"I've been asking a simple, but important question.. What is the administration's strategy on #Syria?" -- @SenatorMenendez

"I remain concerned this administration has accepted #Assad's rule as a foregone conclusion." -- @SenatorRisch

SFRC hearing, now.
@SenatorMenendez @SenatorRisch "I was shocked to see Bashar al-#Assad welcomed as any other Head of State by the #UAE."

- @SafiraLeaf, Assistant Secretary of State for #MiddleEast.
@SenatorMenendez @SenatorRisch @SafiraLeaf "I will make the #Syria crisis & applying pressure on the #Assad regime, a priority in the administration."

- @SafiraLeaf, Assistant Secretary of State for #MiddleEast.
@SenatorMenendez @SenatorRisch @SafiraLeaf "The #Captagon trade is something associated with the #Assad family.. the Saudis, Jordanians are deeply concerned about this toxic trade."

- @SafiraLeaf, Ass. SecState for #MiddleEast.

Several "U.S. agencies" are already engaged in combating the trade, financing, smuggling etc.
@SenatorMenendez @SenatorRisch @SafiraLeaf "We have not seen any change to #Russia's deployment in #Syria, or to its posture in defending #Assad's regime."

- @dstroul, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense #MiddleEast.
@SenatorMenendez @SenatorRisch @SafiraLeaf @dstroul "How many more times does a witness to war crimes need to sit in front of you and describe the horrors of the #Assad regime?"

- The #GraveDigger speaks before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
@SenatorMenendez @SenatorRisch @SafiraLeaf @dstroul "Twice a week, 3 or 4 pickup trucks with 30-40 civilian bodies who'd been executed in Sednaya Prison, arrived for disposal in the most inhumane way.”

- The #GraveDigger speaks before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
@SenatorMenendez @SenatorRisch @SafiraLeaf @dstroul In his SFRC testimony, the #GraveDigger says mass graves are still being dug by #Assad's regime today -- some of those involved "recently escaped" #Syria.

Americans were among those murdered, and Europeans, journalists & aid workers.
@SenatorMenendez @SenatorRisch @SafiraLeaf @dstroul "I buried so many children tortured to death & I remember them all."

“I buried a mother still holding her infant to her breast as their lifeless bodies were thrown in the trench.”

The #GraveDigger testifies to SFRC on #Assad's mass murder of civilian detainees.

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More from @Charles_Lister

May 10
"The Age of Political Jihadism"

- This is an excellent in-depth look at #HTS by @azelin, a group that's changed markedly over the past 5-7yrs & represents an entirely different challenge than its #AlQaeda-aligned predecessor.

washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysi…
@azelin I've been studying #HTS (& JFS & Nusra before it) closely for 11yrs & as @azelin makes clear, it's existed in its current form for longer than its previous, #AlQaeda-aligned Nusra days.

That evolution dates back to at least early-2015, when I wrote this:

huffpost.com/entry/an-inter…
@azelin For an #AlQaeda affiliate born out of #ISIS to become a de facto governing entity that maintains ties to nation states & cooperates with INGOs is no insignificant thing.

Within its NW zone, #HTS has arguably been the most successful anti-#ISIS & AQ actor in #Syria -- but...
Read 5 tweets
May 6
By all accounts, the NRF have launched a major offensive against the #Taliban across #Panjshir today -- taking multiple districts.

No doubt the #Taliban can respond in force, but it's yet another sign (beyond #ISKP) that #Afghanistan's new rulers are far from unchallenged.
NEW - x7 rockets fired into #Tajikistan from #Afghanistan.

In one month, #Pakistan, #Uzbekistan & #Tajikistan have all been hit by cross-border attacks, and #Iran affected by border clashes.

Tajik incident comes amid NRF (long associated with #Dushanbe) offensive in #Panjshir.
#ISKP have claimed today’s cross-border rocket attack on #Tajikistan.

This comes weeks after a similar volley was fired into #Uzbekistan & amid #TTP cross-border attacks into #Pakistan & clashes along the #Iran border.

#Taliban coming under mounting pressure.
Read 4 tweets
May 3
NEW - @USAmbUN says that while U.S. chairs UNSC in May, @SecBlinken will chair a UNSC meeting on the intersection between food insecurity & conflict.

The U.S. will also chair x3 meetings on #Syria:

- Humanitarian on 20th
- Chemical weapons on 23rd
- Political situation on 31st
@USAmbUN @SecBlinken .@USAmbUN also announces that on May 18, the U.S. will convene & @SecBlinken will chair a Ministerial meeting at the UN, focused on food insecurity & conflict, amid #Russia's war in #Ukraine.

Vitally important, as food crises worsen by the week in #Africa & the #MiddleEast.
@USAmbUN @SecBlinken .@USAmbUN on the upcoming UNSC July vote on cross-border access into #Syria:

"It's important that we do everything in our power to keep cross-border assistance flowing into #Syria.. cross-line is clearly not enough.. I will do everything I can do expand the [existing] mandate."
Read 4 tweets
May 3
#Russia's invasion of #Ukraine catalyzed a massive U.S. & #NATO pressure campaign -- sanctions, weapons etc.

Good.

For years in #Syria, #Russia bombed hospitals, IDP camps & schools; besieged 100,000s; covered for CW use & more.

The response? Nothing. Not even x1 sanction.
I know it's been said before, but I still find it hard to wrap my head around just how cold & risk averse the U.S. & allies were over #Russia's role in Syria.

And the costs are just staggering -- not just to #Syria & its neighborhood, but to the world at large. What an error.
In #Syria, the US line was it didn't matter & *any* push-back would risk WW3 with #Russia.

The risk in #Ukraine was infinitely higher, yet our action was swift & firm -- & effective.

The distinction is hard to swallow, especially w. 500,000 dead & 12 million displaced 11yrs on.
Read 4 tweets
May 2
U.S. & NATO assistance to #Ukraine has had an extraordinary effect so far -- but triumphant talk of 'winning' is premature & dangerous.

Yes #Russia is on the backfoot, but it's got room to adapt & drag this out into more favorable dynamics.

My warning:

politico.com/news/magazine/…
Amid optimism over #Ukraine, let's also remember the invasion still happened -- 11 million civilians have been displaced; towns/cities turned to rubble; & 10,000s civilians killed.

#Putin rode a wave of impunity we paved for years prior -- it'll take a long time to redraw norms.
For #Russia, this war didn't begin 2 months ago -- it began in 2014. This is the latest phase in a long war.

Like #Syria, a nationwide campaign has proven untenable, but pivoting to a piecemeal campaign can create more sustainable conditions in which #Ukraine faces the pressure.
Read 7 tweets
May 2
In 2021, #Assad's regime produced & exported ~$30 billion worth of #Captagon -- roughly 35x #Syria's legal exports.

That *enormous* operation cemented #Syria's status as a narco state of international significance.

My latest, for @MiddleEastInst:

mei.edu/publications/w…
@MiddleEastInst The regime's integral role in #Syria's #Captagon industry is well known -- and Maher al-#Assad is *the* central figure.

Drugs are literally the lifeblood of #Assad's regime & it's destabilizing the #MiddleEast. Dozens have died in #Jordan in recent months in border clashes.
@MiddleEastInst Despite how much is known & although #Assad's regime remains the most infamous perpetrator of war crimes in the C21st, the world is clearly ignoring the #Captagon threat.

In #Jordan, where it's turned deadly, authorities continue to engage with the very regime behind the threat.
Read 4 tweets

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