President Obama has said Syria’s use of chemical weapons would be a ‘red line.’ Evidence is mounting, but Obama’s desire for an international response throws prospects for action into doubt.
Since August, President Obama has laid down use or transfer of Syria’s chemicals weapons as a ‘red line.’ The White House letter puts the US closer to acknowledging such a line has been crossed.
Three key US allies — Britain, France, and Israel — have said Syria has used chemical weapons in its civil war, but the US, wary of intervening in the conflict, is calling the evidence ‘inconclusive.’
President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin are hinting at hopes of getting past disputes over human rights to issues of mutual interest to the two powers, like missile defense.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad called for a chemical-weapons investigation of an alleged March 19 attack, but he’s apparently gotten cold feet. Here’s why.
In response to the threats from North Korea’s untested young leader, the Obama administration has sought to reassure the US public and allies alike, but without saying very much.
The diplomatic impasse over Syria deepens, as Russia blasts moves to recognize the Syrian opposition and demands to be represented in the UN investigation into alleged use of chemical weapons.
Secretary of State John Kerry tells Iraq it must curb Iran’s use of Iraqi airspace to aid Syrian regime, but a shrinking US presence is leaving it with less sway over postwar events.
The Saudi foreign minister and director general of the UN’s IAEA both voice suspicions that Iran is using nuclear talks as a delaying tactic to allow its nuclear program time to advance.
US Ambassador Susan Rice says the Security Council’s quick and unanimous condemnation of North Korea’s nuclear test is a sign the UN response will be ‘credible.’ But all eyes are still on China.
The Senate voted 94-to-3 to confirm John Kerry as secretary of State. He has Obama’s trust and appears in sync with him on policy, but the president may be primarily focused on domestic affairs.
North Korea is sending out dire threats daily and could carry out a nuclear test. Even China, North Korea’s strongest ally, is increasingly willing to cooperate with the US to chasten the rogue nation.
China’s support for the US-sponsored Security Council measure sends a message to North Korea that any future missile launch or nuclear test will likely be met with harsher UN sanctions.
Fifty-seven countries on Monday urged the UN Security Council to ask the International Criminal Court at The Hague to investigate possible war crimes in Syria. The call comes as other groups report a spike in sexual violence in Syria.
The meeting Friday at the White House between Obama and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai may lay a foundation for the coming year’s negotiations over US role in the country after 2014.
President Obama wants John Brennan to head the CIA. In the confirmation process, he could face questions from the left and right about his past at the CIA and his vision for the war on terror.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai will be in Washington next week to meet with President Obama. Top of the agenda: deciding whether US troops should stay beyond 2014 – and how many.
Settlement plans east of Jerusalem – decried by the US and Europeans – were meant to punish Palestinians and satisfy domestic political pressure in Israel, Ambassador Michael Oren says.
Most of the actions in the US-Iran covert war remain mysterious and unclaimed – until one side sees an advantage in shining light on an incident. That’s what Iran has done with the drone capture.
Some nations are warming to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s bid for enhanced UN status. After the Gaza conflict, they see the moderate Abbas as a counterweight to Hamas.
By Howard LaFranchi
May 1, 2013