By burning their bridges, dictators condemn themselves to fight until the bitter end.
Gaddafi Just Another Tyrant Who Painted Himself Into a Corner
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Middle East & North Africa
U.S. Tries to Prop up Iran Assassination Case With Misinformation
As Gareth Porter writes, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officer implicated in the Iran had nothing to do with the 2007 Mahdi Army attack on U.S. troops in Karbala, Iraq.
Iran Assassination Plot Has Earmarks of FBI Care and Feeding
For many years, almost every terrorist plot the FBI has unearthed has been planted and nurtured by the FBI.
Ford Confirmation: Too Little, Too Late
In early October, Senate Republicans reversed a yearlong policy of deflection and unanimously confirmed Robert Ford as the U.S. ambassador to Syria. Though Ford has served in the post since his recess appointment by President Obama in early 2010, Republicans had balked at the idea of “rewarding” the Syrian government with the presence of an official U.S. ambassador, a position that had previously remained unfilled since the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Al-Haririin 2005. Since the Syrian uprising began earlier this year, Ford has been a persistent and vocal supporter of the opposition, and has issued a number of scathing indictments against the regime of Bashar Al-Assad.
Personality Cult of Assads in Syria Usurped Their Own People, the Alawites
When Syrian President Assad’s father, Hafez, came to power, he marginalized his own people, the Alawites.
What if Arbabsiar Was All About the Drugs, Not Terror?
Manssor Arbabsiar’s terrorism plans may have come at the urging of an undercover DEA informant, at the direction of the FBI.
What War Between Iran and Saudi Arabia Might Look Like
The outcome of a war between Saudi Arabia and Iran might depend on who gets the most third-party assistance.
Unlikeliest of Bedfellows: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and a Mexican Drug Cartel
And you thought Colin Powell’s claims of Iraqi WMD before the UN was the low point of U.S. foreign policy.
The Prisoner Swap
Like so many other diplomatic and political initiatives in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the recent announcement of a new prisoner release is based on the same solution that has been proposed dozens of times before – only to collapse because the time, and usually Israeli political will, wasn’t right. In this case, the separate announcements made by Hamas leader Khaled Meshal and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, asserted that Hamas would release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, captured by Hamas in 2006, while Israel would release 1023 Palestinian prisoners, some of whom had been in jail for decades.
The Price of the Libya Intervention: Surface to Air Missiles for All
Enough surface-to-air missiles have disappeared in Libya to turn all of North Africa into a no-fly zone.