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Want to Defeat ISIS? Help the Syrian Opposition
Keywords:
A leader of the Syrian moderate democratic opposition to the Assad regime calls for help from the Obama administration for the moderates and Free Syrian Army. The request for Manpads to counteract Assad's air attacks and the deteriorating situation around the city of Aleppo and in Northern Syrian areas controlled by the Free Syrian Army. The collaboration between the Hezbollah, Assad's forces, and the ISIS as each attempt to increase the areas under their control pushing out the Free Syrian Army and moderate forces fighting the Assad regime. Hillary Clinton comes out against the Obama administration's policies in August 2014, saying "don't do stupid stuff" basis of Obama policies is not the basis for a sound foreign policy. Obama comes out with a $500 million aid plan for the Free Syrian Army but the approach is vacillating and slow, leading to a rapidly deteriorating situation, and a complete breakdown of what was a period of hope called the Arab Spring.
Saudi and U.S. arms support to the Free Syrian Army and the Southern Front in Syria in 2014, including anti-aircraft missiles
02/15/2014
Grouped Articles
Saudis Agree to Provide Syrian Rebels With Mobile Antiaircraft Missiles
Wall Street Journal 02/15/2014
Saudi Arabia Replaces Key Official in Effort to Arm Syria Rebels
Wall Street Journal 02/20/2014
Want to Defeat ISIS? Help the Syrian Opposition
Wall Street Journal 08/14/2014
Gulf States and Qatar Gloss Over Differences, but Split Still Hampers Them
New York Times 12/20/2014
U.S. to Give Some Syria Rebels Ability to Call Airstrikes
Wall Street Journal 02/18/2015
King Salman Upends Status Quo in Region and the Royal Family
New York Times 05/10/2015
The efforts of Britain's Cameron and France's Hollande in 2013 to provide arms to the Free Syrian Army and opposition forces
03/15/2013
Hollande says we cannot stand by and let a people be massacred. Hollande and Cameron prepare to take up this issue at an EU meeting in March 2013 to lift a EU arms embargo for Syria. This follows the earlier effort by Cameron and Sarkozy to provide arms to opposition forces in Libya leading to the fall of the Gaddafi regime.
Grouped Articles
What if the U.S. doesn’t intervene in Syria? - The Washington Post
Washington Post 05/09/2013
Why did Mr. Obama overrule his advisers on Syria? - The Washington Post
Washington Post 05/09/2013
U.K. Parliament Rejects Syria Action
Wall Street Journal 08/30/2013
Hollande Backs Action in Syria
Wall Street Journal 08/30/2013
For France, U.S. delay on Syria fuels doubts - The Washington Post
Washington Post 09/07/2013
Book Review: 'Unhappy Union' by John Peet and Anton La Guardia
Wall Street Journal 06/26/2014
Battles in Aleppo and northern Syria against the Assad regime 2012-2013
08/10/2012
Grouped Articles
New York Times 05/18/2013
Want to Defeat ISIS? Help the Syrian Opposition
Wall Street Journal 08/14/2014
Assad Policies Aided Rise of Islamic State Militant Group
Wall Street Journal 08/22/2014
Enclave Gives Syrian Rebels Governance
Wall Street Journal 08/10/2012
U.S. and Turkey Tighten Coordination on Syria
New York Times 08/11/2012
Syrian Rebels Coalesce Into a Fighting Force
New York Times 08/20/2012
An account of the events for the democracy protests and struggle for freedom in Syria
04/27/2011
Grouped Articles
What if the U.S. doesn’t intervene in Syria? - The Washington Post
Washington Post 05/09/2013
Why did Mr. Obama overrule his advisers on Syria? - The Washington Post
Washington Post 05/09/2013
Syrian Refugees in Jordan Struggle to Survive
New York Times 05/08/2013
The Economic Blunders Behind the Arab Revolutions
Wall Street Journal 07/12/2013
Want to Defeat ISIS? Help the Syrian Opposition
Wall Street Journal 08/14/2014
The long war against Islamist extremism has become more complicated than ever - The Washington Post
Washington Post 11/18/2015
Leadership of the Syrian democracy movement
12/02/2011
Grouped Articles
Want to Defeat ISIS? Help the Syrian Opposition
Wall Street Journal 08/14/2014
Syria Would Cut Iran Military Tie, Opposition Head Says
Wall Street Journal 12/02/2011
Bearing Witness in Syria: A Correspondentâs Last Days
New York Times 03/03/2012
Syrian Brass Defect, Buoying Rebels
Wall Street Journal 03/10/2012
Aleppo Clash Poses Risk of Widening Syrian Revolt
New York Times 05/04/2012
Clinton Says Russian Inaction May Lead to Syrian Civil War
New York Times 05/31/2012
The insurgency in Iraq in 2014 against the Maliki government's sectarian policies- the Islamic state of Iraq and Syria
06/10/2014
Mosul on the border with Syria is taken by the insurgents ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) who operate on the Syrian side against Assad. Mosul is Iraq's second largest city with different ethnic groups. Foreign fighters operating in Syria have joined the ISIS. Maliki had lost support in Mosul with his increasingly sectarian policies favoring Shiites and marginalizing Sunnis. The Iraqi forces lack training and are poorly organized compared to the insurgents fighting the Assad regime in Syria. The U.S. lost any chance of maintaining peace in the region with policies of the Obama administration distancing itself in Iraq, Syria and towards Iran's non-sectarian democracy movement. With moderates left in the cold in the region, sectarian influences are taking control and undoing the hard work of previous administrations. The hopes of the heavily young demographic oriented Middle East region in 2011-2012 for economic progress are now fading first into religious extremism and then into sectarian religious conflict, with Putin's government in Russia allowed by the Obama administration to pursue reckless policies in Syria against the interests of people in the region. A no fly zone or action of the kind taken in Libya at very small cost to the U.S. was not taken by U.S. president Obama. The failed reelection bid of Sarkozy in France left Britain's prime minister Cameron with no allies to pursue prudent policies in Syria that would have advanced democracy and economic development in the entire region.
Grouped Articles
Sunni Militants Drive Iraqi Army Out of Mosul
New York Times 06/10/2014
Wall Street Journal 06/11/2014
Iraqi, U.S. Forces Trade Barbs Over Failures
Wall Street Journal 06/12/2014
Mosul Falls to ISIS, Endangering Iraq’s Democracy
New York Times 06/11/2014
U.S. Said to Rebuff Iraqi Request to Strike Militants
New York Times 06/11/2014
Sunni Fighters Gain as They Battle 2 Governments, and Other Rebels
New York Times 06/11/2014
The use of chemical weapons by the Assad government in Syria and the failure of the U.S. Obama administration's response in Syria
08/23/2011
The western world looks on as chemical weapons are used repeatedly by Syria's Assad government, according to some reports. The lack of leadership from the U.S., France, Britain and Germany. The failure of the Russian government under Putin to separate global geopolitics from the aspirations of the people of Syria for freedom and democracy and the use of artillery and bombing of civilian population.
Grouped Articles
Israel Says Syria Has Used Chemical Weapons
New York Times 04/23/2013
New York Times 04/22/2013
Obamaâs Vow on Chemical Weapons Puts Him in Tough Spot
New York Times 05/04/2013
Pentagon Plans for the Worst in Syria
Wall Street Journal 05/07/2013
What if the U.S. doesn’t intervene in Syria? - The Washington Post
Washington Post 05/09/2013
Why did Mr. Obama overrule his advisers on Syria? - The Washington Post
Washington Post 05/09/2013
Nawaf Obaid on the events leading to Saudi turndown of a seat on UN Security Council and changes in Saudi-U.S. relations
05/14/2008
The Obama administration succumbing to pressure from Russia pushed for the British, French and Saudis to give up their effort to include firm language for action against the Assad regime in a Security Council resolution on the use of chemical weapons. For the Saudis, says Obaid, this was more evidence of dysfunction in the working of the Security Council allowing the slaughter in Syria to continue.
Grouped Articles
Saudi Arabia gets forceful on foreign policy - The Washington Post
Washington Post 10/25/2013
Wall Street Journal 10/25/2013
Rice Offers a More Modest Strategy for Mideast
New York Times 10/26/2013
Fouad Ajami: When the Obama Magic Died
Wall Street Journal 11/15/2013
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal: An Ally Frets About American Retreat
Wall Street Journal 11/22/2013
As Syrian Chemical Attack Loomed, Missteps Doomed Civilians
Wall Street Journal 11/23/2013
Nordland and Rubin's indepth NYT account of the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq, as a Sunni organization based on money raising capabilities
06/20/2014
The ISIS raises money through various activities including taxes it imposes and collects in territories under its control. This extends to taxes on Christians in Mosul. Other activities include smuggling and money raised from taking oil refineries in Iraq and Syria. Some of the oil in Syria is sold to the Assad regime. Money is also raised from bank vaults such as in Mosul. It also has wealthy backers in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf kingdoms as a result of the Sunni-Shiite conflict.
Grouped Articles
Iraq Insurgents Reaping Wealth as They Advance
New York Times 06/20/2014
Washington Post 07/12/2014
Iraq Crisis: Effort to Aid Kurdish Forces Puts Iran, U.S. on Same Side
Wall Street Journal 08/14/2014
Want to Defeat ISIS? Help the Syrian Opposition
Wall Street Journal 08/14/2014
U.S. Widens Air Campaign in Northern Iraq
Wall Street Journal 08/18/2014
Assad Policies Aided Rise of Islamic State Militant Group
Wall Street Journal 08/22/2014
The shift in the Saudi position in 2013 to actively bring down the Assad regime in Syria
08/25/2013
Grouped Articles
A Veteran Saudi Power Player Works To Build Support to Topple Assad
Wall Street Journal 08/25/2013
U.S., Allies Prepare to Act as Syria Intelligence Mounts
Wall Street Journal 08/27/2013
With the World Watching, Syria Amassed Nerve Gas
New York Times 09/07/2013
Saudi Arabia gets forceful on foreign policy - The Washington Post
Washington Post 10/25/2013
Wall Street Journal 10/25/2013
U.S. and Saudis in Growing Rift as Power Shifts
New York Times 11/25/2013
The role of the Alawite sect in Syria under the French and under Hafez Assad since 1971
08/28/2012
The Alawite sect practices Islam in away that is different from Sunnis and Shiites. It is open to foreign influences and not a strict form of Islam. Alawites live in the coastal mountainous region of Syria. The French used the Alawites as a buffer against the large Sunni population of Syria. Alawites are about 12.5% in a country of 22.5 million. Many Alawites joined the army and government under the French. In 1971 an Alawite army officer, Hafez Asssad, took over the government in Syria. He used violent tactics to suppress opposition during his rule, not hesitating to gun down civilian populations. His son is the current president in 2012, and the same tactics against democracy protests have aroused international condemnation. Saudi Arabia and other Arab states have come out in support of Sunnis in Syria who lead the protests. Turkey with its long border with Syria is supporting the democracy protests and offers a haven for refugees from Syria. The U.S. Britain and Syria warn of military intervention if Syria's chemical weapons are moved and threaten safety.
Grouped Articles
Obamaâs Vow on Chemical Weapons Puts Him in Tough Spot
New York Times 05/04/2013
New York Times 05/18/2013
U.S., Allies Prepare to Act as Syria Intelligence Mounts
Wall Street Journal 08/27/2013
With the World Watching, Syria Amassed Nerve Gas
New York Times 09/07/2013
President Makes a Tough Pitch to Weary Nation
Wall Street Journal 09/10/2013
Elite Syrian Unit Scatters Chemical Arms Stockpile
Wall Street Journal 09/13/2013
Syria and the failure to provide military aid to the Free Syrian Army
10/05/2012
Grouped Articles
What if the U.S. doesn’t intervene in Syria? - The Washington Post
Washington Post 05/09/2013
Why did Mr. Obama overrule his advisers on Syria? - The Washington Post
Washington Post 05/09/2013
New York Times 05/05/2013
Want to Defeat ISIS? Help the Syrian Opposition
Wall Street Journal 08/14/2014
U.S. to Give Some Syria Rebels Ability to Call Airstrikes
Wall Street Journal 02/18/2015
Citing U.S. Fears, Arab Allies Limit Aid to Syrian Rebels
New York Times 10/06/2012
The escalation of the Syrian conflict with the Assad regime's shelling of Turkey's border town of Akcakale
10/04/2012
Turkey responds on October 4, 2012 with an artillery attack on a Assad regime forward base with help from the Free Syria Army in locating the base which was moved.
Grouped Articles
Arabs Ask U.S. to Lead on Syria
Wall Street Journal 05/09/2013
Turkey’s Erdogan to air policy differences with Obama - The Washington Post
Washington Post 05/13/2013
Turkey's Spymaster Plots Own Course on Syria
Wall Street Journal 10/10/2013
In Southern Turkey, Renewed Fears of Sectarian Strife
Wall Street Journal 11/07/2013
Want to Defeat ISIS? Help the Syrian Opposition
Wall Street Journal 08/14/2014
Syrian War Increasingly Colors Turkish Politics
Wall Street Journal 10/28/2014
Syria's second largest city of Aleppo destroyed by war by 2014
04/25/2014
Grouped Articles
Syria Civil War Forces Brutal Split in Aleppo
Wall Street Journal 04/25/2014
Want to Defeat ISIS? Help the Syrian Opposition
Wall Street Journal 08/14/2014
The New York Times 08/11/2016
Washington Post 09/26/2016
DW.COM 10/07/2016
Jeremy Corbyn calls for protests outside US embassy over Syria, claiming too much focus is on Russia
The Telegraph 10/12/2016
How the Obama administration's policies in Syria, Iraq and towards Iran, have increased sectarian and religious conflict, and have pushed back democracy and economic development in the Middle East
06/10/2014
By allowing reckless intervention by Putin's Russia in Syria, and by its policies in the Middle East after the Arab Spring, the Obama administration has starved the hopes of an entire region heavily oriented towards a young demographic for participatory democracy and economic development, leaving it to descend into religious conflict, and then into sectarian conflict.
Grouped Articles
Sunni Militants Drive Iraqi Army Out of Mosul
New York Times 06/10/2014
Mosul Falls to ISIS, Endangering Iraq’s Democracy
New York Times 06/11/2014
U.S. Scrambles to Help Iraq Fight Off Militants as Baghdad Is Threatened
New York Times 06/12/2014
Veterans Watch as Gains Their Friends Died for Are Erased by Insurgents
New York Times 06/13/2014
Obama Finds He Can’t Put Iraq War Behind Him
New York Times 06/13/2014
Iraqi Shiite Cleric Issues Call to Arms
New York Times 06/13/2014
The consensus in the Obama administration to support Syria's democracy forces in summer 2011, and the U.S. president's failure to act
08/23/2011
Defense Secretary describes the plans supported by key members of the National Security team to support Syrian democracy forces in the summer of 2011- supported by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Secretary of State Clinton, General Dempsey of the Joint Chiefs, and CIA director Petraeus. The president failed to act because of approaching elections and the general hesitation to act that was displayed since the start of the democracy movement in Tunisia, and then through the movement's spread to Egypt, Libya, followed by Syria. The U.S. failed to grasp an opportunity for the Free World and create goodwill in the Arab world by standing up to its ideals of democracy and freedom.
Grouped Articles
Israel Says Syria Has Used Chemical Weapons
New York Times 04/23/2013
New York Times 04/22/2013
Pentagon Plans for the Worst in Syria
Wall Street Journal 05/07/2013
What if the U.S. doesn’t intervene in Syria? - The Washington Post
Washington Post 05/09/2013
Why did Mr. Obama overrule his advisers on Syria? - The Washington Post
Washington Post 05/09/2013
New York Times 05/05/2013
The Obama administration's decision to ask Congress for $500 million in June 2014 to aid moderate forces in Syria including the Free Syria Army
06/27/2014
The decision follows gains by the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) extremist Sunni militants over large areas in Sunni parts of Iraq. Sunnis alienated by the Maliki government's policies favoring Shiites have supported Sunni militants. The move comes late in the conflict after the Sunnis are left to fend for themselves in Syria and Iraq, and continues a policy of no active engagement of U.S. airpower in the region- increases aid that is already being sent, and serves the purpose of checking the gains of the ISIS, making no significant change to the situation in the region of a refugee crisis and expanded conflict. The move may be intended also to show a balance of support to Sunni and Shia, as the Obama administration is supporting the Maliki government against ISIS. The same support of moderates with a "no fly zone" could have kept U.S. combat forces out of the region and achieved what was achieved in Libya of freeing the region of the Assad regime, not emboldening Russia's Putin, stood up for America's support for democracy and freedom and condemnation of the use of chemical weapons, been consistent with American public opinion's desire for no large interventions overseas, continued focus on the domestic economy, and not compromised severely the hard won gains of America's military and servicemen in the last decade. So weak has been the Republican response and so partisan the politics, that few Democrats voices have been heard to questions the policies, so that a muddled policy based on the president's inclinations has been allowed to look sensible. It has made the U.S. look weak in Europe and Asia, as Russia and China have been emboldened in each region. Democrats have only to look to Truman in 1947-1950 when Berlin, Greece, South Korea, were not left to fall into chaos with millions of refugees and Russian Communist influence, to see the difference with the current policies, without a knee jerk reaction to the Bush era.
Grouped Articles
Obama's Foreign-Policy Failures Go Far Beyond Iraq
Wall Street Journal 06/27/2014
Syria Is Breeding Western Terrorists, U.S. Warns
Wall Street Journal 07/09/2014
Washington Post 07/12/2014
U.S. Sees Risks in Assisting a Compromised Iraqi Force
New York Times 07/13/2014
U.S. Approves More Hellfire Missiles for Iraq
Wall Street Journal 07/30/2014
Leaving U.S. Allies Adrift as Chaos Rises
Wall Street Journal 08/01/2014
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar's support for the democracy movement in Syria
05/21/2011
Grouped Articles
Arabs Ask U.S. to Lead on Syria
Wall Street Journal 05/09/2013
Turkey’s Erdogan to air policy differences with Obama - The Washington Post
Washington Post 05/13/2013
In Surprise, Emir of Qatar Plans to Abdicate, Handing Power to Son
New York Times 06/24/2013
Qatar's Emir Hands Power to Son
Wall Street Journal 06/26/2013
A Veteran Saudi Power Player Works To Build Support to Topple Assad
Wall Street Journal 08/25/2013
U.S., Allies Prepare to Act as Syria Intelligence Mounts
Wall Street Journal 08/27/2013
Geography and borders of the new nations in the Middle East after the First World War
05/14/2008
Winston Churchill, as Colonial secretary, and the borders set for the new nations that were created out of the collapsed Ottoman Empire- Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.
Grouped Articles
Wall Street Journal 05/14/2008
Militarism and Humiliation Cast Shadow on Germany
New York Times 06/26/2014
Want to Defeat ISIS? Help the Syrian Opposition
Wall Street Journal 08/14/2014
Wall Street Journal 09/25/2015
Wall Street Journal 11/12/2015
With Iraq Mired in Turmoil, Some Call for Partitioning the Country
New York Times 04/28/2016
The new dynamic in the Middle East with Turkey, Qatar and Egypt's support for Islamic groups in Syria and Saudi Arabia's wariness- 2013-2014
09/18/2011
The Saudi and Jordanian royal family finds itself on one side as Turkey, Quatar and Egypt take the lead in supporting Islamic groups fighting the Assad regime. The Saudis and Turkey call for the U.S. to actively intervene in the conflict in 2013.
Grouped Articles
Arabs Ask U.S. to Lead on Syria
Wall Street Journal 05/09/2013
Turkey’s Erdogan to air policy differences with Obama - The Washington Post
Washington Post 05/13/2013
Qatar's Aid to Egypt Raises Fears on Motives
Wall Street Journal 05/19/2013
Turkey Predicts Partnership With Egypt as Regional Anchors
New York Times 09/18/2011
Protests Widen in Turkey; Riot Police Pull Back
Wall Street Journal 06/01/2013
Development Won’t Ensure Democracy in Turkey
New York Times 06/05/2013
Gen. Keane and Pletka on the U.S. option to degrade air defense system in Syria in 2013- "no fly zone" option
05/22/2013
Gen. Keane and Pletka say inaction can be more risky than action with the spillover of the war in Syria to neighboring countries. The Assad regime's attack on civilian populations and use of chemical weapons, the democracy movement in Syria, and the support from the Arab world and Turkey, are critical factors that would bring the U.S. credibility in the region and gain the respect of people in the region, if action is taken in 2013. They point out that the air defense system in Syria even with Russian systems can be rendered inactive without much effort.
Grouped Articles
Jack Keane and Danielle Pletka: How to Stop Assad's Slaughter
Wall Street Journal 05/22/2013
Russia Outmaneuvers Obama Over Syria
Wall Street Journal 06/14/2013
Behind Obama's About-Face on Syria
Wall Street Journal 06/15/2013
Wall Street Journal 08/22/2013
Andrew Roberts: Syria's Gas Attack on Civilization
Wall Street Journal 08/25/2013
A Veteran Saudi Power Player Works To Build Support to Topple Assad
Wall Street Journal 08/25/2013
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