Epstein Secrets

3 only drama playing out there. Syria is also a highly tribalized and sectarian-divided country. Its Shiite-leaning Alawite minority — led by the Assads and comprising 12 percent of the population — dominates the government, army and security services. Sunni-Muslim Syrian Arabs are 75 percent, Chris

n ever. The regional balance of power is shifting against Tehran, in no small part because of its ongoing support for the beleaguered government of Bashar al- Assad in Syria. The Assad regime is failing, and in time, Iran will lose its only state ally in the Arab world and its conduit for arming the m

an continued its support for the Assad regime and backed his brutal crackdown on civilians. The Syrian uprising has become a zero-sum game: Either Bashar al-Assad will win, or the demonstrators will triumph. Likewise, it has become a proxy war between Tehran and Ankara, in which there will be only one winner.

ng nation-state, leaving a vacuum in the Middle East. In the past decade, though, Turkey's economic growth and emergence as a regional giant under the Justice and Development Party, or A.K.P., have revived its standing. From the Syrian uprising to EFTA_R1_00229096 EFTA01842295 Iraq's sectarian convulsions to Iran's push for

onale for taking military action now — "a shot across the bow" to halt future chemical attacks, he told PBS — pose risks of their own. If President Bashar al-Assad emerges from a few days of Tomahawk missile barrages relatively unscathed, he will be able to claim that he faced down not only his domestic oppone

arged is the secret hand behind the uprising. In the words of one recently departed senior adviser to Mr. Obama, "the worst outcome would be making Assad look stronger." How did Mr. Obama find himself in this trap? Partly, it was an accident of history: in the early, heady days of the Arab uprisings,

ring on its promises to Syrians, organisers say. In Morocco, a local Tamarod campaign began with the call to bring down the Islamist government of the Justice and Development Party, and is finding support from people across the political spectrum. EFTA00678461

nal Obama Lets the U.N. Tie His Hands on Syria Douglas J. Feith July 15, 2012 -- To retain power in the face of a popular revolt, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has killed nearly 15,000 civilians. From a humanitarian point of view, this is a crisis. From a national-interest point of view, it is an opportuni

ia's Turkish border, nor provided arms to the rebels. It has not helped establish a no-fly zone, nor has it supported NATO military strikes against Assad's forces. At first, Mr. Obama vainly called for Assad to behave humanely. Eventually, he vainly exhorted Assad to relinquish power. All the while,

ay for a political party that would be conservatively religious but not outright Islamist. In 2001, Erdogan seized the moment, forming a new party, the Justice and Development Party, or AKP. The AKP, according to Balci, contrasted with its Islamist precursors EFTA00701894 in two key respects: it was highly internationalist, 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

g the terms "Kurdistan" and "Kurt cografyasi." Galip Ensarioglu, himself a Kurd, a member of Diyarbakir's business class and a mayoral candidate on the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) ticket, also stated on Dec. 3 that he "would not hesitate to call every territory where Kurds live `Kurdistan.' I myself am Kurdish as w

W. Bush's expansive doctrine, promoting freedom. Senator John McCain, demanding American air strikes to help rebels topple the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, adopts the Bush "freedom agenda" rationale: by halting suffering and helping overthrow tyranny, we earn some leverage with the victors, improving

cs who would not hesitate to use them. Syria, says Nagl, is another good place to think hard about collateral chaos: "The hard part is not toppling Assad, it's what comes afterwards. Everybody raise your hands if you're up for another occupation of an Islamic country." My first caveat is public opin

This promised to transfer real (though not all) powers to a freely and fairly elected government. Within a year he accepted an electoral triumph by the Justice and Development Party (or PJD, after its French initials), a mildly Islamist group. The PJD has discarded its predecessors' hierarchical ways. Its leader, Mr Benkirane,

. Bush's expansive doctrine, promoting freedom. Senator John McCain, demanding American air strikes to help rebels topple the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, adopts the Bush "freedom agenda" rationale: by halting suffering and helping overthrow tyranny, we earn some leverage with the victors, improving

cs who would not hesitate to use them. Syria, says Nagl, is another good place to think hard about collateral chaos: "The hard part is not toppling Assad, it's what comes afterwards. Everybody raise your hands if you're up for another occupation of an Islamic country." My first caveat is public opin

his promised to transfer real (though not all) powers to a freely and fairly elected government. Within a year he accepted an electoral triumph by the Justice and Development Party (or PJD, after its French initials), a mildly Islamist group. The PJD has discarded its predecessors' hierarchical ways. Its leader, Mr Benkirane,

s," he insinuated. This is why Tehran reaches for the bomb? Syria, too, will remain a threat "as long as there is no regional peace agreement." The Assad regime is slaughtering its own people for the sake of Palestine? And unless Riyadh "saw the U.S. as moving in a serious manner" on Palestine, Mr.

ncluding cluster bombs, on the city of Misrata with no regard whatsoever for the safety and well being of women, children or the elderly. In Syria, Bashar al-Assad's snipers and soldiers have killed unarmed demonstrators, as well as those attending the funerals of those murdered, in various cities around the co

of Gaza, who suffered the disproportionate military operations of the Israeli army conducted under the guise of "retaliation." But for some reason the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, government, which is eager to bash Israel on every occasion over Gaza, has very little to say in the face of the images of brutality comi

is achieved we will seek at Geneva ways of better dealing with the terrible internal humanitarian situation. International aid goes to the needy in Assad controlled areas where the population is greater and apparently lesser amounts to the non-Assad controlled areas where the need is probably greater

orst conflict so far this century. Meanwhile, the international community has been disastrously divided. Since the fighting began, Syrian President Bashar Assad has had Russia's explicit international support. But while Russia's strategy, from the outset, has been coherent and well- defined, the West's has n

ve accused Fethullah Gillen and the Hizmet movement he has inspired of being part of a "dirty operation, with external ties" aimed at overthrowing the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government. Prime Minister Erdogan's war on Gillen and the Hizmet community comes as a shock to all and, as an event, is something new f

secretary-general Annan's plan for a political settlement was announced, the Turkish leadership made it clear that there could be no solution with Assad in power. With this policy of direct confrontation, Ankara not only strove to obtain the moral high ground. It also sought to precipitate the fall

response to this threat would certainly have been for the Turkish body politic to finally and permanently address Turkey's own Kurdish problem. But the Justice and Development Party (AKP) leadership's prevailing populist tendencies seem to preclude this option despite a well-intentioned effort undertaken before the 2011 electio