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	<title>U.S.Category: Syria &#124; U.S. &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>U.S.Category: Syria &#124; U.S. &#124; TIME.com</title>
		<link>http://nation.time.com</link>
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		<title>U.S. Options Limited on Syria Despite Weapons Report</title>
		<link>http://nation.time.com/2013/04/26/u-s-options-limited-on-syria-despite-weapons-report/</link>
		<comments>http://nation.time.com/2013/04/26/u-s-options-limited-on-syria-despite-weapons-report/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:25:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / DONNA CASSATA and BRADLEY KLAPPER</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://nation.time.com/?p=118260</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) &#8212; The White House disclosure that the Syrian government has twice used chemical weapons still leaves the Obama administration stuck with a limited choice of military options to help the rebels oust President Bashar Assad. Arming the rebels runs smack into the reality that a military group fighting alongside them has pledged allegiance to al-Qaida. Establishing a no-fly zone poses a significant challenge as Syria possesses an air defense system far more robust than what the U.S. and its allies overwhelmed in Libya two years ago. (PHOTOS: The Syrian Civil War: Photographs by Alessio Romenzi) President Barack Obama had declared that the Assad regime&#8217;s use of chemical weapons in the two-year civil war would be &#8220;game changer&#8221; that would cross a &#8220;red line&#8221; for a major military response, but the White House made clear Thursday that even a quick strike wasn&#8217;t imminent. Reflecting a strong degree of caution, the White House said the intelligence community assessed &#8220;with varying degrees of confidence&#8221; that the Syrian regime had used chemical weapons on a small scale. The White House said in a letter to two senators that the &#8220;chain of custody&#8221; was unclear and that the determination was based on physiological samples. The information had been known to the administration and some members of Congress for weeks despite public pronouncements from the White House. The revelation on Thursday strengthened proponents of aggressive military action, who challenged the administration to act and warned that going wobbly would embolden Assad. Yet it also underscored the difficulties of any step for war-weary lawmakers horrified by a conflict that has killed an estimated 70,000 but guarded about U.S. involvement in a Mideast war. &#8220;There&#8217;s no easy choice here,&#8221; said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., a member of the Armed Services Committee. &#8220;All the alternatives are flawed. It&#8217;s just finding the least flawed among them that will get Assad out.&#8221; The next move on Syria was high on the agenda for Obama&#8217;s meeting Friday with King Abdullah II of Jordan, as the U.S. ally has struggled with the<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=nation.time.com&#038;blog=20157722&#038;post=118260&#038;subd=timemilitary&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://nation.time.com/category/syria-2/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timemilitary.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/970_int_syria_0305.jpeg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">A Free Syrian Army fighter looks back while pointing his weapon at a police academy as smoke rises during fighting between Free Syrian Army fighters and forces loyal to al-Assad, on the outskirt of Aleppo</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Undercard Debate: Not Much Difference When It Comes to U.S. Interventions</title>
		<link>http://nation.time.com/2012/10/12/undercard-debate-more-ire-than-fire/</link>
		<comments>http://nation.time.com/2012/10/12/undercard-debate-more-ire-than-fire/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Oct 2012 14:35:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Thompson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Afghanistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Battleland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://nation.time.com/?p=88892</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There was a lot of smoke in Thursday night’s vice presidential debate. It felt hotter when watched. Reading a transcript Friday morning shows much more consensus between Vice President Joe Biden and GOP challenger Rep. Raul Ryan. Of course, that can be a problem. No one’s going to vote out an incumbent unless the challenger can present a clear alternative. Yet on the biggest national-security issues now in play – what should U.S. policy be toward Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria?&#8211; there was little difference between the two positions staked out by the No. 2 man on their party’s respective ticket. As Ryan said on another topic: &#8220;It&#8217;s a distinction without a difference.&#8221; When moderator Martha Raddatz of ABC News pressed for specifics, too often they were MIA. In some ways, it was like a high-school debate: Biden: The last thing we need now is another war. Ryan: We want to prevent war! But national-security daylight between them was hard to discern. On Afghanistan: Biden: We are leaving in 2014, period [that will no doubt come as a surprise to U.S. and allied leaders who are now debating how large of a force will remain in Afghanistan in 2015 and beyond. They’re planning on training Afghan troops, conduct special operations, and provide Afghan security forces with medevac helicopters and other military capabilities]. Ryan: We agree with a 2014 transition [to Afghan control of combat missions in that country]..We don&#8217;t want to stay…We don&#8217;t want to extend beyond 2014. On Iran: Ryan: They&#8217;re moving faster toward a nuclear weapon; they&#8217;re spinning the centrifuges faster. Biden: Our military and intelligence communities are absolutely the same exact place in terms of how close the Iranians are to getting a nuclear weapon. They are a good way away. Ryan: I agree that it&#8217;s probably longer. On Syria: Biden: What more would they do other than put American boots on the ground? The last thing America needs is to get into another ground war in the Middle East requiring tens of thousands if not well over a hundred<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=nation.time.com&#038;blog=20157722&#038;post=88892&#038;subd=timemilitary&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Politics</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://nation.time.com/category/politics/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timemilitary.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/153960290.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timemilitary.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/153960290.jpg?w=240" />
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			<media:title type="html">2012 Vice Presidential Debate</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">mt53</media:title>
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		<title>On Austin Tice, And the Tug of War</title>
		<link>http://nation.time.com/2012/10/11/on-austin-tice-and-the-tug-of-war/</link>
		<comments>http://nation.time.com/2012/10/11/on-austin-tice-and-the-tug-of-war/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Oct 2012 12:49:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Gibbons-Neff</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Afghanistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Battleland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pentagon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Troops]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://nation.time.com/?p=88660</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[About a month ago, a friend posted an article — a Facebook post, rather — that Austin Tice wrote before he went missing. Austin is a freelance journalist, fellow Marine, and fellow Georgetown student apparently captured by someone in Syria in August.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=nation.time.com&#038;blog=20157722&#038;post=88660&#038;subd=timemilitary&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://nation.time.com/2012/10/11/on-austin-tice-and-the-tug-of-war/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Troops</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://nation.time.com/category/troops/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timemilitary.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/149815329.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Syrian rebel fighters shoot during targe</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cf2658ecf5812f0fd988c6de2037c9d8?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">mt53</media:title>
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		<title>Wars? What Wars?</title>
		<link>http://nation.time.com/2012/08/30/wars-what-wars/</link>
		<comments>http://nation.time.com/2012/08/30/wars-what-wars/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 30 Aug 2012 12:44:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Thompson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Afghanistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Battleland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Military]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Military History]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Troops]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Veterans]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://nation.time.com/?p=83110</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Wednesday night was supposed to be “foreign policy night” at the Republican convention in Tampa, and it was: the speeches were conventional.

Neither GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney nor his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, are steeped in foreign affairs. For those looking for insights into how a President Romney might handle national security, specifics were MIA. There was some generic bashing of President Obama – that’s what conventions are for, after all, when you’re challenging an incumbent of the other party seeking a second term – but details were scant.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=nation.time.com&#038;blog=20157722&#038;post=83110&#038;subd=timemilitary&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Politics</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://nation.time.com/category/politics/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timemilitary.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/150996117.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timemilitary.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/150996117.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timemilitary.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/150996117.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Republican National Convention</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cf2658ecf5812f0fd988c6de2037c9d8?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">mt53</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>The Country Whose Name Dare Not Be Spoken</title>
		<link>http://nation.time.com/2012/08/23/the-country-whose-name-dare-not-be-spoken/</link>
		<comments>http://nation.time.com/2012/08/23/the-country-whose-name-dare-not-be-spoken/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 23 Aug 2012 14:40:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Thompson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Aircraft carriers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Battleland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Korea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Navy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pentagon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Troops]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://nation.time.com/?p=82124</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Defense Secretary Leon Panetta spoke to the sailors of the carrier USS John C. Stennis on Wednesday in Bremerton, Wash. He lauded their their service, but warned of the threats still out there.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=nation.time.com&#038;blog=20157722&#038;post=82124&#038;subd=timemilitary&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Leon Panetta</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://nation.time.com/category/leon-panetta-2/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timemilitary.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/hires_120822-d-bw835-063b.jpeg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timemilitary.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/hires_120822-d-bw835-063b.jpeg?w=240" />
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			<media:title type="html">120822-D-BW835-063</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cf2658ecf5812f0fd988c6de2037c9d8?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">mt53</media:title>
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		<title>After Assad: What&#8217;s Next for the Future of Syria?</title>
		<link>http://nation.time.com/2012/07/26/after-assad-whats-next-for-the-future-of-syria/</link>
		<comments>http://nation.time.com/2012/07/26/after-assad-whats-next-for-the-future-of-syria/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Jul 2012 14:30:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jay Newton-Small</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Battleland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://battleland.blogs.time.com/?p=78969</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[With the assassinations last week the regime’s intelligence chief and the defense and interior ministers, the appeal of becoming Target Number One is dwindling. “There’s really no one in the regime that the opposition would accept at this point and they’d likely continue to fight,” says Joseph Holliday, a Syria analyst at the Institute for the Study of War. “Even Tlas, who is Sunni and could bridge the gap, two of his own cousins high up in the opposition have said that they wouldn’t accept his leadership.” Much of the problem is Syria’s sectarian divides. Half of the country is Sunni and Assad’s Alawite minority, which makes up 12% of the population, has repressed them for decades. But if you install a Sunni leader, the risk is marginalization of not just the Alawites and other Shia, but also the Kurdish, Druze and Christianpopulations, which together make up 30% of the country. “There is a real risk of a failed state here. We don’t do tribal societies well. We don’t understand them and we don’t really know how to change them,” says Jane Harman, head of the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, adding that intense external interests also complicate the situation. The two most recent topplings of authoritarian governments in tribal societies in that neighborhood do not bode well for Syria: Lebanon and Iraq. Lebanon’s civil war lasted 15 years and claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. The U.S. removed Saddam Hussein in Iraq, but nearly a decade after the invasion Iraqstill suffers from high levels of sectarian fighting; on Tuesday alone morethan 100 people were killed in violence believed to be spilling over from Syria. “One of the reasons the Administration and others are chary about intervening in Syria is that it’s similar to Iraq where there’s a minority – in Iraq’s case Sunni – that had been repressing a majority. When the Shia were freed they began to take revenge. Sunnis were driven out of whole neighborhoods in Baghdad,” says James Dobbins, a civil society exert at the Rand<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=nation.time.com&#038;blog=20157722&#038;post=78969&#038;subd=timemilitary&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://nation.time.com/2012/07/26/after-assad-whats-next-for-the-future-of-syria/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://nation.time.com/category/syria-2/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timemilitary.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/149188076.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timemilitary.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/149188076.jpg?w=240" />
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			<media:title type="html">A slipper hangs on a vandalised poster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad lying in a trash container in the northern city of Aleppo on July 24, 2012.</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/4195fad096d61f86a8218de5e39039f6?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">naterawlings</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Is Syria’s Civil War Leaching Into Iraq?</title>
		<link>http://nation.time.com/2012/07/13/is-syrias-civil-war-leaching-into-iraq/</link>
		<comments>http://nation.time.com/2012/07/13/is-syrias-civil-war-leaching-into-iraq/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jul 2012 13:04:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Thompson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[al Qaeda]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Battleland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://battleland.blogs.time.com/?p=78216</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Vivienne Walt reports: For months, Syrian opposition groups have smuggled weapons and fighters into the country across the borders of Turkey and Lebanon. Now another of Syria’s influential neighbors—Iraq—says its territory is being used as a base for al-Qaeda attacks against the regime of President Bashar Assad. Speaking to a handful of reporters in Paris on Thursday morning, Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said both U.S. and Iraq believe that Al Qaeda operatives are sneaking into Syria across Iraq’s western border, despite the fact that the U.S. military during the Iraq War turned that remote desert area into the country’s best-secured frontier. Full thing here:<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=nation.time.com&#038;blog=20157722&#038;post=78216&#038;subd=timemilitary&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Middle East</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://nation.time.com/category/middle-east/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cf2658ecf5812f0fd988c6de2037c9d8?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">mt53</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://timemilitary.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/screen-shot-2012-07-13-at-7-38-32-am.png?w=360" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Screen shot 2012-07-13 at 7.38.32 AM</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>War’s Strange Bedfellows</title>
		<link>http://nation.time.com/2012/03/12/wars-strange-bedfellows/</link>
		<comments>http://nation.time.com/2012/03/12/wars-strange-bedfellows/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Mar 2012 10:45:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Thompson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Afghanistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Battleland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Military]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Military Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Military Training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pentagon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Weapons]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://battleland.blogs.time.com/?p=68775</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Pentagon is buying helicopters for its Afghan allies from the same Russian-based company that’s also selling weapons to Syria that Damascus is using against its own people. Rosoboronexport, Moscow’s official arms merchant, sold some $1 billion in weaponry to Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad’s government last year, making it Syria’s biggest arms supplier. It signed an even more interesting deal with the Pentagon last June: This $375 million U.S. Army contract (click to enlarge) is for 21 Russian Mi-17 helicopters U.S. taxpayers are providing to the Afghan military. Rosoboronexport had been barred from U.S. deals until 2010 after violating economic sanctions against trade with Iran. Senator John Cornyn, R-Texas, asked Army General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about the deal last Wednesday during an armed services committee hearing. After saying he didn’t want to “blindside” the general, he wondered: “General Dempsey, can you explain why we would buy helicopters for the Afghan military from this arms exporter that&#8217;s been sanctioned by the U.S. government for its illicit activities with Iran, and which is the principal means by which Russia is arming Assad&#8217;s regime and killing so many Syrians?” Having been blindsided, Dempsey could only say: “If they&#8217;re not sanctioned and enter the competition, it could very well be that they ended up being the lowest bidder.” (Especially when you note per the contract announcement above that &#8220;One bid was solicited, with one bid received.&#8221;) Cornyn brought up the issue again on Thursday, when top Army officials appeared before the committee. “The options are, frankly, in the Central Command&#8217;s estimation, nonexistent,” Army Secretary John McHugh said. “Rosoboron, under federal law in Russia, is the only one who controls the export of those platforms, so we didn&#8217;t have options there, either, as I understand it.” There are practical reasons for buying Russian choppers, McHugh added. “These are the platforms, apparently, that the Afghans are familiar with,” he said. “Many of the pilots that will be flying them were flying Russian aircraft in their previous professional iterations, and we&#8217;re<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=nation.time.com&#038;blog=20157722&#038;post=68775&#038;subd=timemilitary&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Arms sales</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://nation.time.com/category/arms-sales-2/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timemilitary.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/screen-shot-2012-03-09-at-2-50-21-pm.png?w=240</featured_image>
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		<title>NoKo &amp; Syria: Family Businesses</title>
		<link>http://nation.time.com/2012/03/09/noko-syria-family-businesses/</link>
		<comments>http://nation.time.com/2012/03/09/noko-syria-family-businesses/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:12:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Thompson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Battleland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Korea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://battleland.blogs.time.com/?p=68708</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s new leader, sent greetings Thursday to strongman Bashar al-Assad on the 49th anniversary of his family’s dictatorial rule of Syria: Please accept my warm congratulations to you, the Baath Arab Socialist Party and the friendly government and people of Syria on the occasion of the 49th anniversary of the March 8 revolution in Syria. Availing myself of this opportunity, I reiterate our support and solidarity with the efforts of your party, government and people to defend the country&#8217;s sovereignty, security and stability and wish you good health and happiness and success in your responsible work. Of course, the Jong clan has held onto power for three generations stretching back 67 years, eclipsing Syria’s 49-year, two-generation rule. It&#8217;s kind of like the holiday card you sometimes get from your auto mechanic: got to keep those arms sales going.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=nation.time.com&#038;blog=20157722&#038;post=68708&#038;subd=timemilitary&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Foreign Policy</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://nation.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/</primary_category_link>
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		<title>Fighting Words, Then and Now</title>
		<link>http://nation.time.com/2012/03/09/fighting-words-then-and-now/</link>
		<comments>http://nation.time.com/2012/03/09/fighting-words-then-and-now/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 Mar 2012 11:45:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Thompson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Battleland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pentagon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://battleland.blogs.time.com/?p=68659</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There has been a flurry of red flags and cautions from senior Pentagon officials against the U.S. launching any military action against Syria. Given that we spear-headed a similar effort against Libya a year ago this month, you’re forgiven for forgetting that the same debate unspooled about attacking that country, too. It’s just that once we did, the pre-war arguments conveniently faded into history. Let’s hop into Battleland’s Wayback Machine and compare what was being said about Libya in March 2011 with what’s being said about Syria in March 2012: And the kinds of options that have been talked about in the press and elsewhere also have their own consequences and second- and third-order effects. &#8211; Defense Secretary Robert Gates, March 1, 2011 As secretary of defense, before I recommend that we put our sons and daughters in uniform in harm&#8217;s way, I&#8217;ve got to make very sure that we know what the mission is. I&#8217;ve got to make very sure that we know whether we can achieve that mission, at what price and whether or not it&#8217;ll make matters better or worse. &#8211; Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, March 7, 2012 We also have to think about, frankly, the use of the U.S. military in another country in the Middle East. &#8211; Gates, March 1, 2011 I think the fundamental issue that is before us is whether or not the United States will go ahead and act unilaterally in that part of the world and engage in another war in the Muslim world unilaterally. &#8211; Panetta, March 7, 2012 With respect to the no-fly zone specifically, it&#8217;s an extraordinarily complex operation to set up…Certainly if we were to set it up, if that were something that was decided to do, we&#8217;d have to work our way through doing it in a &#8212; in a safe manner and certainly not put ourselves in jeopardy…obviously, putting us in a position, you know, over air defenses that could actually harm &#8212; you know, take our &#8212; take those aviation assets out of the<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=nation.time.com&#038;blog=20157722&#038;post=68659&#038;subd=timemilitary&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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