Tag: Syria
US responsibilities in Syrian Kurdistan
On November 20, 2019, the Washington Kurdish Institute held an event at the Russell Senate Office entitled, Repairing the Damage: The future of US relations with our Syrian Kurdish and the fight against ISIS. Following the Turkish offensive into northeastern Syria, Operation Peace Spring, nearly 300,000 Syrians have been displaced and more than 700 have been killed. The anti-ISIS campaign has been put at risk, including the potential escape of ISIS prisoners held in Syrian Democratic Force camps. The event proceeded with three keynote speeches from Senator Chris Von Hollen, Senator Marsha Blackburn, and Senator Mark Warner. All three advocated for bipartisan support for the Syrian Kurds, condemned the actions of Turkey, and warned the audience about the reemergence of ISIS.
Following the remarks from the senators, a panel discussion began. The three panelists were Ilham Ahmed, President of the Syrian Democratic Council, Amy Austin Holmes, a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center and Visiting Professor at Harvard University, and Aykan Erdemir, former Turkish parliament member and currently a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The panel was moderated by Najmaldin Karim, President of the Washington Kurdish Institute.
Ahmed started the discussion by advocating that the governance structure that the Kurds established was a model for Syria that included gender equality, representation for the diverse ethnic groups in SDF controlled areas, and an example of democracy that has been unfamiliar in Syria. She condemned Turkey and the Turkish backed jihadist groups that have violated human rights in the land they have occupied. Ahmed called for the cessation of the slaughter of Kurds and Syrians in general, and to allow for the Kurdish democratic project to continue. She recommended that the Turkish backed jihadist groups should be sanctioned and listed as official terrorist organizations.
Amir continued that discussion by stating that there are two sides of the story in Turkey. First, is the official one: 79% of Turks polled support Operation Peace Spring They regard the SDF, YPG, and PKK as terrorists and national security threats to Turkey. Another view holds that Operation Peace Spring is an offensive maneuver against the Kurds. It is Erdogan’s war as much as it is Turkey’s war. Similar to an article written by Dr. Gonul Tol, Director of the Middle East Institute’s Center for Turkish Studies, Amir argued that President Erdogan has faced domestic political turmoil and used the October invasion to rally the population against a common threat, the Kurdish population along the Turkey-Syria border.
A younger Erdogan, Amir reminded, started talks with the PKK, transformed Turkish attitudes towards the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government, and established a joint Turkish-YPG operation to protect the grave of Suleyman Shah, an important cultural site in Syria under threat from ISIS, in 2015. Amir claimed that the present-day Erdogan would jail officials for attempting to pursue any similar initiatives today.
Holmes reiterated the condemnation of human rights violations committed by Turkey and expressed her concern for the risk of ethnic cleansing in Tel Abyad and Ras al-Ayn like what was seen in Afrin. She recommended that the US establish a team on the ground monitoring abuses and war crimes as well as a fact-finding commission analyzing possible ties between the Turkish government and ISIS. She also called for international journalists and academics to be allowed to enter Afrin and report what they observe. Holmes stressed that a mechanism for border security must be established, but it cannot simply give Turkey strips of land. The Kurds represent 1/3 of the Syrian population and the US must pressure the UN to allow them to be included in the Constitutional Committee discussions in Geneva.
Share this, I'll really appreciate it:
Iraqi Kurdistan faces crisis in Iraq and Syria
The Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) named Safeen Dizayee as the new head of the KRG Department of Foreign in Relations in July 2019. Prior to becoming Iraqi Kurdistan’s top diplomat, he served as chief of staff to the prime minister, senior KRG spokesperson, and minister of education, among other posts. On November 20, 2019, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) hosted Minister Dizayee for a discussion moderated by Dr. Bilal Wahab, the Nathan and Esther K. Wagner fellow at WINEP.
Dizayee discussed the ongoing protests and instability reverberating throughout Iraq. Civil unrest has not been uncommon in post-Saddam Iraq. The current widespread protests are a culmination of 16 years of corruption and other problems within the government. From 1999 to 2003, Iraqi Kurdistan was independent of the Ba’athist government, but voluntarily joined the new democratic-federalist government after Saddam Hussein was overthrown. The Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) is now an autonomous region and is supporting and working with Baghdad to address the grievances of the protesters.
Iraq needs to be changes in the patronage system, reforms to lower corruption, improvements to the provision of services, but the protests must remain peaceful to reach these goals in a progressive and stable way. As for the potential role of the US, the foreign minister noted that the US has no leverage in the protests and the next head of government will likely be less friendly to the West.
ISIS has regrouped and its militants are active almost daily in Iraq. Dizayee discussed how sleeper cells in many villages have emerged and gained support of locals either voluntarily or by threatening communities. They are mainly active in empty, ungoverned spaces near the Syrian-Iraqi border that the Iraqi government did not move into after the official fall of the Caliphate. ISIS has filled that vacuum and operates primarily at night, when their people are less prone to strikes.
Since the attempted independence referendum in 2017, the KRG has addressed structural flaws between the two Kurdish political parties as well as relations with the Iraqi, Iranian, and Turkish governments. Dizayee discussed how political parties have their own peshmerga forces. The KRG is doing the groundwork now to address the differences between the parties, but the parties and their peshmergas are all loyal to Kurdistan despite disagreements on governance.
Dizayee talked in the end about Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) and the recent Turkish invasion. The Kurds in Syria have faced human rights violations for many decades and did not have the opportunity to influence the country until the beginning of the civil war in 2011. The KRG supported the unification of Kurdish political parties in Syria, but Dizayee said that the PYD ultimately has governed Rojava alone. Looking through a Turkish lens, he discussed how the PKK attempting to impose their agenda in Syria scared Ankara and encouraged the Turks to pursue offensive campaigns to protect Turkish national security.
However, extremist groups spearheaded the October incursion into northeastern Syria and acted in heinous ways against the population. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced and most of them will try to find refuge in KRG-controlled Iraq. 16,000 people have already fled to the Iraqi border, adding to the 250,000 refugees who began arriving in 2011.
On the US decision to withdraw troops from northeastern Syria, Dizayee said the YPG was used as a security company to defeat ISIS, and now that the job is perceived to be done, he is not surprised that support was withdrawn. He nevertheless appreciates the support of the US government overall to the Kurdish people. The lack of clear policy from the current administration will not ruin that relationship in the long run.
Share this, I'll really appreciate it:
See it and weep
I “enjoyed” last night a showing at National Geographic of The Cave, a film about an underground hospital in Eastern Ghouta, outside Damascus, during the Assad regime’s five-year siege. Here is the precis from National Geographic:
Oscar nominee Feras Fayyad (“Last Men in Aleppo”) delivers an unflinching story of the Syrian war with his powerful new documentary, The Cave. For besieged civilians, hope and safety lie underground inside the subterranean hospital known as the Cave, where pediatrician and managing physician Dr. Amani Ballour and her colleagues Samaher and Dr. Alaa have claimed their right to work as equals alongside their male counterparts, doing their jobs in a way that would be unthinkable in the oppressively patriarchal culture that exists above. Following the women as they contend with daily bombardments, chronic supply shortages and the ever-present threat of chemical attacks, The Cave paints a stirring portrait of courage, resilience and female solidarity.
The documentary is excruciating. In cinema verite’ style it conveys a highly personalized account not just of the cruelty of the bombing but also of the tribulations of the hospital personnel and their patients.
This is not just war. It is war as crime. Every day brings bombardment of civilian targets, including this hospital (as well as many others). The Russian and Syrian aircraft, missile launchers, and chemical bombs pummel the area’s remaining inhabitants incessantly. Women and children are frequent victims.
The doctors and other personnel work with primitive means and what we can only assume is great skill. They are devoted beyond reason to staying and doing what they can to help. They break occasionally to watch classical music and dance performances on a cell phone, but that, food preparation, and a birthday celebration are the only apparent distractions. Otherwise they examine, advise, inject, operate, and bandage as if their own lives depend on their medical efforts, not those of anonymous neighbors.
The toll this takes is all too evident. These are ordinary people making superhuman efforts. Each has her or his own story, told in enough detail for us to understand that the pain is more than individual. Some have families who await them in safer places. All are choosing to stay and sacrifice to protect people they don’t know from the ravages of a regime they despise.
The gender dimension of the story is clear: the 30-year-old director of the underground hospital is a woman, a pediatrician. She seems a sensitive manager, but one with gigantic responsibilities entirely uncharacteristic of a woman in the patriarchal society in which she grew up. The director uses one of the patients, whom we might describe as a male chauvinist pig, to voice condescending disdain for her and her role. Most of the time though she is portrayed as doing her job in a way that the men surrounding her accept and enjoy. War dispenses with gender distinctions that make no sense given the challenges.
In the end, Eastern Ghouta falls after a chlorine attack. Hospital personnel evacuate. I was delighted to learn in the discussion afterwards that the hospital director survived, married, and now runs a charity devoted to female health care workers and female leaders in conflict zones. Even the tragedy of Syria produces good as well as evil. Feras Fayyad, whose previous film on the White Helmet rescue workers in Syria was nominated for an Oscar, merits at least that much honor again for this superb documentary.
See it and weep.
Share this, I'll really appreciate it:
Peace Picks | November 18 – November 22
Responding to Armed Groups in Venezuela | November 18, 2019 | 9:30 AM – 11:15 AM | CSIS Headquarters, 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036 | Register Here
Please join CSIS’ Future of Venezuela Initiative for a discussion on how the presence of illegal armed groups affects the transition process in Venezuela, and what the United States, the international community, and other pertinent actors within Latin America can do to mitigate the effect of these groups.
The presence of armed groups in Venezuela significantly affects how policymakers consider addressing the Venezuelan political and humanitarian crisis. The Maduro regime seeks to benefit from Venezuela’s status as a hub for transnational crime and illicit activities, causing policymakers to doubt what the best approach to address the crisis would be. Illegal armed groups finding haven in Venezuela not only adds new threats to Venezuela’s internal security, but also threatens Colombia’s security and the region writ-large. Illegal armed groups in Venezuela include the National Liberation Army (ELN), remnants of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), colectivos, garimpeiros, and other residual organized armed groups (GAO) and criminal gangs.
The event will feature keynote remarks from Colombia’s High Commissioner for Peace, Miguel Ceballos, and from Paul Ahern, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department. The remarks will be followed by a panel with former National Security Advisers to the White House and the former Vice President of Panama, and will be moderated by CSIS’ Moises Rendon.
FEATURING
Fernando Cutz
Senior Associate, The Cohen Group; Former National Security Council
Isabel de Saint Malo de Alvarado
Former Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Government of Panama
Dan Fisk
Chief Operations Officer, International Republican Institute; Former National Security Council
Juan Cruz
Senior Adviser, CSIS Americas Program; Former National Security Council
Miguel Ceballos
High Commissioner for Peace, Government of Colombia
Paul Ahern
Principal Deputy
Assistant Secretary, U.S. Treasury Department
CSIS Debate Series: Does the U.S. Need a Foreign Policy for sub-Saharan Africa? | November 20, 2019 | 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM | CSIS Headquarters, Floor 2, 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036 | Register Here
Does
democracy foster economic growth? Does great power competition hurt or empower
the continent? Does the U.S. even need a foreign policy for sub-Saharan Africa?
Since the 1990s, there has been a consensus about U.S. priorities and policies
toward the region. While continuity has its merits, it also acts as a brake on
creativity, innovation, and new thinking about U.S. interests in sub-Saharan
Africa. The CSIS Africa Debate Series offers an opportunity to question and
refine policy objectives to meet a changing political landscape.
The CSIS Africa Program with the support of the Open Society Foundations is
hosting a series of debates in Washington, D.C. and other U.S. cities to
challenge old paradigms and identify new approaches to tackle pressing
U.S.-Africa policy issues. For its inaugural debate on November 20, 2019 from
9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., CSIS will pose the question, “Does the United States
need a foreign policy in sub-Saharan Africa?” to former U.S. government
officials and African scholars. Experts will face off to identify the advantages
and disadvantages of U.S. engagement in Africa and to open a dialogue on a new
framework for U.S. foreign policy toward the region. Audience members will vote
key debate points as well as participate in a Question & Answer session.
Save the date, register, and subscribe to
the CSIS Africa Program distribution list to receive updates on the Debate
Series.
FEATURING
Africa Program Director, Wilson Center
Senior Managing Legal Officer, Open Society Justice Initiative
Founding
Partner, Total Impact Capital (TOTAL)
The State of Human Rights in Africa | November 20, 2019 | 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM | Brookings Institution, Saul/Zilkha Room 1775, Massachusetts Avenue N.W. Washington, DC 20036 | Register Here
On a continent as vast and diverse as Africa, there are no simple narratives on freedom and human rights. Like many places in the world, there are hopeful trends and success stories, but also worrisome trends and signs of backsliding. While sincere efforts to enshrine human rights in law are found in most of Africa’s 54 countries, the actual protection of those rights often falls victim to corruption or to violent non-state actors with other designs in mind. But there are reasons for optimism as well as caution — and ample data to show observers where the trends are going. For instance, according to Freedom House, sub-Saharan Africa has about 10 “free” countries (most of them small), about 20 “partly free,” and about 20 more “not free” nations. Recent trends in The Gambia and Angola give rise to optimism, while repressive actions in Tanzania and Uganda suggest they have a ways to go.
On November 20, the Africa Security Initiative at the Brookings Institution will host a panel of experts on human rights trends in Africa. Questions will follow from the audience.
Speakers:
Moderator
Michael E. O’Hanlon
Senior Fellow – Foreign Policy
Director of Research – Foreign Policy
The Sydney Stein, Jr. Chair
Panelists
Mausi Segun
Executive Director, Africa – Human Rights Watch
Tiseke Kasambala
Chief of Party, Advancing Rights in Southern Africa Program – Freedom House
Jon Temin
Director,
Africa Program – Freedom House
Repairing the Damage: The future of U.S. relations with our Syrian Kurdish and the fight against ISIS | November 20, 2019 | 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM | Russell Senate Office, 2 Constitution Ave NE, Room 385, Washington, DC 20002 | Register Here
Turkey’s recent invasion of the predominantly Kurdish region (Rojava) in northeast Syria has upended the successful four year joint operation between the United States and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against ISIS in Syria and left the Syrian Kurds and their partners at the mercy of Putin and Assad to seek protection against advancing Turkish forces.
Nearly 300,000 Kurds, Christians, and Arabs have been displaced and more than 700 people have been killed in the conflict which has also placed the anti-ISIS campaign at risk, including the potential escape of 1000s of ISIS prisoners in SDF-managed camps in eastern Syria. Alongside the Turkish military, radical jihadist fighters backed by Turkey have committed documented war crimes including the brutal murder of female Syrian Kurdish politician, Hevrin Khalaf.
Despite the U.S.-Turkish ceasefire agreement, Turkey and its proxies continue to bombard and invade areas outside the zone and Turkish President Erdogan has continued to reiterate his intention to ‘cleanse’ the area of local inhabitants. Confusion exists over the implications of the recent US decision to redeploy a small number of US forces back into eastern Syria to protect oil resources there.
The panel discussion will address the future relationship between the US and its Syrian Kurdish allies and the way forward to stop Turkey’s military operation, remove Turkish-backed jihadi proxies from the area and prevent the re-emergence of ISIS.
Opening Remarks — Honorable Senator Chris Van Hollen
Panel Discussion
Moderator: Dr. Najmaldin Karim, President of the Washington Kurdish Institute
Ms. Ilham Ahmed, President of the Syrian Democratic Council
Dr. Amy Austin Holmes, Woodrow Wilson International Center &Visiting Professor at Harvard University
Dr. Aykan Erdemir, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Future Geopolitical Realities and Expectations in Syria | November 21, 2019 | 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM | National Press Club, 529 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20045 | Register Here
On November
21st, the Turkish Heritage Organization will host President of the Independent
Syrian Kurdish Association Abdulaziz Tammo, Council of United Syrians and
Americans Executive Director Hamdi Rifai, and TRT World Middle East
Correspondent Sarah Firth for a discussion on “Future
Geopolitical Realities and Expectations in Syria”.
The Role of Women in Syria’s Future | November 21, 2019 | 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM | Middle East Institute, 1763 N Street NW Washington, DC 20036 | Register Here
The Middle East Institute (MEI) is pleased to host a public event featuring a panel of influential Syrian women, which will focus on the important role of women within Syrian civil society and in local and international initiatives aimed at shaping a better future for Syria. The panel will focus particularly on the contributions made by women in Syria’s ongoing political processes, including the nascent Geneva negotiation track, as well as in the recently UN-convened Constitutional Committee.
Please join us for this timely discussion on the role of women at home and abroad, amid conflict and a continuing search for peace and justice in Syria.
Speakers
Sarah Hunaidi
Writer and human rights activist; member of the Syrian Women’s Political Movement
Rafif Jouejati
Co-founder and Director, FREE-Syria
Jomana Qaddour
Lawyer and analyst; co-founder, Syria Relief & Development
Vivian Salama
Journalist, The Wall Street Journal
Energizing India: Conversations on Energy Access and Security | November 22, 2019 | 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM | 1030 15th St NW, 12th Floor, Washington, DC | Register Here
India faces various accessibility challenges in rural and urban regions. Smart grid and off-grid solutions subsidized by the Indian government have made the country one of the fastest electrifying in the world. While the Indian government claims 100 percent electrification, and thus significant transmission and distribution infrastructure, energy experts raise questions about the impact of these government-led efforts. As electrification grows among households, new solutions from both public and private sector entities must ensure long-term energy access and security.
Please join the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center and South Asia Center on Friday, November 22, 2019 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. for a conversation with Shreerupa Mitra, Executive Director of The Energy Forum, about her new book, “Energizing India: Fuelling a Billion Lives.” followed by two expert panels on energy access and security in India.
Book Discussion: Energizing India: Fuelling a Billion Lives
Shreerupa Mitra
Executive
Director
The Energy Forum
Moderated by
Randolph Bell
Director, Global Energy CenterAtlantic Council
Panel I: Ensuring Energy Access
Dr. Johannes Urpelainen
Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Professor of Energy,
Resources and Environment; Director, Energy, Resources and Environment Program,
School of Advanced International Studies
Johns Hopkins University
Moderated by
Bina Hussein
Associate Director, Global Energy Center
Atlantic Council
Panel II: Ensuring Energy Security
Amos Hochstein
Former Special Envoy and Coordinator for International
Energy Affairs
US Department of State
Shreerupa Mitra
Executive Director
The Energy Forum
Moderated by
Dr. Irfan Noorruddin
Director, South Asia Center
Atlantic Council
*More speakers to be announced soon*
Share this, I'll really appreciate it:
Stevenson’s army, November 13
– Trump has invited some GOP Senators to meet with him and Erdogan today.
– WaPo outlines the US proposal to Turkey, similar to what it offered in the failed effort to prevent an invasion of Syria.
– No anti-ISIS air strikes since Turkey moved into Syria.
– In a private speech, John Bolton said Trump’s foreign policy sometimes was to serve his personal interests.
– Lawfare summarizes the testimony so far in the impeachment inquiry.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. If you want to get it directly, To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
Share this, I'll really appreciate it:
Friday stock taking
It’s Friday, so let’s take a look at how effectively the Trump Administration has dealt with world and domestic events this week while it obsesses over impeachment:
- The North Koreans continue to launch increasingly capable ballistic missiles.
- While suffering from reimposed sanctions, Iran is defying the US and increasing uranium enrichment beyond the limits specified the nuclear deal the US withdrew from.
- The Iranian attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil production facilities has elicited no visible response from the US or Saudi Arabia, which is joining the United Arab Emirates in playing footsie with Iran.
- While failing to remove from Syria all the troops Trump said would be withdrawn, the US has allowed Turkey to take over a buffer zone along its border with Syria, leading to large-scale displacement of people there. Russia has also gained a foothold in northeastern Syria, as has the Assad regime.
- The trade war with China drags on, with the US trade deficit ballooning and Asian partners and allies doubting US commitments in the region.
- Venezuelan autocrat Maduro has survived despite American pressure, as has the Communist regime in Cuba and Evo Morales’ rule in Bolivia.
- In Europe, French President Macron is describing NATO as “brain dead” because of Trump’s lack of commitment to it and Trump’s pal UK Prime Minister Johnson is being forced into an election to try to confirm his Brexit plan, which Trump has supported.
- In the Balkans, the Administration has confused everyone with the appointment of two special envoys whose relationship to each other and to US policy is opaque.
- That’s all without even mentioning Ukraine, where State Department officials have confirmed that President Trump tried to extort an investigation of his political rivals from newly elected President Zelensky in exchange for Congressionally approved military aid.
The home front is even worse:
- A New York State Court has forced Trump into a $2 million settlement in which he has admitted improper and fraudulent use of his family foundation.
- Republicans lost the governorship in Kentucky and control of both houses of the Virginia assembly in off-year elections earlier this week. Congressional Republicans are nervous.
- President Trump’s personal lawyer affirmed that everything he did in Ukraine was to serve his client’s personal interests, a statement that confirms public assets were used for private purposes.
- The Attorney General, a stalwart defender of his boss, has declined to make a public statement supporting Trump’s claim that he did nothing wrong in his infamous phone call with President Zelensky.
- The House Democrats are piling up subpoenas that the White House is ignoring, heightening the likelihood that obstruction of Congressional oversight will be added to the impeachment charges and limiting the news to the sharp critiques of non-White House officials.
- The economy is slowing, especially in some “swing” districts vital to Trump’s hopes for a win in the electoral college in 2020, when he is sure to lose the popular vote once again, likely by a wider margin than in 2016.
I suppose it could get worse, and likely will. But it has been a long time since we’ve seen an American Administration in worse shape than this.
RSS - Posts
