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Jason Ditz

Protesters Return to Baghdad a Year Later, Say Demands Still Unmet

Monday October 26, 2020


The one-year anniversary of some of the last major protests in Baghdad saw thousands take to the streets in Tahrir Square, insisting that their demands are still generally unmet after all this time, and that the promises which were supposed to placate them generally didn’t pan out.

As with the last protests, the government sought to handle this rally by sending police out en masse to fire tear gas and put up barricades. Past history suggests this will not work, and will just rile up more people.
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Senators to Reintroduce Bill to End US Involvement in Yemen War Next Week

Friday March 1, 2019

Having seen a successful Senate vote late last year and a successful House vote earlier this month both come to naught on ending the Yemen War, the Senate is reportedly planning to try again. Officials say that the fresh Senate bill will be introduced next week.

To successfully get the bill to the White House, identical versions need to pass in both the House and the Senate. Last year this was impossible because the former House leadership kept changing the rules to duck votes. This year, it may depend on whether or not they can keep Israel out of it.
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Trump Administration Considers Declaring Yemen’s Houthis ‘Terrorists’

Friday November 9, 2018

Just weeks after promising to back a peace effort in Yemen, the Trump Administration is reportedly considering labeling the Shi’ite Houthi movement in northern Yemen, one of the principal forces, a terrorist organization. The move appears unrelated to US policy in Yemen itself. Rather, it reflects the Trump Administration’s desire to go after perceived Iranian allies. Saudi Arabia, who is attacking the Houthis, has accused them of being in league with Iran.
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US Airstrike Kills at Least 28 Civilians in Eastern Syria

Saturday July 14, 2018

US and coalition planes in the eastern Syrian province of Deir Ezzor attacked a village along the Iraqi border which had some ISIS remnant forces within. Among the strikes was an airstrike against the local ice factory, which families were hiding out in waiting for the end of the raid.

At least 28 civilians, and over 30 civilians by some accounts, were killed in the attack, and dozens of others were wounded. The Syrian state media reported that the US was behind the strike.

The US did not contest this assessment, with a spokesman saying that US coalition forces “may have conducted strikes in the vicinity” and promised that there would be an assessment at some point regarding civilian casualties.
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Sen. Graham Visits Syria, Attacks Trump Plan to Pull Troops Out

Tuesday July 3, 2018

Hawkish Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) made a surprise visit to Syria on Monday, stopping off in the city of Manbij, which is held by US and Turkish forces. Graham delivered a speech clearly designed to attack the idea of a US pullout from Syria.

There is no official plan for the US to withdraw from Syria. Indeed, Pentagon officials have been presenting the US military presence in Syria as open-ended. That’s not to say that Graham’s comments had no reason.
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Pentagon Seeks Arms for 65,000 US-Backed Troops in Syria

Saturday May 5, 2018



While US “relief funds” are frozen in Syria, the Pentagon continues to seek massive amounts of funding for its military operations in the country. This includes a request for $300 million in weapons to give to “partner forces” in Syria.

This amounts to enough arms for 65,000 fighters. This is expected to center on the Syrian Democratic Forces, which is to say, almost entirely the Kurdish YPG. The US has been arming the YPG for years now as part of its Syria operations.

This is being sought in spite of repeated US assurances to Turkey that their arming of the YPG was temporary. With ISIS virtually wiped out in Syria, the YPG no longer has offensive goals fitting into US plans for Syria, and rather is focused chiefly on fighting a Turkish invasion of northern Syria.
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US Watchdog: Afghan Military Shrinking Sharply

Thursday May 3, 2018

The US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), a Pentagon watchdog, is warning that the Afghan military is in sharp decline over the last 12 months, as rising casualties and desertion rates far outstrip its ability to recruit.

Over 12 months, the Afghan security forces have 10 percent less personnel, down to around 300,000. While reports of growing casualties, struggling recruitment, and desertion have been common, this is the first actually data offered on the size of the problem.
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