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Before he was alleged to have become a spy for Saddam Hussein's regime, Muthanna Al-Hanooti's charity work and political activism provided him with access to the highest echelons of government. Newsletters collected by the Investigative Project on Terrorism, some published now for the first time, show Al-Hanooti photographed with dignitaries ranging from First Lady Hillary Clinton in 1996 and Vice President Al Gore along with significant members of Congress. That may explain why Iraqi intelligence agents had confidence that Al-Hanooti would be able to persuade Congress to lift economic sanctions against Iraq. A federal indictment unsealed Wednesday accuses him of...

At least 23 people were killed and 146 were injured Tuesday morning in two strong explosions near the Iranian Embassy in Lebanon. A senior Lebanese official said the cultural attaché at the embassy was among the dead. According to one report, several rockets were fired at the area and at least one of them hit the building. The area of the blasts in southern Beirut is considered a Hezbollah stronghold. The Shiite organization is a close ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad and is helping him in his war against Syrian rebels. …

Despite it being overwhelmingly clear that the American people want nothing to do with the civil war in Syria, the Pentagon has proposed entering the war. Under the proposal U.S. involvement will escalate from providing weapons to rebels via the CIA to direct support and training of rebel forces by the U.S. military. ...

The U.S-Russia plan to dismantle Syria's chemical weapons is drawing attention to Israel's own suspected chemical stockpile and could raise pressure on the Jewish state to come clean about its capabilities. Israel signed the landmark international treaty banning the production or use of chemical weapons two decades ago, but it is among a handful if nations that have never ratified the deal. ...

In my soon to be 77 years as a citizen of the United States of America, having lived through Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, the dark days of WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Watergate, 9/11 and all the other serious and profound events our beloved nation has been involved in over the last three quarters of a century, I have to say with all sincerity that I have never seen a president as confused, befuddled, impotent, insincere and as out of his depth as Barack Obama has become in dealing with the Syrian issue. When you're the leader of the free...

Bodansky: What If Bashar Didn't Do It? [Syria Chemical Attack] September 03, 2013 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: All right. So here's the deal. Last week, Obama reverses himself and says that he's not gonna go into Syria. Remember, they're using nerve gas. John Kerry goes out there, 1,500 people, 2,400 people, a lot of kids, nerve gas, sarin gas, got the proof.Look, I'm gonna get into all the hypocrisy.Yes, Kerry dining with Bashar back in 2009 and talking about what a great guy Bashar was. The bottom line is this administration is as incompetent as Jimmy Carter. There's only one...

The UK has exported hazardous chemicals to Syria, despite condemning President Bashar al-Assad. Photograph: Foto Factory/ Alany [photo at URL]. On the face of it, andin light of the widespread condemnation of President Bashar al-Assad it might seemodd that the UK is still granting licenses for the export of armoured 4x4 vehicles to Syria. Odder still...the sale of certain hazardous chemicals to Syria, too... ...

Foreign Policy: Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's bravado is based on the myth of a U.S. defeat that never happened and a timid White House that let four Americans die in Libya. It might be time to set him and others straight. The fruits of President Obama's ever-shifting red line regarding Syria's use of chemical weapons might be ripening as U.S. warships and aircraft prepare for possible cruise-missile strikes on Syrian targets. Weakness, both real and perceived, invites conflict and emboldens enemies, and our impotence in Benghazi didn't support our warnings to Damascus. One of the reasons Syrian dictator al-Assad might...

American military intervention in Syria is likely to begin this week, and one thing we know amid the general confusion is that the objective is not to oust Bashar Assad: . .... How the Obama Administration plans to deal with Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons without challenging his grip on power is unclear, but then again, so is everything else about this misadventure. Epitomizing the muddle surrounding the likely attack on Syria was former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Blair is several months too late. Syria is already a breeding ground for “extremism.” The New York Times reported no...

Middle East: With the formal determination that Syria has used chemical weapons, the stage is set for U.S. intervention, with Hezbollah and Iran on the other side. How´s that Arab Spring working out, Mr. President? Following our less-than-stellar attempts at regime change in Egypt and Libya — aiding in the ouster of Egypt´s Hosni Mubarak and the overthrow and death of Moammar Gadhafi — the administration, even by its own elastic standards, has decided it can no longer afford to kick the Syrian can down the road. Perhaps it just needs a good war to grab the headlines

Mithal Al-Alusi, whose two sons were killed in a Baghdad ambush soon after he visited Israel, tells The Times of Israel he feels betrayed by the superpower which allowed him to return to his homeland Mithal Al-Alusi is angry. He is angry with Iran for supporting global terrorism. He is angry with Syrian President Bashar Assad for oppressing and killing his own people. He is angry with his own prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki of Iraq, for colluding with the two. But most of all, he is angry with US President Barack Obama for allowing this all to happen. “Obama has...

Bashar al-Assad was killed by a bodyguard ... (Arab media) Update: According to Arab media www.eltira.org , Bashar al-Assad would have been seriously wounded by gunfire last night Saturday, March 23 by his bodyguard but Iran is not dead. He is currently hospitalized, between life and death, Shami Hospital in Damascus which the streets were closed. Proprietary information (in France): According to reports in the Arab press (and then republished in the Israeli press ), information that journalists say they have "verified" the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was killed this morning by one of his bodyguards. An important safety device...

Al-Arabiya is reporting that Syrian President Bashar Assad's mother has defected. She joined her daughter Bushra in the UAE, who had left the country last fall. President Bashar al-Assad's mother Anisa Makhlouf and other members of his inner circle have fled to the United Arab Emirates as the regime of the embattled president appeared to disintegrate, recent reports confirmed. Anisa has joined her daughter, Bushra, who had previously fled to Dubai, the London-based Asharq al-Awsat quoted Robert Ford, U.S. ambassador to Syria until the break of the relations between the two countries. Anisa, the widow of late president Hafez...

Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood has given King Abdullah II notice that he has until October to bow to their demand to transform the Hashemite Kingdom into a constitutional monarchy or face "Arab Spring" style street pressure for his abdication. Middle East sources report that Israeli and Saudi intelligence watchers are becoming increasingly concerned about the approaching climax of the conflict in Amman between Islamists and the throne. For Israel, an upheaval in Jordan bodes the tightening of the Islamist noose around its borders – Egypt and Libya to the south and Syria to the north, with unpredictable consequences with regard to...

War On Terror: As the regime of Bashar Assad disintegrates, the security of his chemical arsenal is in jeopardy. The No. 2 general in Saddam Hussein's air force says they were the WMDs we didn't find in Iraq. King Abdullah of neighboring Jordan warned that a disintegrating Syria on the verge of civil war puts Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons at risk of falling into the hands of al-Qaida. "One of the worst-case scenarios as we are obviously trying to look for a political solution would be if some of those chemical stockpiles were to fall into unfriendly hands," he...

Will Syria Use Chemical Weapons Against Israel?By Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem, Israel --- July 17, 2012 ... Syrian President Bashar Assad never saw it coming. For a former London trained eye doctor, Assad has failed at being able to treat his own arrogant blindness. The Arab Spring swept upon the Middle East like a Hamsin or a windy, desert heat wave. Not even air conditioning could leave one untouched. From Libya and Egypt to Iran and Morocco, Arabs came out of their homes demanding democracy. In Syria, the government responded by murdering over 9,000 civilians. As Dale Carnegie would...

In the months after her exclusive interview last year with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Barbara Walters tried to intercede to get a television position for a former aide of his, who Ms. Walters acknowledged helped arrange the interview. Ms. Walters, the longtime ABC News correspondent, issued a statement Tuesday apologizing for reaching out to contacts to seek an internship with CNN and admission at Columbia University for Sheherazad Jaafari, who had been a media adviser for Mr. Assad. Ms. Jaafari, 22, is the daughter of the Syrian ambassador to the United Nations.

WASHINGTON — Nine years ago this week, our Fox News team accompanied U.S. Marines as they swept into Baghdad and then north up the Tigris River to seize Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. It took less than three weeks to drive the tyrant from power in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and it appeared then that the force of American arms could ensure a new era of tranquility in a part of the world where brutality and anti-American despots had ruled for too long. But it was not so. The Dec. 13, 2003, capture of the deposed dictator, dragged filthy and...

Will Tehran Throw Assad to the Wolves? For Assad’s Removal, Iran May Hook up with Saudi Arabia and Turkey Iran is finally ready to dump its leading ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad. This falling-out eluded every effort of US diplomacy for decades. The rift burst out into the open when Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi‘s scheduled visits to Syria and Lebanon were abruptly cancelled without explanation. The events leading up to the rupture are outlined by Iranian sources: Intensive deliberations at Iran’s National Security Council and private consultations between Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the council chairman Ali...

-Excerpt- The activists said the attack on Rastan and Talbiseh, in the central province of Homs, occurred after authorities cut all telecommunications with the area. They added that all roads leading to the two towns have been closed off by security forces and soldiers. "The towns are under siege," one of the activists said.