Month: September 2013

President Obama’s proposal to use military force against Syria, because its government allegedly used chemical weapons against rebels, reveals once again the need for some sort of process to test government claims for war. Right now, the decision is left to politics and posturing instead of to law, principle, and reason. The recent hearings in … Continue reading “Let’s Cross-Examine Obama About His Case for Bombing Syria”

In the second century B.C., Cato the Elder, a Roman Senator, would end every speech he made with the admonition "Delenda Est Carthago," meaning that the city of Carthage, Rome’s perennial rival, must be destroyed. Among other claims, the Romans accused the Carthaginians of engaging in human sacrifice to their god Ba’al Hammon, something that … Continue reading “Defeating AIPAC Starts with Syria”

When Secretary of State John Kerry, apparently irritated by a lack of sleep, gave a snippy and what he thought was an unrealistic reply to a reporter’s question at a London press conference last weekend, he hardly could have imagined the world’s response. Asked whether there is anything Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could do at … Continue reading “The President’s Embarrassment”

Baghdad was the scene of a significant bombing at a Shi’ite mosque. Meanwhile, gunmen terrorized Mosul. At least 66 people were killed and 77 more were wounded in these and other attacks.

Vexing the U.S. government again, basketball star Dennis Rodman has made a repeat visit to North Korea to visit its leader Kim Jong-un. After his last trip, which brought howls of protest from Washington’s foreign policy establishment and self-righteous screaming by media pundits about his coddling of a despot, I wrote one of the few … Continue reading “We Should Praise, Instead of Condemn, Dennis Rodman’s Return Visit to North Korea”

The violence shifted back east into Diyala province where several bombings targeted civilians. Another family was killed south of the capital where gunmen have taken up storming homes. At least 36 people were killed and 69 more were wounded.

One of the few things I got right in my last column was the title, which asked "Can This War Be Stopped?" Apparently the answer is: yes, albeit not for any reason the administration and the pundits (or do I repeat myself?) are now crowing about. We are told a Kerry gaffe, an impressive display … Continue reading “We Beat the War Party”

Last week, hell came to the tiny Christian village of Maaloula where they still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus. “Rebels of the Free Syrian Army launched an assault aided by a suicide bomber from Jabhat al-Nusra,” the al-Qaida-linked Islamic terrorist group, writes the Washington Post. The AP picked up the story: One resident said … Continue reading “America Says ‘No!’ to a Beltway War”

A headline in the New York Times yesterday stated as fact that "With the World Watching, Syria Amassed Nerve Gas".  The lead paragraph asserted that "Syria’s top leaders amassed one of the world’s largest stockpiles of chemical weapons with help from the Soviet Union and Iran, as well as Western European suppliers and even a … Continue reading “As With Iraq, New York Times Propagates Demonstrable Lies About Syrian WMDs”

Contrary to the general impression in Congress and the news media, the Syria chemical warfare intelligence summary released by the Barack Obama administration Aug. 30 did not represent an intelligence community assessment, an IPS analysis and interviews with former intelligence officials reveals. The evidence indicates that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper culled intelligence analyses … Continue reading “Obama’s Case for Syria Didn’t Reflect Intel Consensus”