Epstein Secrets

uth to NATO Editorial Article 4. Foreign Policy The Fall of the House of Assad Robin Yassin-Kassab Article 5. Article 6. The Washington Post Obama's partnership deficit David Ignatius The Daily Beast Obama's Secret Afghan Exit Formula Leslie H. Gelb EFTA_R1_02029334 EFTA02689709 2 Artic

or the U.S. and Europe. Afghanistan. Ankara was among a handful of NATO members that increased commitments in Afghanistan in response to President Barack Obama's request for additional resources in December 2009. Although Turkish troops are heavily concentrated in Kabul, Ankara has put the bulk of its resour

ways to the premature 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for President Obama. It signaled hopes for the future, rather than ac

mitments in Afghanistan in response to President Barack Obama's request for additional resources in Decem

choose their friends from all communities, sectarianism remains a real problem in Syria. The ruling family was born into the historically oppressed Alawi community. The Ottomans regarded Alawis as heretics rather than as "people of the book," and Alawis -- unlike Christians, Jews, and mainstream Shi

March, Syrian friends have told me, its shabiha militia tried to spark social breakdown in Latakia by pretending to be a Sunni mob while it shot up Alawi areas and an Alawi mob as it terrorized Sunni neighborhoods. Syrians say the regime is arming Alawi villages and wishfully thinking of a repeat of

n variables of a post-Assad Syria appear to have created a divide between U.S. and Israeli strategies, as the Netanyahu government has not followed Obama's course EFTA00659881 on Syria. The Israeli concerns surrounding the collapse of Syria's Ba'athist party are legitimate. Washington should also c

persuaded the Sunni tribes to "flip" and start fighting the radicals rather than Americans. The surge changed the war in Iraq dramatically, even as Barack Obama, then a candidate for president, was promising to swing resources away from Iraq and into the "good war" in Afghanistan. President Obama fulfilled

John A. Nagl June 6, 2012 -- THIS Memorial Day, President Obama recognized veterans of all of the nation's wars,

rge changed the war in Iraq dramatically, even as Barack Obama, then a candidate for president, was promi

e a rat out of his drainage pipe in Libya? Or something profoundly cruel, such as the YouTube video of a Syrian man buried alive by shovel-wielding Alawi thugs taunting the victim to recite "There is no God but God and Bashar is his Prophet"? Or, alternatively, will we look back and see photos of Sau

, is impossible, you need to say so. I think those who have been advocating a more activist U.S. intervention in Syria — and excoriating President Obama for not leading that — are not being realistic about what it would take to create a decent outcome. Why? In the Middle East, the alternative to bad

eing out his days in a prison cell at the Hague. President Obama on Monday warned Assad that he would be "held ac

tegists believe that it would be greatly to their country's advantage if Syria were dismembered and permanently weakened by the creation of a small Alawi state around the port-city of Latakia in the north-west, in much the same way as Iraq was dismembered and permanently weakened by the creation of

struck by Mr. Meshal, who lives in exile and recently said he would not seek a new term as head of the movement. EFTA00686999 In Washington, the Obama administration publicly withheld judgment on the agreement, saying that American officials were still trying to determine the details of a unity go

to be on its way from Norfolk, Va. Yes, I know President Obama is a noble and saintly man of peace who uses unm

some extent, the handiwork of the United States and its European allies. This perception is fundamentally wrong: Assad's is an oppressive, minority-Alawi regime. It came to power via a 1970 coup. In 1982, the current dictator's father, then president Hafez al- Assad, brought artillery and killed over

t spent two hours with General Petraeus. Barak will be here next week and I suspect that my briefing was a dry run for his visit. I don't know what Barack's impressions will be, but here are mine. I would caution that 5 days does not make me an expert. Since that never stopped me before, here are some

he came back a month after the invasion and, even in the face of serious threats to her life, she hasn't left. She had the previous Prime Minister, Alawi, over and we talked of kings and cabbages. I asked her if 50 years ago the Shia and the Sunni knew they were supposed to hate each other. She laugh

(Summary + Conclusion) Marwan Muasher Article 4. Foreign Policy Syria: Too Big to Fail? Aaron David Miller Article 5. The Daily Star Syria fortifies Obama in his indecision Michael Young Article 6. New York Review of Books Storm Over Syria Malise Ruthven HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_030060 --- PAGE BREAK --- 2 Art

-- If you're a bit confused about U.S. President Barack Obama's passivity in the face of Syrian President Bashar

her cities including Baniyas and Latakia on the Mediterranean coast, as well as to the northern city of Homs and some suburbs of Damascus. * With the Alawi-dominated regime under threat, the HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_030083 --- PAGE BREAK --- 25 struggle is showing ominous sectarian overtones. At Baniyas, where

especially wrt Iraq) has unnecessarily limited Administrations ability to engage in Iraq which -as we see now w Syria - is just dumb. Dannzinger (ex Obama Admin): obama has done a remarkable job and the only way he could have done better is if I had held a senior post in the Administration. Kahl (ex Oba

maging to our interests in Syria and Iran. 4. KSA we should consider guarantying their integrity. 5. Iraq — NAM bring it towards a break up. Bet on Alawi 6. ME peace process — we need a big bet. Incrementalism won’t work. Activities threaten our vital interests. No big bets can succeed if the US has