Military

The Stars Align for Trump’s Troop Withdrawal From Syria

Matt Broomfield / Responsible Statecraft Apr 25, 2025 It probably won't lead to the violence and humiliation of other botched departures, including from the same region in 2019. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )

TD Original

Rojava on the Brink

Matt Broomfield / Truthdig Feb 13, 2025 Turkish airstrikes and an Islamist power in Damascus endanger the future of Syrian Kurdistan’s multiethnic democratic federation. Dig deeper ( 12 Min. Read )

Middle East

Syria’s Arab Spring Has Arrived

Juan Cole / Informed Comment Dec 9, 2024 With Bashar al-Assad out of the picture, can democracy finally prevail in this deeply divided nation? Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

TD Original

From Heroes to Suspects: The Betrayal of the Anti-ISIS International Brigade

Matt Broomfield / Truthdig Sep 23, 2024 A decade after their celebrated victories, the foreign volunteers who helped defeat ISIS wage lonely battles against PTSD and harassment by Western governments. Dig deeper ( 9 Min. Read )

Books

Can the Kurdish Women’s Movement Transform the Middle East?

Matthew Broomfield / The Markaz Review Aug 9, 2023 Matthew Broomfield has reported from Kurdish-led North and East Syria. He reviews Dilar Dirik’s study on the Kurdish Women’s Movement. Dig deeper ( 11 Min. Read )

Pity the Kurds

Chris Hedges / Truthdig Oct 21, 2019 Donald Trump’s betrayal of our allies in northern Syria is part of a pattern by nation-states that have used the Kurds and abandoned them. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

Syrian Kurds Ask Assad to Save Them From Turkey

Juan Cole / Informed Comment Jan 26, 2018 The hopes of the Trump administration to use the Syrian Kurds as a wedge against the government of Bashar Assad in Damascus may be rapidly fading. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

America’s Syria Trap

Maj. Danny Sjursen / Truthdig Jan 24, 2018 Once again, the United States is in the middle of a byzantine quagmire in the Middle East that could get worse. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Turkey Begins Military Operation Against U.S.-Allied Kurds in Syria

Juan Cole / Informed Comment Jan 20, 2018 The move comes after the U.S. announces it will arm and train a Kurdish force to police Syria’s borders to ensure Islamic State does not re-emerge. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Beware of Kurdish Blowback

Maj. Danny Sjursen / Truthdig Dec 1, 2017 The U.S. is about to sell out the Kurds. The next time we need loyal allies in the Middle East, don’t be surprised to hear crickets. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )

Kurdistan’s President Massoud Barzani Gambled It All and Lost

Juan Cole / Informed Comment Oct 29, 2017 First, the region's independence vote was ordered annulled by Iraq's prime minister. Now, Barzani has announced he will not run for re-election. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Iraqi Prime Minister Insists Kurdish Referendum Be Annulled

Juan Cole / Informed Comment Oct 27, 2017 The Kurds' leader, Massoud Barzani, had offered to suspend the results of the recent independence vote, but Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi is playing hardball. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )