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Geopolitics

Report: CIA, Other Foreign Troops Join Syrian Rebels In Major Anti-Assad Operation

LE FIGARO (France), BBC

Worldcrunch

PARIS - Specially-trained Syrian rebel fighters, alongside US, Israeli and Jordanian forces, have crossed the border into Syria as an unprecedented assault begins against Bashar al-Assad’s regime, French daily Le Figaro reports Friday.

The newspaper cites military sources saying the operation began last week in the southern Syrian region of Deraa. The sources say that some 300 Syrians, as well as an unspecified number of Israeli, Jordanian and CIA commandos, crossed the border from Jordan into Syria on August 17, before a second group entered the country two days later.

Le Figaro reports report that military camps have been established at the Jordanian border by the US to train select members of the Free Syrian Army. This would allow the US to intervene without actually sending troops on the ground or arming the rebels.

Interviewed by Le Figaro, specialist from the French Institute of Strategic Analysis (IFAS) David Rigoulet-Roze predicts that Washington may now consider the idea of a no-fly zone above Syria’s southern areas to allow them to keep training rebels to overturn the current regime. It would also be the reason why the US sent Patriot Missile Batteries and F16 airplanes to Jordan in June.

Le Figaro says the operation may have been a motive for the alleged chemical attack on Wednesday that has reportedly killed 1,300 people near Damascus. Last July, President Bashar al-Assad’s spokesman publicly declared that the regime wouldn’t use chemical weapons in Syria, unless a “foreign assault was to take place”.

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Le Figaro's front page on Friday


Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama has said that if the allegations of the chemical attack are confirmed it would be a "big event of grave concern (that would) require America's attention," the BBC reports.

Russia on Friday urged both the Syrian government and rebels to cooperate with UN inspectors trying to verify the reports of the chemical weapons attack.


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Geopolitics

D.C. Or Beijing? Two High-Stakes Trips Show Taiwan's Divided Future On The Line

Two presidents of Taiwan, the current serving president, Tsai Ing-wen, and her predecessor, Ma Ying-jeou from the opposition Kuomintang party, are traveling in opposite directions these days. Taiwan must choose whom to follow.

Photo of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen

Tsai Ing-wen, the President of Taiwan

Pierre Haski

-Analysis-

PARIS — Tsai Ing-wen, the President of Taiwan, is traveling to the United States today. Not on an official trip because Taiwan is not a state recognized by Washington, but in transit, en route to Central America, a strategy that allows her to pass through New York and California.

Ma Ying-jeou, a former president of Taiwan, arrived yesterday in Shanghai: he is making a 12-day visit at the invitation of the Chinese authorities at a time of high tension between China and the United States, particularly over the fate of Taiwan.

It would be difficult to make these two trips more contrasting, as both have the merit of summarizing at a glance the decisive political battle that is coming. Presidential and legislative elections will be held in January 2024 in Taiwan, which could well determine Beijing's attitude towards the island that China claims by all means, including force.

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