Regime Change

South Africa’s president has condemned NATO attacks on Libya in his harshest terms yet. In a wide-ranging speech to parliament Tuesday, President Jacob Zuma said he had “spoken out against the misuse of’’ a U.N. Security Council resolution supported by Arab and African countries that authorized a no-fly zone over Libya and the use of force to protect civilians. Zuma says, “We strongly believe that the resolution is being abused for regime change, political assassinations and foreign military occupation.’’ Zuma has tried to mediate a resolution to the Libyan conflict...

China offered a proposal Sunday to end the violence in Syria, calling for an immediate cease-fire and talks by all parties but standing firm against any intervention by outside forces. The proposal, released by China's Foreign Ministry, comes as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on Syrian President Bashar Assad's government to allow immediate access to humanitarian workers as Syria presses a military crackdown against anti-government groups. Beijing's plan is part of renewed efforts by Beijing to seize the diplomatic initiative in an increasingly vital part of the...

Congressman Ron Paul says rival White House hopeful Rick Santorum has his history wrong on Iran, arguing that the United States has been at war with Iran since it helped orchestrate regime change in the 1950s. Paul and Santorum clashed during Thursday's debate over Iran's nuclear ambitions and its threats to the United States. Paul says Santorum engages in "war propaganda. " Santorum says Paul is "obviously not seeing clearly" on the subject and does not understand the threats to the country from Islamic militants.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The UN Security Council failed again today to take decisive action to stop the escalating violence in Syria as Russia and China vetoed a resolution backing an Arab League plan that calls for President Bashar Assad to step down. The other 13 members of the council, including the United States, Britain and France, voted in an unusual weekend session in favor of the resolution aimed at stopping the ongoing violence in Syria. It was the second time in four months that Russia and China used their veto power to block a Security Council resolution condemning the...

BEIRUT - The Arab League said yesterday that Washington overstepped its bounds by saying President Bashar Assad of Syria had lost the legitimacy to lead his country. Speaking to reporters in Damascus, Arab League Chief Nabil Elaraby said Assad assured him that "Syria has entered a new era and is now moving on the road of a genuine reform. " Syria came under withering international criticism Tuesday as the White House said Assad has lost legitimacy and the UN Security Council condemned attacks on the US and French embassies in Damascus.

The Harvard Negotiation Project annually presents a "Great Negotiator Award" to an individual who has demonstrated extraordinary capabilities in international negotiations. Recent winners have included George Mitchell (for Ireland), Richard Holbrooke (for Bosnia), and Martti Ahtisaari (for Kosovo and Aceh). Only half in jest, over the past several years, I have urged my colleagues who run the program to give the prize to Kim Jong Il. According to the stated theory of negotiation as taught at Harvard, negotiating consists of a set of analytic and operational skills...

China offered a proposal Sunday to end the violence in Syria, calling for an immediate cease-fire and talks by all parties but standing firm against any intervention by outside forces. The proposal, released by China's Foreign Ministry, comes as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on Syrian President Bashar Assad's government to allow immediate access to humanitarian workers as Syria presses a military crackdown against anti-government groups. Beijing's plan is part of renewed efforts by Beijing to seize the diplomatic initiative in an increasingly vital...

WASHINGTON - The surge of jubilant rebels into Tripoli won at least one high-profile conversion of a skeptic of the Obama administration's Libya policy, but some critics of US involvement remained unconvinced yesterday despite the rapid unraveling of Moammar Khadafy's regime. L. Paul Bremer III, who led the early effort to secure and rebuild Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein, said he had believed the United States would be unable to achieve the goal of regime change without a full-fledged commitment in Libya.

CAIRO - Syria came under withering international criticism yesterday as the White House said President Bashar Assad has “lost legitimacy’’ and the UN Security Council unanimously condemned attacks on the US and French embassies in Damascus. It was a sharp escalation in pressure on Assad and a sign that the Obama administration could be moving closer to calling for regime change in Syria over the violent crackdown on a four-month-old uprising. Previously, the US position on Assad was that he should lead a transition to democracy or leave.

BEIRUT - Syria's president faced a growing challenge to his iron rule from home and abroad yesterday, with renegade troops reportedly launching their most daring attack yet on the military and with world leaders looking at the possibilities for a regime without Bashar Assad. France recalled its ambassador to Damascus following recent attacks against diplomatic missions and increasing violence stemming from the eight-month uprising. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe warned that "the vise is tightening" around Assad.

BEIRUT - In a barrage of shelling, Syrian forces killed 200 people and wounded hundreds more early today in Homs in an offensive that appears to be the bloodiest episode in the nearly 11-month-old uprising, activists said. The offensive was reported in Homs, which has been one of the main flashpoints of opposition to the regime during the uprising against President Bashar Assad. Two main opposition groups, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees, said the death toll was more than 200 people.

Many of the following letters have been abridged from their original length. Original publication dates are given in parentheses. TO PASS off the tragedy in Tucson [in which US Representative Gabrielle Giffords was wounded and six others were killed] as an anomaly is to do injustice to all those killed in this and other shootings. We have given an almost religious meaning to a document designed to solve, put aside, or assuage the concerns existing in late 18th-century America.

The Harvard Negotiation Project annually presents a "Great Negotiator Award" to an individual who has demonstrated extraordinary capabilities in international negotiations. Recent winners have included George Mitchell (for Ireland), Richard Holbrooke (for Bosnia), and Martti Ahtisaari (for Kosovo and Aceh). Only half in jest, over the past several years, I have urged my colleagues who run the program to give the prize to Kim Jong Il. According to the stated theory of negotiation as taught at Harvard, negotiating consists of a set of analytic and operational skills for achieving one's desired...

BEIRUT - Syria's president faced a growing challenge to his iron rule from home and abroad yesterday, with renegade troops reportedly launching their most daring attack yet on the military and with world leaders looking at the possibilities for a regime without Bashar Assad. France recalled its ambassador to Damascus following recent attacks against diplomatic missions and increasing violence stemming from the eight-month uprising. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe warned that "the vise is tightening" around Assad.

WASHINGTON - The surge of jubilant rebels into Tripoli won at least one high-profile conversion of a skeptic of the Obama administration's Libya policy, but some critics of US involvement remained unconvinced yesterday despite the rapid unraveling of Moammar Khadafy's regime. L. Paul Bremer III, who led the early effort to secure and rebuild Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein, said he had believed the United States would be unable to achieve the goal of regime change without a full-fledged commitment in...

Congressman Ron Paul says rival White House hopeful Rick Santorum has his history wrong on Iran, arguing that the United States has been at war with Iran since it helped orchestrate regime change in the 1950s. Paul and Santorum clashed during Thursday's debate over Iran's nuclear ambitions and its threats to the United States. Paul says Santorum engages in "war propaganda. " Santorum says Paul is "obviously not seeing clearly" on the subject and does not understand the threats to the country from Islamic militants.

MONTPELIER -- A car parked outside the State House bore a bumper sticker saying, "Regime change begins at home. " Inside, about 100 Vermonters gathered in the House chamber for the Vermont Independence Convention -- devoted to Vermont creating a regime of its own. If participants have their way, the state whose former governor was laughed out of the 2004 presidential race after the infamous Iowa scream is going to take what some call its...

BEIRUT - The Arab League said yesterday that Washington overstepped its bounds by saying President Bashar Assad of Syria had lost the legitimacy to lead his country. Speaking to reporters in Damascus, Arab League Chief Nabil Elaraby said Assad assured him that "Syria has entered a new era and is now moving on the road of a genuine reform. " Syria came under withering international criticism Tuesday as the White House said Assad has lost legitimacy and the UN Security Council condemned attacks on the US and French embassies in Damascus.