It's time to arm the Syrian rebels

Instead of red lines of resolve, we're acquiescing to another red line: one written in the blood of civilians and the burning embers ofAmerica's broken word

In the midst of the Boston investigation, the looming interrogation of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the challenge of immigration reform, and the fight over gun control, it's easy to forget that there's a world outside America.

But our attention mustn't fixate only on domestic concerns. There's an international crisis that requires our urgent action: the Syrian Civil War.

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The Syrian people desperately need our help. For more than two years, they've been brutalized with unrepentant fury.

It's time for that to stop. We must provide arms to select groups of Syrian rebels.

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Let's be clear: This is a path fraught with risk. Weapons we supply in good faith could end up in the hands of Islamic extremists, or with Bashar al-Assad's own forces. Rifles and rockets intended for liberation might be used against the very civilians we aim to save. For these reasons, President Obama has previously rejected similar armament plans.

But against this mountain of risk, we must pay attention to the new necessity of our engagement.

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Syria is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis. More than 70,000 men, women and children have been killed. And Assad has upped his wanton destruction to catastrophic new heights. Just this weekend,Syrian forces entered the town of Jdaidet-al-Fadl and summarily executed several civilians. This is a regime that regards civilians as people to be pulverized into submission, rather than protected from the horrors war. Bashar al-Assad is a man who, like his father, will spare no effort to maintain his power.

Assad has slowed the once-vigorous rebel advance. And as Assad's forces seek to dominate the crucial region ringing Damascus, the rebellion's strength is being seriously degraded.

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There's also the WMD issue.

In recent days, considerable evidence has grown pointing to Assad's use of chemical weapons. In using these weapons despite warnings from America, Assad is laying down a challenge: Is the ink of American red lines matched by American resolve? Or does red on paper equal pink in practice?

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Assad deserves an answer and we should give him one.

Joining with allies like Britain and France, we should deploy CIA SAD officers into Syria. Once there, we would be able to build a more coherent intelligence picture. This would grant us the knowledge necessary to identify who to support, and a strategy allowing the focused provision of arms to nationalist-minded groups rather than Islamist terrorists. Finally, the rebels would have the anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles that they need to bring down this disgusting regime.

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Our current policy toward Syria is a bad joke. Like so many of our problems, we prefer to throw money rather than apply strategic courage. And the impact is telling. Instead of red lines of resolve, we're acquiescing to another red line: one written in the blood of civilians and the burning embers of America's broken word. This is foreign policy weakness at its raw and vicious worst.

Rarely in our history has the telling union of basic morality, clear capacity, and obvious strategic interest been so strong. Without risking the lives of our troops, or substantial treasure of our nation, we can do great good.

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We have the power to act, we just need the will.

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Bail hearings for 2 men in Canada terror plot

TORONTO (AP) — A suspect accused of plotting with al-Qaida inIran to derail a train in Canada said Tuesday authorities were basing their conclusions on mere appearances. Iran, meanwhile, denied any involvement.

Canadian investigators say Raed Jaser, 35, and his suspected accomplice Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, received "directions and guidance" from members of al-Qaida in Iran. Iran said it had nothing to do with the plot, and groups such as al-Qaida do not share Iran's ideology.

Charges against the two men include conspiring to carry out an attack and murder people in association with a terrorist group. Police — tipped off by an imam worried about one of the suspects' behavior — said it was the first known attack planned by al-Qaida in Canada.

In a brief court appearance in Montreal, a bearded Esseghaier declined to be represented by a court-appointed lawyer. He made a brief statement in French in which he called the allegations against him unfair.

"The conclusions were made based on facts and words which are only appearances," he said in a calm voice after asking permission to speak.

Jaser appeared in court earlier Tuesday in Toronto and also did not enter a plea. He and was given a new court date of May 23. He had a long beard and wore a black shirt with no tie, and was accompanied by his parents and brother. The court granted a request by his lawyer, John Norris, for a publication ban on future evidence and testimony.

"I don't know nothing. Let the police do their job," his father, Mohammed Jaser, said outside the courtroom in a crush of journalists.

The men's case has raised questions about the extent of Shiite-led Iran's relationship with the predominantly Sunni Arab terrorist network. Relations between the two have been rocky for many years, but some al-Qaida members were allowed to stay in Iran after fleeing Afghanistan following the U.S. led invasion there. Iran watched them carefully and limited their movements.

U.S. intelligence officials track limited al-Qaida activity inside Iran. Remnants of al-Qaida's so-called management council are still there, though they are usually kept under virtual house arrest by the Iranian regime. There are also a small number of financiers and facilitators who help move money, and sometimes weapons and people, throughout the region from their base in Iran.

Last fall, the Obama administration offered up to $12 million in rewards for information leading to the capture of two al-Qaida leaders based in Iran. The U.S. State Department described them as key facilitators in sending extremists to Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. Treasury Department also announced financial penalties against one of the men.

Officials in Canada said Jaser and Esseghaier had "direction and guidance" from al-Qaida members in Iran but no financial assistance, and there was no reason to think the planned attacks were state-sponsored.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters on Tuesday that groups such as al-Qaida have "no compatibility with Iran in both political and ideological fields."

"We oppose any terrorist and violent action that would jeopardize lives of innocent people," he said.

Mehmanparast called the Canadian claims part of hostile policies against Tehran, and accused Canadaof indirectly aiding al-Qaida by joining Western support for Syrian rebels. Some Islamic militant factions, claiming allegiance to al-Qaida, have joined forces seeking to topple the regime of Bashar Assad, one of Iran's main allies in the region.

The two countries have no diplomatic relations after Canada unilaterally closed its embassy in Tehran in 2012 and expelled Iranian diplomats from Ottawa.

Police said the men are not Canadian citizens and had been in Canada a "significant amount of time," but declined to say where they were from or why they were in the country.

Norris, Jaser's lawyer, said his client would "defend himself vigorously" against the accusations, and noted his client was a permanent resident of Canada who has lived there for 20 years. He refused to say where Jaser was from, saying that revealing his nationality in the current climate amounted to demonizing him.

The investigation surrounding the planned attack was part of a cross-border operation involving Canadian law enforcement agencies, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Canadian police said the men never got close to carrying out the attack.

RCMP chief superintendent Jennifer Strachan said Monday that Jaser and Esseghaier were targeting a route, but did not say whether it was a cross border route.

In New York, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne declined to discuss reports that the plot targeted a passenger line between New York City and Canada. However, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday that Canada has kept New York posted on the investigation.

"I can just tell you that you are probably safer in New York City than you are in any other big city," Bloomberg told reporters Tuesday without discussing details.

Police in Canada said Jaser and Esseghaier had been under investigation since last fall.

Muhammad Robert Heft, who runs an outreach organization for Islamic converts, and Hussein Hamdani, a lawyer and longtime advocate in the Muslim community, said one of the suspects is Tunisian and the other is from the United Arab Emirates. Heft and Hamdani were part of a group of Muslim community leaders who were briefed by the RCMP ahead of Monday's announcement.

In Abu Dhabi, a UAE source informed about the attack plot said there was "no UAE citizen" with the name Raed Jaser. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief media.

Authorities were tipped off by members of the Muslim community, Best said

Toronto lawyer Naseer Syed said a Toronto imam tipped off police. Syed would not say what, exactly him off. He said he was speaking for the imam, who wished to remain anonymous.

"I was involved in alerting police about the suspect. I made some calls on behalf of the imam over a year ago," he said from his Toronto office. "The Muslim community has been cooperating with authorities for a number of years and people do the right thing when there is reason to alert authorities."

A spokeswoman for the University of Sherbrooke near Montreal said Esseghaier studied there in 2008-2009. More recently, he has been doing doctoral research at the National Institute of Scientific Research, a spokeswoman at the training university confirmed.

Julie Martineau, a spokeswoman at the research institute, said Esseghaier began working at the center just outside Montreal in 2010 and was pursuing a Ph.D. in nanotechnology.

A LinkedIn page showing a man with Esseghaier's name and academic background said he helped author a number of biology research papers, including on HIV and cancer detection. The page says he was a student in Tunisia before moving to Canada in the summer of 2008.

The page carries a photo of a black flag inscribed with the Muslim declaration of faith: "There is no god but God and Muhammad is his prophet." The same flag was used by al-Qaida in Iraq and then started being used by ultraconservative Islamic groups in Egypt, Tunisia, Mali and elsewhere across the region.

In Markham, Ontario, north of Toronto, police tape cordoned off half of a duplex, with officers remaining at the scene well into Monday night. Sanjay Chaudhary, who lives in the other half of the duplex with his family, said the RCMP questioned him about his neighbor Jaser, asking whether he knew him or spoke to him often.

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US team to speak to Boston suspects' parents

France approves gay marriage despite protest

Pro gay marriage activists kiss after French lawmakers legalized same-sex marriage, Tuesday, April 23, 2013 in Paris. Lawmakers legalized same-sex marriage after months of bruising debate and street ...

Frigide Barjot, also known as Virginie Tellenne, left, leader of the movement against gay marriage is seen at the French National Assembly during the vote of President Francois Hollande's social ...

PARIS (AP) — France legalized gay marriage on Tuesday after a wrenching national debate that has exposed deep conservatism in the nation's heartland and triggered huge protests that tapped into deep discontent with the Socialist government.

Legions of officers with water cannon braced outside the National Assembly for violence that had not come by late evening. The protests against the measure included thousands but were peaceful. Other gatherings were simply celebrations.

But it was an issue that galvanized the country's faltering right, which had been decimated by infighting and their election loss to President Francois Hollande.

The measure passed easily in the Socialist-majority Assembly, 331-225, just minutes after the president of the legislative body expelled a disruptive protester in pink, the color adopted by French opponents of gay marriage.

Justice Minister Christiane Taubira told lawmakers that the first weddings could be as soon as June.

"We believe that the first weddings will be beautiful and that they'll bring a breeze of joy, and that those who are opposed to them today will surely be confounded when they are overcome with the happiness of the newlyweds and the families," she said.

Outside the Parliament building on Paris' Left Bank there appeared to be more police than protestors.

Claire Baron, 41, a mother of two, said that she "will oppose the bill until the end."

"I'll keep going to the protests, I don't give in. The bill is not effective yet, the president of the Republic must listen to our voices. We are here to defend family values. Children need a mom and a dad," Baron said.

In recent weeks, violent attacks against gay couples have spiked and some legislators have received threats — including Claude Bartelone, the Assembly president, who got a gunpowder-filled envelope on Monday.

One of the biggest protests against same-sex marriage drew together hundreds of thousands of people bused in from the French provinces — conservative activists, schoolchildren with their parents, retirees, priests and others. That demonstration ended in blasts of tear gas, as right-wing rabble-rousers, some in masks and hoods, led the charge against police, damaging cars along the Champs-Elysees avenue and making a break for the presidential palace.

Following the vote members of the gay and lesbian community flocked to a square in central Paris, just behind City Hall, to celebrate the vote.

"I feel immense joy, gigantic joy," said 39-year old Sylvain Rouzel, "at last, everyone has the same rights. This is huge! France was lagging behind. We had to wait 14 years after the civil union to finally obtain the right to get married, with equal rights for everyone. I feel great!"

Paris' openly gay mayor, Bertrand Delanoe, was among the crowd of hundreds gathered for the street celebration in the Marais, the city's historic gay neighborhood.

When Hollande promised to legalize gay marriage, it was seen as relatively uncontroversial. The issue has become a touchstone as his popularity has sunk to unprecedented lows, largely over France's ailing economy.

"The opposition is in a weakened position, but they know which buttons to press in order to get a reaction in society, in a country as liberal as France, where nobody thought it was an issue," said Hossein Alizadeh, a coordinator with the U.S.-based International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission who has followed the issue.

But the most visible face in the fight against gay marriage — a former comedienne who goes by the name of Frigide Barjot — said the movement named "A Protest for Everyone" will continue beyond the law's passage and possibly field candidates in 2014 municipal elections. She said anyone involved in protest violence would be marginalized, but blamed the government for its failure to listen.

"The violence comes from the way in which this was imposed," Barjot told France Info radio.

French conservatives, decimated by infighting and the election loss of standard-bearer Nicolas Sarkozy, found common cause in opposing same-sex marriage. Hoping to keep the issue alive, the conservative UMP party planned to challenge the law in the Constitutional Council.

"The controversy that we've seen has been a stoked and manipulated controversy that's really kind of a last-ditch attempt to block the tide of history," said Evan Wolfson, president of the American activist group Freedom to Marry, which he said worked with the French on the bill. "I don't think it spoke to a deep or wide opposition among the French people."

French civil unions, allowed since 1999, are at least as popular among heterosexuals as among gay and lesbian couples. But that law has no provisions for adoption, and the strongest opposition in France as far as same-sex couples goes comes when children are involved. According to recent polls, just over half of French are opposed to adoption by same-sex couples — about the same number who said they favored same-sex marriage.

Christophe Crepin, spokesman for the police union UNSA, says the extraordinary security Tuesday included a total of about 4,000 officers in the area near the National Assembly building and water cannon positioned nearby. One group of anti-riot police swarmed the banks of the Seine River about a quarter-mile from the legislature, hours before protests were scheduled there.

France is the 14th country to legalize gay marriage nationwide —and the most populous. On the cover of Tuesday's Liberation newspaper, the famed gay photographers Pierre and Gilles took over the front page and several of the inside pages, splashing them with some of their most provocative photos, including one of three soccer players — nude but for the footwear — facing the camera.

In New Zealand, where gay marriage enjoys popular support, people gathered outside Parliament and joined in singing a traditional Maori love ballad after a vote last week making it legal. Nine states and the District of Columbia in the U.S. also recognize such marriages, but the federal government does not.

___

Follow Lori Hinnant at https://twitter.com/lhinnant

7 major new revelations about the Boston Marathon attacks

Few answers, but more clues emerge as the surviving suspect starts talking

While surviving Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev remains hospitalized with wounds sustained during his flight from police, investigators are beginning to probe deeper into the case for more information and a motive. In preliminary interviews conducted at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center inBoston, Tsarnaev reportedly began filling in the blanks.

Here are the latest updates in the case:

1. Dzhokhar may have confessed
Multiple media outlets reported Tuesday that Tsarnaev has confessed that he and his elder brotherTamerlan carried out the attack. The New York Times, Boston Globe, and Washington Post, all citing anonymous officials involved in the case, said Tsarnaev admitted his guilt by writing responses to investigators' questions. Tsarnaev has a gunshot wound to his neck, among other injuries, and is barely able to speak.

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So far, no government or law enforcement official has publicly corroborated that claim. And it should be noted that the investigation is still in its early stages, which means that reported admission, if it indeed took place, would still need to be checked out by law enforcement.

2. They likely acted alone
Authorities now believe that the brothers acted alone, with no support from a domestic or foreign terror group. Rather, they believe the two were "self-radicalized."

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From the Washington Post's Scott Wilson, Greg Miller and Sari Horwitz:

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has provided limited information to authorities that indicates he and his brother acted independently, without direction or significant influence from Islamist militants overseas. U.S. officials said they are still working to assemble a detailed timeline of a trip the older Tsarnaev took to Russia, but see no evidence that he received instructions there that led to the attack.

"These are persons operating inside the United States without a nexus" to an overseas group, a U.S. intelligence official said. [Washington Post]

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3. Suspect cites Islam, U.S. wars as motive
Though the suspects are believed to have acted independently, they were allegedly influenced by radical Islamic teachings, and saw the attack as payback for the American-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to CNN and NPR, Dzhokhar has said Tamerlan was the "driving force" behind the attack.

From CNN's Jake Tapper:

Tamerlan's motivation was that of jihadist thought, the source says, with its religious and political motivations, the idea that Islam is under attack and jihadists need to fight back.

The source adds according to these preliminary interviews the brothers seem to fit into the classification of self-starters, self-radicalized jihadists. [CNN]

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Meanwhile, the Associated Press is reporting that Tamerlan may have also been exposed to radical teachings by a friend who was a Muslim convert.

From the AP:

Under the tutelage of a friend known to the Tsarnaev family only as Misha, Tamerlan gave up boxing and stopped studying music, his family said. He began opposing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He turned to websites and literature claiming that the CIA was behind the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and Jews controlled the world.

"Somehow, he just took his brain," said Tamerlan's uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, who recalled conversations with Tamerlan's worried father about Misha's influence. [Associated Press]

SEE MORE: It's time to arm the Syrian rebels

"He came in and he asked the question that 90 percent of males ask when they walk into a fireworks store: 'What’s the most powerful thing you’ve got?'" Phantom Fireworks Vice President, William Weimer, told the New York Times.

It's unclear if the brothers used powder from those fireworks — two large mortar kits with 24 shells apiece — in any of the weapons used in the Boston attack. Weimer told the Times that he didn't think the suspects purchased enough fireworks to obtain the powder necessary to create all the bombs used in the Boston attack and the ensuing police chase.

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An affidavit submitted with the criminal complaint against Dzhokhar notes that police found a "large pyrotechnic" in his dorm room.

5. Tamerlan had a criminal past
Massachusetts police are investigating whether Tamerlan is responsible for a September 2011 triple-homicide in Waltham, Mass., a town just outside Boston. One of the victims in that unsolved case is a former roommate of Tamerlan's, though investigators have not said if there is any new information that prompted them to probe that potential link, other than the bombings.

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And according to the Washington Post, Tamerlan was arrested in 2009 for a domestic dispute in which he allegedly slapped his girlfriend. He was charged with assault and battery, and the case was dismissed six months later.

6. FBI did not flag Tamerlan
The FBI claims that, despite a debate over whether the agency missed a chance to flag the elder Tsarnaev two years ago, the agency had no legal authority to do so. Previous reports noted that Russia had specifically asked the U.S. for information on Tamerlan when he traveled there in 2011. Speculation swirled that a typo or agency malfeasance led to Tamerlan going by unnoticed, but the FBI shot those theories down.

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According to the FBI, agents performed an initial investigation at Russia's behest, but when they asked if they should delve deeper, they got no response. In the end, the agency interviewed Tamerlan and his family on its own, determining that they did not pose a terror threat.

7. Injury tally rises
While the number of deaths related to the marathon bombing has stood at three since last Monday, the injury tally has steadily risen since then. Though initially estimated at around 160, that total has climbed to more than 260 as more people have checked themselves in for treatment over the past week.

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"We have seen a steady increase in the number of patients," Nick Martin, a Boston Public Health Commission spokesman said Tuesday. "An example is people with hearing problems who might have initially assumed it was a temporary issue. But it lasted longer than they thought it would."

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