News

Newly released WikiLeaks cables reveal that the US State Department has been secretly financing Syrian opposition groups and other opposition projects for at least five years, The Washington Post reports.

That aid continued going into the hands of the Syrian government opposition even after the US began its reengagement policy
with Syria under President Barack Obama in 2009, the Post reports. In
January, the US posted its first ambassador to the country since the
Bush administration withdrew the US ambassador in 2005 over concerns
about Syria's involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese prime
minister Rafik Hariri.

Think you know the Middle East? Take our geography quiz.

The
Obama administration has been trying to draw Syria away from its key
ally Iran and closer to the US and its regional allies. The effort seems
to have been largely unsuccessful so far, and antigovernment protests
sweeping the country have complicated the ... >>>