Interview: Ousting the Brutal Assad Regime Brings Euphoria and More Questions admin, December 12, 2024December 12, 2024 Counterpunch Interview of Stephen Zunes Dec. 11, 2024by Daniel Falcone. “There are indications it was unarmed civil resistance led by resurgent popular committees and local councils, which initially came to the fore in the early nonviolent phase of the revolution 2011, that actually wrested control of much of the local… Continue Reading
TV 4 Interviews on Syria & Ouster of Assad, December 2024 admin, December 12, 2024December 12, 2024 Fox-2/KTVU: Russia grants asylum to ousted Syrian leader And 3 more aired on Al Jazeera Media View, December 2024: US has carried out air strikes on 75 ISIL targets throughout Syria Thousands celebrate in Damascus Assad’s leaving the capital Damascus Plus a one-minute excerpt gone viral. Continue Reading
Syria Background: Zunes’ Articles, Interviews & Videos Since 2011 Arab Spring admin, December 12, 2024January 6, 2025 From Gaza to Aleppo: A Handy Guide for Defending War Crimes: This article notes the remarkable parallel in the language used by those defending war crimes by the Assad regime and war crimes by Israel Here’s an analysis also from 2016 regarding the state of the conflict and U.S. policy:… Continue Reading
Lectures & 11 Interviews Nov. 2024 on Trump’s Election & the Middle East admin, December 7, 2024December 12, 2024 First view Dr. Zunes’ 5-minute animated summary of his research on coup resistance; then his Lecture at the University of San Francisco on how to prepare for the aftermath of the election in the event of an attempted coup or legitimate victory by Trump. Lecture before the Unitarian Universalists of… Continue Reading
The Pentagon Doesn’t Care About Civilian Casualties admin, November 26, 2021August 15, 2024 In August 2019, thousands of refugees, prisoners, and families of ISIS fighters crowded into an encampment in the border town of Baghuz in eastern Syria, one of the last territories controlled by the so-called Islamic State. The United States, supported on the ground by an allied Kurdish and Arab militia, launched a massive air assault on the enclave. Continue Reading
If Biden Wants to Protect Troops, He Should Bring Them Home — Not Bomb Syria admin, March 2, 2021May 20, 2024 Truthout, March 2, 2021: The US has bombed Syria more than 20,000 times over the past eight years, so last week’s attack on a border post in northeastern Syria, which killed 22 militiamen and apparently no civilians, may not seem surprising to some… it is nevertheless disappointing that President Biden… Continue Reading
Biden Bombs Iran-Backed Militias in Syria admin, February 25, 2021March 16, 2024 Item is no longer available. [Find best related links.] Continue Reading
This Isn’t the First Time the US Has Abandoned the Kurds admin, October 10, 2019August 14, 2024 President Trump’s decision to give a green light for a Turkish invasion of Kurdish-populated regions of northern Syria has been faced with swift bipartisan opposition Continue Reading
Despite Everything, U.S. Troops Should Leave Syria admin, January 3, 2019May 22, 2024 Z Network, January 4, 2019: Donald Trump’s sudden decision to remove U.S. forces from Syria appears to have been impetuous and ill-considered — apparently a result of a conversation with Turkey’s autocratic president Recep Erdogan. That doesn’t mean, however, that the United States should remain in that country… Continue Reading
History Shows Hypocrisy of US Outrage Over Chemical Weapons in Syria admin, April 24, 2018August 14, 2024 Truthout April 24, 2018: There are serious legal and strategic concerns regarding the decision by the U.S., along with France and Great Britain, to bomb Syria in response to its alleged use of chemical weapons in Douma… Continue Reading
News on Syria? Why Are Left Activists Falling For Fake News On Syria? admin, April 18, 2018August 14, 2024 ‘ On Rising Up with Sonali April 18, 2018: After President Donald Trump declared “Mission Accomplished” in Syria in the wake of US air strikes last week, the question about the veracity of reports on the chemical attack in Douma has taken on a new urgency. Inspectors with the Organization… Continue Reading
Interview: Stephen Zunes Explains AAR panel cancellation & Trump’s Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital admin, April 17, 2018September 1, 2024 Global Journal of Peace Research and PraxisVolume 2, Number 1 (Spring 2018)Dr. Stephen Zunes discussed his views on the abrupt cancellation of a panel he was scheduled to participate in at the 2017 American Academy of Religion’s annual conference. President Trump’s recent decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has… Continue Reading
Why the United States Can’t Lead on Syria’s Chemical Weapons Atrocities admin, April 11, 2018August 14, 2024 The Progressive April 11, 2018: The repeated use of these horrific and illegal weapons by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s repressive regime deserves a strong international response. Unfortunately, given its history of politicizing the issue, the U.S. is in no position to lead… Continue Reading
With ISIS In Retreat Why is the Syria War Expanding? admin, February 14, 2018August 14, 2024 Rising Up with Sonali, February 14, 2018: Instead of the Syrian war winding down, there seems to be an escalation involving an ever-growing number of countries: Iran, Turkey, Russia, Israel, the U.S…. Continue Reading
Trump Bombs Syria: Now What? admin, April 13, 2017July 7, 2024 [This item’s no longer available] Continue Reading
Syria: What You Need to Know admin, April 13, 2017August 14, 2024 WORT-FM April 17, 2017 (57 mins.): Last week, Syria launched a chemical weapons attack, killing more than 80 people. President Trump responded with an ordered airstrike on a Syrian airbase. What led to this conflict? What participants are in play, and what do we need to know? Continue Reading
Trump’s Dangerous and Cynical Attack on Syria admin, April 12, 2017August 14, 2024 The Progressive & Huffington Post April 7, 2017: Trump’s proposed budget would make major cuts to programs that provided relief to Syrian refugees and has tried to bar any refugees from entering the U.S. Continue Reading
Why These Missile Strikes Won’t Make Things Better for the Syrian People admin, April 7, 2017August 14, 2024 YES! Magazine, Common Dreams & Huffington Post April 7, 2017 The U.S. bombing of Syria’s Al Shayrat air base has brought more death and destruction to that country and is unlikely to deter additional war crimes by the Syrian regime. It will not ease the suffering of the Syrian people…. Continue Reading
Trump Alludes To Force In Responding To Syria Chemical Attack admin, April 6, 2017July 7, 2024 More than a hundred people were killed in a chemical attack in Khan Shaikhoun, Syria this week. Among the dead are a dozen or so children. Turkish doctors have conducted autopsies confirming that chemical weapons were used in the worst such attack in years. [This item’s no longer available.] Continue Reading