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There was a moment Friday when the leader of the free world explained the awe and sympathy his job provokes among colleagues. At the end of a Group of 20 summit in Russia, President Obama recounted a recent conversation he had had with another head of state, as the question of whether the United States would soon attack Syria loomed over the gathering. “I’m a small country, and nobody expects me to do anything about chemical weapons around the world,” Obama quoted his fellow leader as saying. “They know I have no capacity to do something, and it’s tough because...

BRUSSELS, August 30 (Itar-Tass) - More than 10 NATO countries have "most definitely" refused any forms of involvement in a U S contemplated operation against Syria, an informed source here told Itar-Tass.

The Obama administration’s plan to launch a military strike against Syria is being received with serious reservations by many in the U.S. military, which is coping with the scars of two lengthy wars and a rapidly contracting budget, according to current and former officers. Click here for full article ======================================================================================== Obama "Coalition" collapses; Bush blamed Wow! Obama sure knows how to use the element of surprise, doesn't he? Days and days of leaks, from 'well-placed sources,' 'not authorized to speak,' giving out details about the likely targets and approximate timing of when Obama will launch his war to keep America's...

BRET BAIER: Charles, to hear the president make this case, and this is really the first time we've heard him make it, it is an interesting way he's phrasing it. CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: I was surprised by the phrase 'shot across the bow.' When you shoot across the bow of an enemy ship, you are telling it to stop or we will sink you with the next round. When Obama says we're doing a shot across the bow, but then we're going to go home, this will stop, it will be limited, three days, we don't want an Iraq war. So...

U.S. congressional intelligence committee leaders believe the Obama administration has not properly consulted them as the president engages in final deliberations for possible military action in Syria, according to congressional officials. One of the officials said the administration's discussions with critical lawmakers, including Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein and her House counterpart, Mike Rogers, had been limited to "very brief status updates."

The question facing the administration is less whether to launch a military strike, but what would come next The challenge facing President Barack Obama and his political and military advisers is this: How to "punish" the regime of President Bashar al-Assad for its alleged use of chemical weapons on civilians, but not punish it too severely, lest that destroy a government whose survival is deemed preferable, for U.S. regional interests, to one led by extremists. While the administration appeared to be gearing up this week for some form of military response to an incident denounced by Secretary of State John...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration said Wednesday it would take action against the Syrian government even without the backing of allies or the United Nations because diplomatic paralysis must not prevent a response to the alleged chemical weapons attack outside the Syrian capital last week. New requests for the United Nations to authorize military action in Syria may have complicated the Obama administration's plan to take retaliatory action on the purported poison gas attack east of Damascus that U.S. officials claim was carried out by President Bashar Assad's forces. But a State Department spokeswoman said possible U.N. rejection of...

There was something quite Roman in the killing of Osama bin Laden, something reminiscent of the manner in which the Romans eventually dealt with a rogue’s gallery of charismatic tribal enemies—Spartacus, Vercingetorix, Jugurtha, Mithridates, Boudica, and others—all of whom claimed victory over the Romans and invulnerability from their global reach, only to be eventually defeated, forced to kill themselves, executed, or killed in battle. The killing reminds us that there are official rules we cite and unofficial ones that, thankfully, we actually follow. Pakistan is to be praised publicly as a partner, even as privately it is recognized as the...

There was something quite Roman in the killing of Osama bin Laden, something reminiscent of the manner in which the Romans eventually dealt with a rogue’s gallery of charismatic tribal enemies—Spartacus, Vercingetorix, Jugurtha, Mithridates, Boudica, and others—all of whom claimed victory over the Romans and invulnerability from their global reach, only to be eventually defeated, forced to kill themselves, executed, or killed in battle. The killing reminds us that there are official rules we cite and unofficial ones that, thankfully, we actually follow. Pakistan is to be praised publicly as a partner, even as privately it is recognized as the...