A man at a site recently hit by what activists said was a Scud missile in Aleppo’s Ard al-Hamra neighborhood, February 23, 2013. REUTERS/Muzaffar Salman
U.S.-backed agreement on a “cessation of hostilities” in Syria is supposed to take effect at the end of this week, but there's been no sign of hostilities slowing — let alone ceasing.
Instead, Russia's air force, Bashar Assad's ground forces and even neighboring Turkey have all escalated attacks on the rebels whose five-year-long uprising against Assad is faltering. In northern Syria, missiles and bombs have hit two hospitals in the past week. With Russia's help, Assad's forces have nearly surrounded Aleppo, Syria's largest city and the rebels' most important base. Meanwhile, Turkey has been shelling Kurdish rebel forces that are allied with the United States.
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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- February 18, 2016
How will Turkey respond to Wednesday's Ankara bombing? -- Ben Thompson, CSM
Ankara bombing: blaming Kurds suits Erdoğan's political ends -- Simon Tisdall, The Guardian
Erdogan must drop personal ambition and ease tensions with Turkey’s Kurds -- Ranj Alaaldin, The Guardian
A look at Turkey’s friends and foes in the Syria conflict -- AP
When Will the Lebanese Presidential Merry-Go-Round Stop Spinning? -- Vanessa Newby, Lowy Institute
Is North Korea Preparing for a Fifth Nuclear Test? -- 38 North
China’s Missile Provocation -- New York Times editorial
Exclusive: U.N. Refugee Camp In South Sudan Burned To The Ground -- Justin Lynch, Daily Beast
Ukraine Resists Its Own Revolution -- Marc Champion, Bloomberg
The West Is Repeating the Mistakes of the 1930s -- Victor Davis Hanson, NRO
Can the Welfare State Survive the Refugee Crisis? -- Heather Horn, The Atlantic
Tough road for Venezuela after dire data, lacking measures -- Alexandra Ulmer and Girish Gupta, Reuters
The Cuban Immigration Exception -- J. Weston Phippen, The Atlantic
Did Saudi Arabia play a role in September 11? Here's what we know -- Max Fisher, VOX
Profit or patriotism? What's driving fight between US, Apple -- AP
Yes, the feds can hack your iPhone. No, it isn’t easy. -- Matthew Gault, Reuters
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