Gloomy News, Prognosis Out of Afghanistan

With all foreign troops due to leave Afghanistan just two years from now, the news out of the Central Asian nation is becoming increasingly gloomy. Adding to the pessimism is a just-released report by one of the most astute observers of the U.S. war, Gilles...

read more

Even Dumb Ideas Have Consequences

It came and went in a flash and now it’s long forgotten, buried in the rubble heap of history. But maybe, given recent events, a little excavation is in order. After all, as the author of Constantine’s Sword, James Carroll, wrote in 2004, looking back on the 9/11...

read more

In Defense of the President

Whatever one may think of our President, it has to be admitted that his speech to the United Nations showed real leadership. He took the time to explain, at length, that although the noxious Innocence of Muslims video had nothing to do with the US government, and that...

read more

America’s Last Crusade

For Americans of the Greatest Generation that fought World War II and of the Silent Generation that came of age in the 1950s, the great moral and ideological cause was the Cold War. It gave purpose and clarity to our politics and foreign policy, and our lives. From...

read more

Libyan Islamists Cornered, Not Quieted

CAIRO — It could be premature to believe that the storming of Islamist militia bases by Benghazi citizens on Friday could spell the end for Libya’s Islamist militants. Just as it was premature to claim when moderate Libyan political parties took the majority of votes...

read more

Alternative to WikiLeaks Arises in Iceland

REYKJAVIK — With the imprisonment of Bradley Manning and detainment of Julian Assange, WikiLeaks is effectively on hold. But that does not mean that leaks and whistleblowing activities have stopped. GlobaLeaks lists a large number of leak sites, which are active to...

read more