Thomas Knapp

In early November, French president Emmanuel Macron complained that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is experiencing “brain death” as its member states go their own ways, with “no coordination whatsoever of strategic decision-making.” US president Donald Trump’s reply: “Nobody needs NATO more than France.” The two continued their duel over NATO’s future at an … Continue reading “NATO Is a Brain Dead, Obsolete, Rabid Dog. Euthanize It.”

On November 27, US president Donald Trump signed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. The bill, passed by veto-proof majorities in Congress amid large protests in the “special administrative region,” allows the president to impose sanctions on officials who violate human rights there, and requires various US government departments to annually review Hong … Continue reading “Non-Intervention: An Imperfect Solution to a Terrible Problem”

On November 15, US president Donald Trump pardoned two US Army officers accused of war crimes (one convicted, the other awaiting trial ). Trump also re-promoted US Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher from Petty Officer First Class to Chief Petty Officer. Gallagher was convicted of a minor war crime (posing for a photo with a corpse) … Continue reading “Trump Sentences Accused War Criminals to Death”

On November 4, ten dual US-Mexican citizens – members of an offshoot sect of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints – died in a highway ambush, apparently the latest casualties of rampant and violent drug cartel activity in northern Mexico. US president Donald Trump promptly called upon “Mexico, with the help of the … Continue reading “Mexico: One Failed US War Doesn’t Justify Another”

When US president Donald Trump announced his plan to relocate a few dozen US soldiers in Syria – getting them out of the way of a pending Turkish invasion – the Washington establishment exploded in rage at what it mis-characterized as a US “withdrawal” from Syria. Instead of fighting that mis-characterization, Trump embraced it, pretending … Continue reading “In Syria ‘Withdrawal,’ Less Is Probably More”

In March of 2018, US president Donald Trump promised “we’ll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon.” That December, he issued an order to begin withdrawing US troops. Apparently the order never got executed. Most of a year later, US forces remain. Now Trump and his opponents are arguing over his decision to move … Continue reading “Entangling Alliances Make for Forever Wars”

On September 14, US president Donald Trump tweeted (of course) the suggestion of a US-Israel “Mutual Defense Treaty,” citing a call with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Hopefully there’s less going on here than meets the eye: The tweet may just be another mutual publicity back-scratch of the type Trump and Netanyahu frequently exchange when … Continue reading “Trump and Netanyahu: ‘Mutual Defense’ or Just Mutual Political Back-Scratching?”

National Security Advisor John Bolton became the latest American casualty of Washington’s 18-year war in Afghanistan on September 10, fired by US president Donald Trump shortly after Trump announced that he had planned, but was canceling, a meeting with Taliban leaders at Camp David to ink a “peace deal.” Firing Bolton is a good start. … Continue reading “Trump Didn’t Start the War in Afghanistan, But He Owns It”

If at first you don’t succeed, spread some money around. The Financial Times reports that the US State Department is offering cash bribes to captains of Iranian ships if they sail those ships into ports where the US government can seize them. The offers are funded from a “Rewards for Justice” program authorizing payouts of … Continue reading “War in All But Name as US State Department Offers Bribes to Pirates”

America, John Quincy Adams said in 1821, “goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.” That’s as good a summary ever spoken of the non-interventionist position. US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) disagrees. He … Continue reading “Afghanistan: In Search of Monsters To Not Destroy”