Globe Trot: Obama shamed for not helping Syrian refugees

MIGRANT CRISIS: This we know already—the Obama administration makes foreign “policy” by pressure, not by principle. And now it's feeling pressure to take Syrian refugees, years after policy and principle could have been applied strategically (i.e., resolving a civil war rather than a refugee crisis). The latest prod comes from Australia, announcing it will take 12,000 Syrian refugees, on top of its annual quota of 13,750. The United States has agreed to take 1,500—but has actually taken far fewer than that this year.

That’s not just me talking. See Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt turning on the president, here:

“This may be the most surprising of President Obama’s foreign-policy legacies, not just that he has presided over a humanitarian and cultural disaster of epochal proportions, but that he soothed the American people into feeling no responsibility for the tragedy.”

SYRIA: Notice anything about this map? About 400,000 of the nearly 4 million refugees from Syria are unaccounted for, and estimates are that more than 300,000 migrants mostly from Syria but from other conflict areas, too have arrived in Europe this year. The second thing to notice is that the Gulf states have taken in zeroSyrian refugees, though most of them are Arabs.

AID: If you are looking for ways to help refugees arriving in Europe, it’s a good time to revisit our list of aid groups in Iraq. Nearly all of them also work among Syrian refugees. Another network is coming together to help churches in Europe and to provide aid to refugee centers.

IRAN: Successful completion of the Iran nuclear deal won't lead to further talks on regional issues, Supreme Leader Ali Khameini promised today, because Iran cannot risk American influence “to penetrate” the country.

CHINA: A public outcry has been raised over the plight of a woman considering an illegal abortion at eight months because the child would violate China’s restrictive birth policy, and possibly cost her husband his job.

ETHIOPIA: Seven Christians charged with holding illegal meetings have been cleared of charges and freed. They have been held since April, following “an ordinary meeting” where 40 new Christians were baptized.