Epstein Secrets

ing in Syria Doyle McManus December 15, 2013 -- Here's how feeble U.S. influence on the outcome of Syria's dreadful civil war has become: For the Obama administration's diplomacy to succeed, it now needs help from an armed group with the unpromising name of the Islamic Front. That wasn't where the

litics, beyond the support of a few oilmen and arms manufacturers. The Saudi royals do not even enjoy the warm personal relationship with President Barack Obama that they once had with Presidents George Bush (both father and son) and Bill Clinton, who managed bilateral relations directly. Perhaps the most

wasn't where the administration hoped to be. When President Obama first got interested in Syria back in 2011, his

oy the warm personal relationship with President Barack Obama that they once had with Presidents George

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

Leon Panetta, America's defence secretary, has spoken of Israel attacking as early as April. Others foresee an Israeli strike designed to drag in Barack Obama in the run-up to America's presidential vote, when he will have most to lose from seeming weak. A decision to go to war should be based not on one

sence. This sure applause line precludes the acceptance of a new burden just on the other side of the Syria-Iraq frontier. The silence of President Obama on the matter of Syria reveals the general retreat of American power in the Middle East. In Istanbul some days ago, a Turkish intellectual and poli

side of the Syria-Iraq frontier. The silence of President Obama on the matter of Syria reveals the general retre

rs foresee an Israeli strike designed to drag in Barack Obama in the run-up to America's presidential vo

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

, 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

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

versities, published annually by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, gives us 19 of 25. But there is a problem with this way of thinking. When President Obama has said, "We have the best universities," he has not meant: "Our universities are, on average, the best" — even though that's what many people hear

ere is a problem with this way of thinking. When President Obama has said, "We have the best universities," he has

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