Happy Independence Day!
I’m taking the July 4 holiday weekend off, so there’s no column today. However, in lieu of that, here’s something you might find interesting: my contribution to The Costs of War: America’s Pyrrhic Victories, edited by John V. Denson, “Defenders of the Republic: The...
The Hotel Tacloban by Douglas Valentine: A Poetic Masterpiece of War and Redemption
"The gates of hell are open night and day; Smooth the descent, and easy is the way: But to return, and view the cheerful skies, In this the task and mighty labor lies." Vergil, The Aeneid Not since Edmund Gosse’s classic memoir, Father and Son: A Study of...
The American Way of War
The most striking fact about the United States of America is not its supposed founding principles — more often lauded than observed — but how often “the greatest country on earth” has waged war. If we count wars against internal...
What Trump Can Expect From Putin
In the style of a President’s Daily Brief for President Trump: When you meet with President Putin next week, you can count on him asking you why the U.S. is encircling Russia with antiballistic missile systems. Putin regarded the now-defunct Anti-Ballistic Missile...
Americans and South Koreans Want Peace. Will Trump Listen?
As the newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in meets President Donald Trump for his first White House visit, the South Korean leader should stay focused on his calls for diplomatic, economic, and cultural engagement with Pyongyang. The Trump administration...
US Commander Says Mosul “a very violent close fight”; 149 Killed in Iraq
4,928 Killed in Iraq During June
The Bizarre Case of Bashar al-Assad
Conan Doyle, the creator of the legendary Sherlock Holmes, would have titled his story about this incident "The Bizarre Case of Bashar al-Assad". And bizarre it is. It concerns the evil deeds of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian dictator, who bombed his own people...
Pushing Gaza to Suicide: The Politics of Humiliation
Mohammed Abed is a 28-year-old taxi driver from the village of Qarara, near the town of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. He has no teeth. Lack of medical care and proper dentistry work cost him all of his teeth, which rotted and decayed at a very young age. Yet, his...


