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EDMUND GHAREEB, edmundghareeb at gmail.com
Available for a limited number of interviews, Ghareeb is an internationally recognized expert on the Kurds and on Iraq. His books include The Historical Dictionary of Iraq (co-authored with Beth Dougherty), The Kurdish Question in Iraq, The Kurdish Nationalist Movement and War in the Gulf which he co-authored with Majid Khadduri.

Ghareeb was the first Mustafa Barzani Scholar of Global Kurdish Studies at the Center for Global Peace at American University. He formerly taught at Georgetown University, George Washington University and the University of Virginia.

Ghareeb said today: “Where have people been? Certainly some of the recent reporting of the carnage by IS is sensationalized, but their brutality is all too real. But critically, it’s been happening for years in both Iraq and in Syria, where is should have been confronted. In Syria, ancient Christian churches were destroyed, nuns and bishops were kidnapped and priests were killed. In Syria and Iraq, many belonging to different religions, sects and nationalities were killed or forced to flee at the hands of extremists and criminals. This was widely ignored in large part because many in the region and in the west were so focused on attacking the Assad government.

“Similarly, we’re now finally seeing some denunciations of IS and its treatment of minorities and others under its control from establishment Islamic voices in the Mideast, but it’s very late. As for U.S. intervention, the danger is that it may further hurt the Iraqi people and fragment Iraq altogether in the name of this humanitarian intervention.

“There are of course other serious issues: Suppose, if 5 million Kurds in Iraq can have a state, then why can’t 22 million Kurds in Turkey and 9 million in Iran have one?”

See interview with Ghareeb by Dennis J Bernstein at Consortium News: “Iraqi Chaos May Give Kurds a State.”

EDMUND GHAREEB, edmundghareeb at gmail.com
Available for a limited number of interviews, Ghareeb is an internationally recognized expert on the Kurds and on Iraq. He said today: “The 21st Century is likely to be the Kurdish century in the Middle East. There is both great opportunity right now for the Kurds, perhaps the greatest in recent history — and serious threats.

“The taking of Kirkuk is a critical event that hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves because of ISIS’s advance. Kirkuk is especially significant for both economic reasons (oil) and cultural ones. Rival Kurdish, Turkuman and Arab claims to Kirkuk add to the complexity and volatility of the situation. Some Turkuman leaders who have in recent history looked to Turkey for protection have warned that if Kirkuk is not returned to the central government they are willing to fight for it. For the Kurds, control of Kirkuk and its oil would make the Kurdish region financially independent from Baghdad which has withheld money over a long-running dispute over the control of energy resources. It would also make an independent Kurdish state economically viable if the Kurds decide to make that decision.

“Baghdad has threatened to bring legal action against Turkey at the International Court of Arbitration. Turkey, which has it problems with the Maliki government, has been willing to help the KRG for economic and political reasons. It also seeks KRG help with its own rebellious Kurds and hopes to diversify its energy sources.

“The weakening of the Iraqi state and other changes on the ground may be a great opportunity for the Kurds to fulfill their dream of independence. In the past, divisions and overplaying their hand have been disastrous for Kurdish aspirations. … The arrival of ISIS puts pressure on the borders of the Kurdish region and in disputed areas and poses great new dangers. It threatens to bring violence, insecurity and large numbers of refugees to the generally stable Kurdish region. Limited clashes have recently occurred between the two sides.

“The KRG in Iraq has recently been exporting oil through Turkey in preparation for the moment when Iraqi Kurds may opt for independence. Oil revenue would make the Kurdish state economically viable. Such a decision is not likely to be viewed with favor in neighboring Iran and Turkey. Iran and Turkey have their own restive Kurdish populations who may want to emulate their brethren in Iraq. Turkey has over 20 million Kurds while Iran has about nine million.

“Cooperation with Turkey on oil exploration and the building of a pipeline through Turkey to carry it to external markets has been beneficial to the governments of Turkey and the Kurdish region. The Turkish government has been silent on Kirkuk. In the past it took a strong stance against such a Kurdish advance, in part because of concern for the Turkuman. It is possible that oil changed that equation. Given the Iraqi government’s weakness, it can’t do much to dissuade Turkey from exploring for oil in the Kurdish region, or on building oil pipelines through Turkey and in selling the oil imported from the KRG.

“However, there are Turkish critics of Prime Minister Erdoğan who argue that he is being very short sighted: if there can be an independent Kurdish state in what is now Iraq with 5 million Kurds, then why not one in what is now Turkey with over 20 million Kurds?

“The KRG has denied reports that it sold oil to Israel. That is another risk on their part — such a move could have negative consequences with Arabs that could come back to haunt the Kurds.

“Keep in mind that even within Iraq, Kurds are hardly homogeneous. Some Kurdish youth, especially from around Halabja, have actually joined or allied with ISIS. This is for several reasons: This is an especially religiously conservative area historically and of course, Kurds are mostly Sunni. You had Kurds from the area join in the ‘Afghan Arabs’ fighting in Afghanistan in the 80s. In addition, this area has not benefited economically and you have a great deal of unemployment among the youth.

“So there’s a confluence of events — a possible confrontation with ISIS even as the Kurdish-Shia alliance is fraying and there may be an opening in Sunni-Kurdish relations. Kurdish leaders face hard choices, which are likely to affect the country’s survival as a unified state. They can opt to work with other Iraqis to build a democratic and stable Iraq or to go their own way. Either choice will have significant impact for Iraq and the region.”

Ghareeb was the first Mustafa Barzani Scholar of Global Kurdish Studies at the Center for Global Peace at American University. He formerly taught at George Washington University. His books include The Historical Dictionary of Iraq (co-authored with Beth Dougherty), The Kurdish Question in Iraq, The Kurdish Nationalist Movement and War in the Gulf which he co-authored with Majid Khadduri.

RAED JARRAR
Jarrar is an Iraq blogger currently in Jordan. He said today: “The situation with the constitution is similar to that of the election earlier this year. Iraq needs to have elections, it needs a constitution, but you can’t have these things done successfully under occupation. The basis of how things are proceeding is wrong, so you end up with disastrous results. … Iraq is not a safe place for expressing your opinions right now, whatever that opinion may be. Iraq has turned from being a place where you can be killed because you have a different opinion, to a place where you can be killed if you have an opinion.”
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HOUZAN MAHMOUD
Mahmoud is the U.K. head of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq. She said today: “Bush says this is for freedom, but look at women’s rights. The constitutional committee is laying the groundwork for an Islamic state with Sharia law, which would be many steps back from what we had. Why should we now be looking to go back hundreds of years to Sharia law? … A constitution being put together under occupation and with daily suicide bombings and terrorist attacks lacks legitimacy. This is just another step towards attempting to give legitimacy to the current puppet regime in power. This constitutional process is dividing Iraqis into religious sects and on a tribal basis. We’ve never had that as part of our constitutional process before.”
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ANTONIA JUHASZ
Juhasz is a Foreign Policy In Focus scholar and the author of the forthcoming book, The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time. She has written several pieces on Iraq including “Of Oil And Elections” and “The Hand-Over that Wasn’t.” She said today: “In accordance with the Bush administration’s economic agenda for Iraq, a great deal has remained entirely off the table in the debate over Iraq’s new constitution. While drafters debate regional versus national government control of oil, a new national oil law is moving rapidly forward, setting the precedent for not only national, but also foreign corporate control. Orders with the effect of law put in place in Iraq over a year ago by Bush envoy L. Paul Bremer designed to ‘transition [Iraq] from a … centrally planned economy to a market economy’ remain firmly in place and untouched by the new constitution — transforming Iraq’s banking, investment, patent, foreign and private ownership, tax, media and trade laws. The constitution also leaves the U.S. in control of the reconstruction and both the U.S. military and economic occupation firmly in place.”
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VERA BEAUDIN SAEEDPOUR
Editor of Kurdish Life and founder of the Kurdish Library, Saeedpour said today: “Those who continue to complain that the U.S. had no plan for post-invasion Iraq know not of what they speak. In 1991 the plan cobbled together by officials of then-President Bush and Turkey’s Prime Minister Turgut Ozal envisioned the division of Iraq internally into three parts: a Kurdish north, a Turkmen region of Kirkuk and environs, with leftovers for the Arab population of Iraq. As fate would have it, the best laid plans often go awry. Turkey’s Prime Minister Turgut Ozal didn’t plan on dying nor did President Bush plan on losing re-election. Since then the plan was revised to a Kurdish north, a Sunni midsection and a Shiite south.

“It was visible in the U.S. configuration of the no-fly zones in the wake of the first Gulf War under the Clinton administration. It was visible from the outset of the U.S. invasion in Bush administration designations of the people of Iraq in terms of Kurd, Shi’a and Sunni. It was cemented into the U.S.-crafted Interim Constitution. And it comes to fruition in the new Constitution ‘negotiated’ now. Be sure that with only minor, cosmetic changes, and according to U.S. plan, the new one will be a replica of the old one.

“That the so-called constitutional committee is feverishly rushing to meet an arbitrary August 15 deadline set by Washington in the Interim document is further indication that the U.S. plan has proceeded apace, with only trivial discomforts along the way, as could be expected. What those who monitor this sad episode ought to realize by now is that there is no authentically sovereign government of Iraq. Nor will there be. With a virtually independent Iraqi Kurdistan which must remain within Iraq, as Washington’s plan demands, the U.S. will have the best of both worlds: using Kurds as the conduit through which to rule Baghdad; and using Iraqi Kurdistan as a base from which to incite Kurds in neighboring Iran and Syria as one utility in the service of bringing about ‘regime change’ in both countries. Meanwhile the Kurds dream that their current status represents a step in the road to a greater Kurdistan. Quite the opposite. They will continue to die in the service of a new master.”

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

EDMUND GHAREEB
Professor of Kurdish and Middle East Studies at American University, Ghareeb is author of The Historical Dictionary of Iraq. He said today: “Along with Massoud Barzani, Jalal Talabani has been the most prominent Kurdish leader for decades. This is a landmark step for the long-suppressed Kurdish minority. It signals the unity and territorial integrity of Iraq. It sends a signal to Arab opinion within Iraq — and the neighboring states — that the Kurds intend to remain in Iraq. It is also significant for the unity of the Kurds within Iraq that Talabani was backed by the two major Kurdish factions. Now the critical issues: How to be inclusive, what kind of constitution to have, the role of Islam, the basic issues of lack of fundamental services, crime, unemployment and crucially the role of the U.S. forces and a deadline for their departure, as some groups in Iraq are calling for, must be dealt with.”

VERA BEAUDIN SAEEDPOUR
Founder of the Kurdish Library and the Kurdish Museum, and editor of Kurdish Life, Saeedpour said today: “‘There are some tendencies for independent Kurdistan, but I believe that I will overcome these as our influence increases. I was a Kurdish Iraqi, now I will be an Iraqi Kurd.’ This quote from [the Turkish newspaper] Zaman (2/27/05) was the latest in a string of Jalal Talabani’s epiphanies. Back in 1991 the New York Times reported that he told reporters the ‘Kurdish parties no longer regarded Kirkuk as an integral part of Iraqi Kurdistan.’ (5/3/91) That he becomes president, not of Kurdistan, but of Iraq, while 1.7 million Kurds petitioned the UN for a referendum on Kurdish independence from Iraq — is yet another sign of his life and times. In fact, the March annual meeting of the Kurdish National Congress in Nashville titled the conference, ‘Kurdish Independence, Democracy and Regional Stability’ and noted in its actions: ‘The referendum represents the aspiration and the goal of the Kurdish people in Southern Kurdistan’ (read northern Iraq). This [was] based on the illusion that independence or virtual independence for the Iraqi Kurdistan will be replicated in Iran, Syria and Turkey.”

Saeedpour added: “Neither Talabani nor any Kurdish leader will diminish, no less defeat, Kurdish aspirations.

“I conducted a detailed survey of Kurdish aspirations in 1990 and learned that irrespective of their location and irrespective of whether they couched their demands in terms of autonomy, or federation, their aim was an independent greater Kurdistan. And Talabani knows it. Unfortunately, the Kurds have not developed either program or process to achieve it.

“Instead they rely, as they are wont to do, totally on the ‘kindness’ of strangers. Since the first Gulf war, under Bush I the U.S. determined to divide Iraq, not externally, but internally. The strategic location of the Kurdish north and its connections to restive Kurds in neighboring Iran and Syria, and Turkey, renders Iraqi Kurdistan invaluable as a base from which to influence events in the region. Moreover, Iraqi Kurdistan will provide Israel with its first outpost of influence in the Middle East. All that has transpired vis-a-vis the Iraqi Kurds since then has served to generate the status quo, not only to provide the Kurds with ‘virtual’ independence, but to use them as the conduit through which the U.S. controls Baghdad as well.”

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

With Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan now a prisoner in Turkey, the global spotlight is on the Kurds. In the United States, interviews are available with these analysts who can shed light on Kurdish perspectives:

VERA BEAUDIN SAEEDPOUR
Founder of the Kurdish Library and the Kurdish Museum, and editor of Kurdish Life and International Journal of Kurdish Studies, Ms. Saeedpour said: “While the U.S. is attacking Iraq almost daily in its self-declared `no-fly zones,’ saying that it does so because it cares about the Kurds, it is backing Turkey in its attacks against the Kurds. Turkey has destroyed, drowned villages with dams. They deny or punish any manifestation of Kurdish identity, yet Clinton has called Turkey a `shining example to the world of the virtues of cultural diversity.’ Kurdish parliamentarians are in prison for their words, some spoken in the U.S. The Iraqi Kurds, under U.S. pressure, have helped Turkey in its attacks on the Turkish Kurds. European countries didn’t give Ocalan safe-haven because of the pressure from Turkey and the U.S., which insisted that Ocalan face justice in Turkey; but there isn’t any justice for a Kurd in Turkey. Ocalan asked for an international trial in Europe, but Turkey refused since they didn’t want their Kurdish policy to get any scrutiny.”

KANI XULAM
Director of the American Kurdish Information Network, Mr. Xulam said: “There’s a war against the Kurdish people in Turkey. Turkey gets its helicopters and jet fighters from the U.S. and Europe. If it didn’t get these weapons, it would have made peace. But as it is, Ocalan’s repeated offers for dialogue and cease-fires were ignored. When you don’t have talks, more violence ensues. Kurdish fighters — thousands of them — may fight to the bitter end.”
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ASLI AYDINTASBAS,
Correspondent for the mainstream Turkish daily Radikal who has specialized in Kurdish issues, Ms. Aydintasbas said that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) “has been trying to gain European legitimacy, to change their image as a militant organization and has a wide grassroots network in Europe. Lately, they have been using the ANC as a model…. This arrest is a blow to the PKK, which continues a revolt in Southeastern Turkey.”

HUSSEIN AKTAS
A molecular biologist at Harvard University and former president of the American Kurdish Society of Boston, Mr. Aktas said: “The Kurds are in several countries and that was planned by Britain. If you have a problem with Iraq, you can use them against Iraq, same for Iran and Turkey…. There are millions of Kurds who have been displaced from their homes since 1993 in Turkey — hundreds of thousands of people have been tortured. None of the neighboring countries have even thought of denying Kurdish identity, as Turkey has done.”

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy: Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

Reuters reports: “The United States, Britain and France plan to raise alleged Iranian arms transfers to Russia at a closed-door U.N. Security Council meeting on Wednesday, diplomats said, after Kyiv accused Moscow of using Iranian-origin drones against civilian targets.”

KATHY KELLY, kathy.vcnv@gmail.com, @voiceinwild

NICK MOTTERN, , nickmottern@gmail.com, @dronesban

Kelly and Mottern are with BanKillerDrones which just posted an open letter to UN Secretary General 

António Guterres pleading with him to “seize this moment of public clarity, to demand a total halt to the use of weaponized drones in the Ukraine War and globally, where killer drones are being used by a number of nations to hunt and kill, notably of late, in Gaza, Ethiopia, Somali, Syria and Kurdish regions. This is the moment to stop the spreading scourge of slaughter and terror by weaponized drones.

“Killer drones are a particularly inhumane type of warfare with high error rates causing the deaths of civilians. Moreover, killer drones seek to desensitize us from war, make war seem ‘easier’ and thereby increase the chances of yet more wars. This is something we must never allow to happen.

“As you know, drone warfare is not bringing peace but extending war, for example, in Ethiopia, where drones provided to the Ethiopian central government are extending and expanded attacks against the Tigray people. We are sure that you have seen this comment by Steven Ratner, a member of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia, when the commission released its report in September of this year:

‘The Ethiopian military’s increasing use of drones to conduct airstrikes over the last year has changed the conflict landscape. In theory, drones should allow for more precise targeting of military objectives; however, our investigation indicates that their use has exposed civilians to new and heightened risks. Our findings are especially concerning given reports of airstrikes in Tigray since August, which have killed and injured civilians, including children.’

“Now, while the conscience of the world is alerted, is the time to call for an international ban on weaponized drones and an immediate halt in their use.”

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:

Sam Husseini, David Zupan,
October 19, 2022

Institute for Public Accuracy

accuracy.org * ipa@accuracy.org
@accuracy * ipaccuracy

CHARLES GLASS, [currently in Italy] charlesglassbooks at gmail.com, @charlesmglass
Glass is a noted journalist who has covered the Mideast for decades. His books include Syria Burning: A Short History of a Catastrophe. He said today: “The Syrian Kurds trusted the U.S. and are paying for it, as Iraq’s Kurds did in 1975 and 1991. They kept their lines open to Assad all along, so the new alliance was their only option. It remains to be seen whether Syria’s weaker, albeit battle experienced, army is a match for Turkey’s much larger armed forces with their NATO weapons and Russian air defense. Russia may broker some arrangement to turn over large areas to Assad while letting Erdogan hang onto his border corridor.” See his website for more material: charlesglass.net.

KANI XULAM, kani at kurdistan.org, @akininfo
Xulam is director of the American Kurdish Information Network.

REESE ERLICH, reeseerlich at yahoo.com, @ReeseErlich
Erlich’s writes the syndicated column “Foreign Correspondent.” He recently wrote the piece “Turkey Plans an Attack on Syrian Kurds,” which was published by The Progressive.

EDMUND GHAREEB, edmundghareeb at gmail.com
Ghareeb is an internationally recognized scholar on the Kurds and on Iraq. He teaches at American University. His books include The Kurdish Nationalist Movement. He was just recently interviewed by The Real News.

The Guardian reports: “Latest betrayal of Kurds risks undermining defeat of ISIS.”

NPR reports: “More Than 100 Killed And Thousands Injured In Anti-Government Protests In Iraq.”

EDMUND GHAREEB, edmundghareeb at gmail.com
Ghareeb is an internationally recognized scholar on the Kurds and on Iraq. He teaches at American University. His books include The Kurdish Nationalist Movement, The Kurdish Question in Iraq and War in the Gulf which he co-authored with Majid Khadduri.

KANI XULAM, kani at kurdistan.org, @akininfo
Xulam is director of the American Kurdish Information Network. He said today: “One word describes President Trump’s decision to withdraw from Syria. Perhaps he loves and thrives on chaos, which will be its upshot. [Turkish leader Recep] Erdogan, alas, watched Islamic State grow into a threat to the Middle East and the world. Kurds and their Arab allies waged an existential war to rid the world of this menace. Instead of thanking the Kurds and their allies, we are now going to witness their slaughter in the hands of the Turkish army. It is a disaster in the making with ramifications for the world.”

See accuracy.org news release from 2016: “Turkey’s Hidden War Against the Kurds,” which cites the work of Robert Worth in the New York Times Magazine.

See: “A Brief History of American Betrayal of the Kurds” at ZNet from 2016 and “The Politics of Betrayal: Obama Backstabs Kurds to Appease Turkey” at Counterpunch from 2015.

The New York Times is reporting: “A Newly Assertive CIA Expands Its Taliban Hunt in Afghanistan.” The Washington Post reports today: “Secretary of State Rex Tillerson makes unannounced trip to Afghanistan.” “Democracy Now” reports: “Suicide Attacks in Afghanistan Cap Bloody Week in Which 250 Killed.” Also see IPA news release: “Assessing Karzai’s Charge of U.S. Backing ISIS in Afghanistan.”

MATTHEW HOH, matthew_hoh at riseup.net
Available for a very limited number of interviews, Matthew Hoh is a member of the advisory boards of Expose Facts, Veterans For Peace and World Beyond War. In 2009 he resigned his position with the State Department in Afghanistan in protest of the escalation of the Afghan War by the Obama administration. He previously had been in Iraq with a State Department team and with the U.S. Marines. He is a senior fellow with the Center for International Policy.

He said today: “These CIA teams in Afghanistan are not just reminiscent of the Operation Phoenix program in Vietnam, the death squads of Central America and the Shia torture and murder militias of Baghdad, they are the direct descendants of them. The CIA is continuing a long tradition of utilizing savage violence by indigenous government forces, in this case along sectarian/ethnic lines, in an attempt to demoralize and ultimately defeat local populations. The results will assuredly be the same: war crimes, mass murder, torture and the terrorization of entire communities of men, women and children in their own homes. This will lead to more support for the Taliban and a deepening of the war in Afghanistan. The CIA should ask itself, where has this worked before?

“This escalation by the CIA in Afghanistan fits into the broader war campaign of the United States in the Muslim world as the United States, despite its protestations of wanting negotiations and ultimately peace, turns areas not under the control of its proxy government into large swathes of free fire zones as it punishes and attempts to subjugate populations not under its control. Iraq’s campaign in the Euphrates and Tigris River valleys, the Kurdish campaign in western Syria and the Saudi and UAE campaign against the Houtis in Yemen have been devastating and vicious assaults on populations, critical infrastructure and housing, that coupled with nighttime commando raids that terrorize entire villages and neighborhoods, look not to bring a political settlement, reconciliation or peace, but rather subjugate, along ethnic and sectarian lines, entire population groups to achieve American political desires in the Muslim world.

“This CIA program of using Afghan militias to conduct commando raids, the vast majority of which will be used against civilians despite what the CIA states, falls in line with American plans to escalate the use of air and artillery strikes against the Afghan people in Taliban-held areas, almost all of whom are Pashtuns. Again, the purpose of this campaign is not to achieve a political settlement or reconciliation, but to brutally subjugate and punish the people, mostly rural Pashtuns, who support the Taliban and will not give in to the corrupt American run government in Kabul.”

President Donald Trump tweeted late Monday: “The Amazon Washington Post fabricated the facts on my ending massive, dangerous, and wasteful payments to Syrian rebels fighting Assad…..” The British Independent reports “Donald Trump confirms covert CIA programme in Syria on Twitter.”

The Washington Post recently ran a piece by Michael G. Vickers, formerly of the CIA, “The Trump administration should not give up on removing Assad in Syria.” Vickers writes: “President Ronald Reagan understood the potential of covert proxy wars to alter global power balances. Through stepped-up support for the Afghan mujahideen and other anti-Communist movements, and other, complementary strategic policies, he won the Cold War. It took the Carter and Reagan administrations more than five years to come up with a war-winning strategy (work that I helped to lead as a CIA officer) against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. The same could be done in Syria today.”

In 2013, Ivan Eland wrote the piece “Hold U.S. Policymakers to Their Abysmal Record on Foreign Meddling,” precisely warning of a repeat in Syria: “In a situation similar to today’s Syria, U.S. weapons supplies to Afghan rebels fighting the Soviets went to the most radical groups, leading to the rise of al Qaeda and the Taliban, the 9/11 attacks, and ultimately the Afghan bog in which the United States now finds itself.”

IVAN ELAND, ieland at independent.org, @Ivan_Eland
Eland is senior fellow and director of the Center on Peace & Liberty at the Independent Institute. His books include Putting “Defense” Back into U.S. Defense Policy.

He said today: “The problem with funding non-governmental fighting groups in Syria has always been one of shifting alliances and also the capture of U.S. war materiel by hostile terror groups. President Obama was leery of getting more involved in the chaotic, multi-sided civil war in Syria for exactly this reason. Yet he did fund and arm groups against the Assad government and also groups going after ISIS.

“President Trump has wisely ended aid to the anti-Assad groups, but whether they will now turn on the United States is unclear. Unfortunately, he has doubled down on support for the Kurdish-Arab coalition fighting ISIS. Where these arms will eventually end up is anyone’s guess. Even if ISIS is defeated, what is next? Will Trump allow Iranian-backed militias and Assad’s forces to take over territory that ISIS has abandoned or increase supplies for the Kurds/Arabs to fight them? If the Syrian forces and militias defeat the Kurds/Arabs, will they be made stronger by capturing U.S. war materiel? The next civil war in Syria may drag in both Russia and the United States supporting opposing sides — with the potential for escalation between two nuclear powers always in the background.”

Eland’s most recent piece warns of troop escalations in Afghanistan and Syria: “Trump’s Slide into Endless-War Syndrome.”

The Daily Beast recently reported: “Turkey Leaks Secret Locations of U.S. Troops in Syria.”

Also, see: “The CIA, Amazon, Bezos and the Washington Post.”