Wa'el N. Alzayat

@WaelAlzayat

CEO . Political empowerment, national security, non-proliferation, and humanitarian assistance expert. Proud Syrian American.

District of Columbia, USA
Emgageusa.org
Joined April 2009
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  1. 8 hours ago

    I’m afraid this analysis, if applied, not only empowers Assad and lessens the burden of his main benefactors, but it also weakens the hands of those who seek accountability and justice for their crimes. There are moral implications to what is being recommended.

    14/ Europeans are understandably unwilling to provide assistance that would signal its acceptance of the Syrian regime. But focusing on small-scale rehabilitation can mitigate the devastating…
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    7 retweets 11 likes
  2. 8 hours ago

    Why do we need a way forward. Who is losing sleep right now over Assad not rebuilding the country he destroyed. His people? He killed and exiled them and those who are left cannot possibly ever benefit from whatever is rebuilt as long as he is in power.

    13/ While European states assert that no reconstruction assistance will come absent a meaningful political transition, most seem to agree that a more incremental approach would offer a realistic way forward.
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    1 reply 15 retweets 31 likes
  3. 8 hours ago

    You just said there is no hope for political change. Or is this just something we will keep saying as we reward Assad for his atrocities.

    12/ Europe should continue its push for political change and could test an incentives-based approach toward reconstruction, such as the: ☛ Progressive lifting of sanctions…
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    4 retweets 5 likes
  4. 8 hours ago

    Regime will gladly comply with this and anything else. We are reconstructing it for him. That’s the point. He will say ahlan wa sahlan.

    11/ Appoint a representative within the EU to negotiate directly with the regime and an independent third party to undertake a detailed assessment of damage and needs.
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  5. 8 hours ago

    Yeah right. Regime is proven to have used humanitarian aid to support its own military and maintain control. Reconstructing syria for Assad will ensure his survival for decades.

    10/ The and its member states could move beyond the humanitarian aid it already provides to fund rehabilitation projects on the condition of operational independence.…
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    2 retweets 3 likes
  6. 8 hours ago

    So let’s just give up on a political solution or any hope for accountability.

    9/ Europe cannot expect that withholding funds will provide sufficient leverage to effect a comprehensive political transition in . Here are our ways out of this conundrum ↓
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    2 retweets 4 likes
  7. 8 hours ago

    Again. Who is asking other than the friends of Assad to get out of this supposed stalemate? Have the 6 million displaced and relatives of one million killed, disappeared or injured asked for it? Have Syrians inside of Syria other than Assad even asked in a verifiable way for it?

    8/ What can be done to get out of the current stalemate?
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    2 retweets 3 likes
  8. 8 hours ago

    And why is this a bad thing? The entire reason we keep these sanctions is to deny Russia and the regime a clean victory or an exit strategy absent a political agreement. Not to mention accountability for what they have done.

    7/ Soliciting international help to rebuild Syria allows Moscow to re-legitimise the regime & stabilise the country for its own military exit. However, Western sanctions, including the threat of US extraterritorial…
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    2 replies 5 retweets 11 likes
  9. 8 hours ago

    Pragmatism indeed. After our air force has annihilated half of Syria and driven half into exile, it is the prudent thing to do to reconstruct the part we did not destroy. Send money order to 101 Moscow Towers.

    6/ Moscow is calling for pragmatism. “We need reconstruction so that Syria becomes a living nation again, a nation getting back on track. We don’t need it because of Bashar; we…
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    1 retweet 10 likes
  10. 8 hours ago

    But let me guess. You want to convince Assad to take our money despite his principled refusal. It is giving season after all.

    5/ Assad has said he rejects any Western support: “We won’t allow [the West] to be part of [reconstruction], whether they come with money or not, whether they come with a loan, or with a donation,…
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    2 replies 4 retweets 15 likes
  11. 8 hours ago

    Oh oh. Here comes the Socratic method prelude to some messed up rationalization of why we should re build the Syria that Assad destroyed despite being “deeply concerned”.

    4/ The regime’s priority for reconstruction funds is to help strengthen its rule. This is deeply concerning for Europeans who fear…
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    1 reply 2 retweets 6 likes
  12. 8 hours ago

    The Assad regime made the choices it made to destroy a nation in order to stay in power. Russia and Iran destroyed that infrastructure. They can fix it if they want.

    3/ The Syrian regime, which appears to be emerging victorious, lacks the capacity to address the huge damage to the country’s infrastructure, human capital and economy.…
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    3 retweets 5 likes
  13. 8 hours ago

    The 5.6 million displaced and many dead are the result of and . Not some “war”. Barrel bombs are eviscerating hospitals in today. That’s not war. That’s premeditated murder on an industrial scale.

    2/ The impact of the war in numbers: ☛ 5.6 million people+ registered as refugees in Middle East ☛ 1 million more in Europe…
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    1 reply 7 retweets 12 likes
  14. 8 hours ago

    With all due respect You’d think we would have learned from the 9 years we have covered, watched, and worked on this issue that what is being proposed is nothing short of legitimizing and whitewashing this century’s greatest man made humanitarian disaster.

    1/ After more than 8 years of fighting, Syria's war is drawing to a close. Europe faces a dilemma.…
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    3 retweets 10 likes
  15. 9 hours ago

    🤦🏻‍♂️

    Replying to @tobiaschneider
    Can't like this enough.
    1 reply
  16. 10 hours ago

    Ya . I respect you and your org, but is this the bar we want to set? Is bombing major oil infrastructure and risking war not serious enough? How about what the Iranian regime does in other theaters, say in Syria or Iraq. Shouldn’t we look at the entire chessboard?

    Reuters reports that Iran's supreme leader approved the attack on the Saudi oil installation so long as no civilians were hit. If true, that's far better than the Saudi crown prince's attacks in Yemen which routinely kill civilians.…
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    1 reply 3 retweets 22 likes
  17. 18 hours ago

    We can’t participate in the Olympics in a country where 3 million people are in concentration camps.

    1 reply 19 retweets 54 likes
  18. Retweeted
    Nov 24

    Russia is systematically destroying hospitals in Syria. The goals: displace civilians by destroying basic necessities of life; kill much-needed medical staff; ensure that those wounded by Assad/Russian strikes die of their wounds due to lack of care.

    Tonight Nov 24th around 9 pm, Russian air forces attacked Kiwan hospital in Kansafra south to . Staff were evacuated after the alarm, and the building was severely damaged because of the attack. This is…
    23 replies 439 retweets 457 likes
  19. Nov 24

    How did the PKK/YPG become the darling of Washington? It may have less to do with the YPG and more to do with us.

    2 replies 46 retweets 118 likes
  20. Nov 24

    Media bias is a real thing. It can take many forms. The most pernicious can sometimes be what is not covered or slightly misrepresented. Minority communities, personalities, and issues are often the victims including of so-called progressive outlets.

    Was asked to appear on this weekend - and told them that I’d be happy to after they apologize on-air, discuss and include our campaign consistent with our polling, and allow surrogates from our campaign as they do other candidates’. They think we need them. We don’t.
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    1 retweet 3 likes
  21. Nov 23

    Preach!

    For folks in Mideast policy who spent the last couple decades being lectured by conservative colleagues about how Islamists aren't ready for democracy, the quick and total collapse of the GOP into a norms-shattering, conspiracy theory-spouting cult is really something special.
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    1 reply 1 like
  22. Nov 21

    More like: Step 1: Take & hold power via ruthless suppression & corruption. Step 2: Pretend to stand against external interference while simultaneously relying on foreign powers to hold on to power. Step 3: Crush dissent and be prepared to destroy the country if need be. Repeat.

    Worth repeating: Step 1: Impose crippling sanctions on government to ruin country’s economy…
    8 retweets 17 likes
  23. Nov 21

    We heard it and want to hear it more. It’s not a zero sum game. So unfortunate other candidates are led to think that it has to be.

    You hear that applause for Palestinian rights at the Democratic debate? Yeah you do.
    1 retweet 3 likes
  24. Retweeted
    Nov 20

    14 people dead after 2 missiles hit beside a maternity hospital in Idlib, NW Syria (Qah). There are photos of dead children that are too graphic to share. Here you can see injured children being treated - on the floor. Right video this time, by

    95 replies 801 retweets 572 likes
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  25. Nov 20

    Syrian regime fired a ballistic missile against an IDP camp in Idlib. Just think about that. But don’t take too long because it has been doing this since it first fired SCUDS against Aleppo in 2014. Next time you hear an “expert” say it’s better for Assad to win, remember this.

    Today is . Several young children were killed this evening, when an regime OTR-21 Tochka ballistic missile carryi…
    3 replies 180 retweets 191 likes
  26. Nov 18

    What a joke. CSO bureau is full of incredible people who do critical work. They deserve better than these jokers.

    BREAKING: Senior Trump admin. official Mina Chang resigns 6 days after an report about her resume inflation, and hours after NBC News asked her about newly discovered false claims.
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    1 reply 3 retweets 7 likes
  27. Nov 18

    Indeed. Thank you for highlighting this horrible situation.

    China’s internment of nearly one million Uighur Muslims is among the worst abuses of human rights in the world today. The U.S. cannot be silent — we must speak out against this oppression and relentlessly defend human rights around the world.
    1 reply 12 likes
  28. Nov 17

    Crazy to see former colleagues attacked like this. Jennifer is as patriotic and by the book as they come. Partisan she is not.

    Tell Jennifer Williams, whoever that is, to read BOTH transcripts of the presidential calls, & see the just released ststement from Ukraine. Then she should meet with the other Never Trumpers, who I don’t know & mostly never even heard of, & work out a better presidential attack!
    1 retweet 7 likes
  29. Nov 17

    Absolutely it doesn’t excuse nor compare to what China or other regimes have done in the name of fighting terrorism. The US liberated millions from concentration camps before GWOT. That was our legacy and should be our future.

    There is a lot of truth to this critique (which does not excuse China and other authoritarian systems/leaders for their actions).
    4 retweets 9 likes
  30. Nov 16

    Yeah but they didn’t say Allah Akbar as they smashed their victim with a sledgehammer...

    Faces of the fighters in a Russian PMC that tortured (with a sledgehammer) and beheaded a man, and then set him on fire in Syria. has geolocated the footage to the Shaer gas facility, which was under guard by Wagner fighters in 2017. The victim was a Syrian army deserter …
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    1 reply 8 retweets 36 likes
  31. Nov 16

    How ironic the regime responsible for aiding crush the Syrian pro democracy mvmt may lose its very seat of power? (They are not that close yet, but). All I hope is for the people to emerge better off than they started and to have a better future.

    0:52
    Protesters' anger can no longer be contained. In this video that I have just received from Qods (Tehran), you can see that the municipal building and banks…
    25 retweets 32 likes
  32. Nov 16

    The Chinese wanted to “emulate” our “war on terror”. This is our legacy: steering legitimate fight against al-Qaeda post 9/11 into a never ending war that saw everything in the Muslim world through the CT prism. In the process providing an excuse to authoritarian regimes.

    China has detained up to a million Muslims, a campaign it calls a benevolent and routine effort against the pull of extremism. But 403 pages of Communist Party documents we obtained reveal how officials plotted to carry out a ruthless, coercive clampdown.
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  33. Nov 16

    Thank you for airing "For Sama," the documentary on the life in besieged Aleppo that has won 20 major film awards this Tuesday at 10/9c

    12 retweets 26 likes
  34. Nov 15

    We spent 1 yr fighting Russian obstructionism to create the to attribute responsibility for CW use in . We eventually succeeded and regime was found guilty. Rus blocked JIM renewal a year later. They are still at it.

    is pressuring UN SG *not* to publicize the results of an inquiry into airstrikes on hospitals.…
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    18 retweets 28 likes
  35. Retweeted
    Nov 15

    NEW briefing has useful info on NE : - 49 civilians killed in incursion. - 200,000 initially displaced, but 130,000 have returned home. - Allouk water station hit, but since repaired (for now)

    46 replies 65 retweets 91 likes
  36. Nov 15

    The Russian military is a dirty, criminal outfit that has been intentionally hitting hospitals and civilian infrastructure for decades. A renegade power with nukes.

    On Oct. 13, the proved that the Russian Air Force bombed 4 Syrian hospitals in 12 hours. On Nov. 6, we got word that they struck one of the hospitals again. It seemed too outrageous to be true, but we proved it:
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    1 reply 33 retweets 54 likes
  37. Retweeted
    Nov 14

    , and activist are inviting their communities and supporters to join this joint rally to stand in solidarity with the , , &#Syria No 24, 2019 ,11AM Lincoln Memorial

    7 replies 41 retweets 102 likes
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  38. Nov 14

    Oh shit. Allah Akbar is now an “ISIS chant”. I literally say that every time my Niners score a touchdown or I discover a dollar bill in my pants pocket. 😱

    This Tweet is unavailable.
    6 replies 34 retweets 167 likes
  39. Retweeted
    Nov 14

    Pro- forces launched a sizable ground attack in SE this AM, targeting territories south of Marat al-Numan, reportedly capturing 2 villages: al-Weibdeh & Tel Khaznah. Meanwhile, airstrikes & barrel bombs in Kafranbel, Hazarin, Zarzour,, Marat Hurmah & Sheikh Mustafa.

    24 retweets 27 likes
  40. Retweeted
    Nov 14

    That rare article on Syria these days, which captures the complexities of the various factions fighting each other:

    1 reply 29 retweets 47 likes