Showing posts with label SYRIA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SYRIA. Show all posts

March 16, 2021

A decade of war in Syria

 


A father reacts after the death of two of his children by shellfire in the rebel-held al-Ansari area of Aleppo, Syria (3 January 2013)


  • In March 2011, Syrians began protesting the government of leader Bashar al-Assad. They were quickly met with a violent military crackdown. Ten years later, several factions and their international allies remain mired in a devastating civil war that has seen 5 million Syrians flee to other countries and 6 million displaced internally. [CBS News / Amjad Tadros]
  • The war has descended into a chaotic struggle that is not simply about Assad’s government, with various ethnic groups, rebels, foreign governments, and terrorist groups becoming involved in the conflict. Nearly 400,000 people have died, with another 200,000 missing and presumed dead — many at the hands of the Syrian government. [BBC News]
  • Iran and Russia have backed Assad’s government, while the US and other Western countries have supported rebel groups. Assad remains in power, through chaos including the rise of the Islamic State. [France 24]
  • Meanwhile, poverty and food insecurity have affected millions of Syrians. International aid organizations have warned that the humanitarian damage, including lack of access to clean water and safe schools, may be irreversible. [Arab News / Christopher Hamill-Stewart]
  • Before the war, the country had a population of about 23 million. Now 5.6 million are refugees living in other countries, even more are displaced within Syria, and nearly a million Syrian babies have been born in exile. [AP News / Fay Abuelgasim]

October 18, 2019



0:43‘That’s Why We Held Up the Money’ Mulvaney Says of Ukraine Aid
The acting White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, told reporters that military aid was held back in part to prod Ukraine to investigate Democrats, undercutting President Trump’s denial of a quid pro quo. Leigh Vogel for The New York Times





IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY
The Debrief

‘Get over it’: Mulvaney puts Trump at the center of controversies about emoluments and Ukraine

In saying that President Trump personally intervened to award a summit to his own company, and that the president used military aid as leverage to push a Ukrainian investigation into Democrats, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney embraced a Trumpian tactic: saying the previously unsaid — and potentially illegal — part out loud.
After saying Trump held back aid to pressure Ukraine, Mulvaney tries to walk back comments
Former Trump attorney says Giuliani kept book of Ukraine contacts

Trump awards G-7 summit to his Miami-area golf resort

The decision to host the gathering of world leaders at the Trump National Doral Miami is without precedent in modern American history — the president used his public office to direct a massive contract to himself.
Islamic State sees a chance to re-emerge as Turkey batters Kurds
Despite a temporary cease-fire, Turkey’s incursion into Syria has been a propaganda windfall for the extremist group, which has stepped up attacks on prisons and the Kurdish militia, analysts said.
Trump on Turks and Kurds: ‘Like two kids in a lot, you’ve got to let them fight’
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