Jim Lobe

Jim Lobe writes for Inter Press Service.

Obama Pressed to Take Stronger Action Against Assad

Amid a continuing crackdown against opposition forces, U.S. President Barack Obama is coming under growing pressure to impose tougher sanctions against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Two key lawmakers with close ties to the powerful "Israel Lobby" on Capitol Hill called Thursday for Obama to fully enforce existing sanctions, which would deny Damascus … Continue reading “Obama Pressed to Take Stronger Action Against Assad”

Egypt’s Moves Raising Anxiety in Washington

With U.S. lawmakers threatening this week to cut aid to Pakistan over its alleged harboring of the late Osama bin Laden, concern is growing steadily here over the future of ties with another key predominantly Muslim ally heavily dependent on U.S. aid: Egypt. Washington has supplied an average of two billion dollars a year – … Continue reading “Egypt’s Moves Raising Anxiety in Washington”

Bin Laden’s Killing Could Alter Af-Pak Policies

Sunday’s killing of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden by a small helicopter-borne team of U.S. Navy Seals could result in significant impacts on U.S. relations and strategy both in Pakistan, where the raid was carried out, and neighboring Afghanistan, where it was launched, according to policy experts. Analysts agreed that the operation, which targeted a … Continue reading “Bin Laden’s Killing Could Alter Af-Pak Policies”

Arab Spring Stalls as U.S. Defers to Saudi ‘Counter-Revolution’

As the so-called Arab Spring enters its sixth month, it appears to have run into seriously wintry headwinds. While some observers in Washington have blamed Saudi Arabia and its neighboring Sunni-led sheikhdoms as a major source of the icy winds that are blasting through the Gulf, the growing contradictions between the U.S. and Western "values" … Continue reading “Arab Spring Stalls as U.S. Defers to Saudi ‘Counter-Revolution’”

US Denies It Is Trying to Undermine Assad

As anti-government protests in Syria showed no sign of abating, the U.S. State Department Monday denied that it was seeking the regime’s ouster. “No, we are not working to undermine that government,” said spokesman Mark Toner in response to a front-page report in Monday’s Washington Post about secret U.S. financing of Syrian opposition groups, including … Continue reading “US Denies It Is Trying to Undermine Assad”

US Keeps Quiet Over Arab Allies’ Repression

If President Barack Obama wanted to place Washington "on the right side of history" during the ongoing "Arab Spring," his reaction to recent events in Bahrain will likely make that far more difficult, according to a growing number of analysts and commentators here. While his administration has become ever more outspoken against repression in Syria … Continue reading “US Keeps Quiet Over Arab Allies’ Repression”

U.S. Reports Decry Curbs on NGOs, Internet, Minorities

Growing government harassment of civil society organizations (CSOs), restrictions on Internet use, and persecution of vulnerable minorities constituted three of the most worrisome trends that slowed the spread of human rights around the globe in 2010, according to latest annual edition of the State Department’s massive "Country Reports." Setbacks in one or more of these … Continue reading “U.S. Reports Decry Curbs on NGOs, Internet, Minorities”

Libya Splitting Republicans in 1990s Redux

In something of a replay of the infighting among Republicans over Washington’s military interventions in the Balkans in the 1990s, U.S. involvement in the civil war in Libya is exposing serious splits among self-described conservatives. On the one hand, Republican "realists" in the tradition of President George H.W. Bush – of whom Pentagon chief Robert … Continue reading “Libya Splitting Republicans in 1990s Redux”

Rights Groups Deplore Order to Try 9/11 Suspects at Guantanamo

U.S. human rights groups reacted angrily to the Justice Department’s announcement Monday that the self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on Lower Manhattan and the Pentagon will be tried before a military commission at the Guantanamo detention facility in Cuba.The groups, which described the move as the latest in a series of reversals by the … Continue reading “Rights Groups Deplore Order to Try 9/11 Suspects at Guantanamo”

Neocons Target Assad Regime

Despite the clear opposition the Obama administration and apparent ambivalence on the part of the right-wing government in Israel, neoconservative hawks here have set their sights on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who they hope will be the next domino to fall victim to what the so-called "Arab Spring."  In a much-noted op-ed published Saturday by … Continue reading “Neocons Target Assad Regime”