Ten years ago, Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the United Nations in a speech which routed what was left of American resistance to the Bush/Cheney push for invading Iraq. The next day, the Washington Post’s editorial pages spoke for the conventional wisdom,...
Iran’s Nuclear Politics
The good news is that, after many weeks of stalling and delays, negotiations between the P5+1 and Iran over the latter's nuclear program are scheduled to begin on Feb 26, in Astana, Kazakhstan. The bad news is that we have no good reason to be at all optimistic about...
Taji Hit Again; 10 Iraqis Killed, 19 Wounded Across Country
The Republican Obsession
If last week's hearing for Chuck Hagel raised questions about his capacity to be secretary of defense, the show trial conducted by his inquisitors on the tribunal raised questions about the GOP. Is the Republican Party, as currently constituted, even capable of...
A Return to Realism?
The second administration of President Barack Obama is being seen in some circles as a possible fork in the road. There will be a new national security and foreign policy team in place and it perhaps would not be remiss to describe potential shifts in policy as being...
More Violence in Iraq: 26 Killed, 55 Wounded
Is Rand Paul Right About Benghazi?
Hillary Clinton's last hurrah at the State Department – her appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Benghazi – was outrageous in many respects, although the partisan fury of her Republican interrogators did more to obscure the facts than...
US Goading Japan into Confrontation With China
"………..Their defeat Doth by their own insinuation grow. ‘Tis dangerous when the baser nature comes Between the pass and fell incensèd points Of mighty opposites." ~ Hamlet on the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. At the height of the 2012...
Why It’s ‘Legal’ When the US Does It
Credit the Arab Spring and what’s followed in the Greater Middle East to many things, but don’t overlook American “unilateralism.” After all, if you want to see destabilization at work, there’s nothing like having a heavily armed crew...