Epstein Secrets

d the third anniversary of the Syrian uprising against President Bashar al-Assad — and the outlook is increasingly grim. Peace talks last month in Geneva have left future negotiations uncertain. Syria has failed to meet benchmarks for eliminating chemical weapons and will likely miss a June 30 deadli

nt will result in some kind of blowback on Russia's southern fringe. Already Moscow knows there are a considerable number of Chechens fighting with al-Qaida-linked jihadist groups against the Assad regime, and the Russians are naturally concerned about these individuals returning to Russia if Assad is o

nroads. The broader Sahel and Maghreb regions, meanwhile, are becoming more and more fragile and southern Libya verges on becoming a safe haven for al Qaeda-linked groups recently chased from Mali by French military forces. The right international approach to Libya could nevertheless still help avert a

00706386 "Friends of Syria" coalition might bring to bear on the regime negligible and any proposed plans to hold a meaningful peace conference in Geneva, now scheduled for January 22, as laughable. Moreover, Russia earned congratulations for fashioning the very loophole through which the U.S. Comma

ch and to whom. The administration could change course and decide that living with Assad is better than the danger of a fragmented Syria overrun by Al Qaeda- backed jihadists. (Former CIA Director Michael Hayden endorsed that option last week, telling a Washington audience that it might be "the best ...

again dashing the hopes of pro-U.S. factions in the opposition. Meanwhile, other forces were competing for influence in the Syrian snake pit, too. Al Qaeda and its allies sponsored jihadist groups that imported aspiring terrorists from Iraq and other countries. Saudi Arabia and other wealthy Persian Gu

gotiator, Lady Catherine Ashton. "What I have heard from Secretary Kerry and Lady Ashton is that they are committed to an early finalization of the Geneva process with a view to reaching a comprehensive agreement. I share that objective." Dressed in a diplomat's blue pinstripe suit and speaking in flu

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

with Tehran, much of which was made possible by international sanctions pushed by the United States. And in January the US helped convene talks in Geneva aimed at resolving the £yrian civil war. This came only months after the threat of US military force against Damascus convinced the Assad regime to

vot to Asia that is failing to deter a rising China; a newly assertive Russia seizing territory without consequence; cuts in defence spending while al-Qaida franchises pop up across the Middle East and perhaps the worst of all sins — failure to stop the bloodletting in Lyria. It's a policy that Niall Fe

pose no serious threat to what Obama calls "core U.S. interests," and that they can be safely relegated to the nebulous realm of •. diplomacy and Geneva conferences, where Secretary of State John Kerry lives. Let's suppose for the moment that al-Qaeda's new base in eastern Syria, Hezbollah's deploym

egated to the nebulous realm of •. diplomacy and Geneva conferences, where Secretary of State John Kerry lives. Let's suppose for the moment that al-Qaeda's new base in eastern Syria, Hezbollah's deployment of tens of thousands of missiles in Lebanon and the crumbling of the U.S.-fostered Iraqi politic

Decorum Est," describing his experience of a chlorine-gas attack in World War I, highlights its horror and explains in part the thinking behind the Geneva Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, which comprehensively outlawed such weapons in 1925. On

out commitment." That observation stands. It explains the Obama administration's enthusiasm for a massive, drone-led assassination campaign against al-Oaeda terrorists. And it applies with particular force to a prospective, U.S.-led attack on the Syrian government in response to its use of chemical wea

st, the United S=ates must establish a serious program to train and equip the rebels. Diplo=acy has failed: the efforts made by the United States in Geneva to reach a=political accord cannot now succeed, because diplomacy will always reflect the power relationships on the groun=. Those must be changed b

43 EFTA02708696 What so many Americ=ns, including their leaders in government, have long failed to understand =s that this was what bin Laden and AI-Qaeda wanted all along. The intent o= the bloody attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon was to lure the U.S. and its allies into attacking=the

pared another list of Russian figures and institutions to sanction in the next few days if Moscow does not follow through on an agreement sealed in Geneva on Thursday to defuse the crisis, as Obama aides anticipate. But the president will not extend the punitive measures to whole sectors of the Russia

mic Front, with around 50,000 part-time fighters, seems one of the stronger and more coherent entities and seeks an Islamic state with shariah law. Al-Qaeda's local affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, is a more disciplined but smaller organization, and has been more careful than most about collateral damage. EFT

primary challenge from four Tea Party candidates in South Carolina, was saying with utter confidence that Iran had hoodwinked the Administration in Geneva. Next came a poll showing that the majority of the country now believed that the President was neither truthful nor honest. The announcer added wit

the 2012 campaign, Obama spoke not only of killing Osama bin Laden; he also said that Al Qaeda had been "decimated." I pointed out that the flag of Al Qaeda is now flying in Falluja, in Iraq, and among various rebel factions in Syria; Al Qaeda has asserted a presence in parts of Africa, too. "The analog

office. Prince Nayif ascended to become Crown Prince last October when his brother Prince EFTA00712527 Sultan passed away. Now Nayif has died in Geneva after months of ill health. The good news for Saudis is that his successor is all but certain to be Prince Salman, a more pragmatic and progressive

n 2005. Crown Prince Nayef had been minister of interior since the 1970s. He helped shape the ministry's countertenor program and the crackdown on al Qaeda, both moves that won him praise from the West. President Barack Obama, in a statement, offered the U.S.'s condolences and said that under Prince Na