June 7, 2023
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Syria, the Backstage - Episode 7
Episode 7 asks who the winners are. Obama leaves the White House with Syria in ruins. Half a million people are dead, while nearly 9 million people fled the country. The new US President Donald Trump ends the programme of arming anti-Assad forces. The SDF, with heavy US support continues to gain ground against ISIS, as Raqqa, the caliphate’s capital, is liberated. But behind the scenes we see a different story. An SDF spokesman reveals secret arrangements between the US, YPG and ISIS. He tells us what really happened in Raqqa and how the US and SDF helped evacuate hundreds of ISIS fighters from the city. Former YPG fighters speak of their disillusionment from the group and tell us about human rights abuses they witnessed. Robert Malley, the man who convinced Obama to support the YPG, now begins to express doubts about the group. As the conflict drags on, Assad secures many rebel held areas in the South and a former Obama advisor proclaims that the Syrian leader has won the war. In the North, the YPG majority SDF take Deir Ezzor and the oil fields in the vicinity. ISIS is almost completely eliminated. On October 6th 2019, Donald Trump announces the withdrawal of US troops from Syria. By the end of the month, US soldiers are back. And this time, the Pentagon keeps no secrets about the aim.
The conflict enters its 9th year, with hundreds of thousands dead, millions displaced and the country fractured… who are the winners?
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