Guy Taylor
Articles by Guy Taylor
Russian, Chinese propaganda muffling U.S. government’s message to world
NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW: The U.S. government's international media operations grossly lack funding to counter effectively the rising global blitz of state-sponsored propaganda from Russia, China and other rivals, says the head of the federal board that oversees such Washington-financed outlets as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America. Published January 3, 2016
White House on defense as furor grows over Israeli spying report
The Obama White House found itself playing defense Wednesday amid rising anger from lawmakers and Republican presidential rivals over a report that President Obama authorized spying on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other U.S. allies, snooping that may have swept up private conversations involving members of Congress and private U.S. pro-Israel groups. Published December 30, 2015
Islamic State driven from Ramadi by Iraq with U.S. help
After months of training with U.S. advisers, Iraq's military scored a key and symbolic victory Monday by driving the Islamic State from a central clutch of government buildings in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, although major challenges lie ahead as the terrorist group still holds vital pockets of the city. Published December 28, 2015
Russia propaganda machine gains on U.S.
Russia has reorganized and intensified its international propaganda machine so effectively over the past decade that some Western lawmakers and diplomats say Washington now is badly losing a global messaging war to the increasingly modernized blitz of anti-U.S. content from Moscow-backed news operations. Published December 27, 2015
ISIS targets Balkans as next recruitment hotspot
The arrest in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday of at least 11 people suspected of ties to the Islamic State has underscored growing concerns among U.S. and European intelligence officials that the Balkans region of southeastern Europe is emerging as the next big target of opportunity for the jihadi terrorist group. Published December 22, 2015
Obama yields to Russia and Iran, puts Bashar Assad ouster on back burner
Publicly, the Obama administration says it still believes Bashar Assad must be ousted, but behind the scenes the White House is embracing a strategy that would leave the Syrian leader in place as the world unites against a greater immediate threat from Islamic State terrorists. Published December 21, 2015
Obama administration poised to lift sanctions even as Iran flouts nuke deal with missile tests
The Obama administration is poised to begin lifting sanctions on Iran — possibly as early as January -- even as Tehran flouts the spirit of the nuclear agreement in a spate of rocket launches and other shenanigans. Published December 17, 2015
Obama pushes Syria peace talks as divisions persist over Bashar Assad’s fate
Having apparently abandoned demands for the immediate departure of Syrian President Bashar Assad, the Obama administration will push anew Friday for international powers -- including key Assad allies Russia and Iran -- to back peace talks aimed at ending the country's bloody 4-year-old, multifront civil war. Published December 16, 2015
Saudi Arabia announces Muslim alliance to fight Islamic terrorism
Saudi Arabia's announcement of a coalition of predominantly Muslim nations to fight the "disease" of Islamist terrorism drew an optimistic response from Washington on Tuesday despite uncertainty over the alliance's true focus and goals. Published December 15, 2015
U.S. has mapped ISIS propaganda centers but won’t launch military strikes
In a secret project tied to the overall U.S. campaign against the Islamic State, intelligence officials have spent months mapping out known physical locations of media safe houses where the extremist group's operatives are compiling, editing and curating raw video and print materials into finished digital propaganda products for dissemination across the Internet. Published December 14, 2015
Ed Royce: Obama ‘whitewashing’ Iran bomb-making program
The top House Republican on foreign policy says the Obama administration is trying to "whitewash" Iran's history of nuclear bomb research by pressuring the U.N.'s atomic watchdog agency to formally end its probe into the "possible military dimensions" of the Islamic Republic's nuclear activities. Published December 11, 2015
Kerry praises Syrian opposition gathering but divisions remain
Secretary of State John F. Kerry praised the "positive outcome" of a Syrian opposition conference in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, despite evidence of deep and ongoing divisions among rival rebel factions over the prospect of a future peace negotiation with the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Published December 10, 2015
Obama ignoring Iran’s missile tests, senators claim
Two hawkish Republican senators are pushing the Obama White House to clarify how it intends to respond to two ballistic missile tests carried out by Iran over the past two months -- one of which was declared by the administration to have been a "clear violation" of a United Nations Security Council resolution banning such tests. Published December 9, 2015
Linas Linkevicius, Lithuanian Foreign Minister, says Russian propaganda fills void from West
NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW: Lithuania and other Eastern bloc nations are craving a clear and decisive message of support from the United States, as Russian President Vladimir Putin pushes the limits of NATO's resolve and moves to fill "gaps of influence" created by the West's failure to defend its interests and international law, Lithuania's top diplomat warned Tuesday. Published December 8, 2015
Tinatin Khidasheli says Vladimir Putin may expand Russian aggression in Georgia after NATO’s snub
The refusal by the U.S. and Western European allies to let Georgia into NATO is an "open invitation" to Russian President Vladimir Putin to expand his policy of aggression and land seizures in the region, the former Soviet republic's top defense official said. Published December 8, 2015
Obama speech criticized as weak; terrorism war strategy changes urged
The White House defended President Obama's counterterrorism strategy Monday against a flood of criticism that his prime-time address to the nation was weak, while an analysis said the U.S. needs a complete overhaul of its war on terrorism. Published December 7, 2015
ISIS, al Qaeda are ‘winning’: Study
The U.S. should engage in a dramatic revamping of the post-9/11 global war on terror, according to a new study published Monday in Washington that says major gains during recent years by both al Qaeda and the Islamic State in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and South Asia indicate the "extremists are no longer on the run and arguably are winning." Published December 7, 2015
San Bernardino terrorist attack seen as failure in fight against radicalization of U.S. Muslims
The San Bernardino terrorist attack is underscoring fears that the government and wider U.S. society have failed to effectively address and counter the threat of ordinary American Muslims becoming radicalized. Published December 6, 2015
Syrian refugees numbers higher than reported; ethnic cleansing rampant
The number of Syrian refugees is actually some 20 percent higher than the 4.2 million cited by the United Nations and is expected to "increase sharply" during the months ahead, according to a new analysis published this week. Published December 4, 2015
Syed Farook, Tashfeen Malik erased digital footprints day before San Bernardino attacks
The Muslim husband and wife behind the mass shooting in San Bernardino began erasing their digital footprint a day in advance of the deadly attack, deleting email accounts, disposing of hard drives and smashing their cellphones, according to law enforcement investigators who are treating the probe as a counterterrorism case. Published December 3, 2015