Wall Street Journal editorial: Syria’s Phony Peace Talks
Assad bombs with impunity while Islamic State gains ground.
Regarding the Syrian peace talks that began over the weekend in Geneva, allow us to raise two questions: What peace—and what talks?
The regime of Bashar Assad is intensifying its longstanding “starve or kneel” policy against besieged enclaves containing an estimated half a million people. The regime has also scored recent battlefield victories against moderate opposition forces, aided by a combination of Russian air power, Hezbollah ground fighters and Iran’s elite Quds Force.
Meantime, the Institute for the Study of War reports that Islamic State (ISIS) has responded to its recent losses in Iraq by launching a fresh offensive in eastern Syria to consolidate control of the Euphrates River valley, while the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front is gaining strength in Aleppo, once Syria’s commercial capital. Neither ISIS nor Nusra are at the talks, and they will continue to fight regardless of what comes out of Geneva.
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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- February 1, 2016
There Is No Plan B if the Syria Peace Talks Fail: And, trust me, they will. So what comes next? -- James Traub, Foreign Policy
Podcast: Why the Iran-Saudi showdown is a gift to ISIS -- Jason Fields, Reuters
Is America about to sleepwalk into a war in Libya? -- Trevor Timm, Gulf News
The Americans Who Volunteer to Fight ISIS -- Roc Morin, The Atlantic
Netanyahu thinks mild Ban Ki-moon incites terror -- Robert Fisk, The Independent
Turkey: Are we at war or not? -- Nuray Mert, Daily Hurriyet News
Why Iran's Khamenei resorts to Holocaust denial -- Meir Javedanfar, Middle East Eye
Africa Survey Links Infrastructure Spending to Poverty Reduction -- William Eagle, VOA
Moldova’s pro-Western facade -- Natalia Otel Belan and Marc Schleifer, Politico
The Young Drug Lords Fighting for El Chapo’s Throne -- Jeremy Kryt, Daily Beast
Latin America Shows No Sympathy for Venezuela -- Mac Margolis, Bloomberg
US role in ending a Central American war -- CSM Editorial
Kerry's Russia Problem -- Eli Lake, Bloomberg
A Lesson from Germany, for Clinton's E-Mail Scandal -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg
The Fed Is Freaked Out About the Financial Markets -- Lawrence Kudlow, Real Clear Politics
The 3 Worst National Security Ideas Out of the Iowa Debate -- Daniel Depetris, Defense One/Quartz
Why you can’t just wipe out mosquitoes to get rid of the Zika virus -- Helen Coster, Reuters
