Epstein Secrets

with Secretary of State John Kerry here this week, the =ussian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, hinted that Moscow might finally pressure President Bashir al-Assad of Syria to l=ave office. 2 EFTA_R1_00107015 EFTA01785153 "We are not interested in the fate =f certain individuals," Mr. Lavrov said at a late

y furt=er. Jerusalem, ultimately, has little interest in actively hastening the f=ll of Bashar al-Assad. Israel knows one important thin= about the Assads: for the past 40 years, they have managed to preserve so=e form of calm along the border. Technically, the two countries have always been at war --

e, the Alawite regime in Damascus and Hezbol=ah in Lebanon) is hell-bent on robbing them of their historic place in Iraq, their government's tilt to=ard Bashar al-Assad provided it. 5 EFTA_R1_00107018 EFTA01785156 It was a matter of time before =hese millennial conflicts were given new life by the Syrian civil w

untries have always been at war -- Syria has yet to officially r=cognize Israel -- but Israel has been able to count on the governments of =afez and Bashar Assad to enforce the Separation of Forces Agreement from 1=74, in which both sides agreed to a cease-fire in the Golan Heights, the disputed vantage poin

-syrian-connection/> Instead of being the West's p=tential victim, Mr. Putin is now its vital interlocutor. Maria Lipman, a s=holar-in-residence at the Carnegie Moscow Center and a leading political analyst, said Mr. Putin's logic is simple= "You may denounce us," she explained, "but when it comes to the mos= important in

From: Office of Terje Rod-Larsen ‹ > Subject: June 9 update Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2012 14:35:09 +0000 9 June, 2012 Article 1. NYT Assad, the Butcher Editorial Article 2. The Washington Post syrian intervention is justifiable, na d'List Anne-Marie Slaughter Article 3. Bloomberg

helicopter gunships since the anti-Assad protests began 16 months ago. Despite his claims that the violence is the work of "terrorists," President Bashar al-Assad has a lot to hide. On Thursday, Syrian troops and pro- government supporters barred the monitors from Qubeir, and the monitors were fired upon. The

conflict and save lives. If lives are more important than regimes -- and they are -- then this is the path to follow. Dmitri Trenin is director of the Carnegie Moscow Center. The Diplomat Could China, Russia Rescue Iran? Meir Javedanfar June 8, 2012 -- Vladimir Putin has returned to the Russian presidential office.

"capability," if not a weapon itself. Even one of the options that many Democrats and Republicans advocate to shake Iran — to help topple President Bashar al- Assad of Syria, Iran's only real friend in the region — could have the same effect. Inside the Obama White House, there has also been debate ab

," if not a weapon itself. Even one of the options that many Democrats and Republicans advocate to shake Iran — to help topple President Bashar al- Assad of Syria, Iran's only real friend in the region — could have the same effect. Inside the Obama White House, there has also been debate about whethe

make sure of this remains an open question. "Sooner or later the state will have to engage in dialogue with the Salafis," says Alexei Malashenko of the Carnegie Moscow Center. But dialogue is not the Russian state's habitual tool for dealing with social forces that it neither understands nor controls. The dual terror att