Epstein Secrets

n struggles across the Arab world, including in Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain and Yemen. Most of all, Riyadh sees Iran's open support for Syrian President Bashar al- Assad in fighting a rebellion backed by Gulf states as a foreign occupation of Arab lands. Two Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders have been

across the Arab world, including in Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain and Yemen. Most of all, Riyadh sees Iran's open support for Syrian President Bashar al- Assad in fighting a rebellion backed by Gulf states as a foreign occupation of Arab lands. Two Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders have been killed in

he jihadists' ideological mindset would make them absolutely certain that any Israeli action indicated some kind of a plot to help Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and hurt them. Jabhat al-Nusra/ Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham would become all the more attractive for Sunni foreign fighters, and these groups

-Wash.), who forced Henry Kissinger to renegotiate, reconsider and even abrogate various provisions of his contemplated agreements. Two presidents, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, complained bitterly of such meddling, and yet, America is better off because of those efforts. The White House might be tempted

e missiles, followed by self- congratulation and an attempt to change the topic. It would not work here. A minority regime fighting for its life, as Bashar al- Assad's is, can weather a couple of dozen big bangs. More important, no one — friends, enemies or neutrals — would be fooled. As weak as the Un

put his credibility on the line irrevocably and inescapably; second, he now must take direct military action to punish the government of President Bashar al-Assad, though not in a manner that commits him to further use of force; and third, he needs to combine whatever force he uses now with dramatic and dipl

opposition to doing so (60 percent) among polled Americans, and a growing and potent consensus among foreign policy experts and politicians to give Assad a hard punch. Most administration officials and most Americans just can't see any lasting benefits from any form of direct U.S. military involveme

grand strategy would demonstrate once and for all that liberal Democrats were capable stewards of American foreign policy. The bad memories of the Lyndon Johnson and EFTA_R1_00441461 EFTA01964622 Jimmy Carter presidencies would at last be laid to rest; with the public still unhappy with George W. Bush's f

apital — for the departure of President Bashar al-Assad. In his speech before the non-alignment summit,

cies will push Cairo into EFTA00712755 the camp of the GCC states and Turkey in the context of this Cold War, whose main headline today surrounds Bashar al-Assad's departure or stay. On the other hand, it will also not be easy for Cairo to infiltrate what was achieved by Ankara throughout a decade of its absen

nship between a sitting President and his living predecessors is rarely easy. According to "The Presidents Club," by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy, Lyndon Johnson sometimes drafted the popular former President Dwight D. Eisenhower into his publicity schemes, which frustrated Ike, who complained to aides about

ilitancy. Indeed, in a twist of calculations, America may actually now share Iran's interest in seeing ISIS's other major foe, the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, go after Sunni extremists. Mr. Assad's warplanes are now bombing militants on the Iraqi border, which they were not doing last week. Iran and the

and Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei. Yet President Obama has followed a deliberate policy of disengagement from the world's quarrels. He failed to bluff Assad with his "red line" threat and then turned the Syrian bloodbath over to Mr. Putin, showing a weakness that no doubt emboldened the Russian presiden

mstance has been for vice presidents trying to distance themselves from their bosses. Humphrey tried mightily to explain that he was different from Lyndon Johnson without criticizing the latter. "One does not repudiate his family in order to establish his own identity," he would say. Gore faced the same probl

he Syrian uprising began nearly a decade ago" are now "stuck between untenable options: ongoing instability and violence back in Syria as President Bashar al-Assad consolidates control, and deteriorating conditions in cash-strapped Lebanon, where politicians are pressing refugees to leave." Studies have found "

rians "say they want to return - but don't think conditions will be safe enough for several more years." But, "Lebanon says it's time to leave. And Assad, in need of money and resources for reconstruction, has been urging Syrians to come back." Filipinas Say They Were Trafficked To Syria. The Washin

c rules of operation." The Times says Biden "enters with a deeper understanding of the legislative process and politicians than any president since Lyndon Johnson, a former Senate majority leader," but the question is whether his "legislative prowess is, well, a little bit sepia toned. When Mr. Biden talks abo

orgive those Syrians left at the mercy of their dictator's cruel war: It is hard to explain to them w=y those drones don't somehow find their way to Bashar al-Assad <http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Bashar%20al- Assad&sit==wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_n=_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF- 8&filter=p

drones don't somehow find their way to Bashar al-Assad <http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Bashar%20a

he presid=nt and the spook oversaw a stealth war, and the president became his own t=rgeting officer. (Obama going over kill lists recalls President Lyndon Johnson chttp://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=lyndon%20Johnson&site=3Dwnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews &output=xml_no=dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=

on Diehl June 11 -- From one point of view the connection between our troubles with Syria and Iran is pretty straightforward. The Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad is Iran's closest ally, and its link to the Arab Middle East. Syria has provided the land bridge for the transport of Iranian weapons and militants

Israel, would be crippled. It follows that, as the U.S. Central Command chief Gen. James N. Mattis testified to Congress in March, the downfall of Assad would be "the biggest strategic setback for Iran in 25 years." EFTA_R1_02204138 EFTA02720609 Making it happen is not just a humanitarian imperat

ence of recent incumbents offered no guidance. No President since Dwight D. Eisenhower had served two full terms. John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Lyndon Johnson, overwhelmed by the war in Vietnam, had declined to run for reelection in 1968. Richard Nixon resigned less than seventeen months into his second

professional foreign-policy circles, Obama is often regarded with mistrust. His Syria policy—with its dubious "red line" and threats to get rid of Bashar al- Assad; with John Kerry's improvised press-conference gambit on chemical weapons—has inspired little confidence. Neither did the decision to acc

al foreign-policy circles, Obama is often regarded with mistrust. His Syria policy—with its dubious "red line" and threats to get rid of Bashar al- Assad; with John Kerry's improvised press-conference gambit on chemical weapons—has inspired little confidence. Neither did the decision to accelerate tr

n party, the G.O.P.— couldn't fail to summon a contrasting portrait. The biographer Robert Caro has also been a guest. Caro's ongoing volumes about Lyndon Johnson portray a President who used everything from the promise of appointment to bald-faced political threats to win passage of the legislative agenda th

et be a presidential game changer of the kind that everyone knew would surely come. Still, these were chemical weapons launched by a repeat offender, Bashar al-Assad. In any other presidency, such an atrocity would command a considered and, ideally, skillful response. Obama’s consideration had in fact been less th

ying international law, had used chemical weapons. There was video documenting the attack and substantial agreement among intelligence agencies about Assad’s responsibility. The politics were right: Barack Obama failed to act when confronted with a Syrian chemical attack, and now Trump could. The downsid

pressed him to invoke Andrew Jackson as his populist model, and he had loaded up on Jackson books (they remained unread). But his real beau ideal was Lyndon Johnson. LBJ was a big man who could knock heads, do deals, and bend lesser men to his will. Trade it out so in the end everyone got something, and the bette