Damascus was the seat of the Ummayad Caliphate in the 7th and 8th centuries. — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
The Muslim Brotherhood is much more hardline than Turkish Islamists. — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
The truth was, there was never a connection between Iraq and Osama Bin Laden. There were no weapons of mass destruction, either. — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
If Syria collapses completely, the United States and the world would have to consider who, and what, fills the vacuum. — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
The U.S. presence and American missteps made ethnic violence in Iraq far worse than it would have been otherwise after Saddam Saddam… — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
The Taliban mostly attacks international and Afghan security forces. They rarely carry out attacks in markets. — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
Assad's regime helped ISIS grow by attacking other opposition forces and rarely targeting ISIS. — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
Many governments are quick to condemn Assad, but a dwindling number of them would celebrate a rebel victory in Damascus. — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
The Arab Spring is over. The days of the protesters with laptops and BlackBerrys in Tahrir Square are long gone. — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
Under a decades-old agreement, Palestinian refugee camps are supposed to administer and police themselves. Lebanese troops are technically not allowed to enter… — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
Bin Laden is dead, and most of his friends are dead. But did it need to cost a trillion dollars and two… — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
Osama bin Laden organized an attack that was carried out against the United States, New York, Pentagon, and the other aircraft, with… — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
'Shabiha' is a difficult word to translate into English. It comes from the word Syrians used to describe the luxury Mercedes favored… — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
Afghanistan does have an air force: It has two C-130s. I saw one of them. It was nice, a gift from the… — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
The Iraqi government will try and retake some of the cities have that been captured by ISIS. That means the Shiite government… — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
For decades, Saddam and his Sunni minority had imposed their will on Iraq, carrying on a 14-century tradition of Sunnis controlling Mesopotamia… — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
Many senior government officials, CIA, FBI, counter terrorism officials - when they look back at the decade, they effectively conclude that the… — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
The United States encouraged Iraqis to rise up after Saddam Hussein's army was driven out of Kuwait. Washington assumed Saddam was weak… — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
For years, Lebanese have known that Palestinian camps like Nahr al-Barid and Ain al-Helwe - hopeless slums crowded with generations of disenfranchised… — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
Staying in a very public fight with the U.S. is exactly what Al Qaeda wants. — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
Hamas is a Palestinian political party with an aggressive militant wing. — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
The Taliban may pine for a pre-industrial society, but most Afghans do not. — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
The Israeli military believes it has destroyed all of Hamas's tunnels, or at least all the ones it knew about. — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
ISIS controls a territory roughly the size of Maryland where 8 million people live. If it's attacked and toppled, who will fill… — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
Israel specifically does not want Syria to hand over weapons, chemical or conventional, to Hezbollah. — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
The people of Gaza are trapped. Israel has sealed the border, and they have no way to leave the Gaza Strip to… — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
Afghanistan and Iraq were lumped together in what was called a 'global war on terrorism.' — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
Each time there is a conflict between Israel and Gaza, accusations fly over who started it, each side blaming the other. — Richard Engel Copy Share Image
The Syrians are better suited to sort out their internal divisions than anyone else. — Richard Engel Copy Share
Osama Bin Laden is dead. Killed not by a massive troop deployment but by a commando raid carried out by a few dozen highly… — Richard Engel Copy Share
Anyone who follows the Middle East and Islamic world in general can't deny it is often a very violent place, that a band of… — Richard Engel Copy Share
An Egyptian newspaper once publicly identified me as the C.I.A. station chief in Cairo. It seemed so stupid at the time. I was only… — Richard Engel Copy Share
Israel is becoming a fortress. Fences along the borders with Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria. — Richard Engel Copy Share
Every country where the the United States maintains troops has a status of forces agreement. — Richard Engel Copy Share
There are many Israelis who are not keen on Barack Obama - they did not want to see him elected. — Richard Engel Copy Share
If you're in part of rebel-controlled Syria, and suddenly your house blows up or a building next to you blows up, it would be… — Richard Engel Copy Share
Every child is taught if you try to please everyone, you end up upsetting everyone. — Richard Engel Copy Share
There weren't many weapons in Egypt in the 1990s. Police controls on guns were very strict back then. That is no longer the case… — Richard Engel Copy Share
Bin Laden is dead, and most of his friends are dead. But did it need to cost a trillion dollars and two land wars,… — Richard Engel Copy Share
Many senior government officials, CIA, FBI, counter terrorism officials - when they look back at the decade, they effectively conclude that the United States… — Richard Engel Copy Share
Many governments are quick to condemn Assad, but a dwindling number of them would celebrate a rebel victory in Damascus. — Richard Engel Copy Share
