Obama’s Exit Strategy
If actions speak louder than words, President Obama is cutting America free of George Bush's wars and coming home. For his bottom line Tuesday night was that all U.S. forces will be out of Iraq by mid-2011 and the U.S. footprint in Afghanistan will, on that date,...
The American Way of Abandonment
When America is about to throw an ally to the wolves, we follow an established ritual. We discover that the man we supported was never really morally fit to be a friend or partner of the United States. When Chiang Kai-shek, who fought the Japanese for four years...
The Fruits of Intervention
Generals Open New Front in Washington
The Pentagon's preemptive strike came with the leak of Gen. Stanley McChrystal's confidential review of the Afghan war to Bob Woodward of the Washington Post. McChrystal's painting of the military picture was grim. "Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent...
Bitter Fruits of Mideast Wars
Impending today are two of the most critical decisions Barack Obama will ever make, which may determine the fate of his presidency, as well as the future of the United States in the Near and Middle East. The first is whether to approve Gen. Stanley McChrystal's...
Is Iran Nearing a Bomb?
That Iran is building a secret underground facility near the holy city of Qom, under custody of the Revolutionary Guard – too small to be a production center for nuclear fuel, but just right for the enrichment of uranium to weapons grade – is grounds for concern, but...
Black Sea Wars
In August, the Georgian navy seized a Turkish tanker carrying fuel to Abkhazia, Georgia's former province whose declaration of independence a year ago is recognized by Russia but not the West. The Turkish captain was sentenced to 24 years. When Ankara protested, he...
Obama at the Rubicon
If the aphorism holds – the guerrilla wins if he does not lose – the Taliban are winning and America is losing the war in Afghanistan. Well into the eighth year of war, the Taliban are more numerous than ever, inflicting more casualties than ever, operating in more...
