Charley Reese

We had just finished a meal of lamb, rice and tabbouleh. My host, an intellectual and fluent in several languages, was talking about the Middle East. He was a Kurd and Syrian. "A French general put his foot on the grave of Saladin and said, ‘Saladin, we have returned.’" He spit the words out. His … Continue reading “In Lebanon, Syria Is Not ‘Foreign’”

President Bush will hail his trip to Europe as a resounding success. He hails everything he does as a resounding success regardless of the evidence to the contrary. All politicians do that. Lest you be spun by the spin, note that he comes home with only one tangible result – an agreement by NATO to … Continue reading “Don’t Be Spun by the Spin”

Suppose a traveling salesman came to your door. He said he was representing a foreign country that had a bad government. He would like for your son to volunteer to overthrow that government and possibly get killed in the process. What would you do? I’d slam the door in his face. There is no way … Continue reading “Just Say ‘No’ to Military Recruiters”

The Bush administration is making the same mistakes with Iran that it made with Iraq. It makes allegations unsupported by facts, refuses to negotiate and threatens sanctions or military action, neither of which is feasible. In short, it has no rational Iran policy. The Bush administration seems to be under the impression that the Iranians … Continue reading “Could Bush Possibly Make the Same Mistake Twice? Yeah.”

It is good that the Iraqis have elected a government, even if it’s temporary. It is the third temporary government since the U.S. invasion. The United States appointed the first two; this one, at least, was chosen by the Iraqi people. Before you join the television chirpies celebrating this "historic" event, you would be wise … Continue reading “The Real Test of Iraqi Freedom”

What do you think will happen after the elections in Iraq? The answer is nothing, so far as we are concerned. The insurgents will pronounce the elections illegitimate, and the violence will continue. The only difference is that the insurgents will have a new set of targets (the winners) to shoot and bomb. I’m not … Continue reading “The War Won’t Stop”

There will be no peace in Palestine. Don’t be fooled by statements of politicians and by the press’s careful avoidance of reporting the real facts of the situation. The bulk of the Jewish settlements – around 200,000 people – are in the West Bank. The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has made it plain that … Continue reading “No Peace in Palestine”

Anybody who has any doubts that George Bush is a true believer in himself should finally be convinced by his awarding the Medal of Freedom to the three blunderers of the war in Iraq. Gen. Tommy Franks allowed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to browbeat him into planning a war with fewer troops than were needed. … Continue reading “The Three Stooges”

Every time Iraqi soldiers and policemen boogie away from combat, the standard answer that comes out of the U.S. government is that they need to be "trained up" better. That’s nonsense. Training teaches technique; it does not teach the will to fight. Given the history of Iraq and its culture, nobody can say that the … Continue reading “We Are the Problem”

Do you know who Viktor Yanukovich is? Do you know who Viktor Yushchenko is? Do you know what either man stands for? Could you take a blank map of Europe and draw in the boundaries of Ukraine? For most of us, the answer to all of the above is "No." The two Viktors are rivals … Continue reading “Bigger Worries Than Ukraine”