De Bagdad à Jérusalem : L'Orient indiscret François Hollande a raison de dire, comme il l’a fait lors de ses vœux au corps diplomatique jeudi, qu’il « ne suffit pas de répéter à l’envi qu’il faut parler à la Russie » pour régler la crise syrienne. « Nous ne cessons de le faire, a poursuivi le président de la République. Les problèmes ne disparaissent pas dès lors que nous en parlons, ce serait tellement simple ». Certes, la France parle à la Russie. Petit florilège de ce dialogue franco-russe. Alain Juppé, ministre des Affaires étrangères de Nicolas Sarkozy, compare le soutien russe à Assad à une « tache indélébile » sur la réputation de la Russie. C’était l’époque, renchérit un ambassadeur arabe à Paris, « où la Direction Afrique du nord-Moyen-Orient du Quai d'Orsay nous disait que nous allions isoler la Russie ». « On n’osait pas rire », ajoute cet ambassadeur : « comment un pays comme la France pouvait-il penser sérieusement pouvoir isoler un pays de la taille de la Russie », s’interroge ce diplomate.
Syria Video - a powerful web service that maps Syrian war video by town and province - Syria Comment Syria Video – a powerful web service that maps Syrian war video by town and province Posted by Joshua on Sunday, March 31st, 2013 Syria Video Syria Comment Announces a new web service: Syria Video, which can be found at Syria Video is a web application that maps and aggregates Syrian war videos by tracking a large number of YouTube channels. Syria Video is our first attempt to bring order to the online Syrian war-sphere and has the potential to provide valuable insight to the conflict. The Syrian government has tried to exploit the fog of war to gain advantage over its opponents by barring foreign journalists, restricting what Syrian journalists can report, and attacking its own citizen journalists. Opposition activists have struggled to counter this blackout by posting a growing stream of YouTube videos. The footprint of the Syrian conflict on the web has been tremendous. Inquiries about Syria Video can be directed to info@SyriaVideo.net
The Moor Next Door | Maghreb Affairs :: Geopolitics :: International Relations Blogs of War Hezbollah chief says Saudi Arabia arms terrorist groups in Middle East According to reports, more than 100,000 foreign-backed militants fight among rebel groups in Syria. Most of them joined the groups affiliated with al-Qaeda such as al-Nusra Front. The Syrian conflict began almost three years ago and led to mass insurgency across the region. And Sunni militants have become more active in Lebanon. They and Syrian rebel groups have carried out several suicide bombings in Hezbollah-controlled areas in Beirut and elsewhere, killing dozens of people. They have vowed to keep attacking Hezbollah until it withdraws its forces from Syria. Earlier on Saturday, security forces found an explosives-rigged car that was headed to Beirut, an army statement said. Nasrallah said his Lebanese opponents, including Hariri's Future movement, could also be targeted by Sunni militants. "If these groups won, would there be a future for the Future party in Lebanon?" Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since March 2011.
Iraq and Gulf Analysis Syrian Blood Tests Positive for Sarin Gas, U.S. Spies Say | Danger Room A U.S. Army chemical weapons crew takes samples from an M55 rocket. Photo: U.S. Updated 4/26/13 4:58 p.m. The U.S. intelligence community has uncovered strong evidence that chemical weapons have been used in Syria. In March, the Assad regime was accused of using chemical weapons during an attack on the city of Aleppo. “This is more than one organization representing that they have more than one sample from more than one attack,” the source tells Danger Room. What’s clear is that the samples are authentic, and that the weapons were almost certainly employed by the Assad regime, which began mixing up quantities of sarin’s chemical precursors months ago for an potential attack, as Danger Room first reported. “It would be very, very difficult for the opposition to fake this. The U.S. military initially tests for evidence of nerve gas exposure by looking for the presence of the enzyme cholinesterase in red blood cells and in plasma. When sarin binds to cholinesterase it loses a fluoride.
Center for Middle East Development Aaron David Miller: Why America Is Winning in the Middle East Aaron D. Miller discusses America's prospects in the Middle East, followed by Q&A. Sponsored by the UCLA Center for Middle East Development and the Burkle Center, November 5, 2013.11/6/2013 12:00:00 AM Amb. Ambassador Oded Eran discusses the peace process. 10/14/2013 12:00:00 AM "The Fourth Way: Leading the Future" A Lecture by Princess Basmah bint Saud Princess Basmah bint Saud gave a lecture on April 15, 2013 that outlined her concept of "The Fourth Way," a method of establishing a new platform to help bring stability to the world where large international non-governmental.4/18/2013 12:00:00 AM Will the Peace Treaties between Israel, Jordan and Egypt Survive? A podcast of a public lecture by Ambassador Oded Eran, sponsored by UCLA CMED.10/30/2012 12:00:00 AM Podcast: How Should America Confront Radical Islamism? A discussion with Hedieh Mirahmadi and Asli Bali regarding radical Islamism in the United States.10/20/2011 12:00:00 AM
iRevolutions DN! Endless War? As Syria Conflict Enters 4th Year, Deadly Stalemate Favors Assad Regime AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to Syria, where the conflict between President Bashar al-Assad and rebels seeking his ouster has just entered its fourth year. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says more than 146,000 people have been killed since the conflict began March 15, 2011, roughly half of them civilians. The conflict has displaced more than nine million people, with two-and-a-half million refugees living outside Syria and six-and-a-half million displaced within the country. Last week, Save the Children reported several thousand Syrian kids have died because of a drastic reduction in access to health services, losing their lives to diseases and conditions including cancer, epilepsy, asthma, diabetes, hypertension and kidney failure. Overall, at least 10,000 children have died in violence. Last month, the second round of peace talks aimed at resolving the conflict ended in deadlock in Geneva. To find out more, we are joined by Democracy Now!
Dan O'Huiginn