Mustafa Tlas: “We used weapons to assume power, and we wanted to hold onto it,” the former defense minister smilingly told a German reporter in 2005. “Anyone who wants power will have to take it from us with weapons." tcf.org/?p=24324 via @aronlund for @TCFdotOrg 
"“The YPG were the ones who ensured our safety, but they were also the ones who pressured us the hardest,” says Wærness." tcf.org/?p=24324 via @aronlund
"Unlike the YPG, Arab militias had no central command to keep criminal elements in check. Relations among local commanders fluctuated unpredictably. “In Manbij, a city of 100,000, they had perhaps twenty different FSA groups in late 2012" tcf.org/?p=24324 via @aronlund
"Even if I didn’t like what people were doing to us, I had to maintain the relationship,” Wærness says, “because in a place like Syria, you need to keep your enemies close.”" tcf.org/?p=24324 via @aronlund
"After breaking w Assad, Firas Tlass turned his attention to dealmaking among rebel insurgents. 1. He helped negotiate deals over raw materials, (2) he put the factory in touch w rebel leaders, & (3) he paid protection money to armed grps tcf.org/?p=24324 via @aronlund
"LafargeHolcim paid some $15.3 million to insurgent middlemen, suppliers, or armed groups during the company’s time in Syria, [including Nusra.] The Islamic State would at some point receive a monthly $20,000 cut. tcf.org/?p=24324 via @aronlund
The End of the Jabaliyya Factory: By 2014, the factory was rarely functional, with LCS having long run their operations at a loss. by @aronlund
The US Takes over the Jabaliyya Factory
"However, instead of cement, the factory now produces guerrillas. At some point in 2015, it was turned into a base for U.S., British, and French special forces & their helicopters & planes" tcf.org/?p=24324 via @aronlund
"However, instead of cement, the factory now produces guerrillas. At some point in 2015, it was turned into a base for U.S., British, and French special forces & their helicopters & planes" tcf.org/?p=24324 via @aronlund
"Firas Tlass was arrested in the UAE, possibly in connection w the Lafarge probe. Police raided LafargeHolcim offices in Paris & Brussels. In Dec 2017, French authorities began to place several Lafarge executives under investigation" tcf.org/?p=24324 via @aronlund
"As Syria’s rebels, Kurdish nationalists & Assad loyalists kill each other, they trade. An army of pol fixers, entrepreneurs & smugglers emerged to provide tissue binding this fragmented nation into one happily pumping vascular sys of corruption. tcf.org/?p=24324 @aronlund
"One may choose to view this as a grand conspiracy or simply as the invisible hand of the market. More prosaically put, it is perhaps how the economy would operate in any war zone where rival factions control interdependent resources." tcf.org/?p=24324 @aronlund
"International cost estimates for Syria’s reconstruction are in the $200-billion range, which means it is impossible for Damascus to manage this gargantuan task by itself—the Syrian state budget for 2018 was only worth about $7 billion." by @aronlund tcf.org/?p=24324
"Northeastern Syria certainly needs a reconstruction program to get back on its feet. " tcf.org/?p=24324 by @aronlund via @TCFdotOrg
"Sec of State Rex Tillerson said the US would restrict itself to providing basic “stabilization” assistance, and would not go so far as to supporting “reconstruction.” tcf.org/?p=24324 by @aronlund via @TCFdotOrg
"YPG-backed authorities do not seem capable of running the factory on their own, even if LafargeHolcim were to reinvest in the area. The Democratic Federation rests on shaky legal ground & has no international recognition (not even from the US) tcf.org/?p=24324 @aronlund
Lafarge’s giant cement plant, a silent monument to the power of money, is waiting almost untouched for another handshake across the front lines." tcf.org/?p=24324 by @Aronlund
