Hassan HassanVerified account

@hxhassan

Director of the Non-State Actors Program, Center for Global Policy. NYT Bestselling Author . Writer, .

hassan@cgpolicy.org
theatlantic.com/author/hassan-…
Joined March 2009
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  1. Pinned Tweet
    Oct 28

    My new piece in on what Baghdadi’s killing means for the Islamic State and beyond:

    11 replies 82 retweets 146 likes
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  2. 5 hours ago

    Important article and tweets.

    debates over prison sentences, parole, are a distraction. Real issue is our laws are unable to cater to new terrorist threat. These are not normal criminals they are traitors and we need new treason laws.…
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    3 retweets 10 likes
  3. 12 hours ago

    Counter-terrorism strategies in the Middle East.

    1 reply 16 retweets 74 likes
  4. 14 hours ago

    The SDF is busy guarding civilian families jailed in their camps.

    Replying to @hxhassan @Jesr_Press
    not good,SDF needs to impose security
    5 replies 4 retweets 15 likes
  5. 14 hours ago

    Repulsive

    Just got this via text: "You are a retarded kike. You dont want to win 2020. You enjoy complaining about Trump." It was accompanied by this and other anti-semitic art. This is Trumpism. The instances of this & worse happeni…
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    10 likes
  6. 15 hours ago

    “For two days in a row, ISIS controls the city of al-Besayra at night” (Deir Ezzor) via

    3 replies 33 retweets 36 likes
  7. 18 hours ago

    A fact: some within ISIS complained about the local population because they didn’t defend the caliphate. “These rural people don’t deserve our caliphate.” (Remember one was a Tunisian in Mayadeen, Deir Ezzor)

    Iraq & democracy do not easily coexist. Whether b/c of history, demography, religion, pol culture, outside influence, and/or something else, it was the wrong place (& arguably there was no right one) to project American ambitions for a transformed MidEast. …
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    1 reply 7 retweets 24 likes
  8. Retweeted
    Nov 29

    It took the U.S.250+ years of civil wars, constitutional changes, civil rights struggle, ruthless oppression of Afro-Americans & minorities, Indian massacres and countless bloody riots to achieve today’s level of democracy. Rest assured Iraq will do it faster with less casualties

    Iraq & democracy do not easily coexist. Whether b/c of history, demography, religion, pol culture, outside influence, and/or something else, it was the wrong place (& arguably there was no right one) to project American ambitions for a transformed MidEast. …
    Show this thread
    91 replies 243 retweets 876 likes
  9. Nov 29

    “President of the Council on Foreign Relations”

    Iraq & democracy do not easily coexist. Whether b/c of history, demography, religion, pol culture, outside influence, and/or something else, it was the wrong place (& arguably there was no right one) to project American ambitions for a transformed MidEast. …
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    3 replies 10 retweets 39 likes
  10. Nov 29

    Iraqi security forces shot dead at least 45 protesters on Thursday after demonstrators stormed and torched an Iranian consulate overnight, in what could mark a turning point in the uprising against the Tehran-backed authorities.

    30 retweets 18 likes
  11. Nov 29

    Takebeer

    Bushra sara, my account has been restored!
    1 reply 1 retweet 4 likes
  12. Nov 29

    100% clear that integrity these days comes with costs. Many Western institutions tend to preach integrity and values but they only do it when it serves them. Very disappointing.

    For legal purposes all I can say right now is that my integrity as a journalist is not for sale, I am proud of my record and I stand by every word of my reporting on the Middle East. I will never be bowed by complicit silence or cowardice.
    1 reply 3 retweets 30 likes
  13. Nov 29

    President Trump: [Unlike Osama bin Laden], “al-Baghdadi was an organizer” .. we will keep the oil.. develop the area.. and will be back if needed.

    2 replies 4 retweets 5 likes
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  14. Nov 29

    Great as always by : “Assad now believes that he holds the solution to the predicament of the Kurds in Syria and that his conditions will have priority in any compromise, since the SDF’s only alternative is to confront Turkey on its own.”

    2 replies 12 retweets 10 likes
  15. Nov 28

    This defense is quite something.— ‘Steele was wrong on the information and intel he was tasked to provide, but he was correct on the talking points’ (which had become widely accepted assessment by the time the report was being drafted).

    2 replies 3 retweets 10 likes
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  16. Nov 28

    “Fiona Hill, one of America’s foremost experts on Russia and a professional acquaintance of Steele’s, described the dossier as “a rabbit hole” and suggested that Steele may have been “played.”

    5 replies 10 retweets 27 likes
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  17. Nov 28

    Falling for a fake account on Twitter, most probably an ISIS account posing as a US-backed rebel leader, and writing a whole article based on that fake interview should have been enough to dismiss one’s analytical worth. Esp. given the illogic of it.

    Replying to @hxhassan
    To me, the most important thing: it was fairly easy to judge that the account's content was pro-ISIS. Other Syria analysts spotted that too.
    1 reply 2 retweets 10 likes
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  18. Nov 28

    Precisely so (re the person in question)

    It always amazes me how can be so excellent on regions like the Caucasus, and so objectively awful on others (in this case, Syria). It's truly stunning that people like Rob Malley and Sam Heller (both of whom advocate for welcoming Assad) are not total pariahs. …
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    1 reply 4 retweets 16 likes
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  19. Nov 28

    Never understood why Sam Heller’s views on Syria should even be taken seriously by some, much less for him be regarded an expert. But this field has become a complete joke, so no wonder.

    In the same interview, Assad also says they don't torture in regime prisons and are tolerant toward former opposition-held areas. Believe what the regime does, not what it says. Assad repeatedly instrumentalized jihadists for political benefit (Iraq war, mass releases in 2011). …
    4 replies 37 retweets 81 likes
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  20. Retweeted
    Nov 28

    Nothing says 'defending christians' like robbing them blind and championing an Islamist militia.

    0:24
    Minister Gebran Bassil speaking at the was critical of for blocking roads. Why didn't he mention meeting the demands of the people or the violence of Hezbollah thugs?
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    6 replies 31 retweets 87 likes
  21. Nov 28

    Immediately suspicious when the source is “an Arab official” and the subject is “Muslim Brotherhood”. Someone isn’t happy about something.

    I find this story bizarre. a) At this point talks are not yet ripe for 's PM to fly to with a concrete offer b) How would Qatar 'sever ties with the Muslim Brotherhood'? Who…
    6 retweets 18 likes
  22. Nov 27

    consulate in being burnt by protesters:

    2 replies 21 retweets 42 likes
  23. Nov 27

    Russia feels abandoned by the Kurds after the US decided to stay in eastern Syria.

    Lavrov: Kurds’ interest in Sochi memorandum ebbing as US troops return to northern Syria.
    1 reply 4 retweets 16 likes
  24. Nov 26

    Iran plans to re-build new cities in Syria:

    6 replies 15 retweets 16 likes
  25. Nov 26

    This is indeed fascinating, goes to the heart of the social media experience and how we could contribute to hate and division, intentionally or unintentionally.

    Fascinating read on Russian disinformation
    3 retweets 5 likes
  26. Nov 26

    “A pot finally found a (fitting) lid” as the Levantine saying goes.

    The red-brown circle is now complete: last night the Douma conspiracy theories reached Tucker Carlson's "white power hour" courtesy of former hack Jonathan Steele who in 2012 used an online poll of…
    1 reply 8 retweets 20 likes
  27. Retweeted
    Nov 26

    I was detained in the UAE. I learned that Britain puts trade before its citizens | Matthew Hedges

    13 replies 67 retweets 116 likes
  28. Retweeted
    Nov 26

    My brief thoughts on the Syrian constitutional committee for the .

    2 replies 18 retweets 43 likes
  29. Nov 26

    The thing about extremist groups is that they tend to keep splintering over issues related to the purity of the cause. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) “arrested” a Libyan jihadist in Syria who recently split from the group that split from HTS: via

    5 replies 7 retweets 22 likes
  30. Nov 26

    Hemedti took part in the military coup that toppled Bashir in April & is now a senior figure in the transitional government that is preparing the ground for elections in three years' time. “Exclusive: Sudan militia leader grew rich by selling gold“

    9 retweets 11 likes
  31. Nov 25

    “Saudi Arabia arrested at least eight intellectuals last week as it extended a crackdown on political dissent that’s sparked condemnation abroad.”

    6 replies 13 retweets 5 likes
  32. Nov 25

    Bashar al-Assad suggests that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was an American asset, recruited during his time in prison. But also that ISIS as an ideology won’t die until Wahhabism is ended. Taken together...

    4 replies 31 retweets 47 likes
  33. Nov 25

    “Over the next days and weeks, the pace will pick back up against remnants of ISIS,” Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, the commander of the military’s Central Command. 500 American troops will stay after the dust settles.

    4 retweets 5 likes
  34. Nov 24

    Security forces opened fire on protesters in southern Iraq on Sunday, killing at least five people and wounding dozens more, police and medical sources said, as weeks of unrest in Iraq continue. “Iraq protests: More deaths as unrest intensifies”

    2 replies 60 retweets 53 likes
  35. Nov 24

    Excellent thread

    Who killed Abdallah Azzam? Here’s a thread on the biggest murder mystery in the history of Islamism, which happened 30 years ago. I spent 12 years writing his biography, so I’ll share some new info and rare pictures…
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    1 reply 5 retweets 18 likes
  36. Nov 24

    Yes those were key drivers. But the incident initiated interaction between the two, to de-escalate and cooperate. It could have been different, after Russia intervened in Syria.

    Replying to @hxhassan
    Was it that event or the concurrent events that led 2 a transactional relationship? A series of events including 1) the US supporting terrorist group YPG on Turkey’s border & 2) a coup possibly led by Gulen harbored by US. The US essentially asked Turkey 2 sleep with Russia.
    1 reply 6 retweets 13 likes
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  37. Nov 24

    This day 4 years ago, Turkey shot down a Russia plane on Syria borders. The incident could have led to escalation between a key backer of the Syrian opposition & a backer of Damascus. Instead, that incident led to a historic alliance between the two countries in Syria & beyond.

    15 replies 46 retweets 79 likes
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  38. Nov 24

    Interesting details in an area where both al-Qaeda and ISIS are building.

    ⚡️ Groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State are expanding in Africa and exploiting gold mines across the region
    2 replies 3 retweets 6 likes
  39. Nov 23

    “Mada Masr reported on Wednesday that Mr. el-Sisi was quietly removing his son Mahmoud from his senior role overseeing the intelligence service and sending him on an open-ended assignment to the Egyptian Embassy in Moscow.”

    2 replies 1 retweet 5 likes
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  40. Nov 23

    “Since 2013, almost every other news organization in [Egypt] has come under the effective control of the government.”

    1 reply 8 retweets 13 likes
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  41. Retweeted
    Nov 23

    Egypt Arrests Senior Editor of Independent News Outlet

    4 replies 64 retweets 40 likes