Skip to main content
Syria: US’s GI Joe slips in on hush-hush mission to plot assault on Isis

WASHINGTON’S Middle East commander sneaked into Syria on Saturday to oversee plans for a drive against the Islamic State (Isis) stronghold of Raqqa.

US Army General Joseph Votel, who took over as commander of the Pentagon’s central command just seven weeks ago, paid a flying visit to US special forces “advisers” working with the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

He was accompanied by a select group of reporters sworn to secrecy until the junket was over.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
ETHNIC STRIFE: Women condemn, yesterday, a video in circulation that allegedly shows a fighter affiliated with the Syrian government holding the braid of a Kurdish female fighter after killing her, in Qamishli, northeastern Syria
Middle East / 23 January 2026
23 January 2026

VIJAY PRASHAD details how US support for Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa allowed him to break the resistance of the autonomous Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)

Druze militiamen ride a motorcycle past the site of an alleged Israeli army strike last week on the main road outside Sweida, Syria, July 25, 2025
Features / 29 July 2025
29 July 2025

VIJAY PRASHAD looks at the web of militias and drug-trafficking gangs that emerged in the Sweida region through the Syrian civil war, and how they relate to recent clashes and Israel’s intervention

syria
Books / 10 July 2025
10 July 2025

ALEX HALL follows the battered fortunes of Syria, a multi-ethnic country caught in the crossfire of competing imperialist interests

Syrian citizens gather at a public park, as they wait to watch the fired Iranian missiles against Israel to pass over Damascus airspace, Syria, June 16, 2025
Syria / 18 June 2025
18 June 2025