The United States should not get involved in a civil war with unknown and dangerous ramifications for the region. It should not get involved in supporting an opposition that is ready to inflict a bloodbath on Syrian minorities, and it should not abet the rise of extremist al-Qaeda-affiliated groups.
As always, emphasis added.
The solution in Mali must be a multi-pronged approach involving more than just military measures. The challenge ahead is complex and treacherous. One longs for the heyday of ancient Timbuktu, when African scholars pored studiously over learned manuscripts in quiet libraries.
What has been largely been reported as a civil war in Syria is, in fact, no such thing. In reality, Syria is a geopolitical battleground for rival foreign powers – with the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Gulf regimes, and Israel on one side and Russia, China, and Iran on the other.
The standoff between Mali’s government and the armed Islamists who control two-thirds of the country is unlikely to resolve peacefully, and the prospects for a new war in the Sahel appear increasingly probable.
Cypriot investigators believe the Lebanese they suspected of planning to harm Israeli tourists was acting alone, not working for Hezbollah.
The growing Salafist influence in Tunisia can be explained by the refusal of the ruling Ennahda Party to rein it in, as well as financial and political support provided by Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Al Qaeda in Iraq mounted its deadliest attacks of the year.
In the most violent day in Iraq since the United States pulled out its remaining troops last December, a series of well-thought-out and coordinated terrorist strikes across the country killed approximately 80 Iraqis last Wednesday. As is usually the case in Iraq, members of the Shia community constituted most of the casualties, with some of the most powerfully built bombs detonated in neighborhoods jammed packed with Shia worshipers making their way to northern Baghdad on a religious commemoration ceremony.
The terrorism king had become too soft for the new generation of jihadi.