Guy Taylor
Articles by Guy Taylor
ISIS promoting ‘lone wolf’ attacks, scheming to infiltrate West, John Brennan says
The Islamic State has "a large cadre of Western fighters" who could carry out attacks in the U.S. and Europe, CIA Director John O. Brennan said Thursday in a sobering -- at times pessimistic -- assessment of the threat facing the U.S. and its allies just days after the terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida. Published June 16, 2016
Boeing-Iran deal in jeopardy as concerns persist about Tehran’s terror links
Two former U.S. Treasury officials cast doubt Wednesday on the prospects of a highly touted deal between Iran and the American aerospace giant Boeing, claiming concerns about Iranian money laundering and terrorism financing activities are likely to scuttle the agreement. Published June 15, 2016
Amid OAS conference, John Kerry adds to calls for Nicolas Maduro to step down
Secretary of State John F. Kerry threw his weight Tuesday behind international calls for a referendum that could force Venezuelan leftist President Nicolas Maduro from power, just as the South American nation faces a deepening crisis, rife with food shortages and political unrest. Published June 14, 2016
Turkey wavers on ISIS fight amid rising tensions with U.S., allies
Even as U.S., Iraqi and Kurdish forces make significant gains against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, rising friction between Turkey and America's key regional allies threatens to scuttle the hopes of coalition forces to drive the terrorist group from the region. Published June 13, 2016
Islamic State seeks credit amid Omar Mateen’s confusing claims
The Islamic State issued a second claim of responsibility in two days for the carnage that killed 49 people at gay nightclub in Orlando, although investigators were still scrambling Monday night to determine whether the U.S.-born gunman had any connection to the terror group or was just inspired by its message. Published June 13, 2016
Kurdish militants claim responsibility for Turkey blast
A Kurdish militant group claimed responsibility Friday for the rush-hour car bombing that killed 11 people and injured scores of others in a central tourist district in the Turkish city of Istanbul this week, saying the blast was the start of a new war with Turkey's government. Published June 10, 2016
Bombings force ISIS to cut fighter pay by half: U.S. officials
Obama administration counterterrorism officials said Thursday that U.S.-led airstrikes against the Islamic State-held oil fields and cash depots in Syria and Iraq are the number-one way to destroy the terror group's finances. Published June 9, 2016
Hezbollah moving ‘tons of cocaine’ in Latin America, Europe to finance terror operations
Hezbollah's terrorism finance operations are thriving across Latin America months after the Drug Enforcement Administration linked the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group to drug cartels in the region, U.S. lawmakers were told. Published June 8, 2016
Nigeria, battling Boko Haram in north, faces new threat from ‘Niger Delta Avengers’ in south
A surge of attacks by militants on oil and gas wells and pipelines in southern Nigeria is threatening to derail the army's campaign to defeat the Islamist terror group Boko Haram in the north, as the government finds itself fighting separate insurgencies raging on opposite ends of Africa's most-populous country. Published June 7, 2016
John Kerry vows to get to bottom of State Department-doctored Iran video
Secretary of State John F. Kerry says he wants to find out "exactly what happened" with regard to the doctoring of a 2013 State Department news briefing video about the Iran nuclear deal -- and that whoever altered the video was "stupid and clumsy and inappropriate." Published June 3, 2016
Libya says it will lead own fight against ISIS
The prime minister of Libya's new government says the fractured nation's own military forces will lead the campaign to defeat the Islamic State's main Libyan affiliate. Published June 3, 2016
More than 100 bodies of drowned migrants wash ashore along Libya coast
The bodies of more than 100 migrants and refugees whose boat capsized while trying to cross from North Africa to Europe washed ashore along northwestern Libya's Mediterranean coast on Friday. Published June 3, 2016
Avigdor Lieberman appointment hits Israeli, Palestinian peace hopes
The prospects for a peace process with the Palestinians was so bleak that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin's Netanyahu's appointment of a hard-right defense minister last week has barely provoked a ripple of global media attention. Published June 2, 2016
State Department admits Iran press conference edited, not a glitch
The State Department acknowledged Wednesday that officials intentionally altered the video record of a 2013 department press briefing to delete comments about then-ongoing nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and Iran -- claiming that an unidentified U.S. official had ordered the comments removed. Published June 1, 2016
North Korea heaps praise on ‘wise’ Donald Trump
North Korea's state media published a op-ed slamming Hillary Clinton and praising Donald Trump on Tuesday, roughly two weeks after the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said he'd be open to direct talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to try to halt the communist nation's nuclear program. Published May 31, 2016
India-Iran Chabahar port deal reveals tense Asian rivalries
A little-noticed deal this month between India and Iran to develop an obscure port in the Gulf of Oman is offering a glimpse into just how dramatically last summer's Iranian nuclear accord stands to upend South Asia's geopolitical dynamics — as New Delhi pushes to expand its influence in nearby Afghanistan, outflank rival Pakistan and challenge Chinese dominance in the region. Published May 29, 2016
Rodrigo Duterte, Tsai Ing-wen wins in Philippines, Taiwan may trigger U.S.-China friction
With new leaders in Taiwan and the Philippines less willing to kowtow to an increasingly assertive China, East Asia's delicate geopolitical balance is shifting just as President Obama makes a valedictory tour of the region to highlight his administration's "pivot" to Asia and its readiness to support the countries on China's periphery. Published May 24, 2016
Lawmakers slam Saudi record on fight against terrorism
Members of the Saudi royal family are "up to their eyeballs" in supporting terrorism, a veteran Republican lawmaker charged Tuesday, as members of Congress raised sharp questions of the state of U.S.-Saudi relations and Riyadh's contribution to the fight against al Qaeda and the Islamic State. Published May 24, 2016
ISIS beheadings, crucifixions in Libyan city documented by rights group
The Islamic State terror group's top North Africa affiliate has decapitated, crucified or shot to death at least 49 people over the past year in the Libyan city of Sirte, according to a report released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch. Published May 18, 2016
Assad won’t budge in Syria; Obama lacks leverage: Former diplomat
With international peace talks on Syria seemingly going nowhere Tuesday, the Obama administration's former ambassador to the war-torn nation predicted Syrian President Bashar Assad will remain in power as long as Washington and its allies fail to challenge him militarily. Published May 17, 2016