Epstein Secrets

that concern. He told his staff during recent Situation Room meetings as American naval and air power was moved into the eastern Mediterranean that no United States intervention would alter the long-term balance of power in the Syrian civil war. That was the bitter lesson of the Iraq and Afghan wars for Mr. Oba

Respond To a Western Strike on Syria? By: An Al-Monitor Correspondent in Beirut August 31. -- About three months ago, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah decided to send his elite military units to Syria to support the military efforts of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in facing opposition f

as recently hosted the Iranian foreign minister on an official visit. Oman also angered other GCC states by brokering secret talks between Iran and the United States on the nuclear issue. Further afield, the list continues: Iraq has accused Saudi Arabia and Qatar of seeking to destabilise the country. Relation

the self-proclaimed champion of Palestinian rights, is also taking notice of the camps' destabilization and division. Hezbollah's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah recently gave a speech on current events in the region, a speech that, at first blush, curiously focused on the primacy of resistance against Israe

hearing a favorite uncle or grandfather. The narrative wasn't a speech so much as a musing. But his essential point was both clear and contrarian: The United States' strength in the world is its values, not its military power. It remains strong because it is a nation characterized by "giving, not taking." The U

cooperation as further evidence of Shia dominance of the country's political system and its security institutions. Hezbollah's Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, recently boasted during a leadership meeting, "We are ready to sacrifice martyrs in Iraq five times more than what we sacrificed in Syria..." Give

of Iraq. Many experts have predicted that Iran would try to carefully manage the escalation after an Israeli first strike in order to avoid giving the United States a rationale for attacking with its far superior forces. Thus, it might use proxies to set off car bombs in world capitals or funnel high explosives

e costing the party its main support base: the Lebanese Shia community. Let's take a closer look. In his many redundant speeches, Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah has been adamant about supporting the Assad regime of Syria. A few years ago, when Nasrallah made a speech, almost everyone in Lebanon would leave

ors to that point. But to the Saudis, not to mention Bahrain's ruling family, even the occasional appearance of posters of Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah amid crowds of Shiite protesters pumping their fists and chanting demands for regime change was too much. They saw how Iran's influence has grown in

authority and hold free elections, with the army ensuring the country's security. The Assad clan is trying to convince the outside world, including the United States and the European Union, that the regime's fall could lead to chaos and sectarian wars. It claims the opposition is either too HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_023470

ited States was primarily interested in stability. Despite brave speeches on democracy by both Condeleezza Rice and Barack Obama in Cairo, the United States actually pulled its punches in pushing serious democratic reform on Egypt, particularly after the Hamas electoral victory in Gaza in 2006. Nonetheles

The United States was primarily interested in stability. Despite brave speeches on democracy by both Condeleezza Rice and Barack Obama in Cairo, the United States actually pulled its punches in pushing serious democratic reform on Egypt, particularly after the Hamas electoral victory in Gaza in 2006. Non

tates, official custodians of religion who gave repression their seal of approval. But it was more convenient to trace the trail across the ocean, to the United States. Mohammed Atta, who led the death pilots, was a child of the Egyptian middle class, a lawyer's son, formed by the disappointments of Egypt and its in

nd then avoided defeat in a subsequent round of fighting in 2006. In a poll of Arab public opinion taken in 2008, the three most popular leaders were Hassan Nasrallah, Bashar al-Assad and Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, in that order. But this sense of inexorable ascendancy in which the Iran-led bloc liked to cloak itself has