Epstein Secrets

ther bureaucracies, and thus had no legitimacy. Marcus Aurelius was one thing; Tunisia's Zine el- Abidine Ben Ali, Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Syria's Bashar al- Assad, quite another. Certainly, the Arab Spring has proved much: that there is no otherness to Arab civilization, that Arabs yearn for univers

r supply have diminished. There are three reasons. First, the most substantial fallout from the Arab world's recent upheaval is behind us. Syria's Bashar al-Assad continues to fight for survival and Yemen continues to flirt with failed-state status, but the Gulf's major oil-producing states are quite stable.

cracies, and thus had no legitimacy. Marcus Aurelius was one thing; Tunisia's Zine el- Abidine Ben Ali, Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Syria's Bashar al- Assad, quite another. Certainly, the Arab Spring has proved much: that there is no otherness to Arab civilization, that Arabs yearn for universal values

dministrations, Gates gets credit for stabilizing Iraq, though the key decisions that led to success--a surge of troops and the appointment of Gen. David Petraeus to oversee the strategy--predated his arrival. Petraeus says Gates knew that his real contribution was to buy time in Washington for the strategy t

terview with Ray Takeyh Article 3. RCR The Brotherhood's Walking Korans Hillel Fradkin and Lewis Libby Article 4. Foreign Affairs Alawites for Assad: Why the Syrian Sect Backs the Regime Leon Goldsmith Article 5. Project Syndicate The Paranoid Style in Chinese Politics Minxin Pei Article 6.

Lebanon, and so forth. And when Iranians look at the region, they seem to feel--and increasingly, others are joining them in that opinion--that the Bashar al-Assad regime may prove in fact more durable, that he may somehow survive this insurrection and this wave of protest, and if Assad survives and can someho

me Leon Goldsmith April 16, 2012 -- Since the start of the revolt in Syria, the country's Alawites have been instrumental in maintaining President Bashar al- Assad's hold on power. A sect of Shia Islam, the Alawites comprise roughly 13 percent of the population and form the bulk of Syria's key milita

ange. "We all are on the same side here, trying to make the country safe." At the center of the debate was Obama's newly appointed CIA chief, Gen. David Petraeus. Petraeus sided with the White House, recognizing the need to strike a balance between maintaining a strong relationship with Pakistan and aggressi

as made it difficult to discuss sectarian prejudice in public, which has sometimes kept hatreds bottled up. Some in the Sunni majority perceive the Assads as representatives of their sect and resent the entire community by extension. None of this makes sectarian conflict inevitable. Class and regiona

since the ascension of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey EFTA_R1_02029349 EFTA02689724 17 and Bashar al-Assad's inheritance of the Syrian presidency, relations have dramatically improved. Turkey invested enormous financial and political capital in Syria, esta

political capital in Syria, establishing a Levantine free trade zone and distancing itself from Israel. Erdogan extracted promises of reform from Bashar at the onset of the protests and then watched with increasingly visible consternation as the promises were broken. He warned Syria repeatedly again

o neutralize. It reinforces mounting criticism that Obama is "abandoning" Afghanistan, a false and nasty charge. One lion has yet to roar: General David Petraeus, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan and soon-to-be CIA director. Everyone knows his position likens to Gates'. But just maybe, Obama

ed when I heard a week ago Thursda= evening that the US military launched 59 tomahawk missiles against a Syrian airfield to punish Syria's President Bashar Assad for allegedly usi=g chemical weapons to attack his own citizens. This act was a dramatic reversal from Trump's pledges to limit U.S. invo=vement in

g Syria's neighbors and =he Europeans to sort out the mess. For years President Obama had resisted growing calls to intervene militarily against the Assad regime. President Barack Obama's decision to refrain from engagement in 2013 was crit=cized as feckless at the time and is cited now as one of the r

adventures. And most peop=e see this number as extremely conservative. Fareed Zakaria tells a story =hat he was surprise by the answer that General David Petraeus told him dur=ng the early days of the Iraq War and things were not going well. Wh=n asked whether he wished he had more troops. Petraeus was too po

for President Assad to step aside." We invested little in aid or support to effect this. One year later, the president articulated his red line on Bashar al-Assad's use of chemical weapons. Rightly or wrongly, he did so without obtaining a promise of congressional backing. But when proof of that use became unmi

he U.S. approach to Syria has been a combination of bluster and retreat. In August 2011, President Obama said that "the time has come for President Assad to step aside." We invested little in aid or support to effect this. One year later, the president articulated his red line on Bashar al-Assad's us

one of the teams. Occasionally, somebody in authority questions whether unqualified fealty to Israel is in the national interest. In 2010, General David Petraeus, who was then the head of U.S. Central Command, warned that Israel's intransigence on settlements, and the U.S. government's failure to do anythin

ulgaria, seen its activities disrupted in Cyprus and Thailand, and worked to plot attacks elsewhere. It is helping to prop up the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria; and it acts as a proxy for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in the region and beyond. In doing so, Hezbollah is putting the well

elping to prop up the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria; and it acts as a proxy for Iran's Isla

ENTCOM's opportunity to work with our regional partners and to support multilateral security efforts." One year earlier, Mattis' predecessor, Gen. David Petraeus, made a similar point, saying, "The enduring hostilities between Israel and some of its neighbors present distinct challenges to our ability to adv

e, The (TV show), 30, 76, 92, 109, 200 Arif, Tevfik, 100 Armey, Dick, 81 Arthur Andersen, 278 Art of the Deal, The (Trump and Schwartz), 22 Assad, Bashar al-, 183, 190 Atlantic City, 30, 99, 210 Atwater, Lee, 57 Australia, 78 Ayers, Nick, 240 Azerbaijan, 254 Bahrain, 231 Baier, Bret, 159-60 Bak

prentice, The (TV show), 30, 76, 92, 109, 200 Arif, Tevfik, 100 Armey, Dick, 81 Arthur Andersen, 278 Art of the Deal, The (Trump and Schwartz), 22 Assad, Bashar al-, 183, 190 Atlantic City, 30, 99, 210 Atwater, Lee, 57 Australia, 78 Ayers, Nick, 240 Azerbaijan, 254 Bahrain, 231 Baier, Bret, 159

dn’t much hide his contempt for the Power-Point general. Bannon and the president enjoyed trash-talking McMaster together. McMaster was a protégé of David Petraeus, the former CENTCOM and Afghanistan commander who became Obama’s CIA director before resigning in a scandal involving a love affair and the mishandli

killing an estimated 160 people, according to the Turkish military. Davutoglu has begun publicly calling for Syria's embattled dictator, Bashar al- Assad, to step down. And during a planned visit to Egypt this week, EFTA00586779 9 Erdogan says he intends to cross the border into Gaza—a move guaran

hern Iraq, killing an estimated 160 people, according to the Turkish military. Davutoglu has begun publicly calling for Syria's embattled dictator, Bashar al- Assad, to step down. And during a planned visit to Egypt this week, EFTA00586779 9 Erdogan says he intends to cross the border into Gaza—a mo

one of the great protagonists of the post-9/11 era, serving more than half of the last 10 years in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. Along with Gen. David Petraeus, he rescued the United States from catastrophe in Iraq four years ago; now he is trying to repeat the feat in Kabul. He finds himself repeating man

clipse the regional and international focus on Syria, where hundreds of people have been slaughtered on a daily basis for the past year and a half. Assad will likely exploit this by ratcheting up his brutality against Syrian rebels and civilians while eyes are gazed elsewhere. While the course of Ope

ces and strategic conditions have completely changed between them I had hoped to write a different article this week about the troubles of General David Petraeus, not to talk about the scandal but the role of the individual in history and how destiny often has the last word. But in Egypt and the Middle East

American reliability among all =.S. allies in the region and beyond. That Iran has appea=ed far more determined to win in Syria, defined as keeping Assad in power,=than the United States has appeared in achieving its stated goal (that Ass=d must go) similarly shakes confidence in U.S. power and willpo

n rebels was made against the advice of his top national secur=ty officials at that time, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, CIA Director David Petraeus, Joint Chi=fs Chairman Martin Dempsey, and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. His las=-minute decision in August 2013 not to strike Syria after its