Creative diplomacy needed as conflict in Syria threatens its neighbors

Creative diplomacy needed as conflict in Syria threatens its neighbors

John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Decrying a rising death toll and an escalation of violence, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly called yet again for progress towards a political transition to defuse Syria’s civil war, now in its third year. Though the resolution strongly condemns the Syrian government of Bashar Assad for its increased use […]

Syria’s future: Israel favors fragmentation while Saudis want reliable counter to Iran

Syria’s future: Israel favors fragmentation while Saudis want reliable counter to Iran

Special to WorldTribune.com By Brian M Downing The Syrian rebellion is bringing new security concerns to many countries, especially Israel. Under the Assads, Syria had been cowed by Israeli military superiority. Syria’s future, its intentions and capabilities, are in doubt. Israel cannot determine the outcome of events there – no state or group of states […]

Russian flotilla heads for Mediterranean to counter NATO role in Syria

Russian flotilla heads for Mediterranean to counter NATO role in Syria

Special to WorldTribune.com Compiled by Miles Yu, Geostrategy-Direct.com Over 300 Russian Marines are onboard a flotilla of at least five warships from Russia’s Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet en route to the Syrian coast in the Mediterranean, both Russian and Israeli sources have confirmed. Moscow had earlier stated that the purpose of sending […]

Israel’s successful Sudan air strike delivered a pointed message to Iran

Israel’s successful Sudan air strike delivered a pointed message to Iran

Special to WorldTribune.com Global Information System Israel’s precision air strike on Oct. 24, against the Yarmouk weapons production facility in the suburbs of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, was — apart from destroying a facility which provided rockets and missiles to Hamas to use against Israel — clearly intended to send a direct message to the […]

Iran to the rescue: Thousands of special ops troops said arriving in Syria

Iran to the rescue: Thousands of special ops troops said arriving in Syria

Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — Iran was said to have poured thousands of elite troops into Syria. The Syrian opposition said thousands of members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have arrived in Syria. Opposition sources said the Iranian troops came from special operations units, with many of them skilled in sniper and explosives. “They […]

Russia to base six warships at Tartous, Syria through October

Russia to base six warships at Tartous, Syria through October

Special to WorldTribune.com MOSCOW — The Russian Navy has sent a flotilla to Syria for an exercise in the eastern Mediterranean. The Russian Defense Ministry said the Navy was sending at least six vessels for an exercise in the Atlantic Ocean, Black Sea and Mediterranean. The ministry said the flotilla, sent amid the intensification of […]

Solving Syria: Instead of blue helmets, why not Russian and Chinese boots on the ground?

Solving Syria: Instead of blue helmets, why not Russian and Chinese boots on the ground?

Special to WorldTribune.com By Sumantra Maitra, FreePressers.com Over a hundred people, most of them children and women were bayoneted to a slow, systematic and horrific death ostensibly by pro-governmental forces in the Syrian city of Houla, a few days back. According to the UN Monitors, fewer than twenty people died from shelling and the others […]

What good are technological advances if common sense is going the way of dinosaurs?

What good are technological advances if common sense is going the way of dinosaurs?

Sol W. Sanders [See Archive Imagine a graph representing world problems: There are two mounting growth lines. One represents “technology”, defined as “the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes.” The other charts “common sense”, defined as “sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.” At the upper corner […]

In Aleppo, Syria’s business elites are voting with their money

In Aleppo, Syria’s business elites are voting with their money

Special to WorldTribune.com LONDON — The powerful business elite in Syria is said to be steadily withdrawing from the regime of President Bashar Assad. Western diplomats and opposition sources said leading Syrian industrialists and investors were quietly transferring their funds out of the country. They said the most powerful element of the elite, based in […]

What reset? What Arab Spring? Veto of Syria resolution reminds world of its Russia-China problem

What reset? What Arab Spring? Veto of Syria resolution reminds world of its Russia-China problem

John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton may have lambasted Russia’s veto of a Security Council resolution on Syria, calling it a “travesty,” but did she really think for a moment that Moscow was going to ditch an old political ally? Did Hillary moreover really believe that Beijing was going to […]