US decides to arm rebels, set up no fly zone inside Syria

President Barack Obama authorized his administration to provide arms to rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, officials said Thursday, a major policy shift after the White House said it had confirmed that Damascus used chemical weapons in the country’s civil war. (more…)

Bill Clinton: Obama should support Syria rebels or risk looking like a total fool

Bill Clinton told Sen. John McCain he agrees that President Barack Obama should act more forcefully to support anti-Assad rebels in Syria, saying the American public elects presidents and members of Congress “to see down the road” and “to win.” (more…)

U.S. credibility on Iran at stake in Syria

American officials like to say that Iran’s defiance of international demands that it limit its nuclear activities, its support for terrorism, and the like have led to Tehran’s growing isolation. Iranian regime officials see things differently. The Iranian regime has a strategy in the Middle East and believes it is succeeding. (more…)

Hague: we must do more to help innocent Syrians

William Hague said Britain and its allies must “do more” to save innocent lives in Syria last night, after talks in Washington failed to yield any movement on calls to arm rebel fighters who are losing ground to resurgent Syrian government forces back by Iran and Hezbollah. (more…)

Syrian rebels plead for weapons to prevent fall of Aleppo

A top Syrian rebel commander has issued a desperate plea for weapons from Western governments to prevent the fall of his forces in Aleppo, pushing the Obama administration to decide quickly whether to agree to arm rebels for the first time or risk the loss of another rebel stronghold just days after the regime’s biggest victory. (more…)

Obama seeks cooperation with China despite cyber tension

RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF.- While acknowledging inevitable “areas of tension” between the U.S. and China, President Obama welcomed President Xi Jinping to two-days of talks saying the peoples of both countries want a “strong, cooperative relationship.”

The two leaders spent nearly three hours in their first round of talks. (more…)

McCain blasts U.S. policy on Syria, says Assad won’t end war

Syrian President Bashar Assad will not end the two-year-old civil war that has killed more than 80,000 Syrians as long as he is winning on the battlefield, and anyone who thinks otherwise is “delusional,” Sen. John McCain said Thursday. (more…)

Iran, Hezbollah ‘partners in tyranny’ for backing Syria: US

The White House issued its most threatening statement yet yesterday, denouncing Iran and the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah as “partners in tyranny” for their support of the Assad regime in Syria. (more…)

Obama to name Susan Rice as national security adviser

President Barack Obama conducted a major shakeup of his foreign policy team on Wednesday, naming Susan Rice as his new White House national security adviser after she withdrew from consideration last December for secretary of state because she was a lightning rod for Republican criticism. (more…)

France, UK have proof that Assad regime used sarin

France said Tuesday it has confirmed that the nerve gas sarin was used “multiple times and in a localized way” in Syria, including at least once by the regime. It was the most specific claim by any Western power about chemical weapons attacks in the 27-month-old conflict. (more…)