The Golden Age of Special Operations

They have a way of slipping under the radar, whether heading into Pakistan looking for Osama bin Laden, Central Africa looking for Joseph Kony, or Yemen presumably to direct local military action against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. I’m talking, of course, about...

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Hands Off Syria

The recent massacre by the Syrian government of 108 people, mostly women and children, will inevitably put intense pressure on a reluctant Obama administration to take out President Bashar al-Assad using force. As was obvious when the United States evicted Libya’s...

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Iraqi PM in Mosul Discussing Disputed Territories, Other Issues

Prime Minister Maliki is attending a Council of Ministers conference in Mosul, where claims over disputed territories could be the main topic of discussion. Over 100 political and tribal leaders are expected at the meeting, except for Kurdish leaders. Meanwhile, at least two Iraqis and two Pakistanis were killed and another four Iraqis were wounded.
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How Bill Kristol Purged the Arabists

After taping John Stossel's show on May 15 in New York, the Mrs. and I took the 10 a.m. Acela back to Washington. Once we had boarded the train, who should come waddling up the aisle but Bill Kristol. The Weekly Standard editor seemed cheerful, and we chatted about...

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Ryan Crocker Slips Quietly Away

Washington’s foreign policy elite loves to mock the overuse of the cliché “graveyard of empires,” but it seems as though the last decade of our increasingly failed bid in Afghanistan is littered with lackluster epitaphs for American generals, envoys and diplomats. In...

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No One Hears the Poor

Here in Kabul, Voices co-coordinator Buddy Bell and I are guests at the home of the Afghan Peace Volunteers (APV), where we’ve gotten to know four young boys who are being tutored by the volunteers in the afternoons, having “retired” from their former work as street...

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Baghdad Councilman Claims al-Qaeda Confession Coerced

According to Baghdad Police Command, Baghdad Provincial Council member Laith al-Dulaimi has admitted to being an al-Qaeda member and running a terrorist cell, while Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani accused the central government of wanting to ethnically cleanse Iraq. Four Iraqis were killed in new attacks.
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Tel Aviv ‘Race Riots’ Reveal Much About Israel

The "race riots" in Tel Aviv last week — a mass demonstration that turned into a pogrom against about 60,000 asylum seekers, an overwhelming majority of them from Eritrea, the rest mostly from Sudan (Darfur and South Sudan) and a few other African countries — gives a...

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Abolish Memorial Day

We might as well get rid of Memorial Day, for all the good it does us. Originally “Decoration Day,” the last Monday in May has been the designated time for us to remember the war dead and honor their sacrifice – while, perhaps, taking in the lessons of the many...

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