Epstein Secrets

time. Today, the Muslim Brothers are repeating the mistake they made then by resorting to terror with the aid of foreign Salafists, including some Al-Qaida fighters flowing into EFTA00701768 Syria from Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and other countries further afield. The liberal members of the Syrian

ve, the regime could endure. Although they continue to function, neither appears intact any longer; their control of key areas such as Damascus and Aleppo is in doubt, and the reliability of their personnel, given defections, is no longer certain. We had thought that there was a reasonable chance of t

more than 90 percent of them against American and coalition forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. Many of those attacks were orchestrated by al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate, which in 2006 established the Islamic State of Iraq. After weakening in 2007 and 2008 (when the U.S. paid Sunni tribal leaders to

ian war, Horns was a major industrial center, and with a population of at least 652,609 people in 2004, it was the third largest city in Syria after Aleppo to the north and the capital Damascus to the south. Its population use to reflect Syria's general religious diversity, composed mostly of Arabic-sp

the US and UK, western strategy towards the country lies in tatters. Washington and London were forced to act after Islamist rebels, including the al-Qaida-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, took over the headquarters and warehouses of the western-backed FSA and reportedly seized anti-air

the bigger fight against Assad, allowing his forces to gain the upper hand and make tactical gains in Homs, Damascus and even the rebel stronghold Aleppo. Emboldened, Assad and his henchmen, with the backing of Iran and Russia, have repeatedly reminded the opposition they will not go to Geneva to han

nst his own people and remain almost indifferent to the same crimes EFTA00660824 when committed by Bashar al-Assad in Syria? Why knock off a dozen al Qaeda terrorists from the air, and release another group from Guantanamo? The answer, of course, is politics. Politics matters to any sane politician; bu

But he was then in the midst of a vicious sectarian war against the Muslim Brotherhood, with their power in the souks and the mosques of Hama and Aleppo and Damascus. For the Sunni artisans in the warrens of these old cities, the presidency of a peasant—and an Alawite peasant at that, hailing from a

ed—insisted that the group involved in the attack "claims an affi=iation with al Qaeda," as if that was the same as an actual relationship with co=e al Qaeda's remaining leaders. Fox News commentator and Washingt=n Post columnist Charles Krauthammer dismissed the story as an effort "to protect Hillary [Clin

An A= Qaeda affiliate group, aided by foreign fighters, battles with seven differ=nt homegrown Syrian rebel groups for control of the region around Aleppo, Syri=. The Iranian Embassy in Beirut is bombed. Mohamad Chatah, an enormously dece=t former Lebanese finance minister, is blown up after criticizi

reful about accepting the narrative that HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_031925 --- PAGE BREAK --- 14 the whole of Syria is demanding change. The largest cities of Aleppo and Damascus remain relatively calm, while opinion in western capitals is led by reports generated via opposition movements, often using social media

as killed. With the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks a few weeks away, it's possible to use this evidence to sketch a vivid portrait of al- Qaeda, drawing on material contained in more than 100 computer storage devices, including thumb drives, DVDs and CDs, and more than a dozen computers or ha

rs from mistrust between his Egyptian faction of al-Qaeda and other operatives, such as Atiyah. • Bin Laden was suffering badly from drone attacks on al-Qaeda's base in the tribal areas of Pakistan. He called this the "intelligence war," and said it was "the only weapon that's hurting us." His cadres complain

oms and Latakia for some time. Elaraby: When I flew to Syria 10 days after taking office, they also tried to tell me that there had been no riots in Aleppo or Damascus. I was told that gun battles had only occurred in a few towns near the border, because rebels had fired on security forces there. HOUSE_

a half-billion Arabs, as long as it can shout louder than increasingly sophisticated bunk merchants like El Aschkar. Ask about basic political facts—al Qaeda’s responsibility for 9/11, or the death of Osama bin Laden—and even the most educated will start popping off inanities. I’ve been dealing with this fr

s. Take your pick of scary scenarios: HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_030075 --- PAGE BREAK --- 17 civil war, a Sunni fundamentalist takeover, or a new base for al Qaeda. Of course, there would also be an upside to Assad's demise. A brutal regime would have fallen; Iran would be denied an Arab patron and a critical wi

nto the city's southern outskirts, paramilitary groups were said to have massed in Alawi-populated northern suburbs. The city centers of Damascus and Aleppo, however, remained relatively quiet, as the government appeared to be organizing rallies of its own supporters, with activists claiming that efforts