SoA has been active in Lebanon for the past two years, supporting multiple lines of effort aimed at bolstering the country’s stability and security. Bordered by Syria and Israel and host to more than one million Syrian refugees, Lebanon holds a vital spot in the region’s security matrix. This has been especially true in recent … Continued
The second part of my recent trip to Syria had a more southerly focus. The US Army civil affairs team and I toured Ayn Isaa, a ghost town roughly 40 miles north of Raqqah, the capital of the Islamic State. Given the prevailing atmosphere of religious discord and acrimony across the Middle East, the name, … Continued
Dear supporters, I recently traveled to Syria with a US Army team to explore ways SoA might be able to ease local suffering while furthering US objectives on the ground. I’ve been to Syria a number of times, but this trip in particular was different. I had the opportunity to tour Manbij Public Hospital, a … Continued
Despite the bloody conflicts roiling across both, my military flight from Iraq to northern Syria was a routine affair. I was traveling into Syria with three goals in mind: to meet with the US Army Civil Affairs teams, assess the humanitarian situation on the ground, and explore assistance projects that would help ease the suffering … Continued
For an American, Panjakent is not an easy destination to reach, nor—to be frank—is it so simple to pinpoint on a map. As with any worthy place or thing, the remote town of 33,000 in northwest Tajikistan rightly requires the extra effort. Earlier this month, I joined a US Army Civil Affairs team on the … Continued
The migration of more than one million Syrian refugees to Lebanon, a country with a regular population of four million, is straining the fragile social fabric and tenuous political balance of the nation. Hosting this unprecedented number of refugees is pushing the government’s ability to provide basic services to the breaking point. Nowhere are Lebanon’s … Continued