Analysts are expressing a range of concerns regarding a proposed Russian-facilitated plan designed to defuse the crisis surrounding what is widely believed to be the mass use of chemical weapons by Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime, a day after President Barack Obama declared that Washington would carefully examine the plan. It’s too early...

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The United Nations Human Rights Council has a permanent agenda item to discuss and criticize Israel, making the Jewish state the only U.N. member marked in that way. The body has found time in recent months to distribute anti-Semitic images and to defend the anti-Semitic rhetoric of employees. What it...

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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday made statements defending Tehran’s nuclear rights, deploying rhetoric that AFP described as “echoing his hardline predecessor” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: The comments come ahead of meeting later this month between his Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on restarting negotiations on the...

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Confusion swirled throughout the day as to the nature and scope of a series of Russian-facilitated deals designed to defuse the international crisis triggered by what is widely suspected to be the use of chemical weapons by the Bashar al-Assad regime. NBC News reported that by day’s end Damascus “appeared...

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A car bomb exploded in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli this morning, slightly wounding Sheikh Saadeddine Ghiyeh, a pro-Assad figure in the area and in the country. The Lebanese army responded quickly to contain the scene, and issued a statement describing the explosive as having been placed under the...

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France has been at the international forefront of emphasizing both that Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime has used chemical weapons, and of calling for action against the regime. Some of the differences between France and its more cautious Western allies have been written off as Paris seeking to intervene in what...

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Analysts and lawmakers are heavily emphasizing the potential costs to American credibility should Congress decline to grant President Barack Obama authority to retaliate against what is widely considered to have been a mass chemical weapons attack against Syrian civilians. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel had already on Tuesday stated bluntly...

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This week’s G-20 conference was overshadowed by the crisis in Syria, with both advocates and opponents of action against the Bashar al-Assad regime seeking to press their case. President Barack Obama had entered the summit hoping to garner momentum in what has become a bruising political fight to gain Congressional...

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In between boasts regarding Western collapse, Iranian and Syrian officials have again threatened to lash out against the U.S. and its allies – France is being explicitly named – should Western powers take military action against the Bashar al-Assad regime. Gen. Hossein Salami, acting commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard...

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The Senate Foreign Relations Committee today approved a resolution authorizing President Barack Obama to use military force against Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime. The approved wording limits military action to 60 days with a potential 30 day extension, and includes strong language advocated by Sen. John McCain linking action to an...

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