Guy Taylor
Articles by Guy Taylor
USAID beefs support for Ukrainian media amid fresh military clashes in the east
The U.S. Agency for International Development announced Friday that it will beef up its spending in Ukraine to help the nation's independent media outlets prepare for covering the May 25 Ukrainian presidential election. Published May 2, 2014
Republican Senators push for bill to allow ‘direct military assistance’ to Ukraine
A group of Senate Republicans called on the Obama administration Wednesday to take more aggressive steps toward containing Russian President Vladimir Putin and preventing Russian military aggression in Eastern Europe. Published April 30, 2014
Senate GOP bill pushes Obama to get tougher on Putin, Russia
A group of influential Senate Republicans called on the Obama administration Wednesday to take more aggressive steps toward containing Russian President Vladimir Putin and preventing Russian military aggression in Eastern Europe. Published April 30, 2014
Emails on Benghazi show aides’ effort to make Obama look ‘statesmanlike’
A clutch of newly released White House emails provides the clearest evidence to date that top presidential aides sought to use anti-American protests sweeping across the Middle East in 2012 — as well as the aftermath of the Benghazi terrorist attack — to push an image of President Obama's foreign policy as "steady and statesmanlike," just weeks before his re-election. Published April 29, 2014
Outrage growing over Phoenix VA patient treatment
The scandal surrounding a Phoenix veterans hospital widened Tuesday when three Arizona congressmen called for the resignation of the facility's leaders amid allegations that at least 40 veterans died while waiting for medical appointments — and that administrators intentionally buried information about the monthslong wait times. Published April 29, 2014
Rosoboronexport, Russia’s main weapons exporter, gets a pass in new round of sanctions
Russia's main weapons exporter Rosoboronexport, a state-owned company currently being paid by the Pentagon to support U.S. efforts in Afghanistan, emerged unscathed Monday as the White House and its European allies added new sanctions against Moscow. Published April 28, 2014
U.S. warns Russia on military posturing; Putin blames violence on Ukrainian army
Ignoring Obama administration threats of stiffer sanctions, Russia began military exercises near its border with Ukraine on Thursday after Ukrainian forces killed at least five pro-Russia insurgents in a drive to recapture occupied buildings in the country's tumultuous east. Published April 24, 2014
Rival Palestinian’s unity deal a blow to struggling Mideast peace process
U.S. and Israeli officials slammed the unity agreement announced Wednesday by rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas, saying it would strain whatever thread of hope was left in the ailing Israeli-Palestinian peace process that Secretary of State John F. Kerry has sought to foster over the past nine months. Published April 23, 2014
Biden arrives to aid Ukraine; pro-Russians refuse to leave
A Washington-brokered deal to ease tensions in Ukraine faltered Monday as pro-Russia gunmen refused to leave government buildings in eastern Ukraine and Russia's foreign minister accused Kiev of allowing anti-Moscow extremists to run rampant. Published April 21, 2014
USAID documents cite Hillary Clinton in chaos of Afghan aid
Top officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development repeatedly cited former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for setting into motion a policy to waive restrictions on who could receive U.S. aid in Afghanistan, resulting in millions of dollars in U.S. funds going directly into the corrupt Afghan ministries. Published April 20, 2014
Secret U.S. assessments show Afghanistan not ready to govern on own
Confidential U.S. assessments, which the State Department tried to hide from the public, show nearly all Afghan Cabinet ministries are woefully ill-prepared to govern after the U.S. withdraws its troops. Published April 15, 2014
U.S. fears Afghan services may be cut as corruption sharply reduces customs taxes
U.S. officials are deeply concerned that corruption is reducing Afghanistan's collection of customs taxes by as much as half, shorting the country's primary source of revenue and raising concerns that the government may need to cut critical services in order to close budget shortfalls. Published April 14, 2014
Rep. Jason Chaffetz questions $175 million USAID ‘slush fund’ for Afghans
The chairman of a key House oversight panel is calling for an investigation into what he says looks like a $175 million "slush fund" set up by the U.S. Agency for International Development to entice Afghan government officials into embracing Western-style reforms. Published April 13, 2014
Amid growing unrest, GOP presses for arming Ukraine
The Western-backed interim government in Kiev struggled to control mobs of pro-Moscow demonstrators in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, as congressional Republicans pressed the Obama administration to take more robust action to deter a Russian military invasion of the nation. Published April 8, 2014
John McCain blasts John Kerry in heated Senate hearing
"My hero, Teddy Roosevelt, used to say, talk softly but carry a big stick. What you're doing is talking strongly and carrying a very small stick — in fact, a twig," McCain said to Kerry. Published April 8, 2014
Senate panel votes to release CIA torture report
The Senate intelligence committee has voted to release parts of a classified report that harshly criticizes CIA terror interrogations after 9/11. Published April 3, 2014
Ex-CIA leader Morell denies role in Benghazi ‘cover-up’ during heated Hill hearing
The CIA's former deputy director disclosed Wednesday that Obama administration officials were alerted the day before they went on national television that a key tenet of their original Benghazi storyline might be inaccurate. Published April 2, 2014
Libya station chief gives perspective on Benghazi TV talking points
Members of the House Intelligence Committee held a classified session Tuesday with the CIA's former Libya station chief, whose assessment that there had been no protest leading before the Benghazi terrorist attacks was left out of the Obama administration's talking points used on national television. Published April 2, 2014
CIA ignored station chief in Libya when creating talking points on Benghazi
Before the Obama administration gave an inaccurate narrative on national television that the Benghazi attacks grew from an anti-American protest, the CIA's station chief in Libya pointedly told his superiors in Washington that no such demonstration occurred, documents and interviews with current and former intelligence officials show. Published March 31, 2014
GOP senators back restoration of Bush-era missile defense to punish Putin over actions in Crimea
The Obama administration is failing to seize on a rare strategic chance, presented by Russia's increasingly aggressive military posturing around Ukraine, to expand the U.S. missile defense footprint in Eastern Europe. Published March 30, 2014