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Stephen Dinan

Stephen Dinan

Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Stephen Dinan

Secretary of State John F. Kerry confers with U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford on Capitol Hill on Wednesday during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on President Obama's request for congressional authorization for military intervention in Syria. The assault would be a response to a chemical weapons attack in the Syrian civil war. (Associated Press)

Syria war plan advances in Senate, pushes Obama to help rebels

Senators wrote a war plan Wednesday for retaliatory military strikes against Syria, narrowly winning committee approval for a bipartisan blueprint that would grant President Obama authority to bomb the Assad regime's chemical weapons facilities. Published September 4, 2013

Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., reacts after the committee voted to accept his amendment as they consider the authorization for use of military force in Syria during a business meeting, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Senate committee passes resolution backing strikes in Syria

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a resolution Wednesday granting President Obama limited authority to conduct military strikes on Syria, after nearly an hour of wrestling over the details of war planning and trying to make sure the conflict doesn't spiral out of control. Published September 4, 2013

** FILE ** Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel (left) and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey (right), chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrive for a closed-door intelligence briefing for members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate-crafted Syria resolution riddled with loopholes for Obama

Senators on Wednesday tried to write a tight resolution authorizing President Obama to strike Syria under very specific circumstances, but analysts and lawmakers said the language still has plenty of holes the White House could use to expand military action well beyond what Congress appears to intend. Published September 4, 2013

Secretary of State John Kerry, left, talks to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013, prior to the start of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Syria where they testified. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Senators agree on Syria resolution granting Obama strike authority

Key senators struck a deal Tuesday night on a resolution granting President Obama the authority to conduct military strikes in Syria as long as they happen within 90 days and are limited to enforcing the administration's "red line" prohibiting chemical weapons use. Published September 3, 2013

From left, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, Secretary of State John Kerry, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to advance President Obama's request for congressional authorization for military intervention in Syria, a response to last month's alleged sarin gas attack in the Syrian civil war, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Kerry holds objectors responsible for any future atrocities in Syria

Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Tuesday that members of Congress who refused to authorize retaliatory strikes against Syria would be responsible when the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad gasses its citizens or when North Korea or Iran attempts to use nuclear weapons. Published September 3, 2013

House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, speaks to reporters outside the White House on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013, following a meeting between President Obama and congressional leaders to discuss the situation in Syria. Mr. Boehner said he will support the president's call for the U.S. to take action against Syria for alleged chemical weapons use and said his Republican colleagues should support the president, too. (Associated Press)

White House wins over top lawmakers on Syria

Making the case that the U.S. must intervene in Syria, House leaders from both sides of the aisle said Tuesday they'll back President Obama's plan for military strikes against the regime of Bashar Assad. Published September 3, 2013

In this image taken from amateur video posted online, a presumed U.N. staff member measuring and photographing a canister in the suburb of Moadamiyeh in Damascus, Syria on Monday. the suburb is where the Syrian regime allegedly used chemical weapons. (Associated Press)

Syrians use social media to tell world: See atrocities for yourself

Call it the Social Media War. As the White House pushes for retaliatory strikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, some of the administration's key evidence that chemical weapons were used on civilians are the thousands of photos and videos that the rebels uploaded detailing the attack. Published September 2, 2013

Secretary of State John F. Kerry makes a statement about Syria at the State Department in Washington on Friday, Aug. 30, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Congress takes steps toward strike on Syria; recess cut short for hearings

Congress' role in approving military strikes kicks off Tuesday when Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will tell senators that the U.S. must strike at the Syrian regime to make clear that chemical weapons use will not be tolerated. Published September 2, 2013

President Obama walks back to the Oval Office after making a statement about the crisis in Syria in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

ANALYSIS: Isolated Obama turns to Congress for support

President Obama, who unilaterally authorized a full air campaign in Libya in 2011, is taking a different approach this time with Syria — mindful both of the political price he paid for that earlier effort and of the far more thorny questions involved in attacking the Assad regime. Published August 31, 2013

** FILE ** House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican. (Associated Press)

Congress in no rush to return for Syria decision

Faced with the most momentous foreign policy vote in years, Congress has decided on the go-slow approach, with leaders saying they will take their time in deciding whether to approve retaliatory strikes against Syria. Published August 31, 2013

In this citizen journalism image provided by Edlib News Network, ENN, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Syrians search under rubble to rescue people from houses that were destroyed by a Syrian government warplane, in Idlib province, northern Syria, Friday, Aug. 30, 2013. (AP Photo/Edlib News Network ENN)

John Kerry praises French, snubs British on Syria

In laying out the case for military strikes on Syria, Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday had praise for the French, who he called "our oldest ally," but snubbed any mention of the British, who have long believed they enjoyed a "special relationship" with the U.S. Published August 30, 2013

** FILE ** A caregiver picks out a marijuana bud for a patient at a marijuana dispensary in Denver on Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

Feds experiment with drugs, mellow out on state marijuana laws

The Obama administration cleared the way Thursday for states to carry out their own marijuana laws, including allowing use for medical reasons in 20 states and for recreational use in Colorado and Washington — as long as they take steps to keep the drug away from children and criminal gangs. Published August 29, 2013

A plane flies over Akrotiri British RAF airbase near Limassol, Cyprus, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Pavlos Vrionides)

Britain says international law permits attack on Syria

The British government released a memo Thursday laying out a legal justification for military action against Syria for a suspected chemical weapons strike even if the U.N. doesn't sanction an attack, ramping up the push among Western nations for some kind of retaliatory strike. Published August 29, 2013

**FILE** House Speaker John Boehner, Ohio Republican, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on Aug. 1, 2013. (Associated Press)

Boehner tells Obama to make case for Syria strikes

House Speaker John A. Boehner said Wednesday that the U.S does have national security interests in Syria, but said President Obama hasn't laid out a compelling case to Congress or the American public about what those interests are and how military strikes could achieve them. Published August 28, 2013