Syria

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How the White House Backed Into a Syria Solution

'WSJ' goes behind the scenes

(Newser) - In a nearly 3,000-word article, the Wall Street Journal today takes readers inside what it calls "an extraordinary 24 days in international diplomacy," detailing what happened behind the scenes as the White House decided how to handle the Syrian chemical weapons crisis. Based on more than two...

Assad Comes Out on Top in Syria Deal
 Assad Comes 
 Out on Top in 
 Syria Deal 
OPINION
Sep 16, 2013 11:47 AM CDT

Assad Comes Out on Top in Syria Deal

Putin now 'US ambassador to Syria': GOP senator

(Newser) - Following the US-Russia agreement on Syrian chemical disarmament, plenty of political insiders are furious with the Obama administration—but the White House has its defenders. What the media is saying:
  • At Bloomberg , Jeffrey Goldberg sees a major victory for Bashar al-Assad: "The US has in a perverse way made
...

UN: 'Clear, Convincing' Proof of Chemical Attack

Both sides have committed war crimes, another panel concludes

(Newser) - There's "clear and convincing evidence" that surface-to-air rockets loaded with sarin gas rained down on the Ghouta area of Damascus last month, UN weapons inspectors announced today. The panel concluded that chemical weapons have been used "against civilians, including children, on a relatively large scale." The...

Kerry to Syria: 'Threat of Force Is Real'

Secretary warns of consequences if US-Russia deal isn't carried out

(Newser) - Secretary of State John Kerry today sent a strong warning to Syria, saying "the threat of force is real" if it does not carry out an internationally brokered agreement to hand over its chemical weapons. Kerry issued the warning during a stop in Jerusalem, where he briefed jittery Israeli...

Obama: Syria Deal Not About &#39;Style&#39;
 Obama: 
 Syria Deal 
 Not About 'Style' 
ABC INTERVIEW
Sep 15, 2013 8:52 AM CDT

Obama: Syria Deal Not About 'Style'

Emphasizes it was more important to get the policy right

(Newser) - The road to the Syria chemical weapons deal may have been bumpy, but President Obama insists that he's "less concerned about style points" and "much more concerned with getting the policy right," he tells George Stephanopoulos this morning on ABC's This Week . “Folks here...

Assad Shelling Hospitals, Torturing Patients: UN

Says Syrian gov't forces using denial of healthcare as 'weapon of war'

(Newser) - A new UN reports says that government forces in Syria have been using denial of healthcare as a "weapon of war": shelling hospitals, refusing treatment to people from rebel-controlled areas, and detaining and torturing patients—sometimes to death. The report says anti-government rebels are also guilty of attacking hospitals...

US, Russia Strike Deal on Syria
 US, Russia Strike Deal on Syria 
Sep 14, 2013 6:07 AM CDT

US, Russia Strike Deal on Syria

Inspectors will see chemical stockpiles by November

(Newser) - They've got a deal on Syria: John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have agreed on the broad strokes of a plan designed to culminate in the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons, reports Reuters . Under the deal, Bashar al-Assad will turn over a list of his chemical...

US Won't Demand Use of Force in UN Resolution

But White House will keep open possibility of strike on its own

(Newser) - The New York Times reports that the White House is bowing to reality: Because Russia will never agree to any UN resolution that calls for the possibility of military action against Syria, the US won't insist on such a clause. (The Russians already have balked at a draft proposal...

This Elite Unit Is Hiding Syria's Chemical Weapons

WSJ looks at 'Unit 450'

(Newser) - Last week, as the US prepared for military strikes, an elite Syrian military unit once again moved the Assad regime's chemical stockpiles. Unit 450, an all-Alawite squad so secretive that even high-ranking military defectors aren't aware of its existence, has been divvying up and dispersing its stockpiles for...

Putin&#39;s Op-Ed: Joke or Masterstroke?
Putin's Op-Ed: Joke or Masterstroke?
OPINION
Sep 12, 2013 1:57 PM CDT

Putin's Op-Ed: Joke or Masterstroke?

Russian president's Syria piece riles up Human Rights Watch, others

(Newser) - If nothing else, Vladimir Putin's New York Times op-ed certainly got people talking. Here's what they're saying about it:
  • Human Rights Watch Associate Director Anna Neistat calls the piece "worrisome," mostly because of what Putin didn't say. He neglected to mention, for example, "
...

Assad: It Was Russia, Not US, That Convinced Us

He agrees to sign chemical weapons pact as Kerry, Lavrov meet

(Newser) - John Kerry and Russia's foreign minister began wrangling over the details of Moscow's plan to defuse the Syria crisis today, as Bashar al-Assad publicly embraced the idea and simultaneously zinged the US: "Syria is placing its chemical weapons under international control because of Russia," he said...

Kerry Looking to Nail Down Syria as Russia Talks Begin

Rebels, meanwhile, despair over lack of strike

(Newser) - John Kerry arrived in Geneva today for two days of talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov over the Syrian disarmament plan they sort of created together. Kerry's top goal, one official tells Reuters , "is to see if there's reality here or not." To do that he'...

Putin Takes His Case to America ... in NYT Op-Ed

Writes that Syria strike would 'unleash new wave of terror'

(Newser) - Citing "insufficient communication" between the US and Russia, Vladimir Putin has taken matters into his own hands—addressing the nation in a New York Times op-ed. In it, he pleads with Americans to give up support of a strike on Syria that would "unleash a new wave of...

This 9/11, Public Isn't Swayed by Overhyped Fears

White House overstating dangers to US of Syria: Paul Campos

(Newser) - In its unsuccessful push to get Congress and the nation to embrace the idea of military action against Syria, the White House resorted to "fearmongering," writes Paul Campos at Time . It argued that Bashar al-Assad's chemical weapons pose a threat to national security, "even potentially (to)...

Ex-Hostage: Syria Rebels Are 'Bandits,' Fanatics

After 5 months captive, says US strike would only make them stronger

(Newser) - An Italian war reporter held hostage for five months by rebel forces in Syria has written a damning denunciation of the anti-Assad movement. "It is not the revolution that I encountered two years ago in Aleppo—secular, tolerant. It has become something else," Domenico Quirico wrote in his...

Experts Explain: Disarming Syria Could Be a Nightmare

Could take years to secure chemical weapons, require many troops

(Newser) - As the world rallies around the idea of getting Syria to hand over its chemical weapons, weapons experts tell the New York Times there's much more than a "here you go" involved. "It’s a gargantuan task for the inspectors to mothball production, install padlocks, inventory the...

Obama&#39;s Syria Speech Wowed No One

 Obama's 
 Syria Speech 
 Wowed No One 
reactions
Sep 11, 2013 8:00 AM CDT

Obama's Syria Speech Wowed No One

Reactions pour in, and most are not good

(Newser) - President Obama's Syria speech last night was only 15 minutes long, but it "will be analyzed for a LOT longer than that," writes Chris Cillizza in the Washington Post . But—because Congress isn't onboard with a strike on Syria and we don't yet know how...

Obama: We'll Give Russian Plan a Chance

But president wants military to remain ready if diplomacy doesn't work in Syria

(Newser) - President Obama capped a busy day of Syria developments with his personal pitch to the nation tonight: He's willing to pursue Russia's plan for a diplomatic resolution, but he insists that the US should remain ready to use military force "if diplomacy fails," reports CNN . Obama...

For First Time, Syria Admits It Has Chemical Arsenal

Will sign arms pact; also, Putin says US must renounce threat of force

(Newser) - President Obama's speech-writers are probably a stressed-out bunch right about now because Syria developments are coming quickly ahead of Obama's prime-time address:
  • Disclosing sites: Syria is ready to disclose the locations of its chemical stockpiles to the UN, Russia, and other unspecified nations, says Foreign Minister Walid Moallem,
...

Syria Plan: 'Sham' or Legit Path to Peace?

Pundits make their case

(Newser) - Might John Kerry's offhand comment lead to a genuine resolution of the Syrian mess? Some of the opinions:
  • It's a 'sham': That's the view of Michael Doran of the Brookings Institution as quoted in the Washington Post . "This is a dishonest ploy by Russia and
...

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