Guy Taylor
Articles by Guy Taylor
U.S. intelligence nearly certain pro-Russian separatists downed Malaysian Airlines flight
U.S. intelligence officials say they are now nearly certain it was pro-Russian separatists who fired the SA-11 antiaircraft missile that downed a Malaysia Airlines flight last week, and that the separatists likely did not know they had hit a commercial airliner until after it had slammed to the ground. Published July 22, 2014
Israel’s ambassador praises Obama, slams Human Rights Watch report
Israel's ambassador to the United States praised the Obama administration for standing in support of the now two-week-old Israeli military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on Tuesday, despite calls this week by President Obama for a cease-fire. Published July 22, 2014
U.S. scrambles as violence escalates in Israel-Hamas conflict
With diplomats from Middle Eastern states and several outside powers scrambling to stem the spiraling Israeli-Palestinian crisis on Monday, President Obama called for a cease-fire and cited "serious concerns" about the rising toll of dead on both sides. Published July 21, 2014
MH17: Fear of ground-to-air missile strike becomes nightmare reality in Ukraine
The downing of a passenger plane over Eastern Ukraine Thursday rekindled long-held fears in Washington about threats posed to commercial aircraft by shoulder-fired missiles. Published July 17, 2014
U.S., China to participate in unprecedented joint ground force exercise
The Pentagon said Thursday that U.S. and Chinese military forces have agreed to participate in an unprecedented land training exercise together in Australia later this year. Published July 17, 2014
Bergdahl returned to active duty
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who spent nearly five years as a Taliban captive in Afghanistan, was returned to regular duty Monday, a development that one key lawmaker said keeps open the possibility that he may be charged in a military court martial with deserting his unit in Afghanistan in 2009. Published July 14, 2014
Israel rejects talk of cease-fire; Hamas targets suspected nuke site
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the idea of a cease-fire between Israeli military forces and Hamas is "not on the agenda," despite a mediation offer from President Obama. Published July 10, 2014
Germany demands ouster of U.S. spy chief
The German government has taken the eye-opening step of formally requesting that the top U.S. intelligence official in Berlin leave the nation, amid ongoing friction between Washington and German authorities over eavesdropping by the U.S. National Security Agency. Published July 10, 2014
Senate committee presses Obama administration on inaction against Russia
Senate Democrats and Republicans pressed the Obama administration for clarity Wednesday on why it has not been more aggressive in using economic sanctions to deter ongoing Russian meddling in Ukraine. Published July 9, 2014
Obama backs Israel’s strikes on Hamas after assault on civilians
Rising tensions in the Gaza Strip have put President Obama's sometimes rocky relationship with Israel back in the spotlight and afforded the administration an opportunity to back a growing military crackdown on Hamas for its spate of rocket attacks against Israeli civilians. Published July 8, 2014
ISIL leader emerges in sign of bravado as Iraqi government flounders
U.S. intelligence officials confirmed Monday that the shadowy leader of a Sunni terrorist group wreaking havoc in Iraq made a rare public appearance in Mosul last week — a display that signals the militants' growing confidence in their gains even as the country's divided political blocs failed to reach consensus on a new government to counter the al Qaeda-inspired extremists. Published July 7, 2014
Pentagon: No Iraq invasion unless U.S. homeland is threatened
The Pentagon came as close as it has to date on Thursday to identifying a red line that would need to be crossed for the Obama administration to justify an aggressive U.S. military attack on the al Qaeda-inspired extremists who have declared a new Islamic state spanning the border between Syria and Iraq. Published July 3, 2014
Iraqi Kurds seek independence but with voice in Baghdad
Top Kurdish officials walked a rhetorical tightrope Wednesday, telling a Washington audience that they are pushing for an independent state while not closing off ties with the embattled central government in Baghdad, as Iraq's prime minister warned that al Qaeda-inspired militants posed a threat to every country in the region. Published July 2, 2014
Hammer or scalpel: Fewer restraints seen as teen deaths stoke Israeli fury toward Palestinians
With the Israeli Air Force pounding dozens of targets inside Gaza Tuesday in retaliation for the death of three Israeli teens believed to have been murdered at the hands of Palestinian militants, the stars appear to be aligned for an especially fierce spasm of new violence between the two sides. Published July 1, 2014
Rally of strange bedfellows : To change Iran, U.S. group backs former ‘terrorists’
An array of high-level former U.S. officials, both Democrats and Republicans, were in France over the weekend calling for regime change in Iran and throwing their collective weight behind an Iranian dissident group once designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union. Published June 29, 2014
Iraq’s crisis threatens to turn into regional war
Iraq's sectarian crisis is threatening to evolve into a regional war as Washington's two main adversaries in the Middle East — Syria and Iran — mount a military response to Sunni extremists who have seized swaths of Iraqi territory over the past three weeks. Published June 26, 2014
House intel chief: Obama ignored Iraq warnings
The Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said Wednesday that he and other lawmakers were briefed more than a year ago on the dangers of the al Qaeda-inspired group now wreaking havoc in Iraq, accusing President Obama of a "policy failure" in failing to prevent their advances. Published June 25, 2014
Kurdish leader cites ‘new reality’ in Iraq, meets with Kerry
Secretary of State John F. Kerry extended his sweep through Iraq Tuesday, stopping in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, where a top Kurdish leader warned that a recent advance of Sunni extremists has created "a new reality and a new Iraq." Published June 24, 2014
Kerry pushes back against independent Kurdish state
Secretary of State John F. Kerry extended his sweep through a reeling Iraq Tuesday, stopping in the northern city of Irbil, where a top powerful Kurdish political leader warned that recent advance of Sunni extremists has created "a new reality and a new Iraq." Published June 24, 2014
Pollster says Obama’s solution for Iraq must be all-inclusive
A leading Iraqi pollster said the Obama administration's push for a cross-sectarian government in Baghdad will work only if it includes serious outreach to former Baathists, local Sunni tribal leaders and other armed groups who have the power to drive surging al Qaeda-minded extremists from the nation's western and northern regions. Published June 23, 2014