The first thing I want to do is list our foreign policy successes in the Middle East over the last 20 years.
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Strange bedfellows for “firearms freedom”
In the United Nations despised by many conservatives, a strange thing happened on the way to the General Assembly by Manhattan’s East River last week. The international treaty on reducing the unfettered flow of arms the National Rifle Association and its paid shills on the GOP side of the aisle in Congress are fighting tooth and nail found the gun lobby odd new allies in the international body.… [Read more]
Addressing Iraq’s Disease — Iran and AQI are only the Symptoms
As we pass the 10th anniversary of the American overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime, it seems the mainstream media has temporarily awoken from its longstanding coma regarding Iraq coverage. Yet the coverage still focuses on the wrong issues — rehashing the crimes of the past or dabbling in ridiculous counterfactuals instead of addressing what is happening in the country right now.… [Read more]
Continued Angst over Argo…
“Those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it.” ~ Winston Churchill
“Those who expect real history from Hollywood should have a keeper.” ~ Davies
So it was last week in our land of perpetual mirth and sunshine. The latest cultural tempest in a thimble is the Oscar success enjoyed by Ben Affleck for his film Argo.… [Read more]
Henrique Capriles: Is He or Ain’t He a Jew
This year’s presidential election between incumbent Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and contender Henrique Capriles was one of the most intensely watched and anticipated political races throughout the world for a number of reasons. Chavez, who has long been a thorn in the side of the West, was facing what many considered defeat. Had the naysayers gotten their wishes Venezuela would be headed in a very different direction, specifically as it relates to its foreign relations with the U.S.… [Read more]
Paul Ryan’s Ayn-Rand-Worldview Flunks the Foreign Policy Test
According to most media outlets, especially the spectacle of cable news, the best way to judge a political debate seems to be tantamount to judging a beauty pageant or American Idol contest without the musical talent evaluations. It’s all about presentation, facial expressions, what one is doing while the other is speaking, “looking presidential.” Numerous pundits have advised viewers to best take in the debate with their volume off.… [Read more]
Mitt Romney is a Wizard and his Foreign Policy is Magic
Electoral politics generally involves promising the impossible. During the 2008 election, Obama promised stabilization of Afghanistan, improved relations with Iran, and justice for the people of Darfur, Sudan. And before him, numerous other presidential candidates and politicians have promised results that were, by most measures, highly unlikely to be reached. It’s the nature of beast.
However, we may have reached a new high in outlandish foreign policy promises with Mitt Romney’s latest speech at the Virginia Military Institute.… [Read more]
Oh Ye Hypocrites
In an ongoing effort to bring a semblance of armistice in the region the United Nations is sponsoring a conference to establish a nuclear-free Middle East. The conference which is scheduled to take place the end of this year or beginning of 2013 in Finland is to be attended by all states in the region. All states, except for Israel of course.… [Read more]
Onion Soup and Ahmadinejad
I don’t think that even the newshounds among us would remember how to pronounce this man’s name had it not been for Katie Couric’s invention of the mnemonic, “I’m a Dinner Jacket” when she was at CBS.
No one who hears this will ever forget how to pronounce his name, but for those of us who have forgotten, Ahmadinejad, the world’s most infamous Holocaust denier, has been the President of Iran since 2005 and, if he has his way, it will be an office for life as he seems to be able to get himself re-elected without sufficient votes.… [Read more]
The Colonies are Uprising
All over the world, from Morocco to Indonesia, the Muslim world is protesting and rioting in the wake of a disturbing anti-Muslim film, produced by the misguided, for who knows what reason. When you look at the problem it sounds so simple, so unbelievable to the average American: people rioting, killing and storming American embassies because someone disrespected the prophet Muhammad.… [Read more]
Benjamin Netanyah, A.K.A. Chicken Little
It seems Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won’t be content until F-16 bombers are flying over Tehran and U.S. navy ships are storming the Strait of Hormuz. In a recent interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, when asked of the idea of a “containment strategy” in response to Iran’s alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons Netanyahu retorted “I think Iran is very different (from the Soviet Union).… [Read more]
The Middle East’s Ignored Cold War
With the recent attacks on American and Western embassies across the Muslim world, most of the narratives in the mainstream media have been focused on conflict between the West and the “Muslim world.” Yet, this exaggerated conflict is often given precedence over another trending clash in the Middle East—one with more serious ramifications for the region.… [Read more]
The Delusions of Dinesh D’Souza
Among the many questions that continue to baffle me in life is why is conservative “intellectual” Dinesh D’Souza ever take seriously by anyone? And after viewing the man again on Piers Morgan’s CNN show as well as on HBO’s Real Team with Bill Maher, I’m still left baffled as to why anyone bothers talking to this guy (although to be fair, Bill Maher took the man far less seriously than most interviewers).… [Read more]
Why Benjamin Netanyahu’s Comparison of Ahmadinejad to Hitler and Iran as Nazi Germany Doesn’t Hold Water
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the new Hitler, and Iran is Nazi Germany were we to take to heart Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s words. Earlier this year in a speech at Holocaust Remembrance Day, Netanyahu said the following regarding the existential threat of Iran to Israel:
On this day, when our entire nation gathers together to remember the horrors of the Holocaust and the six million Jews who were murdered, we must fulfill our most sacred obligation.… [Read more]
Let’s Be Realistic About Iran
Too often our political dialogue devolves into a Manichean division of extremes. Yet the world and its various issues and conflicts are often much more nuanced and complicated than all that, especially in the realm of foreign policy.
Which brings me to Charles Fisher’s post from last week, “The Case Against Iran.” While there was much I agreed with in this article, there are also many key things that Fisher just gets wrong.… [Read more]
The Case Against Iran
Lately it seems that a war between Iran and Israel is nothing but inevitable, and by proxy of alliance it would mean the U.S. would extend its military hand in aid of Israel, if not declaring an all out war on Iran itself.
Iran, who has a notorious record of supporting the radical Shia organization Hezbollah (who is a known terrorist clique), has been at odds with the United States since the Iranian revolution of 1979 when the Shah of Iran was forced to flee the country, which subsequently transitioned Iran into the Islamic republic we know and love today.… [Read more]
Who Benefits From the Attack In Burgas?
When I first read about the bombing of a tourist bus in Burgas, Bulgaria which killed five Israeli citizens quite naturally I was sorrowful for the loss of lives and for such a brutal act of violence. Death is always something we as humans mourn, but for a life to be snuffed out so abruptly and with such destruction gives cause for ponder.… [Read more]
Mitt Romney: A Foreign Policy of Incoherence
Although the 2012 presidential campaign may still be in its early stages, one thing is clear: foreign policy is not the Republican Party’s strong suit this year. Not only are the party’s overall views on foreign policy disjointed and incoherent (as opposed to the 2004 election where the party was mostly united in a strong hawkish, neoconservative philosophy) but its candidate himself, Mitt Romney, is both inexperienced in and, as can be more clearly gleaned from his recent world travels, uneducated about the international arena.… [Read more]
Iraq? The Name Does Sound Familiar
Hey remember Iraq? The mainstream media does on occasion.
It’s funny how a country which once dominated the mainstream media airways only a few years ago is barely mentioned nowadays. One story that did get substantial play this week was the fact that Monday was Iraq’s deadliest day of this year, with mainly Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia (AQM) orchestrated attacks reverberating around the country leaving 116 dead.… [Read more]
The Mob or the Court: Who Serves Justice Better?
Two important trials concluded this past week, one involving the Special Court for Sierra Leone’s sentencing of former Liberian president Charles Taylor and the other involving Egypt’s transitional government’s prosecution of former president Hosni Mubarak.
Both former tyrants were sentenced to prospective life sentences, with the 64-year-old Taylor receiving 50 years in prison and the 84-year-old Mubarak receiving 25 years behind bars.… [Read more]
