Israel has no shortage of reasons to welcome the demise of Hassan Lakiss, the senior Hizballah commander who was assassinated outside his Beirut home just after midnight on Wednesday. According to Israeli security officials and …
Bashar Assad
Israel Allegedly Behind Another Syrian Airstrike
But, as usual, the Israeli government is not commenting on reports of a strike on a Syrian weapons depot
Syria Could Turn Into Somalia if Peace Talks Fail, Says U.N.
When Syrian President Bashar Assad met with the U.N.–Arab League envoy on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of peace talks that might bring an end to a civil war that has killed more than 115,000 Syrians, he made one thing …
Forget Chemical Weapons. Assad Regime Uses Starvation as Tactic Against Rebels
Updated Oct. 10, 2013
With the threat of using chemical weapons now off the table, the Syrian regime has apparently turned to even more punitive actions to force rebellious citizens into submission: blockade-induced starvation.
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Inspectors Start Destroying Syria’s Chemical Weapons
The U.N. hopes to destroy Assad’s chemical weapons and the machinery used to create them by Nov. 1
Facing Calls for Diplomacy, Many Syrian Rebels Reject Talks With Assad Regime
Just back from the front, where he watched his rebel-commander father die in a rocket attack launched by the Syrian army, Berri al-Hamad stalks the worn carpet of his family’s temporary refuge in Lebanon, swearing vengeance. …
The Search for Assad’s Chemical Weapons: Lessons from Libya and Iraq
So, a Middle East strongman says he is ready to give up his chemical weapons, albeit under intense pressure from Western leaders, and the threat of being bombed. Can the West believe him?
In recent years, that question was …
China’s View on Syria Crisis: America’s “Hidden Motivations” Are Leading It Astray
When it comes to international affairs, China has tended to either retire from the limelight or snipe from the sidelines. But on Syria, Beijing’s opposition to possible American intervention echoes the consensus from much of …
Syria’s Assad May Be Losing Control Over His Deadly Militias
As the threat of an imminent U.S. attack on Syria dims, supporters and officials in the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad are quietly worrying about another potential crisis, one that hits even closer to home. Speculation …
Former Iraq Weapons Inspector Hails Diplomacy on Syria
The former U.N. weapons inspector who led the inspections team that surveyed Iraq following the 2003 U.S. invasion has said that recent developments with the Syrian conflict could turn out to be a “win-win situation.” In an …
Al-Qaeda’s Proxies Among Syria’s Rebels Scared by Threat of U.S. Strikes
Correction appended: Sept. 6, 2013
As the U.S. Congress inches closer towards authorizing the use of military force in Syria, rebel groups on the ground are preparing for an offensive that could fundamentally alter the …
Syria Tensions Mount With U.S.-Israeli Missle Test
Assad calls Obama ‘weak’
Syrians Flee as Threat of U.S. Missile Strike Looms
Talk of a possible Western intervention in Syria is prompting residents to flee for safety. In this report from CNN, residents express their fear of an American strike, and continuing violence withing the country. Across the border in Lebanon, volunteers are setting up tents and preparing food and shelter for approximately 1200 families.