Destruction of a What?
There's a fascinating article in Spiegel Online (in English) on “Operation Orchard”, the operation in September 2007 in Syria in which the Israeli air force destroyed what many have termed a “nuclear plant”, what the article calls “Syria's Al Kibar nuclear reactor”, and the Syrians have characterized as a conventional military facility. Spiegel has interviewed Syrian, Israeli, and American ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on November 4, 2009 11:16
Hamas Is Not An Iranian Proxy
Ever since the Israeli attacks on Gaza began, some of the more hawkish elements among the punditry, such as Robert Kagan, have been claiming that Israel is not attacking Hamas so much as it is attacking Iran. Kagan states:Israel has just embarked on a land invasion of the Gaza Strip after a week of aerial bombing. Gaza is bordered ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on January 7, 2009 10:52
Middle East Action Items for the Obama Administration
In an op-ed in the Washington Post this morning, former ambassador from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United States Turk al-Faisal proposed an approach to achieving peace in the Middle East with five action items for the incoming Obama Administration: Call for an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from Shebaa Farms in Lebanon. Work with the U.N. Security Council for ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on December 26, 2008 13:28
Pulling Out: Debating Middle East Disengagement (Rebuttal)
Dave Schuler's arguments and his responses to my cross-examination questions highlight three critical failings in his argument. These flaws are his preference for inertia over strategic assessment, overweighing ambiguous evidence that marginally supports his case while ignoring compelling evidence that refutes it, and a failure to account for what might be called "conditions on the ground." I will address each ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on December 22, 2008 10:50
Pulling Out: Debating Middle East Disengagement (Affirmative)
On January 23, 1980 President Jimmy Carter enunciated what became known as the Carter Doctrine. He stated, "An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on December 15, 2008 12:52
Diplomacy Without Precondition
In my latest for New Atlanticist, "Preconditions, Preparations, and Posturing," I argue that Matt Yglesias, Kevin Drum, and perhaps even Nicholas Burns are misreading the now 16-month-old debate over Barack Obama's pledge to meet "without precondition, during the first year of [his] administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea."Posted in Outside The Beltway on October 27, 2008 14:26
U. S. Raid Into Syria Confirmed (Updated)
U. S. government sources have confirmed last week's raid into Syrian territory by American special forces against terrorist havens across the Iraqi border: A U.S. military official in Washington confirmed that special forces had conducted a raid in Syria that targeted the network of al Qaeda-linked foreign fighters moving through Syria into Iraq. The Syrian government said four U.S. military helicopters attacked ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on October 27, 2008 13:08
Al Qaeda in Iraq Defeated?
Al Qaeda in Iraq [AQI] is all but defeated, Marie Colvin reports for The Sunday Times. A huge operation to crush the 1,200 fighters who remained from a terrorist force once estimated at more than 12,000 began on May 10. Operation Lion’s Roar, in which the Iraqi army combined forces with the Americans’ 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, has already resulted in ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 6, 2008 07:56
North Korea Nukes Breakthrough: A Roadmap for Iran?
The news over the past 48 hours or so about movement in solving the nuclear arms standoff with North Korean has been stunning. Not only is President Bush taking the DPRK off the "state sponsors of terrorism" list but the Kim government has taken major steps to dismantle their program and provide with stringent verification regimes. The administration fully ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 26, 2008 14:40
Obama’s Accidental Foreign Policy
Matt Yglesias and Charles Krauthammer don't agree about much but they are in convergence over the origin of Barack Obama's foreign policy: a gaffe at last August's YouTube debates wherein he avowed that, if elected president, he would indeed meet, "without precondition … with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea." In an insightful piece in this ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 23, 2008 10:29
Hitchens on 5th Anniversary of Iraq War
As part of a retrospective commemorating the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War, Christopher Hitchens admits to having been right all along. He does, however, reject the premise of the question. Anyone with even a glancing acquaintance with Iraq would have to know that a heavy U.S. involvement in the affairs of that country began no later than 1968, ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on March 18, 2008 08:06
Iraq, Five Years On
In recognition of the fifth anniversary of the U. S.-led and mostly U. S.-conducted invasion of Iraq and removal of the regime of Saddam Hussein, there have been a number of articles in the New York Times and elsewhere that have an odd sort of synergy to them. For example, there's this interview from the Times of London with ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on March 17, 2008 10:37
Newspapers Reprint Danish Muslim Cartoon
The Danish Muslim cartoons that sparked worldwide rioting, mayhem, and murder two years ago are back. Newspapers across Europe Wednesday reprinted the controversial cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed that sparked worldwide protests two years ago. The move came one day after Danish authorities arrested three people allegedly plotting a "terror-related assassination" of Kurt Westergaard, the cartoonist behind the drawing. Berlingske Tidende, was ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on February 13, 2008 13:56
Hezbollah Leader Imad Mughniyeh Killed
Imad Mughniyeh, the man behind the the 1983 attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut and the TWA Flight 847 hijacking, has been killed. A senior Hezbollah commander suspected in some of the highest-profile international terrorist attacks of the last 25 years has died in an explosion in Syria, Hezbollah TV said Wednesday. Imad Mughniyeh died Tuesday in an explosion in ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on February 13, 2008 08:29
Muslims, Assimilation, and Racism
Jim Henley and Mark Steyn, two of my favorite political columnists, have a set-to that, with an assist from Little Green Footballs, has clogged the former's comment section with a swarm of repetitive and mostly inane comments. The short version: Henley terms the arguments advanced by Steyn about the dangers of unassimilated Muslims into European and Canadian ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on December 9, 2007 12:14
