The weeklong clashes between rival U.S.-backed militias in eastern Syria, where hundreds of American troops are deployed, point to dangerous seams in the coalition that has kept a lid on the defeated Islamic State group for years. The violence also points to rising tensions between Kurds who dominate the region and the mainly Arab population, opening the door for Syrian President Bashar Assad and his allies, Russia and Iran, to try to make inroads in an oil-rich territory where they seek to drive out U.S. troops and restore Damascus’ rule. Eastern Syria has largely been off the world’s radar, particularly in the United States.
we have seen videos of people in captivity in isis so far. we ve had journalists and workers. this is the first member of the coal igsz trying to get rid of isis that they appear to have captured, at least that we have seen with the video. what does that tell you about how this is going and maybe the propaganda war which this is a big part of. isis will use this for propaganda, but i think it is a steely resolve that the jordanians have in all of this in terms of taking on isis and as you can see, uae, saudi arabia and other states are now coming in and supporting this effort and one of the things driving it is that what you don t see are the number of killings that isis is doing of arab tribesmen in western iraq. one tribe recently lost over 1,000 people and it s not just