Syria: With Russia in the Lead, Vigilance Required

by Wayne White The main objective of the Russian chemical weapons (CW) initiative this week was to steer the US away from military action in Syria that might weaken the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Although Moscow also is concerned about… Continue Reading

Syria & the West: Defining Moment Looming

by Wayne White The outcome of the struggle now playing out over whether to smite Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime militarily for its purported use of chemical weapons could define the future of the conflict within Syria more broadly. Much… Continue Reading

Syria: Rebel In-Fighting Weakens Uprising

by Wayne White With the Assad regime already on the rebound, violence has spiked between rebel Islamic militants and more moderate opposition combatants within Syria. Although tensions between such groups have existed for some time, changes in the Islamist lineup… Continue Reading

Keller and Mindlessness

by Jim Lobe I’ll make this short. Twenty-four hours ago, we posted Amb. Robert Hunter’s analysis of the Syria question and his appeal to Obama to “keep his nerve (backed by the US military leadership) and continue resisting attempts to… Continue Reading

Obama Seen Unlikely to Sharply Escalate Intervention in Syria

by Jim Lobe via IPS News Despite renewed pressure by hawks in Congress and the media, U.S. President Barack Obama appears determined to avoid sharply escalating U.S. involvement in the ongoing civil war in Syria. While administration officials insist that… Continue Reading