The women and children waited until early morning of April 28 and then they fled in their hundreds. Most of the Syrians walked the few short kilometers from their hometown of Tall Kalakh, a cluster of low-slung cream-colored homes scattered on a gently sloping hill, toward the sleepy Lebanese village of Al-Boqia’a just across the river that demarcates the border, a two-hour drive north of Beirut
Tag Archives: security
Finding Niches in a New Land
“What country is this?” Many bemused Americans might ask that question as they go about their work and play. Whether shopping for vegetables among the hundreds of Korean-run greengroceries in Manhattan, or stopping for the night at one of the innumerable Indian-owned hotels in California, Americans are increasingly finding that entire businesses have acquired a foreign-born flavor.
Syria: Is Assad’s Clan Turning Against Him?
This post is in partnership with Worldcrunch, a new global news site that translates stories of note in foreign languages into English.
Syria: Who Is the Real President Assad?
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s carefully cultivated image as a modest leader with reformist leanings, close to his people and understanding of their concerns, has taken a severe beating after a month of brutal security measures against a burgeoning civil protest movement for greater freedoms that has slowly stretched across the country. The tall, trim, blue-eyed father of three has responded to the uprising in his country, the greatest challenge to his 11-year rule, with a characteristic mix of soft and hard measures, promising reform while also unleashing his security forces on the streets to crush dissent
Fly Now, Pay Later
Like many flight attendants, William Conn, 30, of Miami, often took advantage of an airline practice called deadheading, in which employees hitch rides to work assigned flights in other cities.
Arming Libya’s Rebels: A Debate in Doha
Guns, money, oil, and an ex-spy chief slinking in the shadows: that’s what it came down to Wednesday in Qatar’s capital Doha when the NATO-led alliance marshaling air strikes on Libya gathered to defend its actions and brainstorm on how to help a ragtag rebel army finally dethrone Colonel Muammar Qaddafi. The coalition dismissed recent criticism and claims of inner discord with an early statement that the “international community remained united and firm in its resolve.” The same statement boasted that the alliance’s “efforts to date had exerted significant pressure on Gaddafi, protected civilians ..
Is Negotiating with Gaddafi the Only Way Out?
South African President Jacob Zuma landed in Tripoli Sunday to meet with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to discuss a resolution to the ongoing crisis.
Military Spending: Why the Defense Budget Should Be Cut
You know the government’s broken when, in the face of tough fiscal times, the President freezes government spending but gives the military a pass. That’s because spending on the military and homeland security, following 9/11 and the launch of two wars in its wake, has become sacrosanct.
Libya’s Rebels Celebrate the U.N. Resolution
Libya’s beleaguered rebels may have gotten a reprieve. The United Nations Security Council not only passed a resolution imposing a no-fly zone over Libya but authorized ground attacks on regime forces besieging the opposition stronghold of Benghazi.
Foreign Relations: A Look Down That Long Road
To the members of the National Security Council, seated around the coffin-shaped table in the Cabinet Room of the White House, the President of the U.S.