Epstein Secrets

the events in Bahrain, and the pressure on Saudi Arabia worked to strengthen the axis of opposition and also drew international attention away from Tehran's nuclear program. Syria is the keystone of the pro-Iran axis. Weakening the Assad regime, to say nothing of its collapse, would be a blow to Iran,

n their faces was wiped off, however, by bloody events that took place on Friday, March 25. Violent demonstrations broke out in the midland city of Horns, in the coastal city of Latakia, and in Sanamein, near Daraa, where 12 people were killed (10 of them from the Syrian security forces). Overall est

a suicide attack — and, as in a suicide attack, those who promote it are never those who carry it out. The advocates of a one-state solution are in Tehran and in US universities, including Harvard — but not in Israel or the Palestinian territories. But those who are supposed to implement the OSS — tha

March 3 saying that he had received "grisly reports" that Syrian government forces were arbitrarily executing, imprisoning and torturing people in Horns after retaking control of the Baba Amr district from insurgents. Did he really believe this; or was he just "saying it"? "One of the defining bifu

oute to producing weapons-grade plutonium in the installation now being built at Arak. Not surprisingly, the Iranian negotiator, upon his return to Tehran, described the agreement as giving Iran its long-claimed right to enrich and, in effect, eliminating the American threat of using force as a last r

ho face the threat of starvation this winter. Negotiations have focused on providing supplies to civilians trapped in three areas: the old city of Horns, in central Syria; the town of Darayya, about six miles southwest of Damascus; and the town of Moadamiyeh, about eight miles southwest of the capit

ime in Iran. White House officials last week were circulating a news report that Iran had pledged $5.8 billion in emergency aid to Assad's regime. Tehran and Damascus may once have pretended that they supported the Arab Spring, but no longer. If Assad falls to citizen protests, the Iranians know they

nority. The latest grim warning came on Sunday and Monday, when the United States estimates that 15 to 30 Syrians were killed in ethnic fighting in Horns. A White House official called those reports "really worrisome." The strategic stakes are high in Syria partly because Assad is allying himself ev

more likely that the =nited States has lost control of the rebels, particularly the jihadists. A=d Russia has lost control of Mr. Assad, who retains Tehran's backing and has killed so many people that he canno= compromise. Syria's downward spiral will continue. Article 2.</=ont> The Washington Post 4

is the country's s=cond-largest city. But Tripoli, staunchly Sunni, with an Alawite minority, has always been within the orbit of the S=rian city of Horns. So it is no mystery that a deadly conflict now rages in=Tripoli between Sunni and Alawite neighborhoods, rendering the place ungov=rnable. Sunni j

, and its public declarations of support for the Syrian rebels, suggest a dramatic political break with Iran — and with it the end of any illusion Tehran might have harbored of exerting influence in the new revolutionary Arab mainstream. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal is now ensconced in Qatar's capita

dia showed staged footage of arms being found in a mosque in Dara'a, the southern city where protests first broke out, and warned that a sit-in in Horns ... was an attempt to erect a mini-caliphate. This manipulation of Syrians meant the regime was confident that the threat of civil war would force

would make its peace with the status quo, renewing its partnership with friendly autocrats even as it engaged the hostile regimes in Damascus and Tehran. The United States was to remain on the Kabul hook for a while longer, but the greater Middle East would be left to its Furies. When a revolt erup

s and the mountain villages and coastal towns that make up the Alawite strongholds. The violence in the Syrian uprising has been most pronounced in Horns, the country's third-largest city, because of its explosive demographics -- two-thirds Sunni, one-quarter Alawite, one- tenth Christian. Sectarian

ands, the thinking holds, would fracture the Western alliance that has generated an impressive sanctions regime. Moreover, this thinking continues, Tehran may walk away from the table, raising the specter of another conflict in the Middle East. The sensibilities of U.S. allies and the temperament of t

rican intelligence official, said the Assad government was using Russian-supplied Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopters to carry out the barrel-bomb attack in Horns. Russia, he said, is most likely providing spare parts such as engines, transmissions and rotors, which may explain Mr. Kerry's specific reference

gime off. But it is as likely to rally Iranians around their leaders. Meanwhile, political change is sweeping across the Middle East. The regime in Tehran is divided and it has lost the faith of its people. Eventually, popular resistance will spring up as it did in 2009. A new regime brought about by

ange of groups opposing Mr. Assad, the council has yet to seriously address melding itself with the increasingly independent internal alliances in Horns and other cities across Syria trapped in an uneven battle for survival, they said, warning that the council runs the risk of being supplanted. "Th