English

Theories abound about the bombing that targeted US troops in Manbij

By Abdel Bari Atwan

The suicide bombing which targeted a restaurant frequented by US personnel in Manbij in northern Syria – killing five Americans, 11 members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and a number of civilians – may have been a dual warning to both Turkey and the US. Its main message was that the 20-km wide security zone which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to establish along the Syrian-Turkish border will not be secure at all, and that the attack – which was claimed by the Islamic State (IS or Daesh) group – could be the first drop in a deluge.

The anti-Iran alliance the US plans to launch in Poland next month is doomed to fail

By Abdelbari Atwan

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was right to point out at the press conference he held in Amman on Sunday that that the so-called ‘Deal of the Century’ is no longer on the table.  This is not only because it was rejected by Palestinians of all persuasions. It is also because it has been bypassed by events in the region, just as the Palestinian cause itself has been bypassed.

Israeli pressure is forcing Trump to stall on withdrawing troops from Syria

By Abdel Bari Atwan

The refusal of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to receive visiting US National Security Advisor John Bolton — who left for home with his head bowed in humiliation — raises many questions about the unexpected crisis that has erupted in American-Turkish relations. How serious is it? What steps might the Turkish president take next in north-eastern Syria? And will he make good on his threat to attack the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) based there.

Will Trump reverse his decision to withdraw US forces from Syria?

By Abdelbari Atwan

A week after Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw all his forces from Syria (2,200 soldiers), following their defeat of the so-called Islamic State (Daesh), it has become clear that most of the opponents of this move – whether inside or outside the US Administration – are Israel’s friends. It is Israel’s security and stability that worries them, rather than US interests in the Middle East or the cause of defeating terrorism.

Is change coming to the Kingdom, or merely the impression of change?

By Abdel Bari Atwan

The reshuffle of top ministerial and security posts announced on Thursday by the Saudi monarch, King Salman Bin-Abdelaziz, was noteworthy both in its substance and timing. It raises many questions about the true purpose of the move, and about the steps that may follow it affecting the throne and the succession.

Outwardly, the most prominent change was the sacking of Adel al-Jubeir as foreign minister and his replacement by Ibrahim al-Assaf – the former finance minister and onetime inmate of the Ritz Carlton Hotel on corruption charges.

Why Arab regimes are trying to mend fences with Syria

By Abdel Bari Atwan

Syria is very much in the headlines these days. Not only because it is the only Arab country being actively targeted by Israel, at a time when Gulf states are normalising relations with Tel Aviv, but also because of the way Arab and Gulf states have started making pilgrimages to its capital Damascus. The queue of supplicants at its gate, requesting the restoration of relations to their pre-’revolution’ norm, can be expected to lengthen.

External parties are using their local proxies to block the formation of any government

By Abdel Bari Atwan

Lebanon is experiencing an uncharacteristically un-festive Christmas holiday season, with thousands of demonstrators gathering in central Beirut and other cities to protest about the country’s economic condition and the thwarting of efforts to form a government — after it had seemed that agreement on a cabinet line-up, which would have been an invaluable gift for the new year, was imminent.

Why is the US withdrawing its forces from the country?

By Abdel Bari Atwan

There is a military rule that says: if you are facing defeat and want to cut your losses, the shortest way out is to declare victory and promptly retreat.

US President Donald Trump may not be familiar this dictum, as his expertise is confined to business deals and property brokering. But some of his advisors are most definitely aware of it, as they are of the facts on the ground on the battlefronts where US forces are deployed, especially in the Middle East.

How serious is Turkey’s threat to launch a military assault northeast of the Euphrates?

By Abdel Bari Atwan

Turkish Foreign Minister Melut Cavusoglu surprised his audience and raised many questions when he announced on Sunday that his country might be prepared to deal with Syrian President Bashar al-Asad if he were to be re-elected in an internationally-supervised democratic vote. Speaking at the Doha Forum, where he was a prominent participant, he declared: “there must be a transparent democratic process, and ultimately it is the Syrian people who will decide who will govern their country after the elections.”

Opinion is divided about this calculated statement and the fact that it was, apparently deliberately, made in Doha.

In the West Bank too, Palestinians are showing they won’t surrender to occupation

By Abdel Bari Atwan

The recent escalation of armed resistance operations in the occupied West Bank — resulting in the death of three Israeli settlers and the wounding of at least ten others – make a plain point. While Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been presenting himself to some Arab governments as able to protect them, offering them his security expertise to safeguard their thrones and suppress popular uprisings against them, he is unable to protect and safeguard his own settlers.