All Security Watch
Battle for Aleppo enters third week as Syrian rebels hold onSyrian rebel forces are believed to be far outgunned by the Army, but they've so far held off regime efforts to overrun the city.
Worrying signs of lawlessness in LibyaSeven Iranian Red Crescent members were abducted in downtown Benghazi yesterday. Today there were bomb blasts and a jail break.
In Syria, hardening sides, and risks of an even bloodier civil warA new report argues the Syrian civil war is going to get a lot worse unless the country's rebels take a series of difficult and improbable steps.
Assad honors Syrian Army as it faces defections, and existential threatSyrian President Bashar al-Assad commemorated the 67th anniversary of the Syrian Army, which is locked in street battles with rebels in once pro-Assad city of Aleppo.
Why the Taliban are happy that the US and Pakistan patched things upPakistan has reopened the trucking routes NATO relies on for getting weapons and other goods into Afghanistan. That has US generals and the Taliban smiling.
From Iran to China, Romney's comments in Israel earn him international criticismRepublican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's remarks have raised international concerns that, if elected, he would bring fresh instability to the world stage.
Is Syria's Bashar al-Assad on the ropes?It depends on who you ask.- Iraqi officials still being killed in large numbersIn at least one city. And that's far from the only echo of the old Iraq in the new one.
Termites: Altruistic, poisonous suicide bombersIt's not just for humans anymore.
As Syrian government gains ground in Aleppo, it loses its peopleSecretary of Defense Leon Panetta's warnings that Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad risks losing his country because of his brutal tactics appear to be panning out.
US drought already rippling out into the worldScuffles in Jakarta markets between tofu producers and soybean traders may be a taste of things to come.
Syria's regime, rebel troops amass in Aleppo for 'mother of all battles'Few expect Syrian rebels to be the victors in the battle for Aleppo, but just putting up a fight in this strategic city will send a strong message to the regime.
Manaf Tlass: Being groomed as the Syrian Ahmed Chalabi?Manaf Tlas, a defector from the Assad regime, has it all: money, foreign friends, and a secular outlook. Now he's being pushed forward by foreign groups as Syria's strongman in waiting.
From the people who brought you the Iraq war...... a call for US military intervention in Syria that's straight out of the neocon playbook. What could go wrong?
In Aleppo, rebels brace for full force of Syria's Assad regimeWith Syrian Army forces withdrawing from locations across the country and heading toward Aleppo, rebels there are preparing for a fierce battle for the strategic city that few expect them to win.
Fearing spillover, Turkey closes border with Syria as Aleppo braces for warThousands of Syrian troops are headed toward Aleppo, where rebels have taken over some neighborhoods. Many Syrians never expected the fighting to reach the regime stronghold.
Does the CIA really have no idea about the nature of Syria's rebels?It's hard to believe, but so say anonymous officials in a Washington Post article published yesterday.
Deadly Iraq bombings and a reawakening insurgencyThe Iraq war is over for the US, and the country is a more stable place than at the height of its civil war. But the Sunni insurgency never really died, and Syria is adding some fuel.
Chemical weapons? Syria 'backpedaling furiously' over weapons threatsOne day after threatening to unleash chemical weapons if it were invaded, Syria denies having unconventional weapons, and says West is preparing an Iraq-style intervention.
Syria's war reaches solidly pro-Assad AleppoAssad's forces retook some parts of Damascus over the weekend, but in a potentially more telling sign, rebels brought the fighting to previously quiet Aleppo.
