Democrats Clash In Fifth Debate

The fifth Democratic debate brought some candidate clashes, but hardly the no-holds-barred type of event you might expect for this late in the pre-primary process.

Russia And Turkey Divide Up Northern Syria As U.S. Retreats

As American forces retreat, Russia and Turkey are dividing up northern Syria like,well,a turkey.

Turks Continue Offensive As Trump Imposes Weak-Kneed Sanctions

As the Turkish invasion of northern Syria continues, Donald Trump responds with basically nothing.

Turkey, Syria, And Russia Win, U.S. Loses As Syrian Crisis Widens

Turkish forces advance, American forces retreat, the Kurds seek new allies, and Syria and Russia come out the winners.

Trump Pulls U.S. Forces From Northern Syria, Leaving Kurds Vulnerable

The United States is withdrawing its small force from Northern Syria, clearing the way for a Turkish invasion that will likely
aim to wipeout the Kurdish forces in the region.

Trump Imposes New Sanctions On Iran. They Won’t Work.

The Trump Administration unveiled new sanctions against Iran yesterday. They’re unlikely to accomplish the entirely unrealistic goals the President claims to have in mind.

U.S. Leaving Behind A Token Force In Syria

Rather than pulling completely out of Syria the United States will be leaving behind a token force of about 200 troops. This is a mistake.

Tulsi Gabbard Enters The Race For President

Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard is the latest Democrat to throw their hat into the Presidential ring.

Trump To Order Withdrawal of American Troops From Syria

The Trump Administration is reportedly preparing to withdraw the small contingent of American troops from Syria. If it actually happens, this would be a good move.

Trump Sides With Saudis In Murder Of Jamal Khashoggi

In what has to qualify as one of the most horrifying displays of moral depravity on the international stage, the Trump Administration is saying it doesn’t really care if the Saudi Crown Prince is a murderer or not.

Tulsi Gabbard For President?

Add yet another name to the potential Democratic campaign field in 2020.

Trump’s Decision To Leave Reagan-Era INF Treaty Is A Foolish Mistake

President Trump is preparing to scrap a thirty-year-old treaty that marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War. It would be a foolish mistake.

Trump Reimposes Sanctions On Iran Previously Lifted Pursuant To Nuclear Deal

The Trump Administration has taken the latest step in a process that began in May with the withdrawal from the JCPOA. Where it takes us is anybody’s guess, but the probability of something going wrong is quite high.

Trump Administration Argues It Didn’t Need Congressional Authorization To Attack Syria

Echoing the Obama Administration, the Trump Administration is arguing that it did not need Congressional authorization to attack Syria earlier this year.

Donald Trump Shrugging Donald Trump Shrugging

Trump Supporters Surprised To Find That Donald Trump Is Acting Like Donald Trump

In the wake of the latest attack on Syria, some of the President’s strongest supporters seem shocked to discover that the unprincipled egomaniac they supported is, in fact, an unprincipled egomaniac.

Attacking Syria Without Congressional Authorization Would Be Illegal

Without Congressional authorization, any attack on Syria would be illegal, but don’t expect Congress to do anything about it.

Trump Weighs Options In Syria While His Twitter Taunting Foolishly Risks Escalation

President Trump took to Twitter this morning and decided poke a stick in the eye of the Russian bear.

There Are No Good Options In Syria, So Maybe We Shouldn’t Do Anything

The United States has several options in Syria. None of them are good and one of them would be disastrous.

Are We Staying Or Are We Going? Trump Sends Mixed Signals On Syria

President Trump is talking about pulling American troops out of Syria, but his own White House is contradicting him.

Shulkin Strikes Back After Being Fired As Veterans Affairs Secretary

Within hours after being fired as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, David Shulkin was fighting back.

Russia Retaliates For British Retaliation, Kicking 23 British Diplomats Out

Not unexpectedly, Russia has retaliated for Great Britain’s retaliation for Russia’s apparent assassination attempt on British history.

Trump Threatens ‘Phase Two’ If Sanctions Against North Korea That Probably Won’t Work Don’t Work

President Trump continues to make irresponsible and dangerous threats in connection with American policy toward North Korea.

Trump Administration Claims It Needs No Legal Authorization To Keep Troops In Syria

Continuing a long-standard tradition, the Trump Administration claims it doesn’t need to get legal authorization to keep American troops in Syria.

Trump Administration Set To Further Reduce Sanctions Against Iran

Notwithstanding his promises during the campaign, President Trump seems likely to go forward with sanctions reductions required under the nuclear deal with Iran.

Senate Rejects Amendment To Repeal AUMFs Authorizing The Bush-Obama-Trump Forever Wars

Once again, Congress is abdicating its Constitutional responsibilities.

Trump Aides Nix Idea Of Going To Charlottesville

“Why the hell would we do that?” — White House official.

Iranian President Rouhani Overwhelmingly Re-Elected

Iranian voters have re-elected Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate whose election in 2013 was largely responsible for the shifts in policy that made the international agreement regarding Iran’s nuclear research program possible.

U.S.-Russian Relations Hit a New Low

It’s been a bad week for U.S.-Russian relations.

Poll Finds Majority Support For Missile Strikes On Syria

A majority of Americans support last week’s airstrikes in Syria but are skeptical of any expansion beyond that.

Sometimes History Doesn’t Repeat Itself

Ambassador Karlov is mostly likely not a modern day Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Russian Ambassador To Turkey Assassinated In Ankara

The situation in the Middle East just potentially became much more complicated.

U.S., Russian Agreement On Syria Seems Doomed To Fail

The United States and Russia have reached an agreement to end fighting in Syria, but it seems unlikely to succeed given that it doesn’t involve the parties actually doing the fighting.

Donald Trump Calling Obama The “Founder” Of ISIS Requires One To Ignore History, And Reality

President Obama’s ISIS policy has been far from perfect, but to call him a “Founder” of ISIS is to ignore both history and reality.

Attempted Coup Rocks Turkey, But Fails To Overthrow Government

Turkey’s government appears to have rebuffed a coup attempt, but questions remains about the stability of the government going forward.

At Least 41 Dead In Terror Attack On Istanbul Airport

A massive attack hits Istanbul’s airport.

Putin Announces Start Of Withdrawal Of Russian Forces From Syria

To the surprise of many, Russia’s President announced that Russia would begin winding down its six month old intervention in Syria.

Sanctions Against Iran Partially Lifted As Compliance With Nuclear Deal Is Confirmed By IAEA

Another hopeful step forward, thanks to diplomacy.

Tensions Rise Between Saudi Arabia And Iran In Wake Of Saudi Executions

The execution of a prominent Shi’ite cleric has led to a rapid deterioration of the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Is Syria Already A Quagmire For Putin?

Some analysts are already suggesting that Russia’s two month old intervention in Syria is becoming a quagmire. That seems to be a premature judgment, but it’s not accomplishing much more than anything the West is doing.

German Parliament Approves Expansion Of Involvement In Anti-ISIS Campaign

The German Parliament has approved expansion of the nation’s involvement in the campaign against ISIS, but that doesn’t make the current campaign any less incoherent.

Another Day, Another Bizarre Donald Trump Speech

Donald Trump’s speech yesterday at a meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition was as bizarre as anything else we’ve seen from him.

British Parliament Approves Airstrikes Against ISIS In Syria

The British Parliament has approved expansion of that countries airstrikes into Syria, but it’s unclear just how much of an impact that will have on the ground.

Francois Hollande’s Quest For A United Front Against ISIS May Be Doomed To Fail

France’s President has spent the week trying to forge and agreement on an anti-ISIS policy, but the two nations that matter the most also disagree the most.

Tensions Between Russia And Turkey Remain High In Wake Of Russian Jet Incident

Tensions between Russia and Turkey remain high in the wake of yesterday’s incident, but there are some signs that things are starting to cool down.

Hillary Clinton’s Ideas On How To Fight ISIS Are As Incoherent And Flawed As Everyone Else’s

Hillary Clinton’s recently announced policies toward the ISIS fight are as incoherent and misguided as President Obama’s and those of her Republican opponents.

Turkey Downs Russian Jet

A potentially big complication in an already complicated situation.

Russia Confirms Metrojet 9268 Brought Down By Bomb

Confirming speculation that had already been all but confirmed, we now know that it was a bomb that brought down a Russian passenger jet on October 31st.

President Obama Likely To Leave World In As Bad A Shape As He Found It, If Not Worse

President Obama came to office inheriting the legacy of one unnecessary war, and another that had faded from memory. He will leave office with Iraq and Syria in crisis, Europe uneasy, Yemen and Libya unstable breeding grounds for terrorism, and China doing whatever it is they’re doing.

Obama Considering Plan That Would Get U.S. Ground Troops Closer To Front Lines In ISIS War

President Obama is reportedly considering a plan that would put American forces much closer to the ground war in the war against ISIS.

U.S. And Russia Reach Deal On Syrian Airspace

The U.S. and Russia have reached a much-needed deal to avoid inadvertent confrontations over the skies of Syria.