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Obama retreats from Putin in Syria — again By Editorial Board July 2 at 4:46 PM FOR SEVERAL years, the Obama administration’s Syria policy has been stuck in a cycle of failure. Secretary of State John F. Kerry negotiates deals with Russia to end the fighting or create a new government in Damascus, while warning that if they are not respected by Russian President Vladi­mir Putin or Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the United States will consider other options, such as stepping up support for Syrian rebels. In every case, the Russian and Syrian regimes have betrayed their commitments, continuing to...

(AFP) Exasperated US diplomats are in open revolt over Barack Obama's Syria policy, but radical change is unlikely in the twilight of his presidency. More than 280,000 people have been killed. Millions more have fled their homes. A relentless drumbeat of cluster bombs, barrel bombs, chemical bombs, murder, rape and torture has turned swaths of Syria to dust. Humanitarian aid sometimes drips into the beleaguered cities, but when it does, President Bashar al-Assad's regime makes sure "punishment" bombings quickly follow. "The Assad regime's actions defy all definitions of human decency," said one US official. There are ominous signs the regime...

More than 50 State Dept. officials want strikes on Assad Fifty-one State Department officials have signed an internal memo calling for the U.S. to take military action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a bid to force regime change in the country. Signed by officials working on U.S. Syria policy, the "dissent channel cable" makes repeated references to "targeted military strikes" against the Damascus government, according to multiple reports published on Thursday. “Failure to stem Assad’s flagrant abuses will only bolster the ideological appeal of groups such as ISIL, even as they endure tactical setbacks on the battlefield,” the cable...

More than 50 State Department diplomats have signed an internal memo sharply critical of the Obama administration’s policy in Syria, urging the United States to carry out military strikes against the government of President Bashar al-Assad to stop its persistent violations of a cease-fire in the country’s five-year-old civil war. The memo, a draft of which was provided to The New York Times by a State Department official, says American policy has been “overwhelmed” by the unrelenting violence in Syria. It calls for “a judicious use of stand-off and air weapons, which would undergird and drive a more focused and...

Hillary Clinton received a classified intelligence report stating that the Obama administration was actively supporting Al Qaeda in Iraq, the terrorist group that became the Islamic State. The memo made clear that Al Qaeda in Iraq was speaking through Muhammad Al Adnani, who is now the senior spokesman for the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. Western and Gulf states were supporting the terrorist group to try to overthrow Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad, who was being propped up by the Russians, Iranians, and Chinese. In August 2012, a “SECRET” classified memo was sent to various top Obama administration officials...

US Ambassador Robert Ford resigned from his State Department post a month ago, after a long and difficult time as the envoy to Syria. Ford showed great personal courage in his service while Bashar al-Assad instigated attacks on Western embassies and eventually provoked a massive civil war which has turned into a regional threat, thanks to the collapse of his power in large regions of Syria. The collapse of American policy in Syria over the past year was presumed to have prompted Ford’s departure, which he confirms with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an interview today.This is interesting for more...

Iran is using a commercial airliner with ties to the country’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to ferry fighters and weapons to Syria. Sanctioned by the United States for its support of terrorism, Mahan Air operates regular flights from Tehran to Dusseldorf and Munich. But now German politicians are seeking to ban the airline for its alleged ties to Iran's regime. With a fleet of over 50 aircraft, Mahan Air has been making secret trips to Syria since August 2015 and has been delivering weapons and fighters from Iran, Iraq and Lebanon to support and reinforce Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s...

The Islamic State and Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad have been colluding, according to leaked documents. An investigation suggests there was co-operation between the regime and the terror group over the city of Palmyra, which was held by ISIS for nearly a year before it was retaken by Syrian forces in March. They also appear to show ISIS and the Syrian government made a deal to trade oil for fertiliser.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Sen. Ted Cruz’s former campaign co-chairman in Virginia has traveled to Syria and promised support for the government of President Bashar Assad, who U.S. officials have repeatedly said has lost the legitimacy to rule the war-torn country. Virginia state Sen. Dick Black’s trip to a Middle Eastern country in the midst of a civil war and his comments in the face of official U.S. foreign policy are highly unusual for a state lawmaker. Black, an outspoken Republican, is a part-time state senator who has no role in official U.S. foreign policy. Still, he has met...

... If Syria’s largest city is surrounded by government troops, the strategic situation in Syria could change very rapidly for the worse, not only for Syrians, but also for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan—and for the Obama Administration, which has banked heavily on the crumbling peace talks to end five years of civil war and an expanding presence for ISIS amid the chaos. The encirclement would also be a major strategic advance for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has drawn his forces in Syria, but has also been helping the Assad regime conduct more focused military operations under a two-month...

Washington has jumped at the opportunity to provide massive amounts of weapons to Syria's so-called moderate rebels amid the ongoing ceasefire; it seems that the White House is not bothered by the fact that half of its arms have found their way into the hands of al-Qaeda, Ron Paul and Daniel McAdams note. Rebel fighters from the First Battalion under the Free Syrian Army take part in a military training on June 10, 2015, in the rebel-held countryside of the northern city of Aleppo The Syrian ceasefire is hanging in the balance, former Republican congressman Ron Paul and political analyst...

Are North Koreans fighting in Syria? It’s not as far-fetched as it sounds. By Adam Taylor March 25 This week, representatives of Western-backed Syrian opposition delegation in Geneva told Russian state media that President Bashar al-Assad had a surprising new ally on the Syrian battlefield: militia units from North Korea. "Two North Korean units are there, which are Chalma-1 and Chalma-7," Asaad az-Zoubi, head of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) to Syrian peace talks in the Swiss city, reportedly told Tass news agency on Tuesday. In any other context, the presence of soldiers from the internationally isolated and geographically distant...

North Korean Soldiers Assist Assad in the War Against the Syrian People. 7/20/2015 At 09:21 AM Activists and eyewitnesses confirmed that 5 buses full of fully armed Korean soldiers were seen in the capital Damascus, heading towards Jobar and Eastern Ghouta. It's not the first time Assad has used korean, not to mention the Shiite and Asian militias, fo fight in his side, Many media sources confirmed that korean soldiers from what is called Tshulima units has been assigned as Assad's personal details two years ago, after the large advance opposition forces achieved inside the capital Damascus. Tshulima special unit...

Hindsight is 20-20 and examining events from the perspective of what could have or should have happened is usually an exercise in futility.Except when the stakes are high and the path that wasn't taken could have altered our current history.We've known for years that the CIA was urging President Obama to arm the largely secular Free Syrian Army in 2012 to give them a chance to overthrow President Bashar Assad of Syria. This was before Syria's use of chemical weapons, before the Islamic State broke away from al-Qaeda, and before the refugee situation that led to a mass exodus from...

The United States said Thursday it was "appalled" by Syrian government air strikes Thursday that killed more than 30 people - including children - in a key rebel bastion east of the capital of Damascus. The raids took place in Deir Al-Assafir, a town in the opposition stronghold of Eastern Ghouta, one of the areas in Syria where a fragile ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia has been in place since February 27. "The United States is appalled by aerial strikes March 31, reportedly by the Assad regime, on a school and hospital in the Damascus suburb of Deir...

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said it would not be difficult to agree on a new government including opposition figures, but his opponents responded on Wednesday that no administration would be legitimate while he remained in office. Assad, bolstered by military victory in the desert city of Palmyra, was quoted by Russia’s RIA news agency as saying a new draft constitution could be ready in weeks and a government that included opposition, independents and loyalists could be agreed. While the distribution of portfolios and other technical issues would need to be discussed at Geneva peace talks, which resume next month,...

Russia helped annihilate the jihadis after Putin made a U-turn over his ceasefire decision. And with the help of Russia airstrikes the Syrian army had been gaining ground for several days. Putin's men hit 158 targets and annihilated more than 100 militants, according to the Russian ministry of defence. Military sources said the army have “full control” of the city known for its beautiful archeology. Syrian officials yesterday released pictures showing helicopters and tanks blasting ISIS targets. The sick terror cult seized the Unesco World Heritage site in May last year and smashed two 2,000-year-old temples and detonated dynamite blasting...

“Groups like ISIL can’t destroy us, they can’t defeat us,” President Obama told reporters in Argentina on Wednesday. “They’re not an existential threat to us,” he said. A few sentences later, he described climate change as a “major” problem. […] “And so it’s important for the U.S. president and the U.S. government to be able to work with people who are building and who are creating things and creating jobs and trying to solve major problems like climate change…” At the same news conference, Obama thanked the Argentine president for supporting the Paris climate change agreement. It is worth remembering...

ISIS may face its most serious military challenge — a squeeze on two fronts in the coming weeks from the east and the west. After almost two years of controlling the city of Mosul in Nineveh province, ISIS faces a grim prospect of encirclement and destruction if the combined Iraq-US offensive launched today succeeds in its initial missions. So far, as the Associated Press reports, the liberators have the momentum: The Iraqi military backed by U.S.-led coalition aircraft on Thursday launched a long-awaited operation to recapture the northern city of Mosul from Islamic State militants, a military spokesman said.In...

In the wake of Tuesday’s deadly terrorist attack in Brussels, the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade called the Obama administration’s strategy against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) “a complete failure.” “Days after Belgian law enforcement captured alive ISIS terrorist Salah Abdeslam, one of the suspected ringleaders of the deadly Paris attacks, terrorists retaliated in Brussels by launching a series of explosions at the airport and train station. Thirty-four civilians are dead and 170 are injured,” Rep Ted Poe (R-TX) said in a statement Tuesday hours after blasts rocked a terminal of the...