Epstein Secrets

l settlement in Syria has vanished. The United States needs an alternate strategy for strengthening Syrian moderates who can resist both the brutal Bashar al-Assad regime and al- Qaeda extremists. A new Syrian opposition leader who may help get the balance right is Jamal Maarouf. He heads a group called the S

rategy that sounded more pragmatic than anything I've heard from the opposition in recent months. Maarouf says his forces must simultaneously fight Assad's army and the fighters from Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islami tat of Iraq and Syria, two jihadist groups with al-Qaeda roots. That's easier said tha

the Pakistani economy. Last month in Tokyo, the crown prince celebrated the hundredth anniversary of the first Japanese Muslim to make the hajj to Mecca, and more importantly, signed a number of bilateral agreements on investment, trade and security cooperation. Japan imports more than a million bar

ves and diplomats have stepped up their contacts with Syrian rebels in part to help organize their burgeoning military operations against President Bashar al-Assad's forces, according to senior U.S. officials." This would certainly be promising news—except it is the third time in the last month administration

uld have little trouble finding suitable recipients. It hasn't because the White House isn't eager to act. The question is, will moral revulsion at Assad's crimes finally force it off the sidelines? It's understandable why a conflict that by some estimates has already cost the lives of more than 14,

dered closest of his brothers to the country's religious conservatives, would be mourned with religious services Sunday in the Islamic holy city of Mecca, state media said. The ruling Saudi family, like the government overall, follows the austere Wahhabi branch of Islam. It typically buries its membe

cent of the Golan Heights, it still fell short of Assad’s demand for a return to the 4 June 1967 lines, a

9 November 1947 14 May 1948 15 May 1948 29 May 1948 First World War. Letter from British High Commissioner McMahon to Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca. Sykes—Picot Agreement. Balfour Declaration. 4 days of violent rioting against Jews in Jerusalem. Opening of the San Remo Conference. Treaty of

Resolu- tions 425 and 426. 18 June 2000 The UN Security Council confirms Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon in a Presidential Statement. 10 July 2000 Bashar al-Assad is elected President of Syria in a nationwide referendum. 11-25 July 2000 Camp David II negotiations between Ehud Barak and Yasir Arafat. 25 July 2

Egypt, Mubarak was in, then deserted. In Iraq, Hussein was in, then deposed. In Libya, Gaddafi was in, then overthrown with US support. In Syria with Assad, it was the same scenario. The instability created by contradictory Western interests has invited far worse atrocities by the new regimes than the cr

it is impossible for the US to move against any hostile Islamic group anywhere in the world without Saudi support. Almost two billion Muslims look to Mecca and Medina as their spiritual heartland and challenging any faction of Islam without the support of its guardian, Saudi Arabia, would be foolhardy. H

Saudis greatly enhance America's security. Like it or not, the military option most unpopular with America's voters and politicians may be its best. Bashar Assad may well be our only hope in fighting the various terrorist factions that are attempting to form an ISIS state. If America agrees that putting boots