By James A. Lyons
By arming the rebels, we're aiding al Qaeda
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
President Obama left a high-level international summit Tuesday without having secured the major breakthrough on Syria he'd hoped to achieve.
The Taliban announced Tuesday that after nearly 12 years of war in Afghanistan they are ready for talks with the United States, as senior Obama administration officials said discussions with the Islamic militants who sheltered Osama bin Laden would start within days.
There is an all-too-common tendency for humans (particularly members of the political class) to blame or scapegoat others when they bungle their jobs.
The peace that's settled over Northern Ireland over the past 15 years gives hope to other nations embroiled in conflict and is "proof of what is possible," President Obama said Monday morning during a speech at Belfast's Waterfront Hall.
A string of scandals and fresh concerns about government overreach from the Internal Revenue Service to the National Security Agency have soured voters on President Obama and left many questioning his honesty and trustworthiness.
From the moment the Group of Eight summit began, the dividing lines on how to intervene in the Syrian civil war became clear: The U.S. and its European allies on one side, Russia on the other.
Though it could be overshadowed by the conflict in Syria, leaders from the world's major industrial nations plan to discuss how they can boost economic growth and regain competitiveness during the Group of Eight summit this week.
When President Obama arrives in Northern Ireland on Monday for the two-day Group of Eight summit, he'll encounter "the biggest policing operation" in local history. Some 8,000 police and military troops have assembled in the picturesque town of Enniskillen, which plays host to the president and seven other leaders, along with a large, uninvited gaggle of dissidents, environmentalists, pacifists and protesters that also number in the thousands.
At least 100 riot police were summoned to the scene of a London protest against an upcoming summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations as the demonstration turned ugly Tuesday, with one man trying to hurl himself off the roof of a building and law enforcement struggling to pin him to the ground.
U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder said Thursday that members of Congress have been kept up to speed on the National Security Agency's collection of millions of telephone records and that he would be willing to discuss the issue further in additional closed-door briefings.
Sen. Marco Rubio has told his constituents that the immigration bill he helped write is not yet good enough and that there will have to be "improvements" if it is to pass.
House Speaker John Boehner, Ohio Republican, is keeping a watchful eye on a handful of House members who have been meeting in secret these past weeks to bring out an immigration bill at the same time as President Obama's State of the Union address.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's vow last week to put the immigration bill through the regular Senate process of committee hearings and floor amendments may sound inconsequential, but it marks a major shift for the Nevada Democrat.
Sen. Jeff Flake, in Wednesday morning comments on Fox News, said President Obama ought to look at border security first and pathways to citizenship second, given the security and fiscal issues facing this nation.
Marking the boldest move of his brief congressional career, Sen. Marco Rubio walked out on a limb this week by joining a move to pass comprehensive immigration reform — thrusting him into the middle of a thorny political debate that carries risk and reward for the freshman lawmaker.
