BEHIND THE SHADOWS OF GENEVA / U.S. Jihadists militant in Syria

Take, for example, the “humanitarian pause” in Homs. The three-day ceasefire was meant to deliver lifesaving aid to 2,500 civilians trapped in the Old City, according to the Guardian. Compare that to a total of roughly four million civilians living under siege across the country, often without adequate food, water, or sanitation. In all, some 9.3 million people in Syria need some form of aid, according to the U.N. By Sunday, eyewitnesses said roughly 600 people had been evacuated from Homs.

With the U.S. hamstrung at the Security Council and facing a bloody stalemate on the ground, Secretary of State John Kerry admitted that the Obama administration’s policy is failing in Syria, according to the Washington Post (U.S. officials downplayed it a “mischaracterization”). More clearly in the public record, Obama’s National Intelligence Director testified this week that President Bashar al Assad is now in a stronger position in Syria, gaining ground since and because of the U.S.-brokered chemical weapons deal in September.

Meanwhile, Americans are playing an active role in the jihadi ranks. At least 50 Americans have gone to fight in Syria, reports the Associated Press, a fact that the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary sees as a domestic threat. Jihadi groups have spiraled so far out of control and into autonomous, extremist realms that this week al-Qaida kicked out its Syria franchise for insubordination, disowning the Islamic State of Syrian and Iraq (ISIS). Source: Syria deeply – 10.2.2014