At least, according to the New York Times: “The Obama administration has for now abandoned efforts for a diplomatic settlement to the conflict in Syria, and instead it is increasing aid to the rebels and redoubling efforts to rally a coalition of like-minded countries to forcibly bring down the government of President Bashar al-Assad, American officials say.” Which is all very… nice. The Assad regime | Read More »
Oh, yes: they’re having a referendum “to limit the government’s powers.” Those aren’t literal quotes; those are scare quotes, mostly because I do not particularly believe that the Assad regime has any intention of reducing its power over the Syrian people, and I do not think that you should particularly believe it, either. Admittedly, I am not entirely certain why the regime is bothering. Nobody | Read More »
At least, that’s the impression that one gets from the fairly unambiguous picture found below: Obama’s procrastination kills us: We miss Bush’s audacity. The world is better with America’s Republicans Occuped Kafranbel 16 12 2011 Kafranbel is a town in northern Syria which has been one of the centers of peaceful protests for most of 2011; and the photo looks legitimate.
I’m starting to think that the current Republican opposition to Ford’s formal appointment as ambassador to Syria, while valid in general – we’re actually not well-advised to play Albright-style kissy-face games with rogue states – may be counterproductive in this specific case. Then again, the general principle doesn’t apply here, does it? After all, Ambassador Ford is not exactly playing nice with the Assad regime; | Read More »
Here is a free hint to all appointed members of the Obama administration: if Syrian ‘loyalists’ follow up today’s attack against the US Embassy in Damascus… Protesters loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad briefly broke into the US embassy in Damascus on Monday and security guards used live ammunition to prevent them storming the French embassy, diplomats said. …by actually seizing the embassy? If that | Read More »
The line between the two can get blurry in the Middle East, but it’s being reported that the Assad regime have escalating what has been a steadily-deteriorating situations in Syria. The death toll from yesterday is… well, Syria is keeping foreign reporters out, which makes getting an accurate count correct; but what is getting out is consistent with the Syrians using lethal means to enforce | Read More »
Theoretically, the confirmation hearings for proposed DNI James Clapper could be an opportunity for fireworks… only not in the way that one would think. It turns out that he’s a potential lightning rod for criticism from the Left: President Obama’s choice to be the next director of national intelligence supported the view that Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq sent weapons and documents to Syria in | Read More »
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