(2023-03-18). [Perspectives] Aftermath of the Türkiye—Syria earthquake. thelancet.com The earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria on Feb 6, 2023, will have lasting health and humanitarian impacts. Current estimates indicate more than 50‚Äà000 people have died and over 100‚Äà000 people have been injured. Thousands of buildings and much infrastructure are destroyed, with millions of people displaced, including vulnerable populations such as children, pregnant women, people living with chronic health conditions or disabilities, and older people. In Türkiye—a country grappling with a flailing economy and the impacts of the conflict in neighbouring Syria[mda…
(2023-03-18). [Perspectives] Aftermath of the Türkiye—Syria earthquake. thelancet.com The earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria on Feb 6, 2023, will have lasting health and humanitarian impacts. Current estimates indicate more than ‚Äà000 people have died and over 100‚Äà000 people have been injured. Thousands of buildings and much infrastructure are destroyed, with millions of people displaced, including vulnerable populations such as children, pregnant women, people living with chronic health conditions or disabilities, and older people. In Türkiye—a country grappling with a flailing economy and the impacts of the conflict in neighbouring Syria[md…
(2023-03-18). A Crucial Year: Turkey at a Turning Point. juancole.com Reviews of Gönül Tol, Erdoƒüan's War: A Strongman's Struggle at Home and in Syria (London: Hurst and Co., 2022) and Dimitar Bechev, Turkey Under Erdoƒüan: How a Country Turned from Democracy and the West (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2022). Augsburg, Germany (Feature: Special to Informed Comment) — At the beginning of …
(2023-03-18). [Correspondence] We cannot erase Syrians' suffering with "solidarity" and political infighting. thelancet.com "The UN's failure to act quickly to save Syrian lives in the face of a humanitarian catastrophe is utterly shameful and should be a stain on its conscience."1 | Raed Al Saleh, The White Helmets…
(2023-03-17). 15 Syrian Soldiers Allegedly Killed In New Attack Near Greater Idlib (Photos). southfront.org 
File image. | Late on March 16, al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched an attack from the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib against the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in yet another violation of a ceasefire agreement that was brokered by Russia and Turkey more than two years ago. | The attack targeted several positions of the SAA in the outskirts of the town of al-Fatatra in the southern countryside of Idlib. | HTS claimed that its militants blew up two fortified posts and killed 15 soldiers before retreating with…
(2023-03-17). SDF Says Commander Of Its Anti-Terror Unit Was Killed In Northern Iraq Helicopter Crash. southfront.org 
The SDF's YAT commander Sherfan Kobani. Via Twitter. | On March 17, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said that the commander of its Anti-Terror Unit, known as the YAT, was killed along with eight of the unit's fighters when two helicopters crashed earlier this week in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region. | According to a statement by the Kurdish-led group, the helicopters crashed on March 15 during bad weather while en route to the city of Suleimaniyah. | The group added that its fig…
(2023-03-17). Three ISIS Operatives Captured By SDF During Recent Operations In Raqqa. southfront.org 
Click to see full-size image. Source: the Hawar News Agency. | On March 17, the United States-led coalition announced that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) captured and detained three operatives of ISIS during recent operations in the northern Syrian governorate of Raqqa. | In a statement, the Combined Special Ops Joint Task Force-Levant said that the SDF was "assessed, advised and enabled" by the coalition during the operations, which took place on March 10. | The detained indiv…
(2023-03-17). Turkey delivers Bayraktar drones for war in Mali, region. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Turkish Bayraktar TB2 combat drones have been employed with deadly efficiency against Russia and Russian allies in Ukraine, Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia, Libya, Syria, Iraq and Tajikistan and have been sold to Ethiopia and Morocco for use against Tigray and Western Sahara, respectively. — RR ==== Hàºrriyet Daily NewsMarch 17, 2023 Mali gets new batch of drones …
(2023-03-17). Blood and Treasure: Documenting the Costs of Iraq War from Civilian Casualties to Trillions Spent. democracynow.org 
With the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq on March 20, we speak with Oxford University international relations professor Neta Crawford, who says the region is still reeling from the impact of the war. "The story continues. It's not over," she says. Crawford is co-director of the Costs of War Project at Brown University, where her latest report pegs the cost of U.S. wars in Iraq and Syria since 2003 at nearly $2.9 trillion. Since the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003 under the false pretext of preventing Saddam Hussein from developing weapons of mass destruction, more than half a million peo…
(2023-03-17). Blood and Treasure: United States Budgetary Costs and Human Costs of 20 Years of War in Iraq and Syria, 2003-2023. globalresearch.ca
(2023-03-18). Don't Let The Media Cheerlead Us Into More Wars Like It Did in Iraq. popularresistance.org Twenty years ago on this coming weekend, I was in Mongolia as the Deputy US Ambassador. After writing a Dissent Cable in early March 2003 on the pending U.S. war on Iraq to my boss Secretary of State Colin Powell, I made the decision to resign from the U.S. government as it was poised to invade, occupy and destroy the sovereign state of Iraq. I was one of three U.S. diplomats who resigned—Brady Kiesling and John Brown resigned before me. | For months, the Bush administration attempted to get the U.S. public to believe that Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction and therefore was a threat to t…
(2023-03-17). Bashar al-Assad's visit to Moscow and the changing face of the Middle East. journal-neo.org 
(2023-03-17). We hope to strengthen cooperation with Chinese provinces: El Salvador Ambassador to China. ecns.cn "On this visit to Sichuan Province, I did not expect that Salvadoran coffee would be so popular in Chengdu. I am very happy," said Aldo Alvarez, Salvadoran ambassador to China, during a media interview at a coffee shop in Chengdu city on Wednesday.
(2023-03-17). Iran says to send ambassador to UAE soon. ecns.cn A senior Iranian diplomat said on Thursday that Iran will soon send its ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
(2023-03-17). 70th anniversary: NATO trains U.S. high school students for "really cool" war with Russia in Arctic. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com NATOAllied Command TransformationMarch 17, 2023 Ambassadors, Global Diplomacy, and NATO — High School Students from Around the Hampton Roads Lead the Way NORFOLK, VA. — On March 15th 2023, NATO's Allied Command Transformation kicked off the Model NATO Challenge, bringing together students, military officials, and diplomats to participate in a strategic problem-solving challenge. Student Diplomats …
(2023-03-17). Presidente sirio afirma que tercera guerra mundial ya está en curso. telesurtv.net Al Assad dijo que "por eso las guerras tienden a ser subsidiarias; por eso hoy en día Zelenski está librando una guerra en nombre de Occidente con su ejército de nazis".
(2023-03-17). The US And Canada Woo Latin America And The Caribbean To Invade Haiti. popularresistance.org At the behest of Washington, Canada has begun a "significant military deployment in Haiti," according to Canadian Ambassador to Haiti Sébastien Carrière. | Despite US pressure since last October, Canada played hard to get in accepting the responsibility for leading the third foreign invasion of Haiti in the past three decades. But now, it has relented. | "We took over," Carrière told journalist Madeleine Blais-Morin on the program Les Coulisses du Pouvoir on February 19. "We delivered armor. There have been two deliveries since October. There would be a third delivery in the next few days, and another one later i…