Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) carried out raids on homes in Amouda city in the northern suburbs of Hasaka governorate on Saturday (February 6), arresting five teachers over their use of educational curricula which differed from that forcibly imposed by the SDF in the areas under the group’s control.

The night of the Iowa caucuses in February, Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign manager, logged into Twitter to find the hashtag #RobbyMookCaucusApp trending across the country. Pundits on both sides of the aisle accused him of developing a mobile app to rig the Democratic primary against Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Soon his phone was buzzing with calls from reporters demanding to know what role he had played in creating the app, a flawed vote-reporting system that delayed caucus results for days.

'I’ve learned what it means for a human being to be truly free. We’ve continued for five years, and I lived…I’ve lived as a free person. Before the revolution, I never felt this, although I was a teacher at a university, and my situation was excellent in comparison to other young men. However, I never used to feel this idea of freedom of thought. I didn’t even have this perspective. I hadn’t yet had the slightest experience, or slightest life-changing experience, that we are living right now.

So, for me, despite everything, I see better and positive developments, in general.

In terms of the revolution, it is going through its natural “labor pains.” That’s my opinion.'

Though Chomsky and the wider left might not appreciate this, the part they are playing in Syria’s counter-revolution is discrediting leftism. In this way, their actions are comparable to those “socialists” who destroyed the left for generations because of a blind loyalty to the nightmare of Stalinism.

By Raghida Dergham

There have been many recent surprises in the Arab world, mainly heading towards the direction of a developing U.S.-Iranian relationship that goes beyond mere appeasement. This is while the U.S.-Israeli relationship remains a quintessential alliance and while the U.S.-Arab relationship continues with various brandings across the Gulf to Africa, through the Orient and its torn countries.

Assad preparing to hand over Damascus to Daesh: FSA chief

01-06-2015: The Secretary-General of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), Captain Ammar al-Wawi said yesterday, “Bashar al-Assad’s regime is preparing to hand over Damascus to elements of the ‘Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant’ (Daesh) in the event of its fall, but the rebels are aware of this,” adding that “preparations for this began more than a month-and-a-half ago.”