Grading Obama’s Middle East Strategy (Sensibly): Part II: Syria
... and, unlike Qaddafi’s, had strong patrons in Russia and Iran who would complicate and increase the costs of any Western ... ... 2012 the CIA began helping U.S. allies Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar vet and identify rebels moderate enough to recommend them ... ... publicly by several major Western governments (including that of the United States), Human Rights Watch, and later by the United Nations.... ... international meddlers in this conflict (e.g. Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, the Gulf states…), and 4.) since the overall post-2003 Iraq ...