The downing of a Russian warplane by the Turks raises several questions, which can all be rolled into one big one: In the war against ISIS, which side is Turkey – and NATO – on, anyway? Now let’s list the subordinate issues that cause us to question what’s really...
Rainwater has exposed a new mass grave in Sinjar. Witnesses to the executions estimate the grave contains about 123 bodies. It has yet to be excavated, because it has been booby-trapped with explosives. It is the sixth mass grave found so far. At least 58 were killed...
I still remember that smug look on his face, followed by the matter-of-fact remarks that had western journalists laugh out loud. “I’m now going to show you a picture of the luckiest man in Iraq,” General Norman Schwarzkopf, known as “Stormin” Norman, said at a press...
War tends to perpetuate itself. As soon as one brute gets killed, another takes his place; when the new guy falls, another materializes. Consider Richard Nixon's intensification of the American war on Cambodia. In hopes of maintaining an advantage over the Communists...
In the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, Beirut and Kenya, CNN Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta asked Barack Obama, “Why can’t we take out these bastards?” Acosta echoes many Americans who are hungry for revenge, and favor...
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was elected to great promise, but a fractured party behind him provides little support to accomplish the work Iraq needs. Iraqi citizen Yanar Mohammed returned to Iraq from exile in Canada and is now helping Iraqi women overcome the...
Turkey's decision to shoot down a Russian warplane was a provocative and portentous act. That Sukhoi Su-24, which the Turks say intruded into their air space, crashed and burned – in Syria. One of the Russian pilots was executed while parachuting to safety. A Russian...
A Note From the Author: Well, I was going to write an original Thanksgiving column, but my Significant Other has other plans. And so below I present you with a Thanksgiving column from ten years ago – just to give you some historical perspectve. And while I'm on...
