Ted Snider

Reprinted with permission from MondoWeiss. Israel has accused Iran of doing many nefarious things. But the historical record shows that whatever Israel accuses Iran of, it is likely that Israel is already doing it. For example, Israel has repeatedly accused Iran of destabilizing the region by malignantly spreading across the region and forming alliances and … Continue reading “If Israel Accuses Iran of Doing Something, Israel Is Likely Already Doing It”

In 1963, the US would remove British Guyana’s popular democratically elected Prime Minister, Chedi Jagan, in a coup. The people of Guyana would live under a dictatorship and would not get another chance to elect a Prime Minister until 1992. They elected Chedi Jagan. Half a century later, in 2002, the US would remove Venezuela’s … Continue reading “Latin American Coups and Bothersome Democracy”

The Biden administration promised that things would change. The first month has already offered a few opportunities for an early measure of whether that change includes coups. It hasn’t been a great start. Ukraine One of the early signs that coup plotters were still welcome in the club was Biden’s nomination of Victoria Nuland for … Continue reading “American Coups: Biden’s First Tests”

Trump is gone; Biden is in. But America is still recognizing the coup leader in Venezuela, is silent on Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara, is continuing Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capitol while accepting the importance of Israel’s hold on the Golan Heights and is only cautiously correcting course on Cuba. The history of … Continue reading “Coups and Colonialism: Why Does America Do What It Does?”

President Biden has offered the first hope in four years for Iran. There are early signs, though, that that hope could be threatened or illusory. Biden’s secretary of state, Anthony Blinken, has made two recent statements that are of interest to Iran but also to Saudi Arabia. During his confirmation hearing, Blinken said that Biden … Continue reading “Biden Meets Iran: The Upcoming Diplomatic Battle”

As Trump and Secretary of State Pompeo withdrew in the dying days of their administration, they sowed the foreign policy ground with landmines. The landmines were meant to checkmate the new administration so that, no matter which way President Biden moved, the landmines would blow up. In the first minutes of the administration, certain statements … Continue reading “The First 100 Minutes: Tiptoeing Through Trump’s Landmines”

The attempt to reverse a democratic election in a classic quiet coup in America has now turned ugly and noisy. On the very same day as Joe Biden condemned the coup, he nominated Victoria Nuland as under secretary of state for political affairs: the same Victoria Nuland who clumsily revealed in a captured call that … Continue reading “The Inconvenience of Democracy: Pre-emptive Coups”

Iranian Brigadier General Esmail Qaani was sent to Iraq in mid-November with unmistakable instructions from the government that there were to be absolutely no attacks. He "made it clear that Trump wants to drag the region into an open war before leaving…and it is not in our interest to give him any justification to start … Continue reading “The Assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh”

In November 2020, as dusk settled in on the Trump administration, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Israel. His trip not only confirmed that the new Israel-Arab peace deals were never about new peace deals – they couldn’t be because they made no new peace – but about recognizing and cementing the occupation and … Continue reading “Pompeo’s Trip to Israel: That Says It All”

The country had become an existential threat to Israel. It was ruled by a megalomaniac who wanted Israel eliminated. And now he wanted a nuclear bomb. They claimed their nuclear program was purely a civilian program, but Israel knew that was not true. So, they set out to set the program back. Israel undertook a … Continue reading “Attacks in Iran Have Israel’s Signature on Them”