Is the US-Kurdish Alliance Over? New Agreement Between Kurds and Assad Could Spell End for U.S. Role in Syria

The agreement came as a result of recent negotiations between Kurdish and Syrian government officials in both Damascus and Qamishli.

Whitney Webb
By Whitney Webb
Fighters from Kurdish popular defense units YPJ (women) and YPG (men) gather during a short break before heading out to fight for new positions in Syria. According to Amnesty International, U.S.-backed Kurdish forces have forcefully displaced thousands of Syrian civilians, mostly Arabs, and demolished villages in northern Syria, often in retaliation for the residents' perceived sympathies for ISIS and other militants, Oct. 13, 2015. (AP/Jake Simkin)

DAMASCUS, SYRIA -- For over a year, much of northeastern Syria has found itself under de facto occupation by the United States and its military proxy, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The occupied territory, accounting for nearly a third of Syria’s total landmass and including large portions of the al-Hasakah, al-Raqqa and Deir Ez-Zor regions,

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Kurds, Out of Options, Look to Syria’s Assad for Help

The Kurds are feeling the squeeze from Turkey’s operation to route them from northern Syria, and with their benefactors in Washington unwilling to garner support, they are looking to former enemies to save them.

James Carey
By James Carey
A Kurdish demonstrator wears pendants showing jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan and a party symbol, during a protest against the operation by the Turkish army aimed at ousting the U.S.-backed Kurdish militia fromthe area of Afrin, Syria in Beirut, Lebanon, Jan. 22, 2018. (AP/Hussein Malla)

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (Analysis) -- The war in Syria has been relatively absent from media coverage in recent weeks following the declared victory of Syrian, Russian and Iranian militaries in their battle against the U.S.- backed rebels and terror groups, including ISIS and al-Qaeda. Now Washington is changing its strategy to draw Syria further into

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Military Showdown Between Turkey and US In Syria Looms Near

As Turkish troops push further into Syria in their ongoing campaign to route US-backed rebel factions from the region, the risk of a US-Turkey military confrontation looms nearer.

ZeroHedge.com
By ZeroHedge.com
Turkish troops take control of Bursayah hill, which separates the Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin from the Turkey-controlled town of Azaz, Syria, Jan. 28, 2018. (DHA-Depo Photos via AP)

Two days after we reported that Turkey valiantly demanded that US forces vacate military bases in the Syrian district of Manbij, when Turkey's foreign minister Melet Cavusoglu also said that Ankara is calling upon the US to cease any and all support to Syrian Kurdish forces and militias, not surprisingly the US refused, and on Monday a top American

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“Operation Olive Branch” Continues as Turkish Troops Push into Syria

The Turkish offensive on the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in Syria, codenamed Operation Olive Branch, is heightening tensions in the already complicated Syrian conflict and threatening to further strain ties between NATO allies Turkey and the United States.

James Carey
By James Carey
Turkish Army soldiers prepare their tanks next to empty shells at a staging area in the outskirts of the village of Sugedigi, Turkey, on the border with Syria, Jan. 22, 2018. The Turkish offensive on the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in Syria, codenamed Operation Olive Branch, started on Saturday, heightening tensions in the already complicated Syrian conflict and threatening to further strain ties between NATO allies Turkey and the United States. (AP/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Turkish troops began crossing the border near Afrin on Sunday as a part of a campaign deemed “Operation Olive Branch.” After over a week of cross-border shelling by Turkish artillery and then a flurry of airstrikes that allegedly took out 153 Kurdish targets, Turkey has finally begun sending ground troops across the Syrian border into Afrin.

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Trump’s Plan B for Syria: Occupation and Intimidation

The US is creating a de facto autonomous Kurdish state in east Syria that will be defended by a US-backed “proxy” army of occupation.

Mike Whitney
By Mike Whitney
Kurdish fighters from the People’s Protection Units, (Y.P.G), stand guard next to American armored vehicles at the Syria-Turkey border, Apri, 2017. (Youssef Rabie Youssef/EPA)

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced the creation of a de facto autonomous Kurdish state in east Syria that will be supported by the United States and defended by a US-backed “proxy” army of occupation. Tillerson’s announcement was made at a confab he attended at Stanford University at the Hoover Institute. According to The

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Turkey Enraged Over US Deal to Allow ISIS Fighters Safe Passage From Raqqa

The BBC reported that the United States and its local allies worked out a deal with Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) in Raqqa, Syria, to allow them to depart the city with weapons in tow.

Juan Cole
By Juan Cole
A U.S. soldier stands near Syrian children on a road that links to Raqqa, Syria, Wednesday, July 26, 2017.(AP/Hussein Malla)

On Tuesday, Turkey lambasted the US and its largely Kurdish allies in Syria, the YPG, for having made a deal that allowed 250 Daesh (ISIS) fighters and all their children and relatives to flee from Raqqa. Turkey’s prime minister Binali Yildirim said, The YPG terrorists let Daesh [terrorists] leave Raqqa with their weapons instead of eliminating

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