Topic: Bashar Assad

All Content

Backchannels Wusses, US foreign policy, and the horrific death toll in Syria

Former President Bill Clinton suggested President Obama was being a 'wuss' over intervention in Syria as the UN reported the death toll has reached 93,000.
Syria war death toll hits 93,000, UN says. A spur to US to aid rebels?

The new UN figure for lives lost in the Syria war is 30,000 higher than in November's report. A possible battle for the city of Aleppo could drive it higher still. Obama's security team met Wednesday about how to help Syrian rebels, but no decision was apparent.
Will Obama reconsider arming Syrian rebels? This week could be key.

President Obama has long been loath to arm Syrian rebels, worried that the weapons could fall into extremists' hands. But with the rebels faltering, he could reconsider.
Opinion Best way for Obama to help Syria is with aid and diplomacy – not weapons

Giving military aid to Syria's rebels – however just their cause – will only prolong the civil war and increase the risk of sectarian conflagration in the region. A better way to help the Syrian people is to pursue diplomatic efforts to end the conflict and provide more humanitarian aid.
Readers Write: Gun-rights advocates have it wrong; Obama's 'red line' blurred on chemical weapons in Syria

Letters to the Editor for the June 10, 2013 weekly print magazine:The interpretation of the Second Amendment by gun-rights advocates as disallowing any regulation of guns fails to understand human rights. By supporting gun ownership as an unrestricted right, they allow gun violence and public mayhem to exist.Lost in the heartfelt hand-wringing and deliberation over the conflict in Syria is the fact that with every passing day more innocents die on America's watch.
Terrorism & Security France looking at ways to 'safely' arm Syria's rebels

The French government is considering how it can provide advanced weaponry to Syria's rebels, but with safeguards that could limit the weapons from falling into the wrong hands.
Opinion Why US must give military aid to Syria's rebels

The war in Syria is at a turning point. Backed by Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah militants, Bashar al-Assad has the upper hand. Ending the war requires backing him into a corner from which peace talks provide his only safe escape. US military aid for the rebels can help do that.
Syrian rebels feel the blow of regime's Qusair capture

The Syrian regime could not have taken control of Qusair without help from Iranian-back Hezbollah, said a White House spokesman on Wednesday. Following the fighting, the U.S. urged Syria to allow international groups to evacuate the wounded.
Hezbollah marks major triumph as Qusayr tips back into Assad camp

Rebels abandoned the strategic city of Qusayr on Wednesday in a significant victory for Syria's Assad regime and a psychological blow to opposition forces.
Opinion Five guidelines for US role in Syria

The civil war in Syria has reached a stalemate. While strategic military steps like arming the opposition or establishing a no-fly zone present complications, the US can do other things to bring aid, support the opposition, undermine the Assad regime, and counter a rising Islamist influence. Here are five guidelines for the US in addressing the conflict in Syria:
Terrorism & Security Britain joins France in saying nerve gas used in Syria

The British Foreign Office found the presence of sarin gas in several samples from Syria a day after the French government said there was 'no doubt' the chemical weapon was used by Assad's forces.
Sarin confirmed? France, Britain confirm use of chemical weapons in Syria

France said today it has confirmed that the nerve gas sarin was used by the Syrian regime. Britain later said it had found evidence of sarin as well.
Global News Blog Good Reads: From Google’s secret lab, to Japan’s economy, to the end of alimony

This week's round-up of Good Reads includes Google's lab, a reporter's tale of kidnapping, Japan's plan for revitalization, an undercover meat inspector, and a challenge to alimony.
Global News Blog Putin: Russian hasn't sent S-300 missiles to Syria, won't to preserve 'stability'

President Putin's statement to EU leaders seems to put an end to often contradictory Russian and Syrian stories about whether the Assad regime would get the weapons.
Terrorism & Security UN finds evidence of 'toxic chemicals' and a worsening war in Syria

A new UN report says some kind of chemical has probably been used on Syria's battlefield, but stopped short of saying what chemical or by whom.
Backchannels An Egyptian preacher and a US senator compete over Syria's future

Both Yusuf al-Qaradawi and John McCain want Bashar al-Assad to fall. But in their competing visions you'll find reasons for the White House's reticence over deeper military involvement.
Syrian opposition says no to peace talks in Geneva

The US and others had been hoping a united Syrian political opposition would attend peace talks in Geneva in June. But the opposition says they won't participate, and the Syrian civil war still rages.
Opinion Syria's future tied to freedom for captured Christian leaders

Turkey and the US State Department must make the release of two captured Christian archbishops in Syria a top priority. At stake are not just their lives, or even the fate of Syrian Christians, but the fate of any hope of tolerance and pluralism in a post-Assad Syria – and the region as a whole.
Terrorism & Security Syrian Army fires across border into Israel to retaliate for airstrikes

Today's incident marks the first time that Syria has admitted breaching the border with Israel since the civil war began.
Backchannels Are tit-for-tat sectarian killings enough to tilt Iraq back to war?

Bouts of sectarian fighting have worried observers many times over the past few years, but so far the worst has not come to pass.
Syrian Army, Hezbollah bear down on rebels in strategic Qusayr

For the Syrian rebels, Qusayr has been critical to bringing in weapons and fighters from Lebanon. But the regime and ally Hezbollah want the town, which lies at an important crossroads.
With Hezbollah's help, Syrian troops push to regain Lebanese border areas

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 30 people, including 16 rebel fighters and one woman, were killed in Qusair in morning fighting, but that the death toll was expected to rise.
Israel, US try full-court press to stop Russian weapons sale to Syria

The US and Israel argue the introduction of Russia's S-300 antiaircraft missile system could be a 'game changer' for the regime.
Focus Excitement fades to despair in rebel-held Syria as war grinds on

Early rebel optimism in Syria has given way to a grim realization that victory may still be years away. For the past two months, civilians have been fleeing Syria at a rate of 8,000 per day.
Terrorism & Security Syrian rebel's video surfaces amid intensified pressure for action on Syria

The gruesome video shocked the international community. With concerns about arming the rebels, attention is turning to greater humanitarian aid as a way to help in the increasingly violent war.