Guy Taylor
Articles by Guy Taylor
U.S. can’t prove Bashar Assad approved chemical attacks in Syria
U.S. intelligence has yet to uncover evidence that Syrian President Bashar Assad directly ordered the chemical attacks last month on civilians in a suburb of Damascus, though the consensus inside U.S. agencies and Congress is that members of Mr. Assad's inner circle likely gave the command, officials tell The Washington Times. Published September 11, 2013
Woman who wrote WSJ op-ed cited during Syria hearing fired for lying
The woman whom Secretary of State John F. Kerry cited for evidence that the rebels aren't infiltrated by al Qaeda-linked fighters has been fired from her think tank job for lying about her academic credentials, her employer said Wednesday. Published September 11, 2013
Analysts counter claims on number of al Qaeda among Syrian rebels
Al Qaeda-linked groups operating alongside Syria's rebels are growing stronger, analysts told Congress on Tuesday, countering recent claims by the Obama administration and some senior lawmakers that extremists are playing only a marginal role in the civil war. Published September 10, 2013
Lawmaker warns: Chaos from Assad fall could give al Qaeda chemical weapons
Should Syrian President Bashar Assad's government come apart chaotically — a possible ramification of U.S. military strikes — the risk is high that al Qaeda-linked groups among Syria's opposition forces could gain access to the nation's lethal chemical weapons stocks, the head of the House Homeland Security Committee warned Tuesday. Published September 10, 2013
Al Qaeda’s strength with Syrian rebels now being downplayed
The Obama administration has started to rebrand Syria's rebels by de-emphasizing the number of al Qaeda fighters among them — a move critics say is based on questionable intelligence designed to downplay the risks associated with a U.S. military strike on the regime of President Bashar Assad. Published September 9, 2013
Intel clashes with Obama’s election-year al Qaeda claims
EXCLUSIVE — As President Obama ran to election victory last fall with claims that al Qaeda was “decimated” and “on the run,” his intelligence team was privately offering an assessment that the terror network was shifting resources to emerging spinoff groups in Africa that posed fresh threats. Published September 9, 2013
What U.N.? Obama runs Bush playbook by assembling coalition of the willing
President Obama's stated willingness to go it alone on Syria surprises those who followed him during the previous administration, when, as a senator, he derided George W. Bush's commitment to multilateralism and questioned his "coalition of the willing" in Iraq. Published September 8, 2013
Iran’s fury: Ready to unleash Hezbollah, kidnap Americans if U.S. strikes Syria
The debate over whether Congress approves the Obama administration's plan to strike Syria for its use of chemical weapons is being watched nowhere more closely than in Iran, where the notoriously opaque political leaders are wrestling over whether — and how — to retaliate. Published September 4, 2013
John Kerry: Syrian regime killed 1,429 people in chemical attack
Secretary of State John Kerry says the U.S. knows based on intelligence that the Syrian regime carefully prepared for days to launch a chemical weapons attack — killing 1,429 people. Published August 30, 2013
State Dept. names David Satterfield temporary new top diplomat to Egypt
The State Department assigned a new chief of diplomatic affairs to the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Friday, announcing the departure of current Ambassador Anne Patterson, who has served at the embassy during a the tumultuous past two years and has now been nominated to become assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs. Published August 30, 2013
Strike on Syria would bring Iran into the mix
The possibility of an imminent U.S. military strike on Syria brings with it real danger that Iran-backed Hezbollah might respond by sending rockets into Israel — or that Israel might exploit the development to conduct strikes of its own against Iran, Middle East analysts monitoring the situation said Thursday. Published August 29, 2013
Iran’s nuclear progress prompts call for tighter sanctions from top Democrat
The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Wednesday that new findings by the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency show the need for Washington to significantly broaden U.S. sanctions on Iran in order to prevent the Islamic republic from developing a nuclear weapon. Published August 28, 2013
Attack on Syria likely to trigger terrorists acts against U.S., Israel
With the White House closer to launching a surgical military strike on Syria, questions swirl over the extent to which such an attack could trigger a wave of terrorism directed at the U.S. and Israel. Published August 26, 2013
Obama girds for response against Syria; Kerry: Chemical attack against civilians a ‘moral obscenity’
Secretary of State John F. Kerry declared Monday that a chemical weapons attack on civilians in Syria was undeniable and an act of "moral obscenity." Published August 26, 2013
4 sent back to work after missteps on Benghazi
Secretary of State John F. Kerry has reinstated four employees implicated in security lapses from last year's terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, drawing sharp rebukes Tuesday from leading Republicans who said the moves mean nobody has been fired or held accountable. Published August 20, 2013
Obama’s foreign policy fails to gain footing in renewed Middle East
The Middle East pro-democracy movement hailed over the past two years as the Arab Spring was transformed Wednesday when the military junta now controlling Egypt opened a bloody assault on protesters — a Tiananmen Square-style crackdown that seemed to expose the limits of American diplomatic power to pursue lofty goals once envisioned for the region. Published August 14, 2013
NSA leaker Edward Snowden heats up simmering security debate to boil
Some call him a patriot whistleblower, while others say he is neither patriot nor whistleblower — and may be even a traitor. Either way, Edward Snowden has become a Rorschach test for how Americans young and old see their government and how it balances security with privacy. Published August 14, 2013
Obama’s drone strategy covers new legal, moral ground
The Obama administration departed from its drone strategy when it filed secret criminal charges against men suspected of carrying out last year's attack in Benghazi, Libya, but the tactic works, analysts say, only if the U.S. can get its hands on the men. Published August 11, 2013
Rohrabacher backs Obama policy on drone strikes
A senior Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Friday praised the Obama administration's policy of using of drones in the evolving war on terrorism, saying he has no problem with the precedent being set by the legally controversial policy and would not be bothered if other world powers — specifically Russia — began using drones to kill terrorists. Published August 9, 2013
Under pressure, Obama administration files first charges in Benghazi attack
The Justice Department has filed criminal charges against Libyan militia leader Ahmed Khatallah, the first indictment in last year's deadly terrorist attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi — signaling a shift in a case whose political undertones have roiled the Obama administration over the past 11 months. Published August 6, 2013
