Month: May 2015

A former cabinet minister, an intelligent person (nonetheless) asked me the other day: “Let’s assume that your plan is realized. A Palestinian state will come into being side by side with Israel. Even some kind of federation. Then, in a few years, a violently anti-Israel party will come to power there and annul all the … Continue reading “The Map on the Wall”

If one of the very worst provisions of the Patriot Act – which the government has erroneously and illegally interpreted to gather the phone records of each and every American – expires, we’ll have Senator Rand Paul to thank. And the truth is, we can’t thank him enough. Yes, I’ve been critical of the Senator … Continue reading “The Redemption of Rand Paul”

This month Congress will consider whether to renew the charter of the Export-Import Bank (Ex-IM Bank). Ex-IM Bank is a New Deal-era federal program that uses taxpayer funds to subsidize the exports of American businesses. Foreign businesses, including state-owned corporations, also benefit from Ex-IM Bank. One country that has benefited from $1.5 billion of Ex-IM … Continue reading “Ex-Im Bank Is Welfare for the One Percent”

Rambo! In my Reagan-era youth, the name was synonymous with the Vietnam War – at least the Vietnam War reimagined, the celluloid fantasy version of it in which a tanned, glistening, muscle-bound commando busted the handcuffs of defeat and redeemed America’s honor in the jungles of Southeast Asia. Untold millions including the Gipper himself, an … Continue reading “The Unknown Whistleblower”

At least 1,094 civilians and security forces were killed during May. This figure is only an estimate as many of the casualties occurred behind the lines in the Ramadi area. Another 640 were wounded, but this figure must be significantly lower than the actual number. Antiwar.com also compiled reported casualty figures for militant forces. At least 2,983 were killed and 257 were wounded. These numbers were generally reported by the Iraqi government and subject to their biases.

Security forces say they have been making progress in both Ramadi and Baiji. At least 104 were killed and seven were wounded, mostly militants.

Over a year ago, as chaos erupted in Ukraine, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was one of the first voices to join the choir of hyperbole in the refrain that Putin’s invasion of Crimea was analogous to Hitler’s invasion of the Sudetenland. His – at the time – Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said “"The … Continue reading “Stephen Harper’s Unprincipled and Inconsistent Foreign Policy”

At least 22 were killed and 34 were wounded. In Baghdad, the number of casualties in Thursday’s hotel bombings was revised.

"What apparently happened was that the Iraqi forces just showed no will to fight. … We can give them training, we can give them equipment; we obviously can’t give them the will to fight." Thus did Defense Secretary Ash Carter identify the root cause of the rout of the Iraqi army in Ramadi. Disgusted U.S. … Continue reading “Secularists vs. Suicide Bombers”

As American politicians and editorial writers resume their tough talk about sending more U.S. troops into Iraq, they are resurrecting the “successful surge” myth, the claim that President George W. Bush’s dispatch of 30,000 more soldiers in 2007 somehow “won” the war – a storyline that is beloved by the neocons because it somewhat lets … Continue reading “Resurgence of the ‘Surge’ Myth”