SDF

The War In Kurdistan

It’s all over the news, and every American politician (and French) seeking re-election is repeating it:  Trump has betrayed the Kurds to Turkey, set ISIS fighters free, and is actively running the U.S. military in a way that benefits only Russia.

The danger with facts everyone knows is that there’s no easy way to convince people they’re wrong.  Usually the problem boils down to oversimplification; it’s easy to be wrong when you don’t know anything.  In this case, it’s that — plus, everyone’s got a massive axe to grind and Trump’s a great target to score points off.

But some of it’s definitely true, so we’ll start there and move on. (more…)

Syria: It’s Time To Worry

The Syrian Civil War has been characterized by the United Nations as the “great humanitarian crisis of our age”.  A nation of twenty million, Syria has lost twenty percent of its population, most of whom have fled as international refugees.  On the other hand, over a hundred thousand foreign militants have gone there to fight, and the armed forces of a dozen nations have deployed in what has become one of the biggest proxy wars in all of history.

And it’s nearly over. (more…)