Chemical Watershed: Momentum Shifts again in Syrian Civil War

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/situation-in-syria-deteriorates-as-west-looks-for-answers-a-919733.html Two and a half years after the beginning of the uprising, Damascus has become an eerily empty city. The streets were deserted last Friday evening in the remaining regime-controlled districts -- from Bab Tuma...

Dominic Lawson: So who still thinks Israel is the root of Middle East problems?

independent.co.uk Forget the massacre of thousands in Syria and Egypt, whether by chemical weapons or more conventional methods of mass slaughter. The Middle Eastern issue galvanising some of our musical mega-stars and their followers, even...

President Obama’s Shift on Syria and Western Strategy

http://jcpa.org/article/president-obamas-shift-syria-western-strategy/ Vol. 13, No. 24 1 September 2013 The Syrian regime is far weaker than most observers think. Rebel forces are continuing to gain momentum in all districts. The regime’s dire situation is manifested in its...

Syria Is Said to Be Hiding Weapons, Moving Troops

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/syria-hiding-weapons-moving-troops-20145087?singlePage=true As the Obama administration tries to prod Congress into backing armed action against Syria, the regime in Damascus is hiding military hardware and shifting troops out of bases into civilian areas. Politically, President Bashar Assad...

News of Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

This week two incidents took place in which IEDs were used against IDF forces on patrol near the security fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip. In August 2013 an attempted terrorist attack in...

Privately, Israelis are worried about fallout from attack

http://warrenswil.com/2013/08/30/israel-calmly-prepares-for-the-worst/ CONTRARY TO THE IMPRESSION one may get from reading U.S. media, Israelis, while calm, are worried about fallout on them from any U.S.-led strike against Syria. Israel, alas, is used to violent conflict, both within...

Verify chemical weapons use before unleashing the dogs of war

http://dailycaller.com/2013/08/29/verify-chemical-weapons-use-before-unleashing-the-dogs-of-war/ The Obama administration has selectively used intelligence to justify military strikes on Syria, former military officers with access to the original intelligence reports say, in a manner that goes far beyond what critics charged...

The Pros and Cons of Attacking Syria

http://www.meforum.org/3599/attacking-syria Go after the dog's master, not the dog. Kudos to Michael Ledeen for explaining that the road to Damascus starts in Tehran. As Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu explained on Aug. 25, "Assad's regime isn't acting...

Obama’s Halfway Effort in Syria

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/356935/obamas-halfway-effort-syria-elliott-abrams As it becomes increasingly obvious that President Obama has decided to attack Syria with cruise missiles and perhaps a bit more, those of us who have been urging a stronger stand on Syria for...

What’s Wrong with Going into Syria

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/robert-spencer/whats-wrong-with-going-into-syria/ American military intervention in Syria is likely to begin this week, and one thing we know amid the general confusion is that the objective is not to oust Bashar Assad: White House spokesman Jay...