Jabhat Al-Nusra

UK intelligence spun 2013 Syria chemical attack, leaked docs show

US officials suppressed internal assessments that Al Qaeda’s Syrian wing had an “advanced” sarin production cell even as the US publicly blamed the Assad government for a 2013 chemical weapons attack, a report reveals. Leaked documents obtained by The Grayzone show a shadowy British intelligence contractor helped sell the story that Assad was responsible – and nearly triggered Western intervention. On September 13, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published a US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) appraisal detailing the chemical […]

Immiserated, humiliated, yet resilient: how Syrians survive America’s economic siege

Syrian-American journalist Hekmat Aboukhater traveled across Homs, Lattakia, Tartous, and Aleppo this April, reporting for The Grayzone on the devastating impact of Western economic sanctions on average Syrians. Throughout 2023, a series of anti-Syrian refugee bills, a failing economy, and anti-Syrian rhetoric have deepened the plight of the two million Syrian refugees living in Lebanon. Hate crimes against Syrians suspected of living in the country illegally have skyrocketed, while at least 130 refugees have been deported. Weekly Israeli strikes have […]

Erdogan wants to solve the Kurdish problem with Assad

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator   Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday, “We have launched a process as Russia-Turkey-Syria,” and added, “We will bring our foreign ministers together and then, depending on developments, we will come together as leaders.” Last week, the Foreign Ministers of Turkey, Syria and Russia met together in […]

The Perils of Pious Neoliberalism in the Austerity State

Reference photograph: Sandinistas at the Walls of the National Guard Headquarters: ‘Molotov Man’, Estelí, Nicaragua, July 16th, 1979, by Susan Meiselas/Magnum Photos The International Labour Organisation’s Global Wage Report 2022–23 tracks the horrendous collapse of real wages for billions of people around the planet. The gaping distance between the incomes and wealth of 99% of […]

Is Turkey changing course in Idlib?

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and Russian warplanes shelled positions of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, on November 6 in Idlib province.  Some of the terrorists killed were: Abdul Minam Muhati, Radwan Hussain Muhayer, Abu Dawoud al-Filistini, Mohammad Ali al-Kadour, Abu Hussein al-Raddad, Abu […]

US and Turkey keep Idlib a terrorist safe haven

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator On October 10, a US-led coalition drone strike killed an IS terrorist in northeastern Syria.  The terrorist was riding a motorcycle in a village occupied by Radical Islamic mercenaries employed by Turkey near Tel Albyat.  Since the defeat of ISIS in Syria in 2019, the terrorist group now referred […]

“Yankee go home!” Russia, Iran and Turkey agree the US troops must leave Syria

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, and President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran held talks yesterday in Tehran at the 7th Astana summit for peace in Syria, stressing the need for respecting Syria’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity. The summits date from January 2017, and […]

Damascus and the Kurds align militarily to face the Turkish threat

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator The Syrian Defense Forces (SDF) in the northeastern region of Syria have raised up the Syrian flag which represents the government in Damascus for the first time in years.  The SDF have been partnered with the US military in the fight against ISIS, but are now facing an even […]