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Articles by Stephen Dinan

Secretary of State John Kerry, left, talks to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013, prior to the start of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Syria where they testified. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Senators agree on Syria resolution granting Obama strike authority

Key senators struck a deal Tuesday night on a resolution granting President Obama the authority to conduct military strikes in Syria as long as they happen within 90 days and are limited to enforcing the administration's "red line" prohibiting chemical weapons use.

September 3, 2013
From left, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, Secretary of State John Kerry, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to advance President Obama's request for congressional authorization for military intervention in Syria, a response to last month's alleged sarin gas attack in the Syrian civil war, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Kerry holds objectors responsible for any future atrocities in Syria

Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Tuesday that members of Congress who refused to authorize retaliatory strikes against Syria would be responsible when the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad gasses its citizens or when North Korea or Iran attempts to use nuclear weapons.

September 3, 2013
House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, speaks to reporters outside the White House on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013, following a meeting between President Obama and congressional leaders to discuss the situation in Syria. Mr. Boehner said he will support the president's call for the U.S. to take action against Syria for alleged chemical weapons use and said his Republican colleagues should support the president, too. (Associated Press)

White House wins over top lawmakers on Syria

Making the case that the U.S. must intervene in Syria, House leaders from both sides of the aisle said Tuesday they'll back President Obama's plan for military strikes against the regime of Bashar Assad.

September 3, 2013
In this image taken from amateur video posted online, a presumed U.N. staff member measuring and photographing a canister in the suburb of Moadamiyeh in Damascus, Syria on Monday. the suburb is where the Syrian regime allegedly used chemical weapons. (Associated Press)

Syrians use social media to tell world: See atrocities for yourself

Call it the Social Media War. As the White House pushes for retaliatory strikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, some of the administration's key evidence that chemical weapons were used on civilians are the thousands of photos and videos that the rebels uploaded detailing the attack.

September 2, 2013
President Obama walks back to the Oval Office after making a statement about the crisis in Syria in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

ANALYSIS: Isolated Obama turns to Congress for support

President Obama, who unilaterally authorized a full air campaign in Libya in 2011, is taking a different approach this time with Syria — mindful both of the political price he paid for that earlier effort and of the far more thorny questions involved in attacking the Assad regime.

August 31, 2013
** FILE ** House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican. (Associated Press)

Congress in no rush to return for Syria decision

Faced with the most momentous foreign policy vote in years, Congress has decided on the go-slow approach, with leaders saying they will take their time in deciding whether to approve retaliatory strikes against Syria.

August 31, 2013
In this citizen journalism image provided by Edlib News Network, ENN, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Syrians search under rubble to rescue people from houses that were destroyed by a Syrian government warplane, in Idlib province, northern Syria, Friday, Aug. 30, 2013. (AP Photo/Edlib News Network ENN)

John Kerry praises French, snubs British on Syria

In laying out the case for military strikes on Syria, Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday had praise for the French, who he called "our oldest ally," but snubbed any mention of the British, who have long believed they enjoyed a "special relationship" with the U.S.

August 30, 2013
** FILE ** A caregiver picks out a marijuana bud for a patient at a marijuana dispensary in Denver on Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

Feds experiment with drugs, mellow out on state marijuana laws

The Obama administration cleared the way Thursday for states to carry out their own marijuana laws, including allowing use for medical reasons in 20 states and for recreational use in Colorado and Washington — as long as they take steps to keep the drug away from children and criminal gangs.

August 29, 2013
A plane flies over Akrotiri British RAF airbase near Limassol, Cyprus, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Pavlos Vrionides)

Britain says international law permits attack on Syria

The British government released a memo Thursday laying out a legal justification for military action against Syria for a suspected chemical weapons strike even if the U.N. doesn't sanction an attack, ramping up the push among Western nations for some kind of retaliatory strike.

August 29, 2013
**FILE** House Speaker John Boehner, Ohio Republican, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on Aug. 1, 2013. (Associated Press)

Boehner tells Obama to make case for Syria strikes

House Speaker John A. Boehner said Wednesday that the U.S does have national security interests in Syria, but said President Obama hasn't laid out a compelling case to Congress or the American public about what those interests are and how military strikes could achieve them.

August 28, 2013
In this citizen journalism image provided by the United media office of Arbeen that has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, U.N. investigation team with blue helmets, walk with Syrian rebels in Damascus countryside of Zamalka, Syria, on Aug. 28, 2013. U.N. chemical weapons experts headed to a Damascus suburb on Wednesday for a new tour of areas struck by a purported poison gas attack, activists said, as Western powers laid the groundwork for a possible punitive strike and the U.N. chief pleaded for more time for diplomacy. (Associated Press/United media office of Arbeen)

Congress presses Obama to aid Syrian rebels

There's a growing sense in Congress that the U.S. should take more steps to arm Syrian rebels in their battle against the regime of President Bashar Assad, regardless of what decision President Obama reaches on whether to conduct military strikes against Damascus.

August 28, 2013
Homeland Security Secretary Janet A. Napolitano is leaving her post, and another large hole in administration leadership. (Associated Press)

Napolitano reveals key to Homeland Security job: Advil

As she prepares to leave office, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano had some advice Tuesday for her successor, whom President Obama has not named yet: "You will need a large bottle of Advil."

August 27, 2013
Border Buster: Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, Illinois Democrat, took his immigration reform message to the districts of two Virginia Republicans: Rep. Frank R. Wolf and Rep. Bob Goodlatte. (Associated Press)

Immigration reformists gain American support, try to turn opponents

Earlier this summer, there were predictions that the outcry from conservatives would sink the chances for immigration reform. Instead, advocates have out-organized opponents, rallying in cities across the country as they try to convince House Republicans that the politics of the issue have changed.

August 26, 2013