A lot. Read the whole thing, but particularly note this: Hamas and Iranian-controlled Islamic Jihad launched over 600 rockets killing several Israeli civilians. The rockets were launched mostly from civilian locations in Gaza towards civilian locations in Israel. Israel retaliated … Continue reading →
See UPDATE at end of post. [NOTE: I use the past tense for Khashoggi because the consensus is that he is dead. This is certainly more likely than not. But I am not convinced of it, because it has not … Continue reading →
This headline made me chuckle: “UN court tells US to ease Iran sanctions in blow for Trump.” Why would anyone care what the UN says, or consider this a “blow”? More: It remains unclear whether the judgment will be anything … Continue reading →
In certain times and places, the left and the religious fundamentalist right become closely aligned—if only temporarily, as they were during the Iranian revolution of 1979. Their togetherness was puzzling to me at the time, but I later decided that … Continue reading →
Caroline Glick has been mostly bullish Trump’s on foreign policy moves so far, although she’s not completely optimistic; she has some caveats. Here’s what she has to say about Trump’s offer to talk with Iranian leaders like Rouhani: In July, … Continue reading →
Obama really, really, really wanted that deal, and he was more than willing to lie to Congress to further it: The Obama administration secretly sought to give Iran access ”” albeit briefly ”” to the U.S. financial system by sidestepping … Continue reading →
I was listening to MSNBC for about 15 minutes last night, shortly after Trump announced that he was ending our participation in the Iran deal. The show featured a bunch of talking heads telling us in very dire tones that … Continue reading →
One of the many many perks of the end of the Obama administration was the long-hoped-for fading away from public life of John Forbes Kerry. When I looked at that Wiki entry of Kerry’s I was surprised to see that … Continue reading →
Netanyahu made an announcement today: Netanyahu, a longtime opponent of the nuclear agreement, said Israeli forces had recently seized reams of secret documents from Iran detailing what he called Tehran’s past attempts to conceal a military nuclear program. Iran has … Continue reading →
The appointment of John Bolton as Trump’s National Security Advisor was bound to cause controversy and criticism, and so it has. I have always felt that Bolton is smart and tough, and much (not all) of the time I have … Continue reading →
A little while ago a commenter here wrote: “We and the Brits destabilized Iran in 1953 for the Shah, then the Shah’s reign led to this theocracy.” The reference is to the coup engineered by the US and Britain against … Continue reading →
The most recent protests in Iran seem to have been successfully put down. This is a sad but not surprising thing, since Iran’s government is tyrannical and willing to use its muscle to stay in power: Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah … Continue reading →