Hodeida Residents Brace for the Worst as UN Truce Falters Amid Saudi Military Buildup

Local residents and analysts alike fear the Saudi-led Coalition is using the relative calm derived from the new agreement as cover to fulfill its military objectives and not as a stepping stone towards peace.

Ahmed Abdulkareem
By Ahmed Abdulkareem
Saudi Forces | Hodeida | Yemen

HODEIDA, YEMEN -- Hundreds of residents from across Yemen’s Red Sea port city of Hodeida took to the streets for the third straight day, calling on the United Nations to take action to implement a troop withdrawal deal between the Houthis and the Saudi-led Coalition that was reached on February 19th. Residents waved Yemeni flags, Kalashnikovs, and

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Hope of Hodeida Ceasefire Wanes as Saudis Talks Peace but Bolster Military Presence

For Yemenis desperate for a solution, it may be hard to believe the Saudi Coalition’s promises of a withdrawal from Hodeida after previous promises were made and subsequently broken.

Ahmed Abdulkareem
By Ahmed Abdulkareem
Yemen | Hodeida

HODEIDA, YEMEN -- Representatives from Yemen's Houthis and the Saudi-led Coalition have agreed on Phase 1 of a mutual redeployment of forces under a UN-sponsored deal that would see both sides leave Yemen’s port city of Hodeida after months of failed attempts to implement previous agreements in the Red Sea city. The UN spokesman's office said in

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US Troop Count in Syria Jumps by 50 Percent Since Trump’s “Withdrawal” Announcement

The huge amount of equipment being brought into Syria by the U.S. starts to look much more like a surge than a withdrawal when one considers that a thousand more troops have already been deployed to Syria following Trump’s troop withdrawal announcement.

Whitney Webb
By Whitney Webb
Syria | US troop withdrawal

DAMASCUS, SYRIA -- Despite having touted his plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria as recently as Sunday, the U.S. military appears to be doing the complete opposite and is instead dramatically increasing the number of U.S. troops illegally stationed in northeastern Syria. According to a report in Turkish media outlet Anadolu News, a convoy of

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Lindsey Graham Prophesies ‘Iraq on Steroids’ Syria Scenario. Israel Obliges with Attack on Damascus

Graham apparently fails to appreciate the fact, or is not paid enough to admit it, that had Washington never launched an unprovoked attack against Saddam Hussein in 2003 there would never be an Islamic State in Syria today.

Robert Bridge
By Robert Bridge
Lindsey Graham | Syria

The Republican Senator from South Carolina uttered his remarks following a series of curiously timed developments in Syria, including a terror attack in the northern city of Manbij that reportedly left four Americans dead, and ongoing Israeli attacks on Syrian territory. Graham, an outspoken critic of Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw some 2,000

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Five Days after Bolton’s Reversal, US Syrian Troop Withdrawal Sort of Back On

Though it is nearly impossible to say for sure what is really going on in the Trump administration at this point, on Friday the U.S.’ Syria policy, specifically regarding the withdrawal of U.S. troops illegally occupying part of the country, experienced what appears to be yet another drastic reversal.

Whitney Webb
By Whitney Webb
Syria US

DAMASCUS, SYRIA -- On Friday, the Trump administration’s Syria policy, specifically regarding the withdrawal of U.S. troops illegally occupying part of the country, experienced what appears to be yet another drastic reversal just days after top administration officials National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

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From “Bring Our Troops Home” to “Sykes-Picot on Acid”: Neocons Get Their Way on Trump’s Syria Policy

Everything seems to suggest that this new condition upon which troop withdrawal now hinges was intentionally set up to fail in order to ensure the enduring presence of a U.S. military occupation in a sizable portion of Syria, while saving face for the flip-flopping Trump.

Whitney Webb
By Whitney Webb
Lindsey Graham | White House

WASHINGTON -- Since it was announced a few weeks ago, President Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria has now -- unsurprisingly – morphed from an “America First” policy move into yet another “Israel First” and neoconservative-supported initiative likely to continue the U.S.’ illegal occupation Syrian territory for the foreseeable

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