On May 13, U.S. President Trump announced he is ordering the removal of sanctions on Syria. Some of the U.S. sanctions can be quickly terminated because they were issued by Executive Order. Other sanctions, including the extremely damaging 2019 "Caesar" sanctions,...
There was yet more shameful reporting by BBC News at Ten last night, with international editor Jeremy Bowen the chief culprit this time. He prefaced an interview with Philippe Lazzarini, head of United Nations refugee agency UNRWA, with an utterly unwarranted...
Last week, Moody’s Ratings lowered the United States credit rating. Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings had already lowered the US rating. This new downgrade was driven by Congress’s failure to make any efforts to reduce the almost 37 trillion dollars national...
In the past several days, there have been surprising developments in the negotiations between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s civilian nuclear program. U.S. President Donald Trump has frequently, but not always, defined the goal of the negotiations as being limited...
During the 1988 campaign, George W. Bush came to the Courthouse in Maryville, TN to speak at a rally for his Dad. As we were leaving, I told my friend and later Chief of Staff, Bob Griffitts, “Bob, he is better than his Dad.” When he ran for President in 2000, then...
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a skilled salesperson, though the product he peddles is deeply flawed. His current challenge is to convince himself, his people, the region, and the world that, despite significant setbacks, he is winning the strategic war...
If flagship NASA missions like the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and the Mars Sample Return mission are being cancelled at the same time that defense spending amounts the majority of last year’s increase in global government space investment, that’s a clear signal...
Louis Theroux explains in a commentary published by the Guardian why the backlash to his recent film about violent, Israeli state-backed settlers misses the point. His critics say he is unfairly presenting a few marginal “crazies” in Israeli society, who rampage...
On May 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to restart direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul. Reuters responded by reminding its readers what happened in the first round of Istanbul talks in the first weeks of the war. The article, entitled “What...
Among the lesser-known holes in the Constitution cut by the Patriot Act of 2001 was the destruction of the "wall" between federal law enforcement and federal spies. The wall was erected in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, which statutorily limited...
