Syria No-Fly Zone: Realistic Objectives
Monday, October 31, 2011
A Syrian shouts slogans during protest against government of Syria's President Assad (Osman Orsal/Courtesy Reuters).

A Syrian shouts slogans during protest against government of Syria's President Assad (Osman Orsal/Courtesy Reuters).

The space shuttle Atlantis is seen with earth in the background as it draws near the International Space Station for docking (Courtesy Reuters).

An al-Shabaab soldier carries his gun in southern Mogadishu on January 1, 2011 (Feisal Omar/Courtesy Reuters).

Indian Muslims wait for morning Eid prayer at the Jama Masjid in New Delhi (Pawel Kopczynski/Courtesy Reuters).

Residents celebrate at Martyrs square in Tripoli October 20, 2011 after hearing the news that former leader Muammar Gaddafi was killed in Sirte (Ismail Zetouni/Courtesy Reuters).

A view of the street after a violent clashes between Libyan interim government forces and loyalists of Muammar Gaddafi in Sirte on October 18, 2011 (Esam Al-Fetori/Courtesy Reuters).

U.S. President Obama delivers speech in Hradcany Square in Prague on April 5, 2009 (Jason Reed/Courtesy Reuters).

U.S. Department of Homeland Security analysts work at the National Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Center in Arlington, Virginia, on May 10, 2010 (Hyungwon Kang/Courtesy Reuters).

Syrian National Council spokeswoman Basma Qadmani gives her address during a meeting in Istanbul on October 2, 2011 (Stringer Turkey/Courtesy Reuters).
- Joan and John Bird, “Penetrating the Iron Curtain: Resolving the Missile Gap Through Technology,” CIA Historical Collections Edition, September 22, 2011. Read more »
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John Vandiver, “US-trained Congolese Battalion Among Units Accused of Rape,” Stars and Stripes, May 10, 2013.
For U.S. diplomats and military officials who were involved in training a Congolese army unit, a troubling question loomed: Would the 391st Commando Battalion serve as protectors of the population or would they revert to acts of sexual violence once on the battlefield?
A United Nations report released this week indicates that their worst fears have been realized and that efforts at building up a Congolese unit of benevolent soldiers has failed. The report, issued Wednesday by the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office, accused members of the 391st Commando Battalion — which was trained by special forces troops assigned to U.S. Africa Command — and other Democratic Republic of Congo troops of engaging in a range of atrocities, including the mass rape of women and young girls in eastern Congo.
On Friday, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), vice chairman of the house armed services committee (HASC), introduced a bi-partisan bill with…
Leon Panetta had unique and unprecedented access into U.S. targeted killing programs as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency…
Former secretary of defense Robert Gates is a self-described foreign policy “realist”—in his last major policy address in office, given…
Olga Khazan, “Interview: NATO Supreme Allied Commander on Syria and Soft Power,” The Atlantic, May 9, 2013.