"PBS' Charlie Rose interviews Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday, September 9, at 9 p.m. in a special presentation of CHARLIE ROSE. In this global television exclusive, Assad gives his only television interview since President Barack Obama asked Congress to approve the use of force against the Syrian regime for alleged use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people." Continue reading →
"Justin Amash appears on Face The Nation to discuss a potential attack on Syria over allegations that Syria attacked its own people with Chemical weapons." Continue reading →
"Secretary of State John Kerry said at Wednesday’s hearing that Arab counties have offered to pay for the entirety of unseating President Bashar al-Assad if the United States took the lead militarily. 'With respect to Arab countries offering to bear costs and to assess, the answer is profoundly yes,' Kerry said. 'They have. That offer is on the table.' Asked by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) about how much those countries would contribute, Kerry said they have offered to pay for all of a full invasion. 'In fact, some of them have said that if the United States is prepared to go do the whole thing the way we’ve done it previously in other places, they’ll carry that cost,' Kerry said." Continue reading →
"Turkish police fired tear gas and plastic bullets at thousands of people who gathered in Istanbul Tuesday to protest the death of a 22-year-old demonstrator in southern Turkey. Between 2,000 and 3,000 people rallied on the outskirts of Taksim Square, scene of unprecedented mass anti-government protests in June, and shouted slogans including 'Taksim will be the graveyard of fascism', an AFP journalist witnessed. Police prevented the protesters from entering the square, before pushing them back using tear gas and plastic bullets. Ahmet Atakan died in hospital Monday night after being hit in the head by a tear gas canister during clashes between police and around 150 protesters." Continue reading →
"Israel’s army has decided to close an investigation into the killing of a Palestinian activist during a West Bank demonstration in 2009, an Israeli rights group said Tuesday. According to B’Tselem, the military’s prosecutor general had decided to close the case for lack of evidence. Bassem Abu Rahmeh, 30, who was struck in the chest by a tear-gas canister on April 17, 2009 at a protest in the village of Bilin, and died of his wounds. The army had decided to open an investigation into Abu Rahmeh’s death in 2010 after a team of international experts found its forces had fired the tear gas in violation of regulations." Continue reading →
"Intelligence circles in Washington believe that Israel amassed a stockpile of chemical and biological weapons decades ago to complement its alleged nuclear arsenal, Foreign Policy reported Monday on its website. Information about Israel’s chemical weapons production appears in a secret 1983 CIA intelligence estimate obtained by Foreign Policy. American spy satellites in 1982 uncovered 'a probable CW (chemical weapon) nerve agent production facility and a storage facility… at the Dimona Sensitive Storage Area in the Negev Desert,' the CIA document reported. In 1992, the Israeli government signed but never ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans such weapons." Continue reading →
"A US envoy on Tuesday dismissed suggestions that Washington would withdraw all troops from Afghanistan after next year, saying that both countries wanted to preserve a smaller force. Aides to US President Barack Obama earlier this year openly mulled the so-called 'zero option' of a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan once US troops end their combat role in 2014. 'We talk about the zero option — that’s not an option for the United States,' said James Dobbins, the US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Dobbins said he expected 'several thousand American forces and several thousand non-American NATO forces' in 2015 and beyond." Continue reading →
"Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi sent a fifth letter to Democratic colleagues in a week in an attempt to bolster support for a measure to authorize a U.S. strike in Syria. In the letter sent Saturday, Pelosi (D-Calif.) highlighted statements supporting the strike by President Barack Obama and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). In earlier letters, Pelosi emphasized the importance of the strike and has told members she will be flexible about the eventual language in a use-of-force authorization. Pelosi also drew attention to Obama’s remarks that he had not set a red line in Syria, but that Congress set one in the 2003 Syria Accountability Act." Continue reading →
"As portrayed in a satirical television show here this week, President François Hollande is left behind to hold President Obama’s coat while the American leader and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia hold private talks. Mr. Hollande gullibly concludes he is playing a key role. In the show, 'Les Guignols de L’Info,' a rough equivalent of 'The Daily Show,' Mr. Hollande is seen interrupting a visit to a school to ask Mr. Obama’s permission to use the bathroom. If Mr. Hollande ever thought that his decision to stand steadfast alongside the United States in backing a retaliatory strike against Syria would give him new stature on the global stage or help him at home, the last week has been a sharp shock." Continue reading →
"Sen. Al Franken (D., Minn.) on Friday said he was leaning toward supporting a resolution authorizing military action in Syria, giving a lift to Obama administration efforts to build support for a strike that U.S. President Barack Obama has sought in spite of widespread unpopularity. 'To me, there is enough evidence that there has been a chemical weapons attack; that it was authorized by the regime and I believe that we have to demonstrate that you can’t do that, so I’m leaning that direction,' Mr. Franken told reporters Friday after a closed-door briefing for lawmakers." Continue reading →