Tag Archives: Kurdish

Sound of a Dictator preparing for a long Battle

Posted on March 31, 2011 by jonathanspyer

Jerusalem Post- 31/03/2011 President Bashar al-Assad’s speech to the Syrian parliament was noteworthy more for what the Syrian dictator did not say than for what he did. Remarks by Assad aides to the media in the last days had raised … Continue reading →

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Analysis: US Raid shows Assad’s Over-Estimation

Posted on March 23, 2011 by jonathanspyer

Jerusalem Post- 29/10/2008 This week’s US raid across the Iraqi-Syrian border resembles a number of similar actions carried out by American forces against al-Qaida targets over the last year in the North Waziristan area of Pakistan. It demonstrates a US … Continue reading →

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Muslim World: Iran’s Execution Binge

Posted on March 15, 2011 by jonathanspyer

22/01/2011 In the early morning hours of Saturday, January 15 in the isolated and overcrowded Orumiyeh prison in western Iran [Iranian Kurdistan], the authorities hanged one of their opponents. Hossein Khazri, an alleged activist with the Party for Free Life … Continue reading →

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Fire from the Mountain

Posted on March 15, 2011 by jonathanspyer

23/10/2010 In the badlands between the borders of Iraq, Turkey and Iran, a small band of Kurdish separatists continue to wage their war. Our PKK contact and driver arrived at the appointed time outside the hotel in Erbil. We had … Continue reading →

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Re-engaging with Reality

Posted on March 7, 2011 by jonathanspyer

Haaretz-20/09/2005 Two key processes currently taking place in the Middle East Israel’s disengagement and the sharp scaling-down of Western hopes for a remade, democratic Iraq ­ reflect the durability of existing patterns of regional political behavior. Middle East politics remains … Continue reading →

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