18 June 2020
So powerful are Washington’s new sanctions on Syria that even some opponents of Assad are unsure about them. Our own Syrian reporters have a range of views, two of which are presented head-to-head in this article.
Washington
After 24 hours of confusion and contradiction, it now appears any hypothetical Turkish operation in northeast Syria will be much more limited than first thought.
A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.
A close examination of eight years of US policy in Syria shows Washington’s objective has never been regime change, but rather “a modified form of regime preservation,” writes Dr. Michael Karadjis in a comprehensive review of the record.
Every major party to the Syrian conflict without exception shares in the blame for a needless humanitarian disaster that could be resolved in a day.
The “Syrian Democratic Council”—ostensibly a vehicle for Kurdish-Arab coexistence in former ISIS territories—is increasingly looking to normalize ties with the Assad regime, spelling disaster for the displaced residents of Raqqa and elsewhere, with no apparent opposition from its Western sponsors.
Despite a US green light for Russia and the regime to bomb at will in Daraa Province, rebels have thus far refused to surrender after several bloody days of Russian air strikes, regime barrel bombs, and yet more waves of civilian displacement.
The recent chest-thumping by a top US Army officer about slaying ISIS fighters with shovels inadvertently captures the pitfalls of Washington's policy in the Fertile Crescent, writes James Snell.