Why US-Russia talks on Syria will lead to nowhere (Brooklyn Middleton, Al Arabiya)

If President Obama’s administration really did intensify cooperation with the Russian military in Syria – as recent reports have indicated they may be planning – the US would be forced to silence its own calls for Bashar al-Assad’s departure and would lose any remaining credibility with the Syrian opposition and the fighters its supporting on the ground.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/world/2016/07/09/Why-US-Russia-talks-on-Syria-will-lead-to-nowhere-.html

Historic letter will fail to change Obama’s approach to Syria (Brooklyn Middleton, Al Arabiya)

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/07/01/Historic-letter-will-fail-to-change-Obama-s-approach-to-Syria.html

Orlando massacre: A terrorist attack made easier by US gun laws (Brooklyn Middleton, Al Arabiya)

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/06/28/Orlando-Massacre-A-terrorist-attack-made-easier-by-US-gun-laws.html

Amid offensive in Fallujah, civilians face hellish uncertainty (Brooklyn Middleton, Al Arabiya)

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/06/12/Amid-offensive-in-Fallujah-civilians-face-hellish-uncertainty-.html

Israel on alert as threat of chemical warfare spreads (Brooklyn Middleton, Al Arabiya)

Israeli media recently reported that the country is continuing to track chemical weapons in Syria, including in the Golan Heights, and will act to prevent them from being used by terrorists. As the conflict continues to rage in the war-town country, an Israeli strike on any terrorist group in possession of chemical weapons – especially those based close to Israel’s own territory - becomes increasingly likely with each passing day.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/05/06/Israel-on-alert-as-threat-of-chemical-warfare-spreads.html

The world cannot let Aleppo be slaughtered before our eyes (Brooklyn Middleton, Al Arabiya)

The slaughter of Aleppo is underway. At least 212 civilians have been killed, including at least 57 children, since April 18. The bloodshed is certain to increase in the coming weeks as the regime and allied forces launch a major offensive to attempt to retake rebel-held territory in the city. The past several days have proved utterly brutal in Aleppo and a number of videos show footage of all too familiar scenes: Dust covered babies and tiny children being pulled from rubble, horrifically mangled bodies, and devastated civilian infrastructure. In one especially barbaric attack, the Assad regime intentionally targeted Al Quds hospital, massacring at least 55 people. Among the dead at the Doctors without Borders-supported facility was one of Aleppo’s very last paediatricians. Meanwhile, reports indicated rebels have intensely shelled government-held areas of the city, killing at least 71.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/04/30/The-world-cannot-let-Aleppo-be-slaughtered-before-our-eyes-.html

Ceasefire falls apart as Assad holds latest sham election (Brooklyn Middleton, Al Arabiya)

Predictable issues have derailed ongoing negotiations over the Syrian conflict, with the opposition resuming fighting against the Syrian regime, which has repeatedly broken the cessation of hostilities agreement that was implemented in February.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/04/21/Ceasefire-falls-apart-as-Assad-holds-latest-sham-election-.html

Why Amnesty has slammed the EU-Turkey refugee deal (Brooklyn Middleton, Al Arabiya)

Amnesty International has issued a damning report claiming that Turkish security forces have forcefully returned refugees back to Syria multiple times over the last several months, throwing cold water on the already deeply flawed deal between the European Union (EU) and Ankara. On April 1, Amnesty reported that Turkey had expelled hundreds of Syrians since mid-January, referring to it as an “open secret in the region.”

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/04/09/Why-Amnesty-has-slammed-the-EU-Turkey-refugee-deal.html

Why refugees shouldn't suffer because of terror ‎attacks (Brooklyn Middleton, Al Arabiya)

The barbarity inflicted on innocent civilians during the ISIS-executed attacks in Brussels last week should not be capitalized on as a chance to abandon the Syrian refugees fleeing similar horror.

Continue reading here ...

Warning signs over uptick in Syria, Iraq chemical attacks (Brooklyn Middleton, Al Arabiya)

A new report released by the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) this week confirms that there was an uptick in chemical weapon attacks in Syria over the course of the last year, underscoring the shortcomings of the Russia-DC brokered deal that ostensibly saw the Assad regime’s chemical weapon program dismantled and their arsenal destroyed.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/03/22/Warning-signals-over-uptick-in-Syria-Iraq-chemical-attacks.html

Amid lull in fighting, a moment of hope for Syria (Brooklyn Middleton, Al Arabiya)

The years of starvation and chemical weapon attacks – including the worst massacre since Saddam Hussein gassed thousands of Kurds in Halabja – could not prevent Syrians from taking to the streets and protesting against Bashar al-Assad’s disgraced regime during recent days. The scenes of anti-regime demonstrations proved that the endless barrel bombings of civilian infrastructure, mass torture and what the UN has said is “extermination” of civilians has failed to kill the revolution.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/03/15/Amid-lull-in-fighting-a-moment-of-hope-for-Syria.html

What can Biden’s visit to Israel achieve? (Brooklyn Middleton, Al Arabiya)

Vice President Joe Biden will set off for a journey to Israel this week and, with the exception of a trip in January 2014 to attend the funeral of former prime minister Ariel Sharon, this will mark his first diplomatic visit to the country since 2010. Following talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin, Biden will head to Palestine to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. Despite these meetings, the trip does not appear to be related to any attempt to restart stalled peace talks between Israelis and Palestinian.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/03/08/What-can-Biden-s-visit-to-Israel-achieve-.html

Syria truce breaches amid mounting refugee crisis (Brooklyn Middleton, Al Arabiya)

The two-week cessation of hostilities that began on Feb. 27 has reportedly been marred by a number of breaches by the Syrian regime and its backers, including Russia. Nonetheless, the bloodshed has been significantly reduced, and the period of relative calm could lay a more solid foundation for the next round of talks on March 7 in Geneva.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/03/03/Syria-truce-breaches-amid-mounting-refugee-crisis.html

Syria: When is a ceasefire not actually a ceasefire? (Brooklyn Middleton, Al Arabiya)

If you had not followed the conflict in Syria until this point, you could perhaps be forgiven for briefly thinking that the latest news out of Munich regarding a comprehensive ceasefire could possibly result in stopping the bloodshed. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry admitted that the latest plan - which calls for a total “cessation of hostilities” to begin next week - is “ambitious.” But the plan does not appear merely ambitious, however, but instead totally unrealistic. Yet again, involved parties have apparently failed to prioritize specific issues that can be immediately addressed and instead have focused efforts on the broad – and, at this stage, likely impossible - goal of implementing a ceasefire.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/02/14/Syria-When-is-a-ceasefire-not-actually-a-ceasefire-.html

Stop the Assad killing machine before Syria talks (Brooklyn Middleton, Al Arabiya)

The key demand made by the High Negotiations Committee of the Syrian Opposition (HNC) ahead of peace talks in Geneva is at once utterly basic and deeply important: Stop killing our people before we even think about sitting down with you. The opposition’s demands are predicated on forcing Bashar al-Assad’s barbaric regime to uphold already passed UNSC resolutions and begin respecting fundamental humanitarian principles.

While deadly starvation remains rampant and civilian safe zones are non-existent, prioritizing the halting of bloodshed is pivotal in the immediate term. As I have written previously, the notion that there can be agreements made over the most complex issues of the conflict, while war crimes remain ongoing, is not rooted in reality.

Meanwhile, the United States should fully and publicly back the opposition’s demands. If the Assad regime fails to indicate it is finally serious about halting the war crimes it carries out and allows Russia to execute on its behalf, HNC’s pulling out of talks is justifiable. Continued negotiations and paper victories abroad - that have no impact on the ground in Syria – serve only the regime and its backers.

Reports indicate the HNC has demanded that the Assad regime stops targeting civilians, lift all sieges and release several thousand women and children being held as prisoners. In an interview with the Guardian, opposition adviser Farah Atassi noted that women with newborn babies are the detainees’ whose release they are prioritizing first.

“Then we will move to the next list,” she said. No reports of progress on that demand were immediately made public. The second demand regarding the lifting of sieges in opposition-held areas should be non-negotiable. According to Doctors without Borders (MSF), at least 16 more people have been starved to death in Madaya since humanitarian aid was finally transferred to the town on Jan. 11, after months of being choked off by the regime.

Human cost

MSF cited the fact that “the Syrian government-led coalition blocks life-saving medical supplies” as one of the reasons the death toll continues to rise. The final demand regarding the halting of attacks on civilians is one that should finally be addressed in a meaningful manner. The rise of nefarious militant groups, including ISIS, has often distracted attention from Assad’s own barbarity. Nonetheless, the regime has killed far more than ISIS and with total impunity.

The international community cannot wait another day to address Assad’s crimes and it should fully back this HNC demand, which is simply a request to uphold international law. Parties must demonstrate they will begin to uphold the agreements they have already entered into – including resolution 2,254 – which was implemented in December 2015 and then violated continuously ever since.

The United States must support the opposition’s demands publicly and emphatically. The HNC’s unwillingness to negotiate with representatives of a criminal regime until their people see a shift on the ground is the natural response to years of Assad’s butchery. No party can sincerely assess any long term solution can be facilitated until the outlined demands are met. The US must acknowledge this.

If the opposition proves successful at pressuring the regime to respond to its demands, it will mark a major victory. If they do not, it will further underscore Assad’s total disregard for both the humanitarian crisis and for ending this bloody conflict.

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Brooklyn Middleton is an American Political and Security Risk Analyst currently based in New York City. She has previously written about U.S. President Obama's policy in Syria as well as Bashar al-Assad's continued crimes against his own people. She recently finished her MA thesis on Ayatollah Khomeini’s influence on the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, completing her Master's degree in Middle Eastern Studies. You can follow her on Twitter here: @BklynMiddleton.

Syria’s humanitarian crisis: A priority, not an afterthought (Brooklyn Middleton, Al Arabiya)

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/01/24/Geneva-talks-need-agenda-reset-to-tackle-humanitarian-crisis.html

Syria peace efforts haunted by 2014 Geneva talks (Brooklyn Middleton, Al Arabiya)

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/01/19/Failures-of-2014-Geneva-conference-on-Syria-haunt-2016-talks.html

Has the U.N. resolution on Syria already been violated? (Brooklyn Middleton, Al Arabiya)

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2015/12/27/Has-the-U-N-resolution-on-Syria-already-been-violated-.html

(Istituto fondamentale - Global) Assad regime no less depraved than ISIS (Brooklyn Middleton, Al Arabiya)

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2015/07/17/Assad-regime-no-less-depraved-than-ISIS.html