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Syria crisis: Nato approves Patriots for Turkey

NATO warns Syria not to use chemical weapons

Syria Says 29 Students Killed in Mortar Attack

CNN: Looking at Syria’s chemical weapons

Special Reports

Brian Whitaker: Six pointers to Assad’s fall
Each day’s news brings more reasons to believe the Assad regime’s fall cannot be far away. Viewed individually these signs may not in themselves spell doom for the regime but collectively they do: 1) Withdrawal of UN and diplomatic personnel, 2) Jihad Makdissi flees, 3) Damascus airport [closed], 4) Internet shutdown, 5) US reviewing its options, and 6) Chemical weapons.

Are Syria’s rebels about to win?
Syrian rebels have made significant gains in recent weeks as support for Assad shows signs of fraying.

Is Russia About To Ditch Syria? The Truth Is That It May Not Matter
…if you’re going to go the humanitarian intervention route you can’t have “overthrow Assad” as the stopping point. In fact, overthrowing Assad has to be the beginning of a very lengthy process of political reconciliation in an extraordinarily tense and dangerous environment.

In Damascus, Bracing For The Worst
For many months, Damascus was spared the worst of the fighting. But amid the increasing battles in and around the city, almost every Damascene household seems to be doubling or tripling up with extended family.

The Confessions of a Sniper: A Rebel Gunman in Aleppo and His Conscience
Like many men on the front line, the Sniper has found solace in religion, but his is a politicized form of Islam. He speaks admirably of the extremist Jabhat al-Nusra group that has been responsible for some of the most spectacular suicide bombings against regime targets. “They are clean and doing good work,” he says. He wants to join them, if he can “cleanse” his body and mind, he says pointing to a red pack of Gauloises cigarettes. A day later, he quit smoking.

Syrian refugees face brutal winter with inadequate shelter and food
The Syrians who walked 18 hours to seek refuge in Lebanon have escaped the fear of government attack. But with the brutal winter closing in, some would rather go back home to warfare.

As fighting subsides, Aleppo residents find little left
Skyrocketing food prices and shortages mean some Syrian children are eating only one small meal a day, if that. Residents in one Aleppo neighborhood have taken matters into their own hands, collecting money to buy food for the neediest — but it’s never enough.

As Syria Unravels, Russia Tries to Bolster Future Position
Inside Syria, Russian envoys are meeting opposition politicians. Two weeks from now, Russia will support a meeting in Italy of what it hopes will be a pro-Russian group: the National Coordinating Committee for Democratic Change.

How Would Assad Use Chemical Weapons?
Upholding the U.S. declaration requires readiness to commit armed forces to eliminating Syria’s CW capability and punishing the regime and its forces for using them. It means having military assets earmarked or in place to act quickly with overwhelming force, and to deal with the post-attack environment. It does not mean relying on diplomacy as the sole or even main response. Failure to respond with force to any use of chemical weapons would be dire. The regime would see it as a signal to conduct more attacks, and the opposition would see it as a complete abandonment.

Condoleezza Rice: We’ve Waited ‘Very Late’ to Intervene in Syria
The former secretary of state, speaking at the Women in the World Summit, addresses reports that chemical weapons are being readied by the Syrian government.

Syrian rebels riding momentum to Damascus
The fighting follows a number of gains for opposition forces in the north of Syria, which has sparked optimism among Syrians hoping for the downfall of the Assad regime.

‘Sun setting’ on US chance to shape Syria’s transition
Pro-democracy activists are concerned that US and Western reticence is inadvertently handing the initiative to radical Islamist forces which receive considerable financial and military assistance from the Gulf.

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