There have been protests recently in Lebanon, and Prime Minister Saad Hariri has resigned as a result. What’s it all about? Well, some is economics: Lebanon, one of the most heavily indebted countries in the world, already was dealing with … Continue reading →
Trump approved the raid by US special forces about a week ago: A U.S. Army official briefed on the results of the operation told Newsweek that Baghdadi was killed in the raid, and the Defense Department told the White House … Continue reading →
Today’s announcement: Speaking at the White House, Trump said that while a “permanent ceasefire” will be tough to maintain in the volatile region, he hopes it will last and end the conflict between Turkey and the Kurds. “I do believe … Continue reading →
Mitt Romney is a strange case for a politician. He lacks the common touch completely, which is probably the main reason he lost in 2012 and helped us get four more years of Obama. Although Romney was far from my … Continue reading →
As I wrote recently, I don’t trust most analyses of the Turkey vs. Kurds situation right now. I’m not just talking about the left, either. Just as one small example, we have this article in the WSJ yesterday, with the … Continue reading →
One of the things that has happened to me during the last twenty years or so is that my natural skepticism of all news analysis has increased (and that’s saying something because I was somewhat skeptical even before that). I’ve … Continue reading →
Here’s an interesting take: But one thing no one is looking at is the position Trump is in, with no prospect of support or even reasonable collaboration from the House of Representatives. For the sake of the Americans in uniform … Continue reading →
It’s complicated, and to even begin to understand it you have to go back in time. But most of us here probably remember this: In 2014 Obama was negotiating his nuclear deal with Iran… Given its goal of embracing Iran, … Continue reading →
I can’t say this comes as a surprise, because it seems to me that Bolton and Trump had some serious disagreements on general policy regarding US involvement in certain areas: I informed John Bolton last night that his services are … Continue reading →
The UNRWA is the United Nations’ relief agency for Palestine, a huge agency since the 1948 war. Trump had cut off US funding for the UNRWA back in August of 2018 to the usual disapproval from the left: “The United … Continue reading →
Not a Fascist in the economic sense (which isn’t how most people use the word these days, anyway), but in the “willing and eager to use the apparatus of the state to stomp on your liberties” sense. Why, Frederica Wilson, … Continue reading →
Trump loves to surprise people. That’s part of his power; he doesn’t like to do the expected. And the handshake with Kim Jong Un at the DMZ, and Trump’s stepping over the line into North Korean territory, certainly came as … Continue reading →