Sunday, July 15, 2012

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- July 15, 2012

Members of Free Syrian Army, under the name of Farouq Brigades, attend a daily training at Sarmada near Idlib province July 9, 2012. Photo by Reuters

Pressure Valve Off In al-Assad's Syria -- Fareed Zakaria, CNN

Over the past sixteen months of bloody conflict in Syria, observers have been waiting for one key development: top-level defections from within President Bashar al-Assad's inner circle. Suddenly, it seems a pressure valve has gone off. Pilots, ambassadors, and even one general have defected. What does it mean?

The general is Manaf Tlas, a childhood friend of Assad, and an officer in the elite Republican Guard.

Tlas’s father was chief of staff and then minister of defense, for 30 years, under Bashar’s father Hafez al-Assad. This is as close to the top of the Syrian regime as you might get. That’s why Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took special note of Tlas.

Read more ....

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials

The breaking point in Syria -- Washington Post editorial

Syria's detached and deluded elite? -- Fareed Zakaria, CNN

Misreading Iran at our peril: Radicals still seeking nukes -- Ilan Berman, Washington Times

Analysis: U.N.'s Iran atom probe "hostage" to big power diplomacy -- Fredrik Dahl, Reuters

The Sources of Iranian Conduct -- Sohrab Ahmari, The American Interest

The Egyptian mess -- Aaron David Miller, L.A. Times

Our high-maintenance relationship with Pakistan
-- David Ignatius, Washington Post

A proper pivot toward Asia -- Washington Post editorial

For Tibetans, no other way to protest
-- Lobsang Sangay, Washington Post

Ethnic Cleansing in Myanmar -- Moshahida Sultana Ritu, New York Times

Islamist Generation: Today’s Muslim youth are less Westernized than their parents were. -- Mark Steyn, NRO

How should liberal democracies deal with China and Russia? -- Michael Ignatieff, Reuters

Echo of an Impending War -- Sergei Karaganov, Russia in Global Affairs

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