Syria

Ahead of Angela Merkel's first official meeting with the new administration at the White House next week, Reuters reports that President Trump will ask the German Chancellor for her views on how the United States can help resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine when they meet next week, senior Trump administration officials said on Friday. Trump will reportedly also ask for Merkel's advice on how to deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, advice which is pretty clear to anyone following the establishment German press over the past few years.

Yesterday we noted that the Trump administration was mulling over sending 100s of U.S. Marines to Raqqa to establish an outpost from which they could fire artillery at IS positions to support U.S. special forces and Kurdish fighters already on the ground.  Now, just one day later, video has emerged of dozens of heavily armored vehicles flying U.S. flags moving through desolate Syrian villages on their way to do just that.

US marines have been sent to Syria to help the assault on the ISIS stronghold, Raqqa according to US officials. Hundreds of marines armed with heavy artillery have arrived in Syria to support local allied forces in the operation to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from ISIS. The marines were deployed without the permission of the Syrian government, Central Command chief Gen. Joseph Votel said in a congressional hearing on Thursday. “We are not,” Votel stated when asked whether US sent marines at the request or with the permission of the Syrian government.

While the Trump administration waits to decide if it will send 1,000 troops to Kuwait to fight ISIS, overnight the Washington Post reported that the US has sent several hundred Marines to Syria to support an allied local force aiming to capture the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa. Defence officials said they would establish an outpost from which they could fire artillery at IS positions some 32km (20 miles) away. US special forces are already on the ground, "advising" the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance according to the BBC.

Millions of people in Northern Syria have been left without water following John McCain’s unexpected visit to the region last month.  Senator McCain made a secret visit to Northern Syria at the end of February, which was followed by a meeting with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to reports, McCain requested that Turkey shut down the supply of water going into Northern Syria as part of a plan to undermine Syrian President Assad. Mintpressnews.com reports: According to the Kurdish Hawar News Agency, Turkey cut water supplies to Syria around Feb.