<html><body><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000"><br><div><span style="font-size: 12pt;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</span></div><div style="color:#000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;"><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000"><div style="color:#000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;"><div><br></div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000"><div><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Swiss, SunSans-Regular; background-color: #ffffff; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">John Sakowicz and Sid Cooperrider interview <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Swiss, SunSans-Regular; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Peabody award-winning foreign correspondent., Reese Erlich, on Monday, March 27, at 1 pm, Pacific Time. We'll talk about Trump's plans to sharply escalate U.S. military intervention in Syria. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Swiss, SunSans-Regular; background-color: #ffffff; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The <em>New York Times</em> recently reported: “The White House is drafting a presidential directive that calls on Defense Secretary James M. Mattis to devise plans to more aggressively strike the Islamic State, which could include American artillery on the ground in Syria and Army attack helicopters to support an assault on the group’s capital, Raqqa, officials said.”</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Swiss, SunSans-Regular; background-color: #ffffff; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">KMEC RADIO</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Swiss, SunSans-Regular; background-color: #ffffff; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We broadcast at 105.1 FM in Ukiah, CA from the offices of the Mendocino Environmental Center. We also stream live from the web at <a href="http://www.kmecradio.org" target="_blank">www.kmecradio.org</a> . Our shows are archived, and may be distributed through NPR's Public Radio Exchange or Pacifica's Radio4All. More than 47,000 viewers have watched some of our shows on our Youtube channel. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Swiss, SunSans-Regular; background-color: #ffffff; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Please support KMEC Radio and the Mendocino Environmental Center by becoming a member or underwriter. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Swiss, SunSans-Regular; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">REESE ERLICH</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Swiss, SunSans-Regular; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Erlich is a Peabody award-winning foreign correspondent. He is the author of “Inside Syria: The Backstory of Their Civil War and What the World Can Expect,” distributed by Random House. His book tour next week will take him to New York City, Raleigh and Atlanta.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Swiss, SunSans-Regular; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He said today: “The Trump administration is planning a major escalation in Syria, contradicting his supporters’ hopes for less overseas fighting. During the campaign Trump tried to convince voters that he opposed the Iraq War and would never let such a disaster take place on his watch. Yet the new administration has now asked the Defense Department to consider sending artillery and attack helicopters to fight in Syria. Supposedly aimed at fighting ISIS, in fact, such moves would seriously escalate the number of U.S. combat troops and increase the likelihood of conflict with Russia and Iran. While Trump proclaims a friendship with Vladimir Putin, escalating the number of U.S. troops in Syria will put him in direct conflict with Russia and Iran.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Swiss, SunSans-Regular; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“More American soldiers and Syrian civilians’ lives are in danger. Under Obama, the U.S. spent $12 million per day just on the Syria War. How many billions more will be wasted by Trump?”</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Swiss, SunSans-Regular; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Erlich added, “The key element to watch, is whether the Trump administration will shift policy to favor Russia and Assad and whether Turkey will continue its de facto alliance with Assad. If so the political balance will shift towards Assad.”</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Swiss, SunSans-Regular; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The paperback edition of <i>Inside Syria: The Backstory of Their Civil War and What the World Can Expect</i> (foreword by Noam Chomsky) has just come out. Erlich has reported from Syria six times and has visited all the surrounding countries. He is currently on a national book tour. </span><br></p></div></div></div><div><br><br></div></div></div><br></div></body></html>