Panicked experts

zana amedi ‏ @zana_medi
Al Basil HQ and checkpoints are target of the attacks. About 60 Daesh militants are involved. Note that this is not attempt of a cell, but a coordinated and organized attempt by ISIS to seize control of the city. 1:27 AM - 9 Oct 2019 
Rukmini Callimachi ‏ Verified account @rcallimachi 
Dozens of ISIS fighters have launched what Kurdish officials say is a “coordinated and organized” attempt to seize control of part of Raqqa. Many of us predicted that ISIS would be back, but I have to say I didn’t think it would be this soon.1:52 AM - 9 Oct 2019

Thus spoke l'esperta di Daesh che spesso collabora con il GWU di Vidino.
I curdi (broadly speaking) sono bravi a vendersi.
Questo è il vero pericolo dell'incursione turca.

A proposito.

Hassan Hassan@hxhassan
Things reached their limit after I published this article about the UAE & Saudi Arabia leading an authoritarian axis in the MENA region. Again, it's straight analysis critical of all sides.
5:04 PM - 2 Oct 2019 
I woke up in the morning to see an “URGENT” email from the Program director to The Atlantic asking them to urgently remove the mention of the program from the “problematic” article. (The editor said that’s not how it works & Hassan should send that request himself.) 
At this point, I knew this was going nowhere. Lorenzo was overseas so I demanded to speak on the phone. He said he couldn’t speak on the phone. So we exchanged emails. I asked him to explain the source of panic. 
I had no idea whether there were any existing ties with the UAE. Even after removing the mention of his center from the bio, he still wanted to scrutinize my @TheAtlantic articles because “it takes just a Google search to make the connection even if the affiliation is not spelled out in the article.” Immediately I emailed my intend to resign. 
It didn’t end there, Gulf diplomats & their operatives/stooges/employees in DC started to spread rumors I was working for the Qataris, and would harass everyone I worked or wrote for. Some of those I worked for had no choice but to bow to the pressure. 
A typical UAE game was to try and limit my work to extremism rather than MENA geopolitics. I was asked to do just that.

Gli esperti dei tavoli dell'Interno che fu.