Epstein Secrets

squirm and hope to be delivered from any meaningful burdens. Still, they are meeting Friday in Tunis to discuss their options. But Syrian dictator Bashar al- Assad needn't worry. The Tunisian hosts themselves proclaimed that this convocation held on their soil precluded a decision in favor of foreign

he Syrian Regime. The former, a large group—the United States, the Europeans and the bulk of Arab governments—is casting about for a way to end the Assad regime's assault on its own people. In their ranks there is irresolution and endless talk about the complications and the uniqueness of the Syrian

The absolute priority within no-kill zones would be public safety and humanitarian aid; revenge attacks would not be tolerated. Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, is increasingly depending on government-sponsored gangs and on shelling cities with heavy artillery rather than overrunning them with troops, prec

ppling with right now is how to coordinate an increasingly armed opposition. The council says it supports the defensive use of weapons. But exiled Syrian Army officers who formed the Free Syrian Army, based in Turkey, have stayed aloof from the council, and even they do not really control the many local m

b Spring. Emboldened by the fall of the pro-American Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, Tehran has subsequently watched with disquiet the isolation of Syria's Bashar al-Assad and the potential loss of llamas, not to mention the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Liberation Mythology Presumably, the Iranian regime can a

e. The harder they squeeze Syria, the more likely they are to anger the other non-Arab power with regional ambitions, Iran, which remains loyal to Assad. And Assad could retaliate by fomenting unrest within Turkey's borders. The result has been a diplomatic and public relations nightmare for Turkey

ant us to do more," he says emphatically. "I think we need to...shake the system...We need to help the opposition more"—and in particular the Free Syrian Army, which is now fighting a civil war against the far- better-armed forces loyal to Assad. When I ask if he thinks a "coalition of the willing" could a

ignificant action. Washington is the capital of idle EFTA_R 1_02205156 EFTA02721236 talk about justice. In Washington now almost everybody wants Bashar Al Assad to fall and almost nobody wants Barack Obama to bring him down. This discrepancy is called realism, though it is less a philosophy than a mood, th

he ethnic and religious complexity of Syria, there can be no doubt; but this has not impeded us in other crises in other countries, and the longer Assad remains in power the greater grows the probability of sectarian cataclysm, and the appearance in Syria of Iranians and jihadists. And about the de

an regime openly; since then, Saudi Arabia has been actively supporting the Syrian opposition, including by advocating that the world arm the Free Syrian Army (FSA), the main opposition military force. At first, Turkey attempted to convince Assad to reform. Last summer, believing those efforts were at a

found at the site on March 27. Syria Appears to be Preparing Attack on Rebels Reports from Syria appear to indicate that forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Asad are preparing to mount an offensive against rebels based in the coastal town of Banias. Farther south, in Dara'a, eyewitnesses report bodies remain

NEW FROM THE MEDIA LINE EGYPTIAN POLL'S MIXED RESULTS: DEMOCRACY + RELIGIOUS LAW; ANTI-US SENTIMENT More Video More Audio Could Mutiny Infect Syrian Army? Polluted Rivers Flow Through No Unilateral Declaration but September Statehood Israel Expects Goldstone Report Withdrawn http://www.themedi

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

the future stability and territorial integrity of Syria. EFTA00713329 With its long-standing support to the Syrian National Council and the Free Syrian Army, Ankara hopes to have gained the leverage to influence the behavior of the future leadership in the post-Assad era. But now harder choices await Tu