Editorial note: This essay appears in the current issue of Chronicles magazine, the feisty conservative monthly put out by the Rockford Institute, where my column “Between the Lines” appears regularly. Normally, the content I provide Chronicles is exclusive: that is, you can only get it by subscribing or buying on the newsstand. However, the editors …
Continue reading “The Meaning of Hugo Chavez”
Four civilians were killed when gunmen attacked a home in Qayara. In Mosul, a roadside bomb killed a civilian and wounded another. A roadside bomb in Muqdadiya killed a policeman. A Sahwa commander was killed in Shirqat when a sticky bomb blew up. Gunmen wounded a contractor in Tikrit.
Napoleon might once have quipped that armies march on their stomachs, but what ties together a fighting force is the bonds of comradeship and loyalty among the individual soldiers. Elite military units have translated this sense of brotherhood into “leave no man behind, living or dead” a concept that is as old as the ancient …
Continue reading “Just One Left Behind”
Does the government work for us, or do we work for the government? How can the president claim the lawful power to kill whomever he wishes and at the same time ask Congress to incapacitate our ability to defend ourselves against those who might seek to kill us? Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul struck a raw …
Continue reading “The President’s Privileged Right to Kill”
In and around Mosul, a bomb killed two policemen and wounded two more. A policeman was gunned down. Gunmen killed three military personnel. A man was shot dead as he traveled in a car near Falluja. Gunmen wounded a policeman in Muqdadiya. A roadside bomb in Udhaim wounded two army personnel. A bomb set of …
Continue reading “Iraq Attacks Leave Seven Killed”
Beware lawyers bearing bright ideas on how to resolve the ticking clock on White House authority to conduct counterterrorism operations across the globe. The silver tongues of rhetoric and reason may say current law need only an “update,” but their remedies would have just one, terrible effect: permanently institutionalizing not only the Global War on …
Continue reading “Beware Lawyers Bearing AUMF Fix”
The queen of the Anglosphere is dead. In death, as in life, there is no middle ground where Maggie Thatcher is concerned: leftists dance in the streets, celebrating her demise, while conservatives mourn the passing of the “Iron Lady.” The irony is that she was never guilty of the alleged crimes attributed to her by …
Continue reading “The Thatcher Paradox”
In Baghdad, gunmen killed a finance commission official. A contractor was shot dead as he was driving his car in Mahaweel. In Mosul, gunmen killed a staff member working for the oil ministry. A bomb targeting a Sahwa member in Hawija wounded two bystanders. A policeman was wounded in a grenade attack in Ramadi.
Four years ago, President Barack Obama quoted the beloved 13th century Persian poet Sa’di in his first Nowruz message to the Iranian people. The address, with its veneer of peace and diplomacy, was a well-received gesture to both civil society and the leadership in Tehran, recognizing the Islamic Republic and celebrating the country’s ancient culture …
Continue reading “Obama Talks Peace to Iran, But Dishes Out Violence”
Tunisian families have begun to dread knocks on their doors, or late-night phone calls, fearing that the messenger will bear the news that their son has been smuggled out of the country to join the “jihad” in Syria. Families here told IPS that they have no way of contacting their sons once they leave — …
Continue reading “Tunisia Now Exporting ‘Jihadis’ to Syria” 
