U.S. weapons reaching Syrian rebels  —  The CIA has begun delivering weapons to rebels in Syria, ending months of delay in lethal aid that had been promised by the Obama administration, according to U.S. officials and Syrian figures.  The shipments began streaming into the country over the past two weeks …

Sen. Menendez reacts to Putin's op-ed: I wanted to vomit  —  The night before a high stakes diplomatic meeting in Geneva, where Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart will talk over a plan for stripping Syria of chemical weapons, The New York Times published an op-ed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ketchum Placed Controversial Putin Op-Ed  —  The PR firm's biggest Russia coup ever?  —  Ria Novosti / Reuters  —  WASHINGTON — The public relations firm Ketchum is responsible for placing a controversial editorial that appeared under Russian President Vladimir Putin's byline in the New York Times on Wednesday night.

Exclusive: U.N. Report Will Point to Assad Regime in Massive Chemical Attack  —  U.N. inspectors have collected a “wealth” of evidence on the use of nerve agents that points to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad using chemical weapons against his own people, according to a senior Western official.

Panetta says Putin should be last person to lecture US  —  Panetta, who also served as CIA director under President Obama, said Putin is trying to gain the upper hand ahead of negotiations to get Syria to hand over its chemical weapons.  —  “I think it is pretty clear that the whole purpose …

House GOP: United against Obama on Syria, divided on everything else  —  BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL WHITE HOUSE CONGRESS BARACK OBAMA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SYRIA  —  Here's what a leading House Republican said recently about the state of relations among GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill …