Epstein Secrets

led dictatorship that was held together by an iron fist under Baathist ideology. And, for me, the lesson of Iraq is quite simple: You can't go from Saddam to Switzerland without getting stuck in Hobbes — a war of all against all — unless you have a well- armed external midwife, whom everyone on the gro

edded in President George W. Bush's administration were determined to reshape the region in Israel's and America's interest. Their first target was Saddam Hussein's Iraq, seen as a potential threat to Israel. Had the United States been successful in Iraq, Syria would have been next. Neither Iraq nor the United

America's interest. Their first target was Saddam Hussein's Iraq, seen as a potential threat to Israel. Ha

ian state. But the Alawites aren't the only breakup threat. The consensus among Syria's Kurdish political factions, encouraged by Iraqi Kurd leader Massoud Barzani, who has hosted talks brokering agreement, is to keep their distance from the rebellion even as they take advantage of the regime's declining abili

turmoil has wracked much of the rest of the country. Yet for many Kurds, the Iraqi region of Kurdistan could never be complete without Kirkuk. Under Saddam Hussein's brutal Arabization campaigns, many Kurds were forced to leave. The ethnically mixed area has been the flash point of a bitter territorial dispute.

tan could never be complete without Kirkuk. Under Saddam Hussein's brutal Arabization campaigns, many Kur

ld never be complete without Kirkuk. Under Saddam Hussein's brutal Arabization campaigns, many Kurds were

forces, Kurdish soldiers are reinforcing a shaky bother separating them from their new southern neighbors, the Sunni militants of the Islamic State. Massoud Barzani, president of the largely autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, has repeatedly suggested he will soon initiate a referendum on the region's ind

icana. Despite Putin's well-known opposition to the Iraq War, he is also cultivating a strong military and energy-based relationship with the post- Saddam government in Baghdad. Gazprom and Rosneft have moved in to capitalize on Iraq's increased oil and gas outputs. Last summer, contracts were signed

Tayyip Erdogan, who also used the term "Kurdistan" in a speech he made on Nov. 16 in Diyarbakir with Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani at this side. Subsequently, Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir has also begun to use the term publicly. But even before this, it was not just members

Association notes that, "Even after crushing Iraq in the first Gulf War, the international coalition only imposed a 150-kilometer range ceiling on Saddam's ballistic missiles. A demand to eliminate all ballistic missiles would be unprecedented in the modern era-- removing any doubt among Iranians that

n the executive committee, despite repeated attempts to woo a few prominent dissidents. The fight over Kurdish seats remains unsettled even though Massoud Barzani, a leading Kurd in neighboring Iraq, tried to mediate. The council has also not reconciled with members of another opposition coalition, the Syria