BEIRUT (AP) — The U.S. military says a misdirected airstrike this week killed 18 allied fighters battling the Islamic State group in northern Syria. U.S. Central Command said Thursday that coalition aircraft were given the wrong coordinates by their partner forces, the predominantly-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, for a strike intended to target Islamic State militants […]
syria
Posted inOp-Eds
Middle East’s siren call will capture Trump
In Greek mythology, sirens were beautiful creatures that lured sailors to their doom with their hypnotic voices. In Homer’s epic, “The Odyssey,” ships came to ruin on jagged reefs, following siren song, the pull of the beautiful voices so strong that the hero Odysseus, in order not to succumb, commanded that his crew lash him […]
advertisement
Posted inNation / World
Russia accuses U.S. of unlawful Syria raid
MOSCOW — Russia’s top diplomat accused the United States on Wednesday of carrying out an unlawful attack against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces as he opened a fraught meeting with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Giving Tillerson a chilly reception, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia was trying to understand the “real […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Trump’s foray against Syria for real, or a distraction?
WASHINGTON — On Aug. 20, 1998, American Tomahawk cruise missiles hit sites in Afghanistan and Sudan in retaliation for attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The targets of the assault, ordered by President Bill Clinton, were Osama bin Laden and his band of terrorists. In light of what would happen three years later, […]
Posted inNation / World
Rex Tillerson: Russia must choose between Assad and the U.S.
LUCCA, Italy — U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson issued an ultimatum to Russia on Tuesday: Side with the U.S. and likeminded countries on Syria, or embrace Iran, militant group Hezbollah and embattled Syrian leader Bashar Assad. As he embarked on a trip to Moscow following urgent meetings in Italy with top diplomats, Tillerson said […]
Posted inNation / World
Trump administration pressures Russia to drop Assad support
Officials in the Trump administration on Sunday demanded Russia stop supporting the Syrian government or face a further deterioration in its relations with the United States. Signaling the focus of talks Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will have in Moscow later this week, officials said Russia, in propping up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, bears at […]
Posted inNation / World
Did Russia take part in chemical weapons attack?
PALM BEACH, Fla. — The United States is looking into whether Russia participated in the Syrian chemical weapons attack that provoked President Donald Trump’s airstrikes against the Assad government, a revelation that could have dramatic implications for relations between Washington and Moscow. On Friday, senior U.S. military officials said a drone belonging to either Russia […]
Posted inNation / World
Analysis: Can the president attack another country without Congress?
President Donald Trump walks from the podium after speaking at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida., on Thursday, April 6, 2017, after the U.S. fired a barrage of cruise missiles into Syria Thursday night in retaliation for this week’s gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians. WASHINGTON — The U.S. missile strikes Thursday on a Syrian air […]
Posted inNation / World
U.S. missiles kill 6 at Syrian military airfield
Washington Post reporter Dan Lamothe explains why President Trump launched 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian military airfield on April 6 and what this means for the fight against the Islamic State (Sarah Parnass, Julio Negron, The Washington Post). The U.S. military launched 59 cruise missiles at a Syrian military airfield late on Thursday, in […]
Posted inNation / World
U.S. blasts Syria base with cruise missiles
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters on Air Force One while in flight from Andrews Air Force Base, Md., to Palm Beach International Airport, Fla., Thursday, April 6, 2017. WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States fired a barrage of cruise missiles into Syria Thursday night in retaliation for this week’s gruesome chemical weapons attack against […]