When, in 1944, Winston Churchill suggested that the Allies consider the Vatican’s views when planning the future of a heavily Catholic Poland, Stalin famously replied, “The Pope? How many divisions has he got?” The Pope had no divisions, of course. But, as Stalin’s successors would learn, he had millions of supporters whom he could spur …
Continue reading “U.S. leadership vital for freedom’s future”
“War is hell,” is the popular phrase that dates back at least to William Tecumseh Sherman, and no one knows the reality of war better than the two prospective new members of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy team. If confirmed, Chuck Hagel and John Kerry will bring to their positions as Secretaries of Defense and …
All hail America’s middle class, the vast majority of families who apparently must never pay a penny more in federal taxes or receive a penny less in services. All hail them; all fear them; all bow before them. That’s the message behind Washington’s successful effort to strike a deal that averted the “fiscal cliff” but …
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Happy New Year – we should hope – because 2013 could prove a defining one on a host of interrelated challenges in the Greater Middle East, and elsewhere, that will have profound consequences for the United States and its allies for decades to come. The challenges include Iran and its nuclear program, Syria and its …
Continue reading “For The United States, A Treacherous New Year”
President Obama’s likely appointment of former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel as Defense Secretary has focused attention on Hagel’s controversial views on Israel, its terror-sponsoring neighbors, and the appropriate U.S. posture towards the world’s most volatile and dangerous region. Fine. There’s lots to review and lots to criticize. But, as with all presidential appointments, the issue …
Continue reading “What appointing Chuck Hagel would say about Obama”
In its coverage of Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal’s fiery speech to celebrate the terrorist group’s 25th anniversary, in which he vowed to destroy Israel and replace it with a Palestinian state “from the sea to the river,” the New York Times offered a fascinating analysis of the unfortunate implications. “Mr. Meshal’s harsh words reflected …
Continue reading “The New York Times’ Creative Take On Hamas And Israel”
For decades, some of the Arab region’s leading figures have sent sharply different messages to the West than to their own people, hoping to secure the best of both worlds from their rhetorical duplicity. To U.S. and other Western leaders, they portrayed themselves as tolerant and peace-loving, interested in curbing violence and solving problems. To …