Epstein Secrets

ompensate Egypt for lost American military assistance. The Syrian crisis and the US administration's reluctant position towards acting against the Bashar Al-Assad regime came to add to the sources of difference, particularly after the Obama administration retreated from its threats to strike Al-Assad's regime

reats to strike Al-Assad's regime and engaged in a deal on Syrian EFTA00705807 chemical weapons, which gave another opportunity of survival to Al- Assad. The major source of the US-Saudi difference, however, came on Iran — particularly after the initial agreement on its nuclear programme, which Saud

ad to date. * http://wws.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/content/docsiKurtzer Parameters.pdf EFTA00705803 Rami G. Khouri is Editor-at-large of The Daily Star, and Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, in Beirut, Lebanon. A

le, including by the repeated use of chemical weapons, and yet has remarkably culminated in the re- legitimization of the person responsible for it, Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian civil war— particularly the White House's inept and improvisational response to it—has accidentally transformed Putin into a major powe

military aid to moderate groups in the Syrian opposition, enough to raise their hopes but not enough to ensure success on the battlefield. And when Assad used chemical weapons against civilian neighborhoods, Obama threatened military action — only to back off, again dashing the hopes of pro-U.S. fact

d in Israeli- Palestinian negotiations, which is why we are here again still trying to make this happen today. Rami G. Khouri is Editor-at-large of The Daily Star, and Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, in Beirut, Lebanon. A

nt position towards acting against the Bashar Al-Assad regime came to add to the sources of difference,

compensate Egypt for lost American military assistance. The Syrian crisis and the US administration's reluctant position towards acting against the Bashar Al-Assad regime came to add to the sources of difference, particularly after the Obama administration retreated from its threats to strike Al-Assad's regim

we have never had to date. * http://wws.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/content/docs/Kurtzer_Parameterspdf Rami G. Khouri is Editor-at-large of The Daily Star, and Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, in Beirut, Lebanon.

Today, with the United States out of Iraq and Iran a dominant influence there, the Israelis face a more complex choice. If the regime of President Bashar al Assad survives (with or without al Assad himself), Iran -- which is supplying weapons and advisers to Syria -- will wield much greater influence in Syria

lex choice. If the regime of President Bashar al Assad survives (with or without al Assad himself), Ira

e in action again these days on policy towards Iran, where coordination and coercion seem especially confused? Rami G. Khouri is Editor-at-large of The Daily Star and Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, in Beirut, Lebanon. An

oratory, you couldn't have done much better. Syria presents a profoundly different situation. U.S. policy has always been driven by the hope that the Assads would change and the fear of what might replace them if they fell. Three additional realities ensured a U.S. response quite different from the one fo

r Scholars. His book, Can America Have Another Great President?, will be published in 2012. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_030076 --- PAGE BREAK --- 18 Article 5. The Daily Star Syria fortifies Obama in his indecision Michael Young 12 May -- The New York Times gave readers a double-whammy of Syrian statements on Tuesday. Its

ng different. There simply is no reform option, and there never was. Genuine reform means dislodging the bricks holding up Assad- Makhlouf authority. Bashar Assad's open-ended presidency, the crony capitalism practiced by his cousin and other members of Syria's elite, the abuse practiced by the all-powerful secur

lims in Syria and throughout the region feel that Assad's Syria has unduly favored the Alawites, a sect o

n Libya Editorial Article 5. The Daily Star Egypt's new Constitution: an update Nathan Brown Article 6. NYT Arabs Will Be Free Roger Cohen Article 7. The Daily Star The West still beats the rest, but it may no longer be best Robert Skidelsky Article 8. Wall Street Journal Norway to Jews: You're Not Welcome Here A

A government spokeswoman has hinted that coming reforms will include greater freedom for the press and the right to form political parties. President Bashar al-Assad is due to address the country in the next 48 hours. His speech is eagerly awaited, but it remains to be seen whether it will be enough to defuse the

llenged the fundamentals of Syria's security state, a harsh system of controls over every aspect of society, put in place by the late Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father, who ruled for 30 years from 1970 to his death in 2000. By all accounts, the debate HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_030032 --- PAGE BREAK --- 4 about how

e terrifying scale of Libya's Qaddafi and Syria's Assad nor stifled economic progress with such alacrity.

ains Ethan Bronner Article 2. Herald Tribune Buying Into Palestinian Statehood Yossi Alpher, Colette Avital, Shlomo Gazit, and Mark Heller Article 3. The Daily Star What the Arab revolts leave unanswered Rami G. Khouri Article 4. Guardian Why Israel is wrong about Iran Meir Javedanfar Article 5. The Financial Tim

other 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 universal values ju

and giving the demonstrators moral support would immediately circulate over the Internet. American sanctions against Syria, meanwhile, have not named Assad, and there has been no call for him to step down. Why is the administration appearing to stick with Assad and refusing to call for his ouster? A key

response has not grown grimmer or louder. As recently as May 6, Secretary of State Clinton was still talking about a "reform agenda" in Syria, as if Bashar al-Assad were a slightly misguided bureaucrat rather than the murderer of roughly 1,000 unarmed demonstrators. As for the president, though the White House ha

eign Relations, was a deputy national security adviser in the George W. Bush administration. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_031838 --- PAGE BREAK --- 6 Article 2. The Daily Star A democratic Arab world would welcome peace with Israel Hamid Alkifaey One could reasonably argue that the golden opportunity for peace in the Middle