Defense Minister Daoud Rajiha and former intelligence chief Assef Shawkat of Syria were both reported killed in a suicide bombing attack during a minister's meeting in Damascus. (Sana / Reuters ; Khaled al-Hariri, Reuters / Landov)
Who Will Run Assad's Killing Machine Now That His Top Butchers Are Dead? -- Con Coughlin, The Telegraph
Today's murder of President Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law and the Syrian Defence Minister in what appears to have been a suicide bomb attack is a serious blow for the Syrian regime and its ability to terrorise anti-regime opponents into submission.
Both Assef Shawkat, Assad's brother-in-law and one of the regime's most feared intelligence operatives, and General Dawoud Rajha, the Defence Minister, have played a critical role in masterminding the brutal campaign to suppress anti-government protests during the past year. Shawkat, in particular, has a long history of involvement in running the regime's terrorist infrastructure, having been implicated in the failed plot in 1986 to smuggle a bomb on board an Israeli El Al airliner at Heathrow airport.
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Commentaries, Opinions, Ann Editorials
A Syrian civil war threatens region -- National Editorial
Libya's defeated Islamists -- Omar Ashour, Al Jazeera
Libya's Goldilocks election: 'Neither Islamist, nor liberal' -- John Thorne, Christian Science Monitor
With military draft reform, Netanyahu learns he can't please everyone -- Joshua Mitnick, Christian Science Monitor
What China gains by propping up North Korea -- Andrei Lankov, Gulf News/Washington Post
Signs emerge that young Kim Jong-un is leading North Korea his way -- Jean H. Lee, Washington Times/AP
China’s Big Win -- Voice of America
Ethnic Cleansing in Myanmar -- Moshahida Sultana Ritu, New York Times
The U.S.-Pakistan Catastrophe -- Doug Bandow, The National Interest
Putin’s eyes on the Far East -- Korea Joong Ang Daily
Russia offers economic opportunity -- SEN. Max Baucus and SEN. John Kerry, Politico
Obama’s wartime negligence aids GOP -- Benjamin Runkle, Washington Times
The Era of Oil Abundance: Meet the winners and losers of the coming age of plenty. -- Steve Levine, Foreign Policy
The art of smart power -- Hillary Clinton, New Statesman
Congressman Adam Smith's foreign policy problem -- Will Inboden, Shadow Government/Foreign Policy
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