A video from activists an eastern suburb of Damascus showed smoke rising. BBC
Syria's Rebels Need To Strike At The Regime's Backbone -- Hassan Hassan, The National
What if the Syrian regime crumbled today? Did the government lose control - at least briefly - when at least four of the regime's top figures were killed in a bomb attack in Damascus in July? In my opinion, it probably did.
Those officials, including the dictator's brother-in-law Assef Shawkat, linked the regime's top echelons with the security apparatus in overseeing the daily repression. That chain was probably broken, for a brief period, before the embattled regime reasserted its control and the violence continued as usual.
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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials
A jihadist group prospers in Syria -- Jackson Diehl, Washington Post
Tunisia’s Challenges -- New York Times editorial
It is business as usual in Pakistan -- Anita Joshua, The National
Al Qaida-linked groups cement control in northern Mali as diplomats ponder intervention -- Alan Boswell, McClatchy Newspapers
Minorities Fear End of Secularism in Egypt -- Daniel Steinvorth and Volkhard Windfuhr, Spiegel Online
Africa’s gerontocracy isn’t going to last much longer -- TMS Ruge, Special to The Globe and Mail
The Putin Crackdown -- Wall Street Journal editorial
Prospect of show trial stirs some Russians' memories of Stalinism -- Fred Weir, Christian Science Monitor
Now, Almost Anyone Is a Traitor -- Andrei Soldatov, The Moscow Times
Reclaiming Xenophobia: The Rise of Ultra-Nationalism in Greece -- Joanna Kakissis, Time
Europe must overcome the politics of fear around the debt crisis -- George Papandreou, Christian Science Monitor
Scottish independence vote is part of worrying trend -- Washington Post editorial
Gates says defense secretary role was his life's 'highest calling' -- Jennifer Rizzo, CNN