Red is the government
Green is the Syrian Opposition
Black is ISIS
Yellow is the SDF/Kurds
White is Tahrir al-Sham and other AQ affiliates
It's been a while since we've had anything like this, and given all the events that have been in the news recently, it's probably a good time to make a catch-all discussion thread.
Channel Discord server: https://discord.gg/zhvd7mr
Use this megathread as a place to discuss the number of conflicts and diplomatic incidents going on in the Middle East, from the wars in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, to the current feud between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, to the question of the Kurds, and much more. The OP is a bit barebones right now, but I'd like to add some helpful resources to it, so if anyone has any recommendations, feel free to TG me or post in the thread I guess.
For now, some current updates.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia:
I know there's already a thread on this, but it's probably reasonable to include discussion of this incident here too, and how it relates to wider MENA issues.
Earlier today, the United States indicated it might not be so enthusiastic about the demands the Saudis have leveled on Qatar.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40399770
Some demands set by four Arab states on Qatar in return for lifting sanctions will be "difficult to meet", US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says.
However, Mr Tillerson said the proposals provided a basis for dialogue leading to a solution of the crisis.
On Saturday, Qatar's foreign minister rejected the list of 13 conditions imposed by Saudi Arabia and its allies, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain.
......
Mr Tillerson said Qatar was assessing the demands and stressed there were "significant areas which provide a basis for ongoing dialogue leading to resolution".
He urged the countries to sit together to stop terrorism and counter extremism.
"A lowering of rhetoric would also help ease the tension," Mr Tillerson said.
After the demands were made on Friday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the dispute was "a family issue" that the countries should work out together.
This is a bit different from the rhetoric President Trump has been spewing in the past few days, and the disconnect can't be making anyone happy.
Yemen:
Often left ignored by American media, Yemen is in the midst of a civil war and humanitarian conflict even greater than that in Syria. Saudi Arabia has been waging a brutal war against rebels in the country that has left the Middle East's poorest nation in ruins. The country is now facing a massive cholera outbreak, and most of the population is facing a famine, largely due to a Saudi blockade on the country.
A few days ago, a story broke about UAE torture facilities that have been set up in the country.
https://apnews.com/4925f7f0fa654853bd6f2f57174179fe/US-interrogates-detainees-in-Yemen-prisons-rife-with-torture?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP
MUKALLA, Yemen (AP) — Hundreds of men swept up in the hunt for al-Qaida militants have disappeared into a secret network of prisons in southern Yemen where abuse is routine and torture extreme — including the “grill,” in which the victim is tied to a spit like a roast and spun in a circle of fire, an Associated Press investigation has found.
Senior American defense officials acknowledged Wednesday that U.S. forces have been involved in interrogations of detainees in Yemen but denied any participation in or knowledge of human rights abuses. Interrogating detainees who have been abused could violate international law, which prohibits complicity in torture.
The AP documented at least 18 clandestine lockups across southern Yemen run by the United Arab Emirates or by Yemeni forces created and trained by the Gulf nation, drawing on accounts from former detainees, families of prisoners, civil rights lawyers and Yemeni military officials. All are either hidden or off limits to Yemen’s government, which has been getting Emirati help in its civil war with rebels over the last two years.
The secret prisons are inside military bases, ports, an airport, private villas and even a nightclub. Some detainees have been flown to an Emirati base across the Red Sea in Eritrea, according to Yemen Interior Minister Hussein Arab and others.
Several U.S. defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the topic, told AP that American forces do participate in interrogations of detainees at locations in Yemen, provide questions for others to ask, and receive transcripts of interrogations from Emirati allies. They said U.S. senior military leaders were aware of allegations of torture at the prisons in Yemen, looked into them, but were satisfied that there had not been any abuse when U.S. forces were present.
“We always adhere to the highest standards of personal and professional conduct,” said chief Defense Department spokeswoman Dana White when presented with AP’s findings. “We would not turn a blind eye, because we are obligated to report any violations of human rights.”
In a statement to the AP, the UAE’s government denied the allegations.
“There are no secret detention centers and no torture of prisoners is done during interrogations.”
Inside war-torn Yemen, however, lawyers and families say nearly 2,000 men have disappeared into the clandestine prisons, a number so high that it has triggered near-weekly protests among families seeking information about missing sons, brothers and fathers.
Needless to say, this is pretty horrific, even for the UAE.
Syria:
Finally there's some new information that's been revealed about the alleged chemical attack by the Assad government back in early April that led to US missile strikes on a Syrian air base. As it turns out, there's not any evidence to support the assertions that the government used chemical weapons at all, as Sy Hersh reports in a new piece published earlier today in Die Welt.
https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article165905578/Trump-s-Red-Line.html
When we get a hot tip about a command and control facility,” the adviser added, referring to the target in Khan Sheikhoun, “we do what we can to help them act on it." “This was not a chemical weapons strike,” the adviser said. “That’s a fairy tale. If so, everyone involved in transferring, loading and arming the weapon – you’ve got to make it appear like a regular 500-pound conventional bomb – would be wearing Hazmat protective clothing in case of a leak. There would be very little chance of survival without such gear. Military grade sarin includes additives designed to increase toxicity and lethality. Every batch that comes out is maximized for death. That is why it is made. It is odorless and invisible and death can come within a minute. No cloud. Why produce a weapon that people can run away from?”
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MSF also visited other hospitals that had received victims and found that patients there “smelled of bleach, suggesting that they had been exposed to chlorine.” In other words, evidence suggested that there was more than one chemical responsible for the symptoms observed, which would not have been the case if the Syrian Air Force – as opposition activists insisted – had dropped a sarin bomb, which has no percussive or ignition power to trigger secondary explosions. The range of symptoms is, however, consistent with the release of a mixture of chemicals, including chlorine and the organophosphates used in many fertilizers, which can cause neurotoxic effects similar to those of sarin.
The internet swung into action within hours, and gruesome photographs of the victims flooded television networks and YouTube. U.S. intelligence was tasked with establishing what had happened. Among the pieces of information received was an intercept of Syrian communications collected before the attack by an allied nation. The intercept, which had a particularly strong effect on some of Trump’s aides, did not mention nerve gas or sarin, but it did quote a Syrian general discussing a “special” weapon and the need for a highly skilled pilot to man the attack plane. The reference, as those in the American intelligence community understood, and many of the inexperienced aides and family members close to Trump may not have, was to a Russian-supplied bomb with its built-in guidance system. “If you’ve already decided it was a gas attack, you will then inevitably read the talk about a special weapon as involving a sarin bomb,” the adviser said. “Did the Syrians plan the attack on Khan Sheikhoun? Absolutely. Do we have intercepts to prove it? Absolutely. Did they plan to use sarin? No. But the president did not say: ‘We have a problem and let’s look into it.’ He wanted to bomb the shit out of Syria.”
I for one, am amazed that the government and media would report a lie to us as an excuse to attack a Middle Eastern country, but here you have it.
Use this thread to share your thoughts and news stories regarding the various conflicts in the region. I'll be posting updates as regularly as I can, and I'll try to let the OP reflect some of the more important ones. As I said before, any recommendations for the OP are welcome.
