Michael Scheuer

America’s bipartisan governing elite never expected their common interventionist foreign policy to be damned by a man who has long worked among that august group. But Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) proved himself not only a political maverick, but one of the few elected federal officials who still prizes – indeed, treasures is a better word … Continue reading “Rep. Paul and the Founders versus Our Interventionist Elite”

While the war in the Levant continues apace, Americans ought to focus for a moment on the near-pathetic ignorance of the bipartisan governing elite that directs their nation’s foreign policy. This vacuity was again highlighted last week by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Democratic Party chief Howard Dean. Sen. Schumer boycotted Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki’s … Continue reading “Is There a Role for Reality in US Foreign Policy?”

One of the preoccupations of the authors of the American constitution was defining the danger posed to the new body politic by political, social, and economic factions. “By faction,” James Madison, the Constitution’s father, wrote in the justly famous Federalist No. 10, “I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a … Continue reading “Madison’s Warning and
the Israel Lobby”

As Israel and Hezbollah again prove racial and religious hatred are the core, irremediable traits of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the international media focuses on each side’s weaponry and the evacuees, Osama bin Laden is smiling and praising Allah in his mountain fastness. Again, as after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, bin Laden and his … Continue reading “Doing bin Laden’s Work
for Him”

Covert action is much talked about and little understood. At its most basic level, covert action is a set of intelligence operations undertaken by a specific state’s intelligence agencies to advance its national interests. They are executed in a manner that limits the visibility of that state’s hand in whatever is done. Ideally, covert actions … Continue reading “Does Israel Conduct Covert Action in America?”

America’s Sunni Islamist opponents must be ever more strongly sensing that Allah truly is on their side. Currently, this perception is due not only to the recent victory of the Islamist party Hamas in Palestine’s parliamentary elections, but more especially because of the U.S. reaction to that success. That reaction probably has polished off any … Continue reading “Embracing a Lethal Tar Baby”

Professor Robert Pape’s brilliant new book Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism gives Americans an urgently needed basis for devising a strategy to defeat Osama bin Laden and other Islamist militants. In scholarly and low-key prose, Pape delivers the results of his own extensive research and that done by the University of … Continue reading “Throwing America a Life Preserver”

Winston Churchill once remarked that God protects drunks and the United States of America. Fortunately, the divine protection Churchill detected for the United States seems still in place – if we are wise enough to see and take advantage of it. In the past month, America has been blessed by two events that ought to … Continue reading “God, Drunks, and America”

"It [the Koran] is the great visceral connector that makes all Muslims feel that there is a community between them. … For Muslims, dissing the Koran is the hot button of all hot buttons." – Lee Harris, May 12, 20051 One need not be a Pollyanna to find a bright spot in an otherwise negative … Continue reading “A Fire Bell in the Night for the West?”

The new Robb-Silberman report on U.S. intelligence capabilities should, but won’t, enrage Americans. Too long at 600-plus pages for most to read, the report completes the destruction of the intelligence community – especially the CIA – begun by Congress’ Goss-Graham inquiry and the wrong-headed, dissembling Kean-Hamilton Commission. Like a French farce’s final act, Robb and … Continue reading “Put the Marx Brothers in Charge”