Version 2: Sat, Feb 15, 2025
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By
Serafart
- Own work based on:
Syria
(orthographic projection).svgSource for showing Alexandretta as
being claimed by Syria: (1956).
“The
Sanjak of Alexandretta (Hatay): Its Impact on Turkish-Syrian Relations
(1939-1956)”. The Middle East Journal 10 (4): 379-394.,
CC
BY-SA 4.0,
Link
Map of Syria with disputed territories highlighted in light green - Wikimedia
The plan for the following is to have a series of topics and then the sources and notes:
Prison Releases
Bucca Prison - Iraq
- Largest of America’s two prisons in Iraq to shut
- How the Islamic State evolved in an American prison
- IntelBrief: Avoiding the Next Camp Bucca
North Syria - 2024
North Syria - future
- US officials say ‘massive ISIS jailbreak’ possible if Turkish-backed offensive continues in north Syria
- US plans to withdraw all troops from Syria
Sources and Comments
Special section on James Corbett:
- Interview 738 – Sharmine Narwani on the Geopolitics of the Syrian War - 2013
- Interview 1173 – Tim Anderson Exposes the Dirty War on Syria - 2016
- Episode 469 – A Brief History of the War on Syria
- The Fall of Syria: What You Need to Know
- Interview 1922 – Making Sense of Syria on The Last American Vagabond
Anderson, Tim (2015) “The Dirty War On Syria: Chemical Fabrications, The East Ghouta Incident” - Prof. Tim Anderson is with the Centre for Counter Hegemonic Studies - Global Research, December 12, 2015 http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-dirty-war-on-syria-chemical-fabrications-the-east-ghouta-incident/5493698 - Archive: https://archive.ph/iDKIw
al-Assad, Bashar (2025) “Statement by President Bashar al-Assad on the Circumstances Leading to His Departure from Syria” - Global Research, December 17, 2024 https://www.globalresearch.ca/bashar-al-assad-circumstances-leading-departure-syria/5875200 - Archive: https://archive.ph/RyFrr
Chulov, Martin - “Largest of America’s two prisons in Iraq to shut” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/sep/16/us-prison-iraq-bucca-closure - The Guardian - 17 Sep 2009
The largest of America’s two prisons in Iraq, Camp Bucca, will close by the weekend as the US military winds down the highly contentious detention programme it has run for the last six years. From next week only one US-run facility – Camp Cropper near Baghdad airport – will still be operating. That too is expected to close by the end of the year, leaving only 1,000 allegedly “hardcore” detainees in joint US and Iraqi hands.
At its peak Camp Bucca held about 26,000 inmates, many of whom were thought to be Islamic extremists and factional leaders in the sectarian war that ravaged Iraq in 2006 and 2007. The sprawling desert compound, near the port of Umm Qasr in southern Iraq, was described by prisoners as harsh.
Corbett, James (2013) - “Interview 738 – Sharmine Narwani on the Geopolitics of the Syrian War” https://corbettreport.com/interview-738-sharmine-narwani-on-the-geopolitics-of-the-syrian-war/ - Sep 3, 2013
Corbett, James (2016) - “Interview 1173 – Tim Anderson Exposes the Dirty War on Syria” https://corbettreport.com/interview-1173-tim-anderson-exposes-the-dirty-war-on-syria/ - May 26, 2016
Corbett, James (2024a) - “Episode 469 – A Brief History of the War on Syria” https://corbettreport.com/a-brief-history-of-the-war-on-syria/ - Dec 11, 2024 - Archive: https://archive.ph/tyQii
Corbett, James (2024b) - “The Fall of Syria: What You Need to Know” https://corbettreport.com/the-fall-of-syria-what-you-need-to-know/ - Dec 15, 2024 - Archive: https://archive.ph/nKEG8
Corbett, James (2024c) - “Interview 1922 – Making Sense of Syria on The Last American Vagabond” https://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/james-corbett-interview-12-18-24/ and https://corbettreport.com/making-sense-of-syria/ - Dec 21, 2024 - Archive: https://archive.ph/yAt9N
Courage Foundation (2019) “Panel Criticizes ‘Unacceptable Practices’ in the OPCW’s investigation of the Alleged Chemical Attack in Douma, Syria on April 7th 2018” - October 23, 2019 https://www.couragefound.org/2019/10/opcw-panel-statement/ - Archive: https://archive.ph/dUPVn
Based on the whistleblower’s extensive presentation, including internal emails, text exchanges and suppressed draft reports, we are unanimous in expressing our alarm over unacceptable practices in the investigation of the alleged chemical attack in Douma, near the Syrian capital of Damascus on 7 April 2018. We became convinced by the testimony that key information about chemical analyses, toxicology consultations, ballistics studies, and witness testimonies was suppressed, ostensibly to favor a preordained conclusion.
Courage Foundation (2021) “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Leading International Voices and Chemical Weapons Experts Call for Accountability and Transparency at the OPCW” - 12 March 2021 https://www.couragefound.org/press-release/press-release-leading-international-voices-and-chemical-weapons-experts-call-for-accountability-and-transparency-at-the-opcw/ - Archive: https://archive.ph/AKkif
Cradle (2024a) - “Iraq boosts security on Syrian border after US proxies free hundreds of ISIS fighters” https://thecradle.co/articles-id/26216 - Aug 1, 2024
Officials from Mosul say the released ISIS fighters have been ‘dispersed along the Iraqi borders’ with no monitoring
Cradle (2024b) - “Abu Mohammad al-Julani: Putting lipstick on a pig” https://thecradle.co/articles/abu-mohammad-al-julani-putting-lipstick-on-a-pig - Dec 13, 2024
Julani’s rise from Al-Qaeda affiliate to a western-recognized ‘moderate’ leader exemplifies how geopolitics trumps ideology. For years, the west has pretended to fight terrorism while leveraging Julani and his vast Al-Qaeda and ISIS-linked terror network to destabilize Syria.
This past July, American-backed Kurds released around 1,500 ISIS prisoners from detention camps, which the US military describes as an ISIS “army in waiting.”
Cradle (2024c) “US officials say ‘massive ISIS jailbreak’ possible if Turkish-backed offensive continues in north Syria” https://thecradle.co/articles-id/28135 - Dec 19, 2024
Extremist groups that seized power in Damascus with the backing of Ankara and Washington have been clashing with Kurdish militias who control dozens of prisons holding thousands of ISIS fighters
Cradle (2025) “Syria ‘open for foreign investment,’ FM says at Davos: Syrian FM Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, a founder of Al-Qaeda in Syria, held a dialogue with Iraq war architect, former UK prime minister Tony Blair” - Jan 23, 2025 - https://thecradle.co/articles-id/28582 - Archive: https://archive.ph/Q6Ndz
“Syria’s economic resources are diverse, and we have a lot of sectors – industry, tourism … of course, the economy in the future will be open and will open the road for foreign investment,” he said at the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan Al Shibani speaks with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair during the 55th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 22, 2025. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Crooke, Alastair (2025) “Imperial hubris (and its consequences) in Syria” - Strategic Culture Foundation - January 1, 2025 https://strategic-culture.su/news/2025/01/01/imperial-hubris-and-its-consequences-in-syria/ - Archive: https://archive.ph/Xax0f
Erdogan now indisputably ‘owns’ ‘former-Syria’. Ottoman irredentist sentiment is ecstatic and demanding more Turkish revanchism. Others – the more secular city dwellers of Turkey however – are less enthused by the display of Turkish religious nationalism.
Erdogan however, may well be (or may soon be) experiencing buyer’s remorse: Yes, Turkey stands tall as Syria’s new landlord, but he is now ‘the responsible’ for what happens next. (HTS is plainly exposed as a Turkish proxy). Minorities are being killed; brutal sectarian executions are accelerating; sectarianism becoming more extreme. There is still no Syrian economy in sight; no revenues, and no fuel for the gasoline refinery (previously supplied by Iran).
Dahl, Edgar W. - “Detention operations in Iraq: Not what you think” By Command Sgt. Maj. Edgar W. Dahl https://www.dvidshub.net/news/21610/detention-operations-iraq-not-you-think - Task Force Bucca Public Affairs Office - 07.18.2008 - PR by Multi-National Corps Iraq Public Affairs
Durgham, Nader (2025) - “US plans to withdraw all troops from Syria, report says: The move prompted by President Trump would leave US-backed Kurdish forces facing an uncertain future” https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-plans-withdraw-all-troops-syria-report-says - 5 February 2025
Kit Klarenberg (2024) “Privatizing Syria: US Plans to Sell Off a Nation’s Wealth After Assad” - Mint Press News - December 17th, 2024 https://www.mintpressnews.com/privatizing-syria-us-plans-to-sell-off-a-nations-wealth-after-assad/288843/ - Archive: https://archive.ph/XUCfQ
In Syria’s protracted political and economic dismantling, there are eerie echoes of the U.S. Empire’s destruction of Yugoslavia throughout the 1990s. During that decade, the multiethnic socialist federation’s breakup produced bitter wars of independence in Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia – encouraged, financed, armed, and prolonged every step by Western powers.
Krainer, Alex bio on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B08ZJXTPZ6/about
Alex Krainer is well known in the alterative geopolitics podcast circuit, and he made a number of apperances in early December suggesting that what may be happening in Syria is similar to what happened in Afghanistan where the US managed to involve Russia in a messy situation. Except this time we may have the reverse. Google Alex Krainer Syria Russia trap.
We will probably never find out the intent of Russia and Iran but we may end up with a messy situation regardless of what Russia and Iran intended. Here is how it could play: if the US withdraw all troops from Syria then the Kurdish forces may release AQ etc prisoners. The situation could become chaotic and that will “invite” the Israelis to move north-east and join forces with the Kurds and eventually open a corridor through Iraq to Iran. Possible and arguably plausible given Zionist aspirations for a “Greater Israel” and the possibility that some of the released fighters end up causing destabilization in Iraq.
McCoy, Terrence - “How the Islamic State evolved in an American prison” https://archive.ph/12Stu - Washington Post - November 4, 2014
Mahmoud’s assessment of Camp Bucca, which funneled 100,000 detainees through its barracks and closed months later, would prove prescient. The camp now represents an opening chapter in the history of the Islamic State — many of its leaders, including Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, were incarcerated and probably met there. According to former prison commanders, analysts and soldiers, Camp Bucca provided a unique setting for both prisoner radicalization and inmate collaboration — and was formative in the development of today’s most potent jihadist force.
Soufan Center - “IntelBrief: Avoiding the Next Camp Bucca” https://thesoufancenter.org/intelbrief-avoiding-the-next-camp-bucca/ - The Soufan Center - March 21, 2019
During the surge of the U.S. war in Iraq, tens of thousands of Iraqis were held in U.S. detention centers, including in Camp Bucca. It was within the confines of these overcrowded camps that the next iteration of terror germinated among detainees. Led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, these prisoners would become the future foot soldiers of the so-called Islamic State (IS). Aware of the potential of these prisoners, the group’s nascent leadership engineered a systematic and successful campaign called ‘Breaking the Walls’ that freed thousands of supporters from Iraqi-run centers. As with nearly every aspect of the cyclical ebb and flow of terrorism and counterterrorism in Iraq, the issue of overcrowded detention centers spawning another wave of terror is relevant once again. However, this time the situation could be far worse.
Welch, Michael (2025) “From the Frying Pan into the Fire? Analysis of What is Happening in Syria in 2025” - Link to full podcast audio and partial transcript. Michael Welch talks with Drago Bosnic and Laith Marouf - Global Research, January 10, 2025 https://www.globalresearch.ca/from-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire-analysis-of-what-is-happening-in-syria-in-2025/5876809 - Archive: https://archive.ph/dik86
Laith Marouf: And by the way, just for our listeners to understand, something like 70% of the population of Syria is Muslim Sunni, but the vast majority of those Muslim Sunnis, like 90% of them, are following the Sufi sects, Sufi schools, meaning mystics. They’re not followers of the orthodox schools of the Sunni Islam. And although we hear a lot about, rightly so, about the targeting of Alawi shrines and the attacks on Alawi populations and Christian sites, the vast majority of attacks on religious temples is on Muslim Sunni mosques where HTS thugs are coming in and lynching Sufi imams and appointing Wahhabi imams. …
And a few mosques in Damascus, in the old city, there was scuffles where the parishioners kicked out these Wahhabi preachers. So I’m just throwing that out just maybe to help everybody understand that the situation in Syria is not about Islam versus other religions. It’s about an imported cult, the Wahhabi cult that has been working for the CIA and the Saudi establishment, the Saudi monarchy, to poison all the Muslim countries that are defending themselves against American imperialism.
Woods, Keith (2024) “Israel’s Love Affair with Syrian Jihadis: For years, Zionists have backed the most radical elements in Syria” - Substack https://keithwoods.pub/p/israel-jihad - Archive: https://archive.ph/UOljT
Started: Sat, Jan 25, 2025
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