Guy Taylor
Articles by Guy Taylor
Russia airstrikes in Syria alarm Obama critics
Russia followed its launch of airstrikes in Syria with a call Wednesday for the world to unite and form a coalition in the fight against terrorist groups, raising concerns that the Obama administration was caught flatfooted and prompting calls for President Obama to "wake up" and reassert American leadership in the Middle East. Published September 30, 2015
Hillary Clinton campaign supporters skip foundation’s Global Initiative summit
There was some overlap between the guest list at this week's annual Clinton Global Initiative summit in New York and the list of supporters for Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign. But the more telling development was how many no-shows there were -- as Mrs. Clinton's biggest backers apparently stayed away in an attempt to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. Published September 30, 2015
John Kerry: U.S. open to Russia hitting Islamic State in Syria
Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Wednesday the Obama administration is "prepared to welcome" the Russian military's bombardment of al Qaeda and Islamic State targets in Syria, but will continue for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Published September 30, 2015
Obama admin sanctions ISIS facilitators, attempts to cut terror group’s funding
The Obama administration said Tuesday that it has identified 15 key Islamic State facilitators with a range of backgrounds -- from Yemen to the U.K., Indonesia, Bosnia, Pakistan, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia -- and will level sanctions against them with the goal of blocking their and the terrorist group's access to the international financial system. Published September 29, 2015
Vladimir Putin’s plans for Russian military in Syria has U.N., Obama on edge
Vladimir Putin's speech Monday is shaping up to be biggest of this year's U.N. General Assembly, as Obama administration officials brace for the Russian leader to lambaste their failed Syria policy and call on the world to get behind his plan for saving the war-torn Middle East from the clutches of the Islamic State. Published September 27, 2015
Philip Gordon, former top Obama adviser, slams White House Syria strategy
President Obama's former top adviser on Middle East policy says the time has come for the administration to rethink its demand that Syrian President Bashar Assad must step down -- a stipulation that has underpinned the White House's approach to Syria's war for the past four years. Published September 25, 2015
Ashton Carter: Russian buildup in Syria could ‘pour gasoline’ on ISIS
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter says Russia's expanding military buildup in Syria could "pour gasoline on the [Islamic State] phenomenon," because Moscow is bent on backing one of the extremist group's top enemies -- embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad. Published September 24, 2015
John Kerry hails Colombia’s peace deal with FARC rebel group
The mood will be one of optimism when Secretary of State John F. Kerry meets on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly next week with Colombia's president, who just announced a major breakthrough toward a deal to end the nation's decades-old war with the leftist FARC rebel group. Published September 24, 2015
Syrian refugees being shunned by Gulf states
The refugee crisis surging from the Middle East to Europe has ignited a heated debate over the extent to which the Persian Gulf's wealthiest nations -- namely Saudi Arabia -- are doing enough to take in and help the hundreds of thousands of displaced people. Published September 23, 2015
Susan Rice: Obama to press China on North Korea nukes
President Obama will seek to enlist China's help in steering North Korea away from developing more nuclear weapons when Chinese President Xi Jinping visits the White House this week, trying to seize on Beijing's "fulcrum of influence" over Pyongyang's reclusive regime. Published September 21, 2015
Vladimir Putin seeks to ease Israeli fears in rare meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to worry about the Russian military buildup in Syria as the two men held talks in Moscow on Monday, their first face-to-face meeting in nearly two years. Published September 21, 2015
President’s Daily Brief documents, newly declassified by CIA, reveal intel preferences
The CIA's release last week of more than 19,000 pages of declassified material has provided a window into one of Washington's most secretive documents, the President's Daily Brief, or PDB, which intelligence officials say has evolved since its creation in the early 1960s. Published September 20, 2015
CIA releases tranche of secret documents, but keeps juiciest nuggets classified
On the morning of Oct. 18, 1962, 36 hours into the Cuban Missile Crisis, the CIA presented President John F. Kennedy with the sobering news that seven out of 12 potential Soviet launch sites in Cuba "now have missiles on launcher," and at least some of them are "probably operational." Published September 16, 2015
John Brennan, CIA director, says al Qaeda still major threat despite Islamic State’s rise
Osama bin Laden's original al Qaeda network remains a major long-term national security threat and could surge back into global prominence even as the appeal of the newer, rival Islamic State movement spreads in the heart of the Middle East, CIA Director John Brennan said Tuesday. Published September 15, 2015
John Brennan: U.S. watching for nuclear cooperation between Iran, North Korea
The Iran nuclear deal is silent on an issue that the CIA and proliferation experts are concerned about: that Tehran may outsource parts of its nuclear and missiles program to the secretive regime in North Korea, which on Tuesday committed itself to producing more fuel for nuclear bombs. Published September 15, 2015
Ayman Al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda leader, calls for lone-wolf attacks in U.S., unity among terrorists
The latest audio recording from al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri contains the most explicit appeal to date for unity between rival jihadi groups worldwide, shedding new light on the complex, wary relations between Osama bin Laden's original terror network and the newer Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. Published September 14, 2015
Microsoft woes dent U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement as Obama pushes Trans-Pacific Partnership
U.S. and South Korean officials signed a "memorandum of understanding" on antitrust issues in Washington, casting a spotlight on the inner workings of an increasingly complex trade relationship between the two nations that critics say has benefited Koreans far more than Americans since the Obama administration pushed through a much-touted free trade deal three years ago. Published September 13, 2015
Russia calls on world to back Syrian military
Despite pushback from Washington and NATO over the Russia's widening military buildup in Syria, Moscow is now calling on world powers to help arm government forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad, calling them the "most efficient and powerful ground force" in the fight against the Islamic State. Published September 11, 2015
FBI, CIA, NSA all say no 9/11 terror threat
The directors of the FBI, CIA and NSA said Thursday that U.S. intelligence officials have not identified any specific or credible threat to the American homeland in connection with Friday's 14th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Published September 10, 2015
U.S. under pressure as Syrian refugee crisis balloons
A top Republican lawmaker warned Wednesday President Obama may be preparing to open "the floodgates" for Syrian war refugees to enter the U.S., even as the administration's top spy said intelligence officials have a "huge concern" the Islamic State aims to hide terrorists among the waves of people fleeing the conflict in the heart of the Middle East. Published September 9, 2015