Word: syria
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...Muslim Party of God that had been formed a year earlier to resist the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. But this café meeting was taking place in the spring of 2005, after mass demonstrations and U.S. pressure had helped force one of Hizballah's patron states, Syria, to end its occupation of Lebanon. The American official was thrilled by the turn of events ("There's going to be a whole new Lebanon," she said) and was feeling sanguine enough to venture out for coffee with journalists, albeit with several bodyguards...
...Hizballah's success has won it support from many sides: its reputation as the most successful anti-Israeli military group in the Middle East has won support from Arab nationalists and the backing of Iran and Syria. Meanwhile, many Lebanese Shi'as revere Hizballah for its social and educational-development programs. Many Western governments, meanwhile, consider it a terrorist group; it was placed on the U.S. State Department's terrorist list in 1999. Lebanon's ruling March 14th coalition has also blamed the organization for destabilizing the region and unnecessarily embroiling Lebanon in a near-30-year conflict with Israel...
...people abroad, Obama's greatest achievement is casting off the paranoia of the Bush-Cheney era. Opening up to Iran and Syria, getting closer to Turkey and dissociating the war on terror from the vast Muslim world are good signs. The test as always will be Israel and Palestine - and his window of opportunity may be no wider than the next 100 days. Will he define his vision of the two-state solution as compared to that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman of Israel: more settlements, cantonization and no control over water rights or travel...
...people abroad, Obama's greatest achievement is casting off the paranoia of the Bush-Cheney era. Opening up to Iran and Syria, getting closer to Turkey and dissociating the war on terror from the vast Muslim world are good signs. The test as always will be Israel/Palestine - and his window of opportunity may be no wider than the next 100 days. Will he define his vision of the two-state solution as compared to Netanyahu and Lieberman's: more settlements, cantonization and no control over water rights or travel? Lieberman has said, "Believe me, America accepts all our decisions." Will...
...rise in violence is also a quandary for Iraq's neighbors, which play reluctant host to the refugees. The exact number of refugees is hard to gauge, but the Iraqi government estimates there are 2 million. The majority of them live in Syria and Jordan, which are struggling with weak economies and mounting joblessness among their own populations. Government officials in Damascus and Amman have been counting on the improving security environment in Iraq to persuade many refugees to go home. Aid workers in both countries say many refugees are being pressured to leave. (See pictures of the recent revival...