Thomas Knapp

In 2010, US Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Thomas Carper (D-DE) introduced their Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act. Better known as the “Internet Kill Switch” proposal for the emergency powers it would have conferred on the president, the bill died without receiving a vote in either house of Congress. A … Continue reading “Ten Years After Lieberman’s ‘Internet Kill Switch,’ the War on Freedom Rages On”

“American intelligence officials have concluded that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan,” claims the New York Times. More controversially, the authors write that US president Donald Trump was briefed on the assessment (he denies it) and the piece’s tag line says that his administration … Continue reading “Afghanistan Bounties: Pot, Meet Kettle (and Turn Off the Stove!)”

On June 22 and 23, Russian and American diplomats met in Vienna to discuss New START, a nuclear arms reduction treaty which expires next year. The treaty provides for an optional five-year extension. Alternatively, the parties could negotiate a new agreement as has happened several times in the past. A third possibility involves one or … Continue reading “Stop Blaming Russia, China for US Disarmament Failures”

Protests quickly broke out nationwide following the May 25 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, which was caught on video and quickly went viral. Yes, Chauvin has been arrested and charged with murder. Yes, the usual “voices of reason” are issuing a new round of calls for “police reform,” just as … Continue reading “Time To Stop Messing Around and Strike at the Root of Police Violence”

On May 3, a group of around 60 mercenaries attempted an amphibious landing at Macuto, on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast. They were quickly defeated and 13 of them – including two Americans, Airan Berry and Luke Denman – captured. US president Donald Trump has denied any association with, knowledge of, or involvement in the affair on … Continue reading “Who Was Behind the Incompetent Venezuela ‘Invasion’?”

On April 25, 2020, US president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin issued a joint statement commemorating the 75th anniversary of “Elbe Day” – the day, presaging the end of World War 2 in Europe, when Russian and US troops met near the German towns of Strehla and Torgau. The Wall Street Journal reports … Continue reading “Concern Troll Is Concerned, Elbe Day Edition”

“The costs of the pandemic keep piling up,” writes Marc Thiessen at the Washington Post. “Somebody has to pay for this unprecedented damage. That somebody should be the government of China.” And why, pray tell, should China’s government be punished? For “intentionally lying to the world about the danger of the virus, and proactively impeding … Continue reading “‘China Lied, People Died?’ Look Who’s Talking!”

In early 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump pronounced himself “neutral” in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. He also expressed pessimism that a deal between the two sides was even possible: “I have friends of mine that are tremendous businesspeople, that are really great negotiators, [and] they say it’s not doable.” It didn’t take Trump … Continue reading “Trump’s First Offer Was a Better Deal for Palestine – and Israel”

On January 8, US president Donald Trump addressed the American public concerning a casualty-free Iranian missile attack on US bases in Iraq, where just last week Iranian general Qasem Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike. If the speech was remarkable in any way, it was for the comparative restraint Trump displayed: Rather than … Continue reading “Trump Versus Iran: Power Doesn’t Just Corrupt, It Deludes”

In March of 1804, French dragoons secretly crossed the Rhine into the German Margraviate of Baden. Acting on orders from Napoleon himself, they kidnapped Louis Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Enghien. After a hastily convened court-martial on charges of bearing arms against France, the duke was shot. “C’est pire qu’un crime, c’EST une faute,” a … Continue reading “The Soleimani Assassination: Worse Than a Crime, a Mistake”