Inquiry blames Syrian Military for another gas attack

An international inquiry has found that Syrian government forces were responsible for a third toxic gas attack, according to a confidential report submitted to the United Nations Security Council on Friday. The finding sets the stage for a showdown between Russia and Western members of the Council over how to respond. The fourth report from […]

Aleppo ceasefire at risk after Russia says rebels can be eliminated

The prospects of an extended humanitarian ceasefire in eastern Aleppo have diminished after Russian diplomats stressed the Syrian government was entitled to eliminate all rebels in the city, and not just the 1,000 jihadi fighters linked to al-Qaida. Russia has implemented a unilateral four-day ceasefire to allow humanitarian access, evacuation for the wounded and the […]

Aleppo Is a ‘Slaughterhouse,’ Says U.N. Official Seeking War Crimes Inquiry

The top United Nations human rights official on Friday called the weekslong bombardment and siege of Aleppo “crimes of historic proportions” that had turned the ancient Syrian city into a “slaughterhouse.” As a “humanitarian pause” in attacks, declared unilaterally by Russia, entered a second day — and as residents of the besieged rebel-held eastern side […]

Russian Hacker, Wanted by F.B.I., Is Arrested in Prague, Czechs Say

A man identified as a Russian hacker suspected of pursuing targets in the United States has been arrested in the Czech Republic, the police announced Tuesday evening. The suspect, who was captured in a raid at a hotel in central Prague, did not resist arrest, but he had medical problems and was briefly hospitalized, the police said in […]

Russia and Syria end Aleppo airstrikes ahead of 8-hour lull

Russian and Syrian warplanes halted their airstrikes on Syria’s besieged city of Aleppo on Tuesday in preparation for a temporary pause in the military push that Moscow has announced for later in the week, the Russian defense minister said. According to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the halt in the strikes should help pave the way […]

A stroll along a Soviet submarine graveyard

High on the foreboding Kola Peninsula in northwest Russia, within the Arctic Circle, lies an incredible Soviet submarine graveyard near the Russian naval base of Olenya Bay. Attached to the closed town of Gadzhiyevo in Murmansk Oblast, the base represents one of the most bleak naval facilities on the planet, home to abandoned Cold War-era […]

Russia works with China on anti-missile defense

Russia said it’s working with China to counter U.S. plans to expand its missile-defense network, which the two nations see as targeting their military assets. The upgrades aim to give Washington the ability to launch a nuclear strike “with impunity,” Lieutenant General Viktor Poznikhir of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff said Tuesday at a […]

Watch: the secret life and mysterious death of CIA spymaster William Colby

A son’s riveting look at a father whose life seemed straight out of a spy thriller. The secret world of a legendary CIA spymaster. Told by William Colby’s son Carl, the story is at once a probing history of the CIA, a personal memoir of a family living in clandestine shadows, and an inquiry into […]

U.S. and Russia share goals in a Middle East tired of western intervention

An article with an alternate idea and vision for our current dilemma. The U.S. and Russia are both tired of terror caused by extremists. Both nations face an existential threat of terror attacks within their borders. But, we’ve managed to demonize an old villain everyone knows. The Middle East is not under an illusion that […]

Is the new cold war with Russia about to turn hot?

I’m a broken record on the topic of the war in Syria, and especially its Russian component. But this issue waxes and wanes from the public discussion. We seem prepared to hurl service members into a war we haven’t yet adequately analyzed. What would be the real gain by committing to this war? This doesn’t feel […]

Kurds want ISIL defeated, but Assad as our top ally

The Kurds are our friends. They protect American journalists and are the bastion of sanity left in the war-torn portion of Syria. It was an interesting and telling moment during the second debate when Hillary Clinton communicated some apprehension in “some circles” about increasing arms to the Kurds. The Kurds do not have a political […]

Trump fooled by Russian disinformation operation

This is not funny. It is terrifying. The Russians engage in a sloppy disinformation effort and, before the day is out, the Republican nominee for president is standing on a stage reciting the manufactured story as truth. How did this happen? Who in the Trump campaign was feeding him falsehoods straight from the Kremlin? (The […]