Rebels attack air base in northern Syria In Saturday’s fighting at the Abu Zuhour air base in northwestern Idlib province, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were casualties on both sides. The base has been under rebel siege for months. The Observatory and the Local Coordination Committees said the Syrian air force conducted several air raids during the fighting to ease pressure on government troops inside the air base.

Cameron fears Iraq effect holding West back in Syria UK PM David Cameron has expressed concern that international action in Syria may be being held back because of fears of a repeat of the Iraq war. It follows evidence from the US and the UK that Syrian government troops may have used chemical weapons. Mr Cameron said world leaders must look at Syria and “ask ourselves what more we can do.”

 

Investigative Reports

Syria: Al-Qaeda’s battle for control of Assad’s chemical weapons plant The fight for al-Safira is no ordinary turf war, however, and the prize can be found behind the perimeter walls of the heavily-guarded military base on the edge of town. Inside what looks like a drab industrial estate is one of Syria’s main facilities for producing chemical weapons – and among its products is sarin, the lethal nerve gas that the regime is now feared to be deploying in its bid to cling to power.

Lebanon dragged in as Hezbollah joins Syria war The Shi’ite Muslim group, designated a terrorist organization by the United States, is the most effective military body in Lebanon and its growing involvement in Syria’s quagmire has angered Lebanese Sunni rebel sympathizers. The Hezbollah stronghold of Baalbek, famed for its colossal Roman ruins, now feels like a garrison town. Hezbollah men in military fatigues and police outfits are everywhere. As are Jeeps and Chevrolets with blacked-out windows – the group’s vehicles of choice.

 

Analyses & Op-Eds

Islamist Rebels Create Dilemma on Syria Policy Across Syria, rebel-held areas are dotted with Islamic courts staffed by lawyers and clerics, and by fighting brigades led by extremists. Even the Supreme Military Council, the umbrella rebel organization whose formation the West had hoped would sideline radical groups, is stocked with commanders who want to infuse Islamic law into a future Syrian government. Nowhere in rebel-controlled Syria is there a secular fighting force to speak of. This is the landscape President Obama confronts as he considers how to respond to growing evidence that Syrian officials have used chemical weapons, crossing a “red line” he had set. More than two years of violence have radicalized the armed opposition fighting the government of President Bashar al-Assad, leaving few groups that both share the political vision of the United States and have the military might to push it forward.

Analysis: No good military options for U.S. in Syria Possible military choices range from limited one-off missile strikes from ships – one of the less complicated scenarios – to bolder operations like carving out no-fly safe zones. One of the most politically unpalatable possibilities envisions sending tens of thousands of U.S. forces to help secure Syrian chemical weapons. Obama has so far opposed limited steps, like arming anti-government rebels, but pressure to deepen U.S. involvement in Syria’s civil war has grown since Thursday’s White House announcement that President Bashar al-Assad likely used chemical weapons.

Obama’s ‘red line’ on Syria: An Iraq-like ‘slam dunk’ moment? (+video) President Obama said a ‘red line’ would be crossed if the Syrian regime used chemical weapons against rebels. Might that propel the US into war, as those elusive ‘weapons of mass destruction’ did in Iraq?

My new paper, prepared for a briefing in Washington, D.C. that took place on January 15, 2013, is now out and is titled “Syria 2013: Rise of the Warlords.” It should be read in conjunction with my previous briefing “The Shredded Tapestry,” and my recent essay “The Creation of an Unbridgeable Divide.”

 

Video Highlights