Assad hits a wall in Syrian war as front lines harden
BEIRUT/AMMAN, (Reuters) - President Bashar alAssad’s assault in the northwest has been met with a painful rebel counterpunch that underlines Turkish resolve to keep the area out of his hands and shows why he will struggle to take back more of Syria by force.
More than two months of Russian-backed operations in and around Idlib province have yielded little or nothing for Assad’s side. It marks a rare case of a military campaign that has not gone his way since Russia intervened in 2015.
While resisting government attacks, the insurgents have managed to carve out small advances of their own, drawing on ample stocks of guided anti-tank missiles that opposition and diplomatic sources say have been supplied by Turkey.
“They’re even targeting personnel with these missiles ... it means they are comfortably supplied,” a rebel source said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing rebel military capabilities. Turkey’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on reports that Ankara has stepped supplies of arms to rebels.
With Turkey committed to the rebels, the battle for the northwest stands in stark contrast to a campaign in the southwest a year ago, when Western and Arab states stood by as Assad and his Russian- and Iranian-backed allies took the area.
Despite Russian backing in the latest fighting, questions have arisen over whether Assad and his allies are entirely on the same page when it comes to the northwest, where Turkey has deployed forces in agreement with Russia and Iran. WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - U.S. Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta yesterday dismissed calls for his resignation and defended a controversial non-prosecution agreement he approved more than 10 years ago with financier Jeffrey Epstein, who has now been charged with sex trafficking in underage girls.
Acosta, who was a top U.S. prosecutor in Florida at the time, has been the target of criticism that his office approved a lenient deal for Epstein, which has received renewed attention in the wake of new charges filed against Epstein this week. Instead of prosecuting Epstein on a federal level, Acosta’s office agreed to have the billionaire ink a plea deal with state prosecutors that resulted in a lax sentence.
Acosta disputed that his office let Epstein get off easily and argued that, had his team not stepped in, Epstein would have only faced one charge from state prosecutors and would have avoided any jail time. He said that at the time, a trial would have been difficult because the witnesses would have faced intense scrutiny from a team of defense attorneys.
“Without the work of our prosecutors, Epstein would have gotten away with just that state charge” and avoided jail time, Acosta said. “He was and is a sexual predator.”
Ultimately, Epstein served time in jail but was granted daily work release, allowing him to leave each morning and return in the evening. Acosta said he was not aware Epstein would be able to qualify for work release.
“When we proceeded, the expectation was it would be an 18-month sentence . ... So this work release was complete BS,” Acosta said.
Acosta is the latest in a series of President Donald Trump’s cabinet secretaries to become embroiled in controversy. Trump has frequently provided backing to his embattled aides but then abandoned them weeks later, pushing them to resign after previously vocalizing support.
Acosta would not say if he would make the same decision regarding Epstein today.
In the intervening decade, the #MeToo movement, which was born in the aftermath of an uprising of women in the wake of Trump’s election and spurred by accusations against powerful men such as movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, has caused a shift in the way women who make accusations are viewed in public opinion.