuse the Saudis just yet. Let the investigation finish. But the security establishment and the hawks are convinced that there is, even though ISIS is involved, that there is a Saudi footprint in this attack and they'll give you evidence and they'll point to Saudi intent to undermine their country. And so they're gonna go after Saudi Arabia. They're gonna retaliate. It's horrible to predict another bombing, but if a bomb went off inside Saudi Arabia, I would not be surprised that it, you know, Iran somehow retaliated in that shape or form. I am not sure if it will. But I'm just saying that if it does that, then I wouldn't be surprised, because the Iranians, they're not going to just accept this. They have to retaliate and respond. The more they retaliate, they set into motion, they trigger a broader conflict. I am not saying the two sides are going to go to war, but it's going to an ugly proxy battle at least in the immediate future. JLS: In many ways, that proxy battle has already been going on. I think what you are talking about is going to be a real worsening of the situation and unfortunately, that's the way things are going in the Middle East right now. The last thing I want to touch on before we break is the Islamic State, because we've sort of been talking about them in a roundabout way when we talk about all these other issues, but for a long time, the Islamic State, and when I say long time I mean maybe the past two or three years, the Islamic State really has been the center of gravity I think in the Middle East. And I think one of the reasons we're seeing all of these things happening on the periphery is that the force of IS as the center of gravity is actually weakening because IS itself is actually weakening. Now I know that that doesn't mean that ISIS is going to disappear, but I think it does mean that the Islamic State as a strong territorial entity that can threaten some of the different states in the region from a conventional point of view, is actually weakening. So can you talk a little bit about what it means for the Islamic State to have come under such pressure at its capital in Raqqa and what Islamic State's activities are going to look like going forward? We know they're going to pull back a little bit and try and get strength in numbers and some strategic depth but ultimately they are outnumbered and they're outgunned. So they're probably going to have to go back to some tactics of blending back into the population and waiting really for a lot these sectarian dynamics that we're talking about right now to overwhelm the region once more so that they can take advantage of the power vacuum. KB: So I would compare what is happening to ISIS to what happened to the Taliban in Afghanistan after 9/11. They lost the cities, and for a while, they were an incoherent entity, but they weren't decimated or eliminated, they just were lying low. And they were slowly rebuilding themselves. And now they are at a point where – and I would say it's not just now, it's been the case all along, at least since 2003 – that they exist in ungoverned spaces outside the cities. See we have this perception that if you don't hold a city then you're not a serious player. That may be true at one level, but at another level, it just means that you are operating in an area where the good guys can't project power, at least not effectively, and you exist. So I think – I don't see necessarily just ISIS devolving into an insurgent movement or a terrorist organization – I think that the so-called caliphate is going to shift into a rural area. And this is not something that is a setback from an ISIS point of view, because I don't think that ISIS ever believed – I mean it's a serious player and they've been here before, it was not as big as what they have, I mean I'm talking about their holdings, but in Iraq, they have been driven out of cities before. They've been in the desert, in the rural areas, only to come back because the underlying political, economic, social circumstances really don't get addressed and its enemies start fighting with each other, providing the room for ISIS to once again revive itself. I think that it remains to be seen how quickly ISIS can be pushed out of Raqqa, pushed out of Deir al-Zour, into the desert. And even when it does go there, it's going to still have a space and the time to continue its activities, perhaps not as effectively as it has since Mosul. I think that ISIS knew this would come, ISIS did not believe that – you know, now they have Mosul, now they have Raqqa, now they have Deir al-Zour – that they're not going to see reversals. I think theirs is a very long game and they will go back and forth. And so I think that we need to be cautious when we talk about progress against ISIS. JLS: Is there anything that can be done to solve the underlying political and social circumstances that create ISIS and give ISIS fuel to continue running? KB: That would require the Iranians and the Saudis sitting at a table sharing drinks and having food, and you know that's not happening. So, if that's not happening, and I don't think that there's any power on Earth that can fix those underlying sectarian tensions. I mean if you just look at the Sunnis in Iraq. I mean, there's this big euphoria about how Mosul is no longer in ISIS hands. And I'm saying, well that is true and it is a victory and an important one. But I'm looking at a year, two years, three years down the line. The Sunnis are completely a shattered community in Iraq. They fight with each other. ISIS existed because there's no Sunni core, no Sunni mainstream in Iraq. Ωnd they're losing territory, especially now if the Kurds are moving towards independence, they'll lose territory to the Kurds. They have already lost ground to the Shiites. This is probably the first time, the price of removing ISIS from Mosul is Shiite control over Iraq's second largest city, which was majority Sunni and a majority of Sunnis and Kurds. Now you have a Shiite-dominated military force along with militias that are going to make sure that ISIS doesn't come back, and they're going to engage in some very brutal activities. And that's going to pour you know gasoline on the fire of sectarianism that's already burning. And that's, from an ISIS point of view, another opportunity to exploit and they're looking forward to it. And that's sort of the irony in all of this. JLS: Well it's not a hopeful note to end the week on but unfortunately, it's the reality. Thank you for joining us Kamran, and thank you, everyone, for listening. If you enjoyed this podcast, I encourage you to visit us at geopoliticalfutures.com. I also encourage you to email us with comments, critiques, suggestions for topics and anything else you want. You can just email us at comments@geopoliticalfutures.com. I'm Jacob Shapiro, I'm the director of analysis, and we'll see you out here next week.
On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker is joined by Massoud Shadjareh, co-founder of the Islamic Human Rights Commission.Donald Trump is taking sides in the dispute between Qatar and the rest of the Gulf monarchies, slamming Qatar in an early morning series of tweets -- but is siding with Saudi Arabia a sign of hypocrisy given Riyadh's support of Wahhabi extremism? Is Daesh on its last legs in Syria? The Syrian Democratic Forces have started their push on the city of Raqqa as the Syrian Arab Army also enters the province, liberating six villages. Kani Xulam, executive director of the American-Kurdish Information Network, joins the show. The CIA, under Donald Trump’s tenure, has appointed the notorious officer who oversaw the agency’s drone strike program, and was a major player in the CIA detention and torture campaign during the George W. Bush years, as the new head of its Iran operations, signalling an even more belligerent posture towards the country. Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst and activist, joins Brian.
In the News Politicians on both sides of the aisle and much of the U.S. news media spent most of Wednesday speculating about why President Trump dismissed James Comey as the FBI Director. Much of the speculation and assumptions involved Russia. Meanwhile, the White House deputy press secretary stated that the President lost confidence in Directory Comey and considered letting him go since the day he was elected. The President then tweeted on Wednesday that, “ Dems have been complaining for months & months about Dir. Comey. Now that he has been fired they PRETEND to be aggrieved. Phony hypocrites!” In International News A Syrian rebel group named the Syrian Democratic Forces took control of the city of Tabqa and a nearby dam from ISIS control. The rebel group is comprised of mostly Kurdish and Arab fighters. The spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve stated that the rebel group and coalition forces will continue operations to isolate and seize Raqqah. Just a reminder to check out Monday’s and Tuesday’s show for some informative context about Syria. In Business News Snap (also knows as SnapChat) reported its first quarterly financials as a public company yesterday. The stock was down over 20% in after hours trading after it was reported that the company’s net losses increased to $2.2 billion. Revenue was $150 million versus the $158 million that some analysts expected. Snap Inc.: https://otp.tools.investis.com/clients/us/snap_inc/SEC/sec-outline.aspx?FilingId=12056447&Cik=0001564408&PaperOnly=0&HasOriginal=1 On Tuesday, Disney reported their quarterly earnings. Earnings per share was $1.50 versus an analyst's’ expectation of $1.41. However, Disney missed on revenue slight with $13.34 billion versus the expected $13.45. Operating income for the Parks and Resorts saw a 20% increase versus the same period last year. However, Media Networks saw a 3% decrease year over year for the quarter. The Walt Disney Company: https://otp.tools.investis.com/clients/us/snap_inc/SEC/sec-outline.aspx?FilingId=12056447&Cik=0001564408&PaperOnly=0&HasOriginal=1 In Tech News Google announced that it is acquiring Owlchemy Labs which is a virtual reality focused studio. Owlchemy made the Job Simulator and Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality. You can learn more about Owlchemy in their blog post announcing the Google acquisition. “Owechemy Labs and Google join forces for the future of VR”: http://owlchemylabs.com/owlchemy-labs-and-google-join-forces/ The Federal Communications Commission endured several distributed denial of service attacks to its website early in the week as the site’s comment system was bombarded with high traffic, likely bots attempting to overwhelm the system. The system remained functioning, but the servers were too busy handling the traffic for actual people to leave their real comments regarding proposed changes to the net neutrality rules. To learn about cyber security, listen to yesterday’s show with our guest from the CyberWire podcast. Facebook is reporting that they are beginning to downplay links to posts that are primarily advertisements and not valuable content. Posts or articles that have ads about losing weight overnight, fighting toenail fungus, or how to be better in bed are just a few examples of the click bait and spam that Facebook wants to rank lower. In Other News Pew Research just released a report titled, “Americans’ Attitudes About the News Media Deeply Divided Along Partisan Lines.” One of the most revealing data points in the report is that Democrats are 47 points more likely than Republicans to support news media’s watchdog role. Additionally, only 34% of Democrats and 11% of Republicans think that information from national news organizations is very trustworthy. Pew Research: http://www.journalism.org/2017/05/10/americans-attitudes-about-the-news-media-deeply-divided-along-partisan-lines/
Things seem to be heating up towards a final denouement in the phony 5 year-long Syrian "civil war". Turkey recently "invaded" Syria, officially to remove the scourge of Daesh from the Turkish border and, more specifically, to contain the Kurds and their aspirations for a "Kurdistan". The US is, again officially, ok with these moves by Turkey but, oddly, US troops, several hundred (or likely thousand) of them are 'embedded' with the Kurds and the "Syrian Democratic Forces". Meanwhile, Russia...
Things seem to be heating up towards a final denouement in the phony 5 year-long Syrian "civil war". Turkey recently "invaded" Syria, officially to remove the scourge of Daesh from the Turkish border and, more specifically, to contain the Kurds and their aspirations for a "Kurdistan". The US is, again officially, ok with these moves by Turkey but, oddly, US troops, several hundred (or likely thousand) of them are 'embedded' with the Kurds and the "Syrian Democratic Forces". Meanwhile, Russia...
Things seem to be heating up towards a final denouement in the phony 5 year-long Syrian "civil war". Turkey recently "invaded" Syria, officially to remove the scourge of Daesh from the Turkish border and, more specifically, to contain the Kurds and their aspirations for a "Kurdistan". The US is, again officially, ok with these moves by Turkey but, oddly, US troops, several hundred (or likely thousand) of them are 'embedded' with the Kurds and the "Syrian Democratic Forces". Meanwhile, Russia...