As Silly Season winds to a close, there were a smattering of
'Obama's on vacation -- how dare he!?!' stories, as usual. Obama has
taken less than a third of the days off that President Bush did, but
that certainly doesn't stop pundits from complaining every time Obama
picks up a golf club.
Political writer and blogger at ChrisWeigant.com
With Syria's war well into its third year, another depressing marker has
been crossed - now more than 3 million men, women and children live as
refu...
Gregory Beals is a journalist and a
humanitarian who has worked for the past eight years in conflict zones
and emergencies. You can find him on Instagram under the handle
Therefugeeroad
On May 29, 2013, one of the guards came to our cell and told me I
would be released. I didn't believe him, I thought I was going to be
executed. The guards shaved my hair off and I was sure I was going to
die.
Syrian Kurdish rights activist, member of the Union of Young Kurds
Until and unless the U.S. has leadership that is as determined,
disciplined and focused as is found in the newly established caliphate,
we may find the 21st century being overwhelmed and subjugated by the 7th
century.
Founder, GlobalEconomicCrisis.com
What is a constant here is that there is a Saudi-Egyptian-Emirati
strategic relationship with important regional dimensions, and this
deserves appreciation, at least for what it represents in the regional
balance of power and as a bulwark against the projects led by radical
Islamist groups.
Columnist and Senior Diplomatic Correspondent, Al Hayat
In early August, ISIS forces attacked the Lebanese Syrian refugee
border town of Arsal, provoking a major fire-fight with the Lebanese
Army. Apparently, one of ISIS's major military commanders -- Imad
Ahmad Jomaa -- had been apprehended inside the refugee camp (holding
hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees) likely on a recruiting mission
to create a fifth column of ISIS operatives inside Lebanon.
Fmr. U.S. Ambassador to Morocco &
White House Middle East Adviser/CEO of Peaceworks LLC & The OneVoice
Movement Foundation
In short, the War on Terror at home has not changed at all, but
the war abroad has, and it is this factor that presents the U.S. with a
rare opportunity.
During the past few weeks on Mt. Sinjar, we have seen both the worst and the best of what humanity can do.
President, Refugees International
CNN was interviewing someone named Mike Baker who was identified
as "a former CIA covert operations officer." The interview was about the
United States beginning to fly surveillance missions over Syria.
The youth have the ability to share the raw truth of a story as
they struggle to understand the events unfolding before their eyes. They
have the ability to bring adults into a youthful frame of reference,
one that may perhaps lead to bridging borders instead of dropping bombs.
Writer/ Educator / Coffee-Loving Change Agent
At what point do mistakes aggregate into something evil? At the
very least, do they prevent us from claiming the mantle of good? And, of
course, it's not just the mistakes that are problematic but also the
deliberate policies that, for instance, align Washington with dictators
and other murderous actors.
Director, Foreign Policy In Focus
For thousands of children in Syria, summer vacation is no longer
about taking a break from their hectic school lives. On the contrary,
with displacement and violence regularly interrupting normal classes,
many children around the country used their summer break to visit school
clubs and catch up on lost school days.
Unicef Syria communcation officer
The recent beheading of freelance journalist James Foley
(pictured above) by militants from the Islamic State highlights the
growing dangers that freelance reporters covering conflict zones face.
Author and editor, New America Media
Consider the cases of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain.
They are not democracies by any meaningful definition of the term; they
are all committing grave violations of human rights; and yet we are not
seeking to overthrow their governments.
Policy Director, Just Foreign Policy
Given the current momentum of ISIS and stated intentions to
expand its caliphate, it may well attempt to increase its activity in
northwest Syria and southern Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and southern Turkey.
Professor of Religion and International Affairs, Georgetown University
We need to stem the tide of those who are going to become foreign
fighters--taking a long hard look at what their motivations are and
what we can do about them and also stopping the instigators inside our
countries--particularly in Europe to be stopped.
Author of Talking to Terrorists and Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Georgetown University Medical School
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