Divided country struggles to escape cycle of violence

A year after the fall of Assad, Syria's new rulers have successfully reintegrated the country into the global community, far exceeding the expectations of even the country's most enthusiastic advocates. 

But inside Syria, tensions continue to simmer. With a transitional justice process moving too slowly for its victims, old grievances are surfacing in new cycles of violence, threatening fragile efforts to rebuild the state…

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/08/stalled-justice-violence-syria-assad-one-year-on

 

Fear and uncertainty in Golan Heights as Israeli troops drive deeper into Syria

Israel captured the Golan Heights in 1967 and announced its unilateral annexation in 1981. Most countries do not recognise Israel's sovereignty over the land, though the Trump administration recognised the annexation in 2019...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/11/golan-heights-israeli-troops-syria-assad

Qasem Soleimani helped shape the brutality of the Syrian war - The Washington Post

From battlefield strategies to fighters on the ground in support of Assad, Soleimani left a violent legacy in Syria.....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/01/03/qasem-soleimani-helped-shape-brutality-syrian-war/

‘The Americans betrayed us’: Syrian Kurds turn to Assad regime in wake of U.S. pullout - The Washington Post

The withdrawal from the town of Ain Issa came amid reports of a mass escape from the town by hundreds of Islamic State-affiliated women and children. ....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/us-troops-withdraw-from-another-syrian-town-as-turkish-forces-block-supply-lines/2019/10/13/aab5fab8-ec5a-11e9-a329-7378fbfa1b63_story.html

Top Trump Fundraiser Caught Working for Assad Ally - The Daily Beast

He's reportedly 'closer to the president than perhaps any other lobbyist in town.' So why is Brian Ballard taking cash from a member of Assad's inner circle? ....
https://www.thedailybeast.com/top-trump-fundraiser-caught-working-for-assad-ally

Nikki Haley finds herself under the bus as Trump shifts course on Russia - The Washington Post: Analysis

Shortly after The Post reported Trump "has battled his top aides on Russia and lost," he exerts his authority. Coincidence? ....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/04/16/nikki-haley-finds-herself-under-the-bus-as-trump-shifts-course-on-russia/

Trump supporters rip decision to strike Syria - POLITICO

They compared Trump's decision to attack Syrian targets to actions taken by President George W. Bush or a hypothetical President Hillary Clinton. ....
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/13/trump-supporters-syria-strikes-523061

One Year After Trump Launched Missiles at Syria, We Still Don’t Know What He’s Trying to Accomplish There - Slate

It’s been a year since Trump launched missiles at Assad’s military, and it’s now clear he had no strategy to back it up.....
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/04/one-year-after-trump-launched-missiles-at-syria-we-still-dont-know-what-hes-trying-to-accomplish-there.html

Why Do James Alex Fields Jr. and U.S. Neo-Nazis Love Syria’s Bashar al-Assad? -- Newsweek

The now-defunct Facebook page of James Alex Fields Jr., the white nationalist who has been accused of second-degree murder after reportedly ramming his car into demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia, was populated by Trump memes, Pepe the Frog and even a cat. More incongruous, at first glance, was the inclusion of Bashar al-Assad, the leader of the Syrian regime in Damascus, with the caption "undefeated." But Fields' Facebook post belies a growing admiration among America’s far right for the Syrian president.....
http://www.newsweek.com/why-do-james-alex-field-jr-and-us-neo-nazis-love-syrias-bashar-al-assad-650566

This Is Trump’s Plan to Team Up With Putin in Syria—and Leave Assad in Power -- The Daily Beast

For once, Rex Tillerson is not freelancing. Late Wednesday, ahead of the first-ever meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, the secretary of state suggested that the U.S. is willing to explore "joint mechanisms" with Russia to stabilize the vicious Syrian civil war. ...
http://www.thedailybeast.com/this-is-trumps-plan-to-team-up-with-putin-in-syriaand-leave-assad-in-power

An Army of Smear Artists Is Working Overtime to Undermine Sy Hersh's Syria Bombshell | Alternet

Syria has become a hugely divisive issue on the left....
http://www.alternet.org/world/undermining-sy-hershs-syria-bombshell

Assad Avoids Justice With Help From the U.S. -- Bloomberg: Opinion

By refusing to support the International Criminal Court, America gives war criminals a free pass....
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-05-16/assad-avoids-justice-with-help-from-the-u-s

Time Has Come to Assassinate Assad, Senior Israeli Minister Says -- Bloomberg

A Syrian woman walks past a placard bearing a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad. President Bashar al-Assad should be eliminated to stop the atrocities taking place in Syria, according to an Israeli minister in Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Housing and Construction Minister Yoav Gallant, a retired major general who led the Israel Defense Forces's southern command, which includes the Gaza Strip, pointed to U.S. allegations that the Assad regime built a crematorium at a prison outside Damascus to cover up mass murders. The Syrian government has denied the U.S. claim. When asked who Gallant thinks should do the killing, his spokeswoman declined to elaborate. ...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-16/time-has-come-to-assassinate-assad-senior-israeli-minister-says?utm_campaign=news&utm_medium=bd&utm_source=applenews

US defense chiefs say they want to deter more chemical attacks, not oust Assad

Defense secretary brushed off talks of Syria regime change amid contradictory messages from Trump administration and Rex Tillerson's visit to Russia ...
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7652103633459993609#editor/target=post;postID=6962838352068472389;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=10;src=postname

Sean Spicer’s Comments About Hitler Show Appalling Ignorance Of Basic Historical Facts

Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer dug himself into quite a hole when he made a terrible analogy about dictators Adolf Hitler and Bashar Al Assad. “You had someone who was as despicable as Hitler who didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons,” Spicer told reporters in a failed attempt to highlight how brutal the Assad regime’s most recent chemical attack on Syrians was. “He [Hitler] was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing.”...
https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/sean-spicer-s-comments-about-hitler-show-appalling-ignorance-of-basic

Los Angeles Times: Pressure grows for Assad to step down. But in Damascus, his backers say the alternatives may be worse

“Why would the United States attack Syria? I don’t understand it,” Havera, an august merchant of textiles, antiquities and other Syrian handicrafts, said from his musty second-floor aerie, up a series of narrow stairways that wind past sundry craftsmen’s workshops. “I knew this Trump liked women,” Havera added. “But it seems he likes bombs too.”...
http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-syria-damascus-mood-20170412-story.html

US Official Says Russia Knew In Advance Of Syrian Chemical Attack

A senior U.S. official says the United States has concluded that Russia knew in advance of Syria's chemical weapons attack last week. The official says a Russian-operated drone flew over a hospital in Syria as victims of the attack were rushing to get treatment. Hours after the drone left, a Russian-made fighter jet bombed the hospital in what American officials believe was an attempt to cover up the usage of chemical weapons....
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/world-news/official-russia-syrian-chemical-attack

Business Insider: Russia is using Donald Trump's own words against him

Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken a page out of President Donald Trump's playbook by questioning the reliability of U.S. intelligence reports about chemical weapons usage in Syria. The Trump administration has tried to force Moscow's hand with U.S. spy reports about chemical weapons being used in by the Assad regime. It also used them to justify recent missile strikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad's military bases. ...
http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-donald-trumps-intel-2017-4