I am sitting here writing this article 39 years to the minute from that moment when the sirens started screaming, announcing the beginning of the war. A minute before, total quiet reigned, as it does now. No traffic, no activity in the street, except a few children riding bicycles. Yom Kippur, the holiest day for …
Continue reading “The Grand Default”
In September of 1992, as the presidential election pitting George H. W. Bush against Bill Clinton loomed, libertarian theorist and all-around political junkie Murray Rothbard wrote a piece, “Making Our Way Back to the President,” in which he explained the key difference between voting for (i.e. politically supporting) a candidate, and “rooting for” one: “Whom …
Continue reading “Race for the White House, 2012:
Whom to Root For?”
The relative calm of the last several days was broken this morning when a series of obviously coordinated attacks took place across Iraq. The targets were varied today. Security personnel, Shi’ite pilgrims and civilians were all among the casualties. At least 41 Iraqis were killed and 143 more were wounded. Seven Iranians were also injured in one of the attacks south of Baghdad. A Shi’ite lawmaker, Hakim al-Zamili, who is also on parliament’s defense and security committee, said the coordinated attacks meant that al-Qaeda in Iraq is still in business.
At least 10 Iraqis were killed and 17 more were wounded in new violence. Among the dead were a mosque preacher and Yazidi citizens. A curfew remains in effect as security forces scour the Tikrit area for detainees who escaped in Thursday’s jailbreak.
The main takeaway from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s U.N. speech was the inference that he has been forced to relent on the possibility of military action against Iran, with his threats deferred past the U.S. election on Nov. 6 and off into next spring and beyond. His ominous intonation that “everyone should have a …
Continue reading “Netanyahu Backs Off on Iran”
History, Religion and the Great War In October 1912, the Balkan Alliance – Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Greece – declared war on the Ottoman Empire. At its conclusion in 1913, the Ottomans’ presence in Europe was reduced to a bridgehead in Thrace. To the victors, this was the capstone of their centuries-long struggle for freedom …
Continue reading “The Enduring Schism”
Cry “Havoc,” and let slip the dogs of war; That this foul deed shall smell above the earth With carrion men, groaning for burial Julius Caesar Act 3, scene 1 William Shakespeare “Blood and destruction,” “dreadful objects,” and “pity choked” was the Bard’s searing characterization of what war visits upon the living. It is a …
Continue reading “Syria and the Dogs of War”
Two weeks after Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were murdered in Benghazi, Libya, the Obama administration has conceded it was an act of terrorism. The attack on the U.S. Consulate, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton now admits, was part of a broader effort by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, working “with other violent …
Continue reading “The Clinton-Rice Credibility Gap”
As our Nobel laureate President ascended to the podium on September 25 at the United Nations for his last international speech before the election, we again were the recipients of fine oratory and rhetorical flourish about America’s problems in the world. Focusing on the Middle East, Central Asia, and North Africa—what’s often misleadingly termed, “the …
Continue reading “The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Iran And The Bomb, Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Facts”
Farrah Hamary looks the picture of despair as sweat trickles down his face in Tripoli’s heat and humidity. Hamary is too afraid to give his full name or to allow his picture to be taken. He shows IPS the scars criss-crossing his back, the cigarette burns on his arms, and the bones in his left …
Continue reading “Living in Hiding From Libyan Militias” 
