If CPAC is a key barometer of the conservative movement, then let’s face it — all hopes that the right side of the political spectrum is ripe for a re-boot in its approach to defense strategy and foreign policy are sadly misplaced. Sure, there was a millisecond of opportunity when Republican Sen. Rand Paul stood …
Continue reading “Ted Cruz & CPAC: What a Pair!”
Last Wednesday, Sen. Rand Paul rose on the Senate floor to declare a filibuster and pledge he would not sit down until either he could speak no longer or got an answer to his question about Barack Obama’s war powers. Does the president, Paul demanded to know, in the absence of an imminent threat, have …
Continue reading “Who Speaks Now for the GOP?”
Two weeks after Afghan President Hamid Karzai demanded the withdrawal of all U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) from Wardak province by this date, the issue remains suspended in negotiations between U.S. and Afghan governments. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel planned to discuss the matter with Karzai Sunday, but the meeting was postponed after a security …
Continue reading “SOF Troops Still in Wardak as Joint US-Afghan Probe Continues”
John Brennan brings heavy baggage to his new job as CIA Director – legal as well as moral – arguably making it risky for him to travel to more than 150 countries that are party to the United Nations Convention Against Torture. It must be hard for Brennan to recognize that he cannot land in …
Continue reading “John Brennan’s Heavy Baggage”
A major bomb attack struck near Kirkuk in the town of Dibis, while gunmen killed more people across the country. At least 27 people were killed and 166 more were wounded.
Last week the US Senate took a break from debating the phony cuts known as “sequestration,” for Senator Rand Paul to hold a 13-hour filibuster to force the Obama administration to state whether it believes the President has the right to kill American citizens with drones on US soil. I find it tragic that there …
Continue reading “Congress, Drones, and The Imperial Presidency”
Bipartisanship in Washington is a rare thing these days. However, no beltway battle in recent memory has been quite as partisan as the one over sequestration and its $85 billion in across-the-board government spending cuts. Yet, for all the rancor between Democrats and Republicans over that so-called meat ax or poison pill, there has been …
Continue reading “Is Lockheed Martin Sequester-Proof?”
Note: Justin’s regularly scheduled column will be delayed. His next piece will be posted for Friday. The response to Rand Paul’s historic filibuster against the nomination of John Brennan met with rapturous applause from civil libertarians and anti-interventionists on the right and the left – followed by harsh denunciations from Democratic party partisans and their …
Continue reading “Neocons and Obamaites Unite Against Rand Paul”
At least six Iraqis were killed and seven more were wounded across the country. A protest organizer and two councilmen were gunned down. Another councilman was wounded.
In Hawar village, a blast killed two policemen and wounded four others. Two people were killed and two more were wounded in a roadside blast in Madaen. Two bombs killed a soldier and wounded three policemen in Kanaan. An I.E.D. in Abu Ghraib killed one policeman and wounded another. Two people were wounded in a …
Continue reading “Seven Killed in Scattered Iraq Attacks” 
