A civil war has been raging in Syria for years. The Assad regime, the Islamic State, and “moderate” US backed rebels known as the al-Nusra front, wage a three way battle for territory in a country where half the population has been displaced. Behind the scenes, a proxy war between the United States and Russia. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed. A refugee crisis has sent tens of thousands pouring over European borders, as politicians weigh a humanitarian crisis against the very existence of their societies.
It is an unstable cocktail of religious fervor, political violence, and foreign meddling, locked inside a pressure cooker which continues to build pressure no matter how many times it explodes. There is no end in sight. No positive outcome in the plans of any party involved. Just rampant murder and destruction for as long as they can keep it going.
And now, Russia is no longer content to meddle behind the scenes. Reuters reports Russian soldiers have joined the fighting, and the United States is not pleased.
Scott Horton is my guest to discuss the conflict. Scott Horton is host of Antiwar Radio on Pacifica 90.7 FM KPFK in Los Angeles, KUCR 88.3 in Riverside and KDRT 95.7 FM in Davis and the Scott Horton Show on the Liberty Radio Network. In 2007 Horton won the Austin Chronicle‘s “Best of Austin” award A “Best Iraq War Insight and Play by Play” for Antiwar Radio. He’s conducted more than 3,500 interviews since 2003.