Epstein Secrets

d others are pinching Mr. Assad's cronies. But they are not enough. A United Nations arms embargo — Russia and Iran are both still selling arms to Damascus — and the toughest possible comprehensive economic sanctions are long overdue. So are formal charges against Mr. Assad and his lieutenants for crim

eing on the wrong side of history, especially if Assad were to fall. The alternative would be based on an idea recently invoked by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, namely that in civil conflicts, the incumbent government bears a much larger responsibility than its opponents do. Had he really wanted a peace se

pose an ideology that Hafez al-Assad didn't much care for, in exchange for military and intelligence assistance that Syria couldn't do without. But Damascus isn't just a resurrected strategic ally following years of desuetude under the Yeltsin government; it is Putin's last-stand client in the region ag

docked at the port of Alexandria—the first time a Russian warship has done so in twenty years —amid the announcement that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu would be traveling to Cairo that same week for talks with their Egyptian counterparts on "military-technical" c

among the armed rebels has overshadowed the bigger fight against Assad, allowing his forces to gain the upper hand and make tactical gains in Homs, Damascus and even the rebel stronghold Aleppo. Emboldened, Assad and his henchmen, with the backing of Iran and Russia, have repeatedly reminded the opposit

isting sanctions. Iranian concern was eased, Zarif said, after his contacts last week with Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the chief European Union negotiator, Lady Catherine Ashton. "What I have heard from Secretary Kerry and Lady Ashton is that they are committed

Larsen < IIMI> Subject: January 24 update Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:19:06 +0000 24 January, 2012 Article 1. Wall Street Journal What Moscow and Damascus have in common Editorial Article 2. The Daily Beast syria: The Lost Bequest of Hafez Assad Fouad Ajami Article 3. The National (Abu Dhabi) A

, and in Moscow Vladimir Putin won't abandon the son of the Soviet Union's favorite Arab tyrant, Hafez Assad. Far from it. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov last week rejected any talk of new U.N. sanctions or arms embargo on Syria. He even defended Moscow's right to arm Mr. Assad as he kills more civil

rity — begin. As a result, most Alawites are rallying to Assad, as are some Sunnis who have benefitted from his regime, particularly in Aleppo and Damascus, the capital. These pro-regime Alawites and Sunnis see the chaos and soccer riots in Egypt and say to themselves: "Assad or chaos? We'll take Assad

nd they're opposed to that. The Russians have close relations with the Syrian government. Is that a major factor too? Absolutely. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was fairly clear about that when he talked about the role that Russia's played in protecting Syrian interests over the years. But the overriding f

e=tly suspended the project. <=r> Meanwhile, the CIA Hs rival plan to simply ship armaments to existing forces fighting against=the government in Damascus hasn't yielded more than "</=ont>zilch," at least according to rece=t reports. Except that the success that anti-Assad forces have had w=th anti-tan

ve already attempted: bombing a broken country back=into shape. At what point will the Russian leader write a confidenti=l note to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to confess that their strategy of="strategic bombing" has yielded "zilch"?=/span> Is ego and acceptance as the other world superpower =oing to be wo

ge-scale chemical weapons attack on August 21 that mocked Obama's "red line" rhetoric and finally elicited a White House threat of force to punish Damascus. Iran, meanwhile, has continued its uranium enrichment program even in the face of stringent sanctions, coming closer to nuclear weapons "breakout"

sent chemical weapons east toward Iraq and west toward Lebanon. Sakat said planning for these movements began just before Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's Sept. 9 proposal for international control of Syrian chemical weapons, when Hafez Makhlouf, the Syrian chief of intelligence, met with representa