Syrian uprising

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How Climate Change Fueled Syria's Uprising

Drought created refugees who were 'willing recruits' against Assad: Thomas Friedman

(Newser) - Before the uprising against Bashar al-Assad, Syria was stuck in a four-year drought the UN reportedly called the country's worst in decades. In 2008, a US embassy cable revealed by WikiLeaks predicted potential mass migration due to the weather—and the cable was right. "By 2010, roughly 1...

Assad Torturing, Killing Enemies on 'Industrial Scale'

Prosecutors base report on 55K photos taken by defector

(Newser) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime is torturing and murdering its enemies on a vast and shocking scale, according to a cache of evidence released by war crimes prosecutors, CNN reports. The report relies on thousands of photos of dead bodies that were apparently killed by strangulation, starvation, and beatings;...

US, Russia Discuss Syria Ceasefires; Assad Rolls Eyes

And Syrian opposition questions whether to attend peace talks

(Newser) - The US and Russia are discussing the notion of "localized ceasefires" in Syria as peace talks loom next week in Switzerland—offering the first chance for opposing sides to sit down face-to-face, the AP reports. John Kerry, meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Paris, said ceasefires in...

Saudis to Lebanon: Here's $3B for Your Army

Diplomatic move with France as Syrian conflict threatens to spill over

(Newser) - With an eye on neighboring Syria's backslide into violence, Saudi Arabia is pledging $3 billion to Lebanon to buy weapons from France in order to shore up its army. "I am happy to tell the Lebanese people that the Saudi ruler will give a grant of $3 billion...

'Very, Very Important' Syrian Rebel Leader Killed

Abdulkader al-Saleh led Qatar-backed force

(Newser) - The New York Times describes Abdulkader al-Saleh as a Syrian rebel leader "who brought together one of the most effective and organized factions" against Bashar al-Assad. No wonder, then, that his death is being described as a major setback for the rebels. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights today...

Syria Inspectors: We Need Hours-Long Ceasefires

OPCW is having trouble getting to some suspected production sites

(Newser) - One week ago, Ban Ki-moon told the UN Security Council that the toughest part in the process of wiping out Syria's chemical weapons would come next month, when the actual destruction begins, reports the New York Times . Tougher than this, apparently: The Nobel Prize-winning Organization for the Prohibition of...

Syrian Rebels Executed Villagers: Human Rights Watch

Opposition forces tried to 'kill entire families': report

(Newser) - In August, Islamist rebels in Syria executed almost 200 unarmed villagers—pro-regime members of the minority Alawite sect—in Latakia province, Human Rights Watch said in a report today. Opposition forces sometimes even tried to kill "entire families," or else killed adult males and held the women and...

Assad: I May Run Again Next Year

But not if Syrians don't want me: interview

(Newser) - Syrian president Bashar Assad says it's still too early to say whether he'll run for re-election in next year's presidential vote. Assad says "the picture will be clearer" in the next four to five months because Syria is going though "rapid" changes on the ground....

Why War Reporters Get It So Wrong
 Why War Reporters 
 Get It So Wrong 
opinion
Oct 3, 2013 4:40 PM CDT

Why War Reporters Get It So Wrong

Patrick Cockburn: It's a hard job when propaganda and bullets are flying

(Newser) - Journalists have given us the wrong impression about four Middle East wars since 9/11—but how did they blow it so badly? In the London Review of Books , Patrick Cockburn looks at how the media fumbled the ball in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria. In each case, he argues, reporters...

Syria's Assad: I'll Comply With UN Resolution

Says he's open to talks with opposition if they give up their arms

(Newser) - Bashar al-Assad is vowing to stand by the terms of the United Nations' resolution last week to destroy Syria's chemical weapons, reports the AP . "Of course we have to comply," he told Italian television in an interview today. "This is our history to comply with every...

Syrian Rebels Disavow Western-Backed Leaders

Groups want Sharia as basis for all law

(Newser) - Some of Syria's most powerful rebel groups have disavowed the Western-backed National Syrian Coalition's government in exile, in a move that may further complicate efforts to find a diplomatic resolution to the country's civil war. Thirteen groups, spearheaded by the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front, released a statement last...

Al-Qaeda Militants, Syria Rebels Call Truce— in One Town

Syrian regime, opposition ceasefire may not be far off either, says Assad official

(Newser) - The fighting between al-Qaeda militants and Syrian rebels, which "has raised fears of a war within a war," may now be over, at least in one town, the BBC reports. After seizing the town of Azaz this week, the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) agreed...

Looks Like Syria Will Miss First Arms-Deal Deadline

Plus: Pentagon says US could train some rebels

(Newser) - Syria probably won't get a full inventory of its chemical weapons to international authorities by Saturday, as proposed—but the US, it seems, isn't panicking. "Our goal is to see forward momentum," rather than the whole inventory, by Saturday, says a State Department rep. "We'...

How the White House Backed Into a Syria Solution

'WSJ' goes behind the scenes

(Newser) - In a nearly 3,000-word article, the Wall Street Journal today takes readers inside what it calls "an extraordinary 24 days in international diplomacy," detailing what happened behind the scenes as the White House decided how to handle the Syrian chemical weapons crisis. Based on more than two...

Kerry to Syria: 'Threat of Force Is Real'

Secretary warns of consequences if US-Russia deal isn't carried out

(Newser) - Secretary of State John Kerry today sent a strong warning to Syria, saying "the threat of force is real" if it does not carry out an internationally brokered agreement to hand over its chemical weapons. Kerry issued the warning during a stop in Jerusalem, where he briefed jittery Israeli...

Obama: Syria Deal Not About &#39;Style&#39;
 Obama: 
 Syria Deal 
 Not About 'Style' 
ABC INTERVIEW
Sep 15, 2013 8:52 AM CDT

Obama: Syria Deal Not About 'Style'

Emphasizes it was more important to get the policy right

(Newser) - The road to the Syria chemical weapons deal may have been bumpy, but President Obama insists that he's "less concerned about style points" and "much more concerned with getting the policy right," he tells George Stephanopoulos this morning on ABC's This Week . “Folks here...

Obama&#39;s Syria Speech Wowed No One

 Obama's 
 Syria Speech 
 Wowed No One 
reactions
Sep 11, 2013 8:00 AM CDT

Obama's Syria Speech Wowed No One

Reactions pour in, and most are not good

(Newser) - President Obama's Syria speech last night was only 15 minutes long, but it "will be analyzed for a LOT longer than that," writes Chris Cillizza in the Washington Post . But—because Congress isn't onboard with a strike on Syria and we don't yet know how...

Obama: Syria Chemical Weapon Surrender Could Be 'Breakthrough'

Would 'absolutely' pause military strike if it works

(Newser) - Obama has weighed in on the Russian proposal to get Syria to surrender its stockpile of chemical weapons, calling it both a "potentially positive development" and a possible "breakthrough"—but only if it's a genuine offer. The move comes after Hillary Clinton also made cautiously positive...

3 Ways Obama Can Get Our Syria Support
 3 Ways Obama Can 
 Get Our Syria Support 
OPINION
Sep 9, 2013 1:16 PM CDT

3 Ways Obama Can Get Our Syria Support

An unsupportive public can come around: Jonathan Tepperman

(Newser) - President Obama has been "maddeningly tentative" in his handling of the Syria situation, and one big reason for that is the lack of public support in the US, writes Jonathan Tepperman in the New York Times . One week-old poll shows that just 29% of Americans are in favor of...

Kerry, Russia to Syria: Turn Over Chemical Weapons

US indicates there's still time to avoid a strike

(Newser) - Russia made the surprise move today of prodding ally Syria to hand over its chemical weapons, just hours after John Kerry suggested that Bashar al-Assad and Co. could avoid a military strike if they did exactly that within a week. "If the establishment of international control over chemical weapons...

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