U.S. Military Airdrops Supplies to Kurdish Forces in Kobani

Along with continued coalition airstrikes, the U.S. military has airdropped supplies to Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State militants in the Syrian town of Kobani (Ayn al-Arab). Three U.S. transport planes dropped 27 bundles of supplies, provided by Iraqi Kurdish authorities, including ammunition, small arms, and medical supplies. The move has come amid intensified fighting in the town, near the border with Turkey. According to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Islamic State militants fired 44 mortars at Kurdish controlled areas of the town on Saturday. On Monday, in a shift, Turkey said it would allow Iraqi Kurdish fighters to cross the Syrian border to reinforce Kurdish forces defending Kobani. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey was facilitating the passage of Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces across its territory into Syria.

Iraq

A suicide bomber killed an estimated 19 people at a funeral at a Shiite mosque in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad Sunday. Iraqi forces launched an operation to retake the northern city of Baiji, which hosts the country’s largest oil refinery, however the efforts were derailed after an armored vehicle exploded near the security forces’ convoy, killing four soldiers. On Sunday, the U.S. military reported it had broadened airstrikes targeting Islamic State militants in Iraq’s Anbar province. Australia has reached an agreement with Iraq allowing the deployment of 200 special forces to "advise and assist" Iraqi security forces. Meanwhile, after over a month of negotiations, the Iraqi parliament has approved new defense and interior ministers.

Headlines

• The United States and four European countries have called for the end of violence in Libya as medics estimated 75 people have been killed in the eastern city of Benghazi in five days.
• Houthi fighters have dismantled a protest camp blocking the road to Yemen’s main airport however are keeping fighters in the capital of Sanaa as Khaled Bahah arrived to assume the post of prime minister.
• On Sunday, Bahrain began the trial of rights activist Nabeel Rajab over accusations he published Tweets critical of the government.

Arguments and Analysis

‘In the Syria We Don’t Know‘ (Charles Glass, The New York Review of Books)

"As Bashar’s prospects improve with each American sortie against his enemies in the east of the country, Damascus and the populous towns to the north have been enjoying a respite of sorts from war. The Syrian Ministry of Education reported that, of the 22,000 schools in the country, more than 17,000 of them reopened on time in the middle of September. Needless to say, almost all of the functioning schools are in government-held areas. The souks in the old city of Damascus, unlike their more extensive and now destroyed counterparts in Aleppo, are open. Shops selling meat, vegetables, spices, and other basic items to the local population are doing well, although the tourist boutiques in and around the famous Souk Hamadieh have no customers apart from UN workers and a few remaining diplomats. At night, restaurants in most neighborhoods are, if not full, nearly so. Everything from wine to grilled chicken is plentiful, albeit at prices higher than before the war. Traffic remains heavy, although somewhat less obstructed since June when the government felt confident enough to remove many of its checkpoints. Electricity is intermittent, and those who can afford private generators use them in the off-hours."

‘In Bahrain, human rights defenders are under attack ­­- but we won’t be deterred‘ (Maryam al-Khawaja, The Guardian)

"Zainab has rejoined a large list of human rights defenders in the country who are languishing in prison in Bahrain for their human rights work and criticism of the regime; namely practising their right to free expression. Prior to my sister’s arrest, Nabeel Rajab, the president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, was arrested less than 24 hours after he arrived back in the country on 1 October 2014 following an advocacy tour in Europe. The justification for his arrest was a tweet he wrote criticising Bahraini government institutions for serving as ‘incubators for Isis ideology’. Nabeel’s main topic during his tour? My own arrest and detention in Bahrain."

‘For the Sake of Its Political & Economic Future, Iraqi Kurdistan Must Shake Off Its Dependence on Oil‘ (Roger Guiu, Muftah)

"To offset budgetary transfers from Baghdad, oil production levels must reach 450,000 barrels per day, according to estimates made in June of this year. Minimum levels are likely even higher now. Kurdistan lacks the infrastructural capacity to produce or transport oil at such levels. Exacerbating these limitations, development projects in the region are threatened by the on-going violence.

Separate from these logistical problems, Kurdish authorities are pursuing a political vision that is fraught with risks. Years of empirical research have shown the inherent shortcomings of development policies dependent on oil revenues. These include the disruptive impact oil price volatility has on state finances and political stability. Agricultural and manufacturing sectors also become less competitive, as domestically-produced goods tend to experience price hikes in oil-dependent economies. Unproductive rents, like income from oil, also make governments more likely to apply public funds to magnificent infrastructure projects with little use or value to average citizens. Oil rents help sustain and nurture unaccountable governments, which can buy popular allegiance or complacency through cash handouts to citizens.

But vast natural resources do not inherently condemn a country to the resource curse. This negative outcome can be avoided in Kurdistan, if the government prioritizes the quality of its governance mechanisms and carefully thinks through how to use its oil reserves."

— Mary Casey