Epstein Secrets

to this week's Syria peace talks in Montreux, Switzerland, does little if anything to change the Assad regime's approach to those talks. President Bashar al- Assad's statements in recent days indicate that he and his backers are attempting to pressure the United States and the rest of the "London 11"

Syria Peace Conference Editorial Article 2. NYT WikiLeaks, Drought and Syria Thomas L. Friedman Article 3. The Washington Institute Avoiding Assad's Forced Solution to the Syria Crisis Andrew J. Tabler Article 4. Now Lebanon Does the US seek an Arab-Iranian "equilibrium?" Hussein Ibish Art

sitional administration by "mutual consent" of the Assad government and the opposition. In the view of the United States, this means that President Bashar al-Assad would be replaced, although Assad government officials and his Alawite sect could be part of the new structure. Iran has refused to accept any pre

TA00651249 as Russia, which is fighting extremists in the Caucasus and worrying about attacks during the Winter Olympics in Sochi next month. Mr. Zarif acknowledged this problem generally, asserting that "the continuation of this tragedy in Syria can only provide the best breeding ground for extrem

He has to deliver results reasonably soon, or he will be ousted. His first step was to appoint Iran's most talented diplomat as foreign minister. Javad Zarif impressed the world in his years as Iran's representative to the UN; after living for many years in the US, he understands its politics well. With

Another Syria Peace Conference Editorial I NYT WikiLeaks, Drought and Syria Thomas L. Friedman Article 3. The Washington Institute Avoiding Assad's Forced Solution to the Syria Crisis Andrew J. Tabler Article 4. Now Lebanon Does the US seek an Arab-Iranian "equilibrium?" Hussein Ibish Ar

to this week's Syria peace talks in Montreux, Switzerland, does little if anything to change the Assad regime's approach to those talks. President Bashar al-Assad's statements in recent days indicate that he and his backers are attempting to pressure the United States and the rest of the "London 11" countries s

ld act as a multiplier on social and economic pressures already at play and undermine stability." ■ "Yehia does not believe that the [government of Bashar al- Assad] will allow any Syrian citizen to starve. ... However, Yehia told us that the Syrian minister of agriculture ... stated publicly that eco

ran as well as Russia, which is fighting extremists in the Caucasus and worrying about attacks during the Winter Olympics in Sochi next month. Mr. Zarif acknowledged this problem generally, asserting that "the continuation of this tragedy in Syria can only provide the best breeding ground for extrem

He has to deliver results reasonably soon, or he will be ousted. His first step was to appoint Iran's most talented diplomat as foreign minister. Javad Zarif impressed the world in his years as Iran's representative to the UN; after living for many years in the US, he understands its politics well. With

source of instability in the troubled Middle East. Is there any compromise that might appeal to all sides? The Assad government seems adamant that Bashar will not step down. The opposition is fragmented but united in demanding that the Assad regime be replaced. How would a "transition" government be

gh for this crisis to become a major source of instability in the troubled Middle East. Is there any compromise that might appeal to all sides? The Assad government seems adamant that Bashar will not step down. The opposition is fragmented but united in demanding that the Assad regime be replaced. H

w the parties to begin to discuss tradeoffs and approaches for a framework of political transition that will involve hard compromises. For example, Bashar al-Assad has consistently indicated that presidential elections scheduled for June 2014 should be adhered to. Of course, he can be expected to rig those ele

en putting on a brass-neck display this week in Switzerland -- and Rouhani's speech today at the World Economic Forum was no exception. Rouhani and Zarif are busy trying, with intermittent success, to beguile the West into submission. (They've left the executions of Kurdish activists, the suppression

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

arif as foreign minister. In addition to being educated in the United States and serving many years as Iran's ambassador at the United Nations, Mr. Zarif has been at the center of several rounds of secret negotiations over the years to try to overcome EFTA_R1_00441479 EFTA01964640 decades of enmit

source of instability in the troubled Middle East. Is there any compromise that might appeal to all sides? The Assad government seems adamant that Bashar will not step down. The opposition is fragmented but united in demanding that the Assad regime be replaced. How would a "transition" government be

gh for this crisis to become a major source of instability in the troubled Middle East. Is there any compromise that might appeal to all sides? The Assad government seems adamant that Bashar will not step down. The opposition is fragmented but united in demanding that the Assad regime be replaced. H

w the parties to begin to discuss tradeoffs and approaches for a framework of political transition that will involve hard compromises. For example, Bashar al-Assad has consistently indicated that presidential elections scheduled for June 2014 should be adhered to. Of course, he can be expected to rig those ele

en putting on a brass-neck display this week in Switzerland -- and Rouhani's speech today at the World Economic Forum was no exception. Rouhani and Zarif are busy trying, with intermittent success, to beguile the West into submission. (They've left the executions of Kurdish activists, the suppression

about Obama's flip-flopping on Syria —particularly the President's failure to rapidly arm Syrian rebels and conduct air strikes in retaliation for Assad's use of chemical weapons. Prince Bandar also worried about America entering a slippery slope in negotiations with Iran. Shiite Iran is enemy No. 1

Intelligence Chief and former Ambassador to the U.S., added his complaints on Tuesday. He said, "the current charade of international control over Bashar's chemical arsenal would be funny if it were not so blatantly perfidious." Perhaps the silence towards Prince Bandar's leaks reflects the mood of

al issues — the Syrian and Iranian crises. In recent months, Turkey's government has adopted an increasingly tougher stance toward Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, convinced that it can only fall. The agreement recently reached by the United States and Russia is, from this standpoint, frustrating new

, and even an American administration that has all but committed itself to expedited talks. Indeed, the minute Rouhani and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif talked to the U.S. president and Kerry in late September, this process wasn't on mullah time anymore. Ticking clocks can be good if they build urge

confirmed by intelligence. But what of the President's other Syria `marker'—his August 18, 2011 declaration that "the time has come for President Assad to step aside"? That declaration, although repeated as recently as October 14 by Secretary Kerry, shows no sign of being pursued, EFTA00707181 mu

tary tools of influence that would offer a credible prospect of rescuing what remains of Syria's largely defenseless population from the ravages of Bashar al-Assad's conventional forces. With well over 110,000 killed and an estimated seven million displaced, one third of them overflowing refugee camps in neighbo

orcement powers? Not only that — the fact that even if it had enforcement powers, it would only remove the chemical weapons. But [Syrian President] Bashar al- Assad can continue to kill his people using aircraft, artillery, Scud missiles and other lethal means. This also followed the Chinese and Russia

the ensuing press statements by White House aides promoted the disturbing theme that, just as Secretary Kerry had met with Iranian foreign minister Zarif in New York, President Obama had made a connection with his own "counterpart," talking `president to president' with Hassan Rouhani. President Obam

working: The ACLU complained that there was not more conversation about voting rights: A Post columnist noted that Gabbard's history with Syria's Bashar al- Assad needs to be brought up more, especially on the debate stage: A Huff Post political reporter predicted who will get cut before the next de

The ACLU complained that there was not more conversation about voting rights: A Post columnist noted that Gabbard's history with Syria's Bashar al- Assad needs to be brought up more, especially on the debate stage: A Huff Post political reporter predicted who will get cut before the next debate: Can

rif, a dramatic step bound to further escalate tensions with Tehran. Carol Morello and Karen DeYoung report: "A senior administration official said Zarif had acted more as a `propaganda minister' than a diplomat. The announcement came as Trump's national security adviser said that nuclear-related san

said to be American-supplied. This humiliating defeat shows the rise of the Islamist rebels, most of whom oppose political dialogue with President Bashar al-Assad's regime and call for the establishment of a Qur'anic-based state. It also demonstrates the near-collapse of the FSA, which the west had hoped would

s no military solution for Syria, although that may be self-evident, I do not believe that every player in this game believes that. Does President Assad believe that? President Assad believes that at the end of the day you need a political solution. But I believe that those who are pushing for a U.S

l agreement. But he voiced tough positions on key issues and said "it's going to be a bumpy road," with difficult bargaining ahead. EFTA00706398 Zarif, who is Iran's top chief negotiator, outlined his views in an hour-long interview at the foreign ministry here Sunday. He said that his country wou

n government still headed by President Bashar al-Assad. Likewise, over the last four years, Russia and

ngton accepts reality and supports a negotiated settlement between parts of the Syrian opposition and a Syrian government still headed by President Bashar al-Assad. Likewise, over the last four years, Russia and China have refused to support Security Council authorization of further multilateral sanctions aga

ental issue of autarky, of folks in the Revolutionary Guard who make money from a closed economy and will use any opportunity to trash Rouhani and Zarif. This is similar to the situation here in the United States, where there are people who fundamentally want regime change in Iran and do not want a