Independent voices from the TWT Communities
PResident Obama last year counted on a quick ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad — an outcome that seems less certain today as the White House searches for another strategy that might give weapons to rebels.
President Obama came into office promising to be the opposite of George W. Bush, but after nearly five years as commander in chief, his policies are more like his Republican predecessor than he would care to acknowledge.
President Obama departed Tuesday night on his first trip to Israel, a largely symbolic visit that even his aides say isn't likely to forge progress on peace with Palestinians, the Syrian civil war or Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Egypt's security deteriorated sharply Tuesday as violent clashes in Cairo and elsewhere raised questions about the ruling Islamist party's control of the country.
In Egypt, President Obama is watching leniently as the supposed pro-democratic reforms of the "Arab spring" have turned into a bloody and chaotic Arab winter.
For Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government, more battle tanks and jet fighters are on their way from the United States.
Al Qaeda in Iraq, the Osama bin Laden-inspired terrorist group that sank the country into sectarian violence five years ago, is trying to make a comeback in post-U.S.-occupied Iraq, analysts and intelligence officials say.
Iran's stepped-up bellicosity, including a warning Tuesday that a U.S. aircraft carrier should not return to the Persian Gulf, is a reaction to increased talk in the United States and Israel of a strike on its nuclear sites, and of the West adding economic sanctions on its already struggling economy, analysts say.
Pakistan has cooperated secretly with the U.S. on several war-fighting missions in an odd-couple alliance that also sees factions in Islamabad backing the fiercest American enemy.
When the presidential debates between George W. Bush and Al Gore were held in October 2000, the Sept. 11 attacks were less than a year away. Guess how many times "al Qaeda" or "Osama bin Laden" came up in those debates? Not once.
The hopes for democracy that bloomed in the "Arab Spring" are drying up in a long, hot summer of crackdowns, civil war and continuing protests.
Col. Moammar Gadhafi's well-equipped but poorly trained security forces can wage a protracted battle against rebel fighters, allowing the beleaguered Libyan leader to cling to power for months, according to analysts and former Libyan officials.
Summer is here, and at Mie N Yu (3125 M St. NW, 202/333-6122) chef Tim Elliott has created a special Thai-themed chef's tasting menu, Naa Raawn, which means "hot season" in Thai.
Summer is here, and at Mie N Yu (3125 M St. NW, 202/333-6122) chef Tim Elliott has created a special Thai-themed chef's tasting menu, Naa Raawn, which means "hot season" in Thai.
President Bush will challenge Muslim leaders to denounce acts of terrorism committed in the name of Islam during a speech today at the same Washington mosque he visited days after the September 11 attacks.
"I think the Obama administration's Syria policy has been flawed from the beginning by wishful thinking," he said. "It initially saw Assad as a reformer who should be engaged rather than a brutal dictator who relied on terror to maintain control of his own people and exported terrorism to advance Syria's hostile foreign policy."
Obama hunts for new strategy after misreading power of Syria's Assad →
As the conflict erupted in March 2011 and intensified, Mr. Obama and others called on Mr. Assad to leave but put no pressure on him, Mr. Phillips said.
Obama hunts for new strategy after misreading power of Syria's Assad →
