As the wobbly anti-ISIS coalition is being formed with American prodding, the Obama administration should take a strategic look at the future of the Arab world beyond the threat posed by the self-declared Islamic State. Otherwise, the United States would be unprepared to deal with the unintended chaos. Driven by ideological hubris, the Bush administration …
Continue reading “Fighting ISIS and the Morning After”
A few months ago, not many Americans, in fact Europeans as well, knew that a Yazidi sect in fact existed in northwest Iraq. Even in the Middle East itself, the Yazidis and their way of life have been an enigma, shrouded by mystery and mostly grasped through stereotypes and fictitious evidence. Yet in no time, …
Continue reading “Convenient Genocide: Another Failed War to Rearrange the Middle East”
At least 71 people were killed and 86 more were wounded across Iraq. More than half of the fatalities were civilians. Baghdad suffered a bombing spree for the second day in a row.
The President pledges "no combat troops" in Iraq. The head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, says he may recommend combat ground troops in the battle against ISIS. The President, in a speech, reiterates "no ground troops," and "no combat troops." While Hillary Clinton, Obama’s presumptive heir, waits in the wings as …
Continue reading “Anarchy in Washington: Is Anybody in Charge?”
“Congress must now vote to support the first steps of what will be a long march toward victory,” said Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Following this clarion call, 71 House Republicans bolted to join 85 Democrats in voting no to U.S. funds to train and arm Syrian rebels. Why the hesitation? Because our strategy in Syria …
Continue reading “What Will Victory Look Like?”
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted to arm and train the so-called moderate Syrian rebels, in order to counter the alarming spread of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The Senate is likely to approve this week as well. The existence of some folks who want to be rid of Bashar Al-Assad, …
Continue reading “If We Fix the Government, ISIS Wins”
Several nations expressed their plans to fight the Islamic State today. This came as ISIS/DAASH made gains in Syria. Back in Iraq, a coordinated bombing spree near an important shrine in Baghdad left dozens hurt or killed. Clashes and strikes against the militants also continued. Across the country, at least 195 were killed and 173 more were wounded.
There is no escaping it. If we can scrape away all the hypocrisy and cant about the man, there is only one candidate worthy of the next Nobel Prize. This is not being suggested because he has done something for a lasting world peace. Rather he has helped our nation avoid two stupid wars, one …
Continue reading “He Kept Us Out of War”
The outcry against police militarization is finally producing echoes in the halls of congress, and long-overdue restrictions on the Department of Homeland Security’s 1033 program seem inevitable. However, this practical step only scratches the surface. Few have dared ask the much more uncomfortable question: why have a shockingly high number of American police departments felt …
Continue reading “Police Militarization Is a Consequence of Policing the World”
My Hoover Institution colleague Richard Epstein recently argued ("Rand Paul’s Fatal Pacifism," Defining Ideas, September 2) for an interventionist foreign policy. Although his attack is on Senator Rand Paul, it is much broader than that. He claims that libertarians are “clueless on the ISIS threat” and that “libertarians often have the illusion of certainty.” I’m …
Continue reading “Richard Epstein’s Faulty Case for Intervention” 
