In-depth
Frederic Wehrey of Foreign Affairs looks at the new challenge facing post-revolution Libya – unifying the local militias who fought Gadhafi’s regime.
The strategy of trying to dismantle the regional militias while simultaneously making use of them as hired guns might be sowing the seeds for the country’s descent into warlordism. It has also given local brigades and their political patrons leverage over the central government. Emboldened by the writ of state authority, brigade commanders have been free to carry out vendettas against rival towns and tribes, particularly those favored by former leader Muammar al-Qaddafi.
Why I defected from Bashar al-Assad’s regime
Bashar Assad’s former ambassador to Iraq tells Ruth Sherlock of the Daily Telegraph how the Syrian regime’s brutal actions led to his decision to defect.
At the beginning of the revolution, the state tried to convince people that reforms would be enacted very soon,” he said. “We lived on that hope for a while. We gave them the benefit of the doubt, but after many months it became clear to me that the promises of reform were lies. That was when I made my decision. I was seeing the massacres perpetrated – no man would be able to live with himself, seeing what I saw and knowing what I know, to stay in the position.
Daily Digest
Times of Israel: Clinton meets with Liberman and Peres at start of two-day state visit focusing on Iran
Jerusalem Post: ‘Israel being excluded from counterterrorism parley’
New York Times: After Meeting With Clinton, Egypt’s Military Chief Steps Up Political Feud
Washington Post: In Syria, a wealthy oasis from the war
Wall Street Journal: New Account of Syria Killings
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