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Syria

Israel Isn’t Leaving Syria: Settlement Plans Signal A Permanent Land Grab

January 23, 2025 Jessica Buxbaum, Mintpress News. , , , ,
Israel wasted no time following the abrupt collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria. Within hours of Assad’s fall on December 8, 2024, Israeli forces seized the buffer zone separating the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from the rest of Syria. They raised Israel’s flag atop Mount Hermon. More than a month later, Israeli troops remain stationed in the United Nations-patrolled area — raiding government buildings and summoning residents for questioning — all the while alleging its presence is necessary to secure Israel’s border as the balance of power shifts in Syria.

Hyperimperialism, The Fall Of Syria And Capitalist Gangsters

January 21, 2025 Mnar Adley, MintPress News. , , , , , , , , , , ,
As 2025 begins, California is on fire. And it feels like much of the rest of the world is burning, too. From the slaughter in the Middle East to a new Cold War brewing in Asia, everywhere we look is filled with uncertainty. At home, the California wildfires have exposed much of the true face of capitalism. From prison laborers risking their lives for pennies by fighting the blazes to massive price hikes for rents in Southern California, the U.S. is crumbling. Yet externally, America is as aggressive as ever. Only last month, it helped force through a coup against the Assad government in Syria, and Trump has made noises about using force against Panama, Greenland, and has threatened Canada, Cuba, Venezuela and other nations in the Global South.

The Resistance In West Asia Is Not Dead

January 17, 2025 Mnar Adley, MintPress News. , , ,
The coming year is promising to be a crucial one in the history of West Asia. Just weeks have passed since the ouster of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and his replacement with pro-Western leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani. Syria was a key member of the so-called “Axis of Resistance” – a coalition of actors opposing Israel and its actions. What will Assad’s departure mean for the resistance against Israel, especially given Jolani’s overt friendliness with Tel Aviv? Given their new government, what is in store for Lebanon and Hezbollah now? And how about Iraq and Yemen?

A History Of Foreign Intrigue In Lebanon

January 16, 2025 As'ad AbuKhalil, Consortium News. , , , ,
Finally, after two years and two months of a presidential vacuum, Lebanon has a new president. Western media coverage misses the essential point about the presidency of Lebanon: after the reforms of the Taif agreement in 1989, officially known as the National Reconciliation Accord, the Lebanese president lost his powers. A look back at the history shows that the Lebanese president is now largely a token ruler who does not actually rule. Before the Taif accords, which ended the 15-year Lebanese civil war, the Lebanese president was an absolutist who couldn’t be held accountable for his actions and ruled by decree.

No Popular Revolution Is Launched With Imperialism’s Backing

January 11, 2025 Bahman Azad, Workers.org. , , ,
After more than a decade of military occupation, imposition of civil war and deadly economic sanctions by U.S. imperialism and its regional allies, the legitimate government of Syria was finally brought to its knees and a rebranded group of terrorists occupied Damascus and implemented imperialism’s long-term plan for regime change in Syria; an act which could not have been possible without direct military assistance of the U.S. and Israel and support from Türkiye and the reactionary regimes of the region. The rapid collapse of the Syrian government has led many who do not have a proper understanding of imperialism’s objectives and the historical global trends — and who base their assessments and analyses only on momentary and transient events — to blame Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian government for the present defeat.

Biden To Keep Terrorist Designation On ‘Rebels’ Controlling Syria

January 11, 2025 News Desk, The Cradle. , , ,
Outgoing US President Joe Biden will not lift the terrorist designation of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) US officials revealed on 8 January, leaving the decision to the government of President-elect Donald Trump. Senior officials who spoke with the Washington Post said HTS “must demonstrate they have made a clean break with extremist groups, in particular Al-Qaeda before the label can be lifted.” “Actions will speak louder than words,” an unnamed official told the US daily. According to the reports, Washington has “lingering concerns” after Syria's de facto new ruler Ahmad al-Sharaa – the former deputy commander of ISIS and founder of Al-Qaeda in Syria – green-lighted the promotion of foreign extremists to the ranks of officers in the newly formed armed forces.

Twisting The Terrorism Narrative

January 8, 2025 Craig Murray, Consortium News. , , , , , , , , ,
There was absolutely nothing stopping them. But not one single member of Western mainstream media ever visited a bomb site in Lebanon to verify whether Israeli claims it was a Hezbollah base or missile site were true because they knew the answer is negative, as I found across dozens of bomb sites, and that is not the narrative they are paid to promote. But when a narrative they are paid to promote came to the fore, they flocked to Damascus – driving right past the bombed civilian homes, ambulance centres and schools of Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley to get there – to promote Syria’s new Israel-, U.S.A- and Turkey-sponsored “democratic” government of entirely “reformed” HTS (Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham) Wahhabists.

Will The Cuban Revolution Survive The Storm Of 2025?

January 7, 2025 Danny Shaw, The Grayzone. , , , , , , , , ,
On January 1, Cuba officially joined the international grouping known as BRICS, as one of 13 nations incorporated as “partner states.” The date, which coincides with the 66th anniversary of the triumph of their revolution, could mark a turning point for the beleaguered socialist state. But unless the country’s leaders embrace a strategic fiscal shift in the face of an asphyxiating US blockade, the prospect of state collapse – and the unraveling of over a half century of revolutionary social development – can not be dismissed.

Fighting Between North Syria Kurds, Turkey-Backed Fighters Escalates

January 6, 2025 Jason Ditz, Antiwar.com. , , ,
Since the Syrian regime change, there has been almost constant fighting between the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and the US-backed Kurdish SDF. That fighting is escalating precipitously, with over 100 combatants killed over the last 48 hours, and no signs of the fight slowing down. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 85 SNA fighters killed in that span of time, along with 16 SDF fighters. Turkey’s own Defense Ministry claimed they had “neutralized” 32 Kurds across the north, but didn’t offer specific details.

Abductions, Extra-Judicial Killings Mount In Syria Under HTS Rule

January 1, 2025 News Desk, The Cradle. , , ,
Nine civilians were kidnapped and executed by unknown gunmen in the Syrian cities of Homs and Jableh, as revenge killings continue in the wake of President Bashar al-Assad's ousting earlier this month, Sputnik News reported on 31 December. Local sources speaking with Sputnik stated that "six civilians were kidnapped in the Abbasiya neighborhood in the city of Homs on 29 December by unknown gunmen. Their bodies were found after they were executed by firing squad on the outskirts of the city of Homs. Five of them were from the same family."

How USAID Paved The Way For Syria’s Jihadist Takeover

December 26, 2024 Alexander Rubinstein, MintPress News. , , , , ,
As the designated terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) establishes its proto-government in Idlib, notoriously corrupt NGOs are stepping in to fill the gaps in public services, with some even defecting to work alongside the group. The United States, which spent two decades and $5.4 trillion overthrowing governments hostile to al-Qaeda, now finds itself in a paradoxical position. Modern al-Qaeda has carved out its own quasi-state in Syria, yet remains on the U.S. list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. To characterize this as a foreign policy misstep would be reductive; the U.S. has actively facilitated HTS’s conquest of parts of Syria while maintaining its official terrorist designation.

US Military Supported Syrian Rebel Offensive That Toppled Assad

December 23, 2024 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. , , , , ,
Syrian rebel commanders have boasted that the US military helped them overthrow the government of Bashar al-Assad. They acknowledged this in a report published by major British newspaper The Telegraph, titled “US ‘prepared Syrian rebel group to help topple Bashar al-Assad’”. The article revealed that a rebel group armed, trained, and funded by the United States, based in the south of Syria, collaborated with rebranded al-Qaeda in the north to jointly topple the Syrian government. According to the report, the US military helped to create a Syrian militia called the Revolutionary Commando Army (RCA).

Syria’s Fall And Anti-Imperialist Lessons

December 22, 2024 Essam Elkorghli, Black Agenda Report. , , ,
The fast-paced unfolding of events that took place in Syria shook everyone, including the regime change and color revolution enthusiasts who hoped to destroy Syria only to deliver it on a golden plate to the Zionist entity to annex massive swaths of lands. The forceful overthrow of the government in Syria represents a colossal defeat to the Pan-Arabists in the region and those who center the Palestinian national liberation cause. This is not a rhetorical exaggeration; the demise of Syria will have direct consequences on the Axis of Resistance — given that the land bridge (Iran-Iraq-Syria-Lebanon) has been undermined — and the interconnected struggle against imperialist zionism.

Has The Resistance In West Asia Been Defeated?

December 21, 2024 Sergio Rodriguez Gelfenstein, Workers World. , , , , ,
The situation in Syria has generated more questions than answers. Some ten days after the seizure of power by the terrorists, there are still no clear ideas as to what will happen. Three powers are occupying parts of Syria: the United States, Israel and Türkiye. The new government has made not the slightest move to prevent this occupation. Today the new regime is complicit in the partition of its country, the destruction of its sovereignty and the disappearance of the Syrian state. Undoubtedly in the tactical sense, Israel, Türkiye and the United States are winners following the collapse of the regime of Bashir al-Assad.

How To Understand The Change Of Government In Syria

December 20, 2024 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. , , ,
Just over a decade ago, Assad’s government remained in power largely because of support from Iran and Russia, but also because of the involvement – to a lesser extent – of neighbouring Iraq and Hezbollah (Lebanon). Assad did not have the stomach for the contest. He became president in 2000 after the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad, who took office through a military coup in 1971. Bashar al-Assad had a privileged upbringing and studied to be an ophthalmologist in the United Kingdom. When the rebel armies neared Damascus in December of this year, Assad fled to Moscow with his family, claiming that he wanted to retire from politics and resume his career as an ophthalmologist.
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