Thomas Knapp

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”

As the calendar prepared to flip from 2019 to 2020, protesters stormed the US embassy in Baghdad. As I write this, the action – a response to US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria which killed at least 25 and wounded more than 50 – hasn’t yet become a reprise of the Iran hostage crisis of … Continue reading “Iraq: America’s Other ‘Longest War’”

As 1914 drew to a close, Europe had been at war for months. On the Western Front, opposing armies faced each other across a stalemated front line running from the North Sea to the Swiss border. On December 24, 100,000 soldiers from both sides of that line decided to create some peace on Earth. They … Continue reading “The Christmas Truce of 1914: Proof that Peace Is Possible”

“U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan throughout the 18-year campaign,” the Washington Post‘s Craig Whitlock reports, “making rosy pronouncements they knew to be false and hiding unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable.” Whitlock bases that claim on a collection of candid, confidential interviews with more than 400 military … Continue reading “Afghanistan: Oh, When Will We Ever Learn?”

Amazon is one of the largest companies in the world, boasting revenues of more than $230 billion last year. But last month the company sued the US Department of Defense over a paltry potential $10 billion spread over ten years. Amazon lost out to Microsoft in bidding for the Pentagon’s Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (yes, … Continue reading “JEDI Mind Tricks: Amazon versus the Pentagon and Trump”