Guy Taylor
Articles by Guy Taylor
Leopoldo Lopez’s wife entreats Obama to help with his captivity
The wife of Venezuela's highest-profile political prisoner pressed the Obama administration to do more to address the human rights crisis in her country, saying the opposition movement won't stop until there is "clear justice, a clear rule of law and human rights for all people." Published February 10, 2015
Deso Dogg, former rap artist linked to Islamic State, branded as terrorist: State Dept.
A German citizen and former hip-hop artist who appeared recently in an Islamic State beheading video has been added to the U.S. government's official "specially designated global terrorist" list, the State Department said Monday. Published February 9, 2015
Jalil Abbas Jilani, Pakistan ambassador, seeks increased U.S. pressure on India
NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW: The top Pakistani diplomat in Washington says he is optimistic about prospects for peace in Afghanistan after the U.S. troop pullout, but asserts that the Obama administration could and should be doing more to foster peace in South Asia by pressuring India to embrace economic and counterterrorism overtures from Islamabad. Published February 8, 2015
Nigeria elections postponed following Boko Haram violence
Nigeria's government said Saturday it will postponed its Feb. 14 presidential election following a surge of violence by Boko Haram, as U.S. intelligence officials warned that the shadowy jihadist group has seized roughly 30 villages and towns over the past year and is now capable of going "toe-to-toe" with Nigerian military forces. Published February 7, 2015
Angela Merkel, Francois Hollande being led into ‘trap’ in Russia peace talks, Ukraine says
Ukraine's prime minister warned Thursday that the leaders of France and Germany were being led into a diplomatic "trap" as they headed to Moscow to push a peace plan for eastern Ukraine, as the Obama administration continued to struggle with the question of whether to provide U.S. weapons to aid the Ukrainian military's fight against Russia-backed separatists. Published February 5, 2015
John Kerry in Ukraine says U.S. ‘does not seek a confrontation’ with Russia
Secretary of State John F. Kerry is pushing a message to Russian leaders that Washington "does not seek a confrontation," despite reports that the Obama administration is carefully weighing whether to begin sending armor-piercing weapons to Ukrainian forces engaged in a growing war with Moscow-backed separatists. Published February 5, 2015
Jordan pilot Islamic State execution video triggers Sunni outrage throughout Middle East
Top Sunni Muslim clerics in the Middle East on Wednesday condemned Islamic State extremists as enemies of God who deserve to be crucified for burning alive a captured Jordanian fighter pilot, breathing new life into U.S. attempts to increase Sunni Arab participation in the U.S.-led coalition against the extremists. Published February 4, 2015
Obama, U.S. blind to Islamic State Libya threat, top official warns
A top adviser to Libya's prime minister warned Tuesday that the Obama administration and the U.S. intelligence community have dramatically underestimated the Islamic State's expansion into his nation — a development that could have been avoided had Washington led a more aggressive counterterrorism strategy after Moammar Gadhafi's ouster in 2011. Published February 3, 2015
Obama weighs lethal military aid to embattled Ukraine
Faced with growing Russian meddling in eastern Ukraine, President Obama and his top-level aides are weighing the need for far more aggressive and militarized countermeasures than the White House has been willing to embrace. Published February 2, 2015
China reportedly building second aircraft carrier
Chinese authorities are moving toward building a second aircraft carrier, according to reports Monday, marking the latest sign the rising Asian military power aims to grow its long-range naval capabilities. Published February 2, 2015
Henry Kissinger, Madeleine Albright, George Shultz: U.S. has responsibility to lead
Three secretaries of state from the Nixon, Reagan and Bill Clinton eras painted a dark picture of global security during a rare appearance on Capitol Hill Thursday, saying international order has eroded more during the 15 years than at any time since World War II — with burgeoning threats posed by Iran, Russia and jihadi terrorists leading the charge. Published January 29, 2015
John McCain: ‘Get out of here, you low-life scum’
John McCain lashed out angrily Thursday at a group of protesters who interrupted the start of a Senate hearing featuring Henry Kissinger by calling for the former secretary of state to be tried for war crimes. Published January 29, 2015
Israel, Hezbollah war feared as missile strikes break cease-fire
U.S. officials on Wednesday urged calm between Israel and Hezbollah after a barrage of anti-tank missile strikes by the Iran-backed militant group triggered retaliation from Israeli military forces and raised fears that the two sides may be on the verge of a war like the one that broke out between them in 2006. Published January 28, 2015
Senate Democrats bow to Obama on Iran, pull support for immediate new sanctions
Senate Democrats on Tuesday backed away from a bipartisan push for immediate new sanctions on Iran, bowing to President Obama's call not to undercut international talks to get Tehran to curb its nuclear programs in the coming weeks. Published January 27, 2015
Islamic State’s Libya branch claims deadly attack on hotel; U.S. contractor among those killed
A Libyan branch of the Islamic State claimed responsibility for a terrorist attack that killed four foreigners and five security guards at a luxury hotel in Tripoli Tuesday, the most brazen assault to date in Libya by jihadists who've pledged allegiance to the extremist movement. Published January 27, 2015
Ed Royce: Nukes talk with Iran at dead end
The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Tuesday despite the Obama administration's willingness to "move closer and closer to Iranian positions," ongoing talks over the Islamic republic's disputed nuclear program have hit a dead end. Published January 27, 2015
Libya latest Arab Spring disappointment as unrest creates terrorist safe haven
With the unrest in Yemen dominating the headlines in recent days, a widening war among Libya's militant factions is pushing the North African nation higher on the list of failed states that provide safe haven for the region's terrorist groups just four years after a U.S.-backed campaign ousted former dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Published January 26, 2015
Yemen coup shows Obama lacks Middle East terror strategy, critics say
The Yemeni government's fall to Iran-backed Shiite militants last week is only the latest sign that Tehran is "on the march" and that President Obama needs a battle plan to rout extremists across the Middle East, the administration's critics charged Sunday. Published January 25, 2015
Yemen’s Shiite rebels growing in power amid Obama uncertainty on Iran, experts fear
The surge in Yemen this week by Shiite Muslim militants represents what some national security insiders are calling a "huge victory" for Iran, just as the Obama administration faces criticism for being too lenient in nuclear talks with the Islamic republic and appears — at least tacitly — to be coordinating with Tehran against Sunni terrorists in Iraq. Published January 23, 2015
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner now claiming prosecutor’s death was not a suicide
In an abrupt about-face, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner claimed Thursday that the prosecutor who turned up dead in the nation just days after accusing her of pursuing a secret deal to bury Iran's alleged role in a 1994 bombing at a Buenos Aires Jewish center did not commit suicide. Published January 22, 2015