May 17, 2013 4 min read

Excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers in the United States and abroad as compiled by the Associated Press:

No matter how often Republicans denounce them, the initial talking points used by the White House to describe the attack in Benghazi, Libya are not the real point. But they have become a major political issue in large part because of the White House’s inept response to questions about how they were written.

In every administration, talking points – officially-sanctioned comments – are massaged and fought over by any agency with a stake in the outcome. It is also true that the details of crises often take time to sort out; we now know the attack that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three others were carried out by Al Qaeda-linked groups, though at least initially, that was unclear.

There are serious issues that need follow up, including the C.I.A.’s role in responding to the Benghazi attacks, stability in Libya, which is in disarray, and the status of diplomatic security reforms. But none of that seems to concern Republicans who are out for political vengeance.

We’re disturbed that a new rule set for approval by the North Carolina Mining and Energy Commission requiring some disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing was withdrawn at the request of industry giant Halliburton. Fracking could be economically beneficial here if done right, but the recent move does not fit that standard.

The News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C. reported that the state commission, created by the legislature last year, was ready to vote on the new rule, The Associated Press reported. The standard dictates which chemicals operators have to publicly disclose when drilling natural gas wells.

But some commissioners were rightly upset when they realized the rule was abruptly pulled from their agenda so that it could be redone by staff at the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Commissioner Amy Pickle, state policy program director at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, expressed frustration that the commission’s work is subject to veto by the energy industry. “I’m very sensitive to surprising the public, the (lack of ) transparency, and wasting time,” Pickle said.

We agree. Halliburton says it already discloses many of the chemicals it uses in fracking. But if the North Carolina commission wants more disclosure, it’s free to ask for that, and not have Halliburton dictate policy.

As the poison from Syria’s civil war spreads, the pace of diplomatic exchanges is quickening. At the White House, British Prime Minister David Cameron, fresh from meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, briefed Barack Obama on Putin’s latest thinking. Once again, Britain is playing an important mediatory role between Moscow and Washington, this time in an attempt to defuse the most agonizing political dilemma faced by the great powers since Bosnia-Herzegovina was ripped apart in the 1990s.

The key to ending that conflict was NATO intervention. Chastened by more recent experiences, the alliance has held back from direct military action in Syria. Meanwhile, the involvement of neighbors has been incremental, whether in the supply of arms by Iran, Saudi Arabia and Qatar or the flood of refugees that threatens to overwhelm Jordan. This month, however, has seen a dramatic increase in tempo, with two air strikes by Israel on Syria and the killing of 46 people in bomb explosions in the Turkish town of Reyhanli.

Both incidents should serve as an ominous warning to Bashar al-Assad, who, by continuing to send arms to Hizbollah, has drawn the most formidable military force in the region into the conflict, and, by blaming Turkey for the Reyhanli bombings, has antagonized the outside power best placed to topple him.

However reluctantly, alliance members are being pushed toward direct involvement. The alternative is to watch impotently as Syria drags the whole region into the abyss.