During the last week significant moves in Syria have taken place east of Aleppo. But the situation there will likely soon calm down. The next intense phase of the war may well be a Syrian army attack on al-Qaeda's position in Idlib governate in the north-west of the country.

One objective of the Syrian Arab Army move east of Aleppo city was to block the invading Turkish forces from reaching further south. This had been achieved as of last week. The main objective though was to reach the pumping stations at the Euphrates which supply Aleppo city with drinking water. This aim was achieved yesterday. The SAA managed to evict the Islamic State from the shut-down station before it could blow it up. The generators and pumps were booby trapped but seem otherwise operational. After 40 days of strictly rationed water Aleppo city and its nearly 2 million people will soon be back on a normal water supply.

I expect that the SAA contingent in east-Aleppo will now move further south and then east along the Euphrates towards Raqqa. This move though will no longer have a high priority. There is no longer an urgent need to continue in the area. Should the Islamic State stop its retreat in the area and show significant resistance the SAA is likely to stop and only hold its line.

The Turkish government still insists on taking Manbij currently held by the Kurdish YPK (under the label "Syrian Democratic Forces" (SDF)) which is now a U.S. proxy force under U.S. military command. Russia moved to insert Syrian army forces between the Turkish forces west of Manbij and the city. Thereby a buffer has been created between the Turkish (proxy) forces of "moderate rebels" and U.S. proxy forces of the Kurdish SDF. A few Russian special forces entered the area. As no SAA soldiers were readily available some local Arabs and Kurds were asked to put up a Syrian flag and to call themselves "Syrian border guard". They happily agreed to do so.

Parallel to the Russian move a U.S. sub-unit of the 75th Ranger Regiment made a show of force by driving five 8-wheeler Stryker vehicles with U.S. flags through some towns around Manbij. The signal to Turkey is clear. There are Russian and U.S. forces here. Do not dare to proceed into the area and to attack their Kurdish friends. A meeting was held in Ankara between the Turkish military command and the U.S. and Russian chiefs of staff. It is not yet known what the outcome was.


Despite the clear signals some proxy units under Turkish command opened fire on the "Syrian border guard" in the area. The Syrian government says that a a few of them were killed and it again raised the issue of the Turkish invasion with the United Nations. I expect the situation around Manbij to calm down. It would be very dangerous for Turkey to continue attacking in the area against the clear position of Russia and the U.S. military.

Yesterday it was confirmed that 200 Canadian troops would remain in the Ukraine for at least two more years. This "training" mission in the Ukraine is on top of two hundred troops in Poland, a naval frigate in the Mediterranean and Black Sea and a half dozen CF-18 fighter jets on their way to locations near Russia's border. Alongside Britain, Germany and the US, Canada will soon lead a NATO battle group supposed to defend Eastern Europe from Moscow. About 450 Canadian troops are headed to Latvia while the three other NATO countries lead missions in Poland, Lithuania and Estonia.

From the Russian point of view it must certainly look like NATO is massing troops at its border.

Canada's military buildup in Eastern Europe is the direct outgrowth of a coup in Kiev. In 2014 the right-wing nationalist EuroMaidan movement ousted Viktor Yanukovych who was oscillating between the European Union and Russia. The US-backed coup divided the Ukraine politically, geographically and linguistically (Russian is the mother tongue of 30% of Ukrainians).

Pro tip from Russia's Foreign Minister: Leave your phone at home when you're negotiating Syrian ceasefires

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has touched our hearts, again.

We wish there was a Truman Show starring Lavrov, so we could watch Sergei mow his lawn and tell Merkel directly to her face that she's a hypocritical witch — all day, every day.

During a meeting with his German counterpart, Lavrov was asked about the recent Wikileaks "Vault 7" dump, which details the CIA's global covert hacking program.

Lavrov burst out laughing: "Where do I begin?"

Lavrov noted that the CIA is able to hack refrigerators, and gave all aspiring foreign ministers some free advice:

Personally, I try not to take my phone to any serious negotiations. Till now I've been staying out of trouble.

This is a seriously great man.

A little-noticed bill moving through Congress would allow companies to require employees to undergo genetic testing or risk paying a penalty of thousands of dollars, and would let employers see that genetic and other health information.

Giving employers such power is now prohibited by legislation including the 2008 genetic privacy and nondiscrimination law known as GINA. The new bill gets around that landmark law by stating explicitly that GINA and other protections do not apply when genetic tests are part of a "workplace wellness" program.

The bill, HR 1313, was approved by a House committee on Wednesday, with all 22 Republicans supporting it and all 17 Democrats opposed. It has been overshadowed by the debate over the House GOP proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, but the genetic testing bill is expected to be folded into a second ACA-related measure containing a grab-bag of provisions that do not affect federal spending, as the main bill does.

Washington spent the last three years trying to destroy Russia's energy sector. Now Moscow might seize U.S. oil company Citgo Petroleum if Citgo's cash-strapped parent company defaults on billions in loans
When Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak announced on Monday that the country's oil and gas sector had overcome U.S. sanctions, he apparently meant that Moscow was now positioned to take an ownership stake in a major U.S. oil company:

Rosneft, an oil corporation majority-owned by the Russian government, says it has the right to claim an ownership stake in U.S. oil company Citgo Petroleum if Citgo's cash-strapped parent company defaults on billions in loans, according to a lien Rosneft recently filed in Delaware. If that claim succeeds, Rosneft, which is run by one of President Vladimir Putin's closest allies, would own a sizable chunk of a company that is among the 10 largest petroleum refiners in America.

Full disclosure: I've met with Russians. I met with a Russian this morning. She brought me coffee. Such crazy and dangerous things can occur in Moscow. I am afraid the CIA and NSA could take notice of this meeting, and then it can be used - even against you. "You have perused an article by Israel Shamir. Were you aware he had Russian contacts?"

Though I am not too young, this is the first time I have witnessed such a witch-hunt. In Russia, there are many foreigners, Europeans and Americans as well, and Russians mingle with them freely, with no fear. The Russians are not afraid to meet with the US Ambassador; they are rather proud of the occasion. When the US Ambassador throws a party or holds a reception, all who-is-who in Moscow come to Spaso-House, the residence.

Even in Stalin's days, the Russians went to the reception, and Mikhail Bulgakov depicted such a reception as Satan's ball in his Master and Margarita. In recent years, all Russian opposition figures have visited the US ambassador and had had hearty chats with him.

All 46 US prosecutors leftover from the Obama administration have been ordered to resign, including Preet Bharara of Manhattan, who was asked in November by then President-elect Donald Trump about staying on the job.

The request was formally delivered by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday, who called the process a "uniform transition."

Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores issued a statement, saying, "Until the new U.S. attorneys are confirmed, the dedicated career prosecutors in our U.S. attorney's offices will continue the great work of the department in investigating, prosecuting and deterring the most violent offenders," according to the Associated Press.

Nothing so trivial as the technical proof we're all being spied upon can be allowed to threaten or add nuance to established narrative

The massive WikiLeaks Vault 7 release is an extremely important public service. It's hard to find anyone not concerned by a secret CIA hacking program targeting virtually the whole planet - using malware capable of bypassing encryption protection on any device from iOS to Android, and from Windows to Samsung TVs.

In a series of tweets, Edward Snowden confirmed the CIA program and said code names in the documents are real; that they could only be known by a "cleared insider;" the FBI and CIA knew all about the digital loopholes, but kept them open to spy; and that the leaks provided the "first public evidence" that the US government secretly paid to keep US software unsafe.

Since January the tide has turned dramatically against ISIS on almost every front

1. Mosul

The Iraqi army began its operation to liberate Mosul in October. Contrary to initial expectations it encountered fierce resistance and the first part of the operation, which was focused on liberating Mosul east of the Tigris proved exceptionally difficult. Eventually eastern Mosul was liberated but only after many weeks of fierce fighting and after the Iraqi army suffered heavy casualties.

When the Iraqi army recently launched its offensive to liberate Mosul west of the Tigris it was assumed that ISIS would offer similarly fierce resistance. Moreover the layout of western Mosul, with its maze of narrow streets and its overwhelmingly Sunni population some of whom are believed to sympathize with ISIS, was expected to favor the organization.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has signed an executive order creating a joint command which will mobilize 21 state agencies to assist in his controversial "war on drugs." The order prioritizes "high value" targets.

President Duterte's order, published Friday, outlines a "priority thrust" of the government to suppress drugs and "put behind bars" makers, dealers, and traffickers of narcotics - all while "transforming users into productive members of society," Reuters reported.

The order also allows for the creation of the Inter-agency Committee on Anti-illegal Drugs (ICAD), which will consist of government branches including police, military, coastguard, health, education, and social welfare.

"The ICAD shall ensure that each member agency shall implement and comply with all policies, laws, and issuances pertaining to the government's anti-illegal drug campaign in an integrated and synchronized manner," the order states, as quoted by local media outlet the Inquirer.