Epstein Secrets

Syria reached a climax on December 10th when several days of clashes between Sunni Muslims and Alawites left 19 people dead in the northern city of Tripoli. The second-largest city in Lebanon is a historic site of sectarian conflict and home to a large population of Sunnis who have been actively engaged

Syria meeting in Marrakech. Lebanon: Spillover from Syria reached a climax on December 10th when several days of clashes between Sunni Muslims and Alawites left 19 people dead in the northern city of Tripoli. The second-largest city in Lebanon is a historic site of sectarian conflict and home to a large

d still lose substantially even if Assad is deposed or chooses to step down. The recent case of Libya is indicative. In 2008, Russia agreed to swap Tripoli's $4.5 billion debt for privileged trade agreements, brokered under the personal guarantee of Moammar Gadhafi. Since the Libyan dictator's violent

closer integration with the West via European Union membership; and it was more vocally supportive of the rights of religious minorities, such as Alawites and Christians. Still, though more cosmopolitan than the Welfare Party, the AKP retained enough of an Islamic flavor to make religious Turks feel t

unite the EFTA_R1_02031578 EFTA02690687 4 rebel Transitional National Council with "reconcilables" from the regime. Gaddafi himself would quit Tripoli and give up power, but this would be an outcome of negotiations, rather than a precondition. State Department officials are skeptical, but they sho

the country's majority Sunni population. Four decades in power is not a long time, and vengeance is a powerful force in this part of the world. The Alawites understand that they face an existential crisis, and if they allow their grip over the Baath-dominated political system - and most importantly the

tions, nor a clear outcome of the struggle. All the elements of civil war were present, including geographic split between status-quo government in Tripoli and rebel government in Benghazi. Yemen's troubles were embodied in its autocrat of three decades, Al i Abdullah Saleh. When he seemed an obstacle

ernizing Shah. The Syrian government has no such psychic resources. It is held together in its presidential family and its top military echelons by Alawites-a religious minority that may be characterized as Shi'ite or syncretist, depending on who is articulating its beliefs. And those Alawite leaders h

d still lose substantially even if Assad is deposed or chooses to step down. The recent case of Libya is indicative. In 2008, Russia agreed to swap Tripoli's $4.5 billion debt for privileged trade agreements, brokered under the personal guarantee of Moammar Gadhafi. Since the Libyan dictator's violent

closer integration with the West via European Union membership; and it was more vocally supportive of the rights of religious minorities, such as Alawites and Christians. Still, though more cosmopolitan than the Welfare Party, the AKP retained enough of an Islamic flavor to make religious Turks feel t

Article 6. The Washington Post Obama's foreign policy of retreat George F. Will June 16, 2014 -- "From the Halls of Montezuma To the shores of Tripoli ... " — The Marines' Hymn Two hundred and nine years after Marines visited those shores, dispatched by President Jefferson to punish Barbary pirate

acking at the internal lines of fracture colonial overseers chose to disregard. They were in a state of postponed decomposition. Sunnis in Iraq and Alawites in Syria, minorities both, believed (and believe) they had some irreversible right to rule. They do not. President Obama should use targeted milita