Syria talks to test if Assad can negotiate in good faith

Upcoming peace talks on a political transition in Syria will test whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad can negotiate in good faith, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday before a new round of negotiations in Geneva. Assad has said he thinks the Geneva talks can produce a new Syrian government that includes opposition, […]

Obama Nixed CIA Plan That Could Have Stopped ISIS: Officials

The CIA in 2012 proposed a detailed covert action plan designed to remove Syrian President Bashar Assad from power, but President Obama declined to approve it, current and former U.S. officials tell NBC News. It’s long been known that then-CIA Director David Petraeus recommended a program to secretly arm and train moderate Syrian rebels in […]

F-15s Forward Deploy to Deter Russian Aggression

Air National Guard F-15Cs and airmen are headed to Europe to augment U.S. forces on the Continent, part of ongoing efforts to boost peace and stability in the region while deterring Russian aggression in eastern Europe. Twelve F-15C Eagles and about 350 airmen and support equipment were to begin deploying Friday from their home stations, […]

Assad says he can form new Syria government with opposition

President Bashar al-Assad said it would not be difficult to agree on a new Syrian government including opposition figures, but his opponents responded on Wednesday that no administration would be legitimate while he remained in office. Assad, bolstered by military victory in the desert city of Palmyra, was quoted by Russia’s RIA news agency as […]

U.S. and Russia want the draft of a new Syrian constitution by August

Mr Kerry was speaking after four hours of talks at the Kremlin with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He said they also agreed to press the Syrian government and rebels to speed up talks on a political transition. A round of indirect peace talks in Geneva between the Syrian government and opposition concluded on Thursday. UN envoy Staffan […]

Kerry in Moscow to Meet Putin for Talks on Syria

Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Moscow on Wednesday for the first face-to-face U.S. meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin since he announced a pullback of Russian forces in Syria this month. Mr. Kerry will seek to determine whether Mr. Putin is more amenable to removing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power now that a fragile cease-fire has been declared on the […]

Should whatever is left of Syria be partitioned?

There may be a tentative cease-fire at present, but let’s not get carried away. The war in Syria is going nowhere fast. It staggers along, with daily violations and a rising body count — another vicious “problem from hell.” Estimates vary, but some observers now put the death toll in Syria at nearly 500,000 and […]