Outside the Beltway

In what clearly appears to be a rebuke of the President, Defense Secretary James Mattis is retiring as Secretary of Defense.

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.

American troops have been in Afghanistan for seventeen years now, it’s time to bring them all home.

President Trump is serving as a knowing apologist for a despotic regime.

President Trump’s second speech to the General Assembly of the United Nations wasn’t much better than the first, but it it did get the world laughing at us.

Reports about tension between Defense Secretary James Mattis and President Trump are becoming louder, and it’s being suggested that Mattis could be out of office after the midterms.

Seventeen years ago, America was thrust into a war that seemingly has no end.

Mid-terms are coming.

On the eve of the NATO Summit, President Trump continues to engage in tactics that seem to serve no purpose other than to undermine America’s most important and successful alliance.

Even the United Nations has given up trying to maintain an accurate estimate.

A response to one of the most deadly chemical attacks in the Syrian civil war has come, probably from Israel. What’s next?

Just about a year after President Trump attacked Syria over the use of chemical weapons, the Assad regime has again used chemical weapons. There’s not much we can do about, nor should we.

The FBI committed gross malfeasance in building a case against the widow of Omar Mateen. She nonetheless bears significant blame for 53 deaths.

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

Turkish security personnel who assaulted peaceful protestors in America’s capital will go free.

The Nigerian terrorist group has released an unknown number of the 110 girls kidnapped from a boarding school last month.

Rex Tillerson was an awful Secretary of State who simply had to go, It’s quite possible his successor will be an even greater disaster.

Service members deployed to Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Niger, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Tunisia, and Uganda qualify.

North Korea’s Dear Leader has baited the President of the United States into a trap.

The legal distinction between “personal capacity” and “official capacity” makes no sense for senior presidential appointees.

Few Western democracies have anything quite like our First Amendment. This is a case where the United States gets it right. 

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

Phil Carter makes an interesting argument but he’s ultimately mistaken.

My latest for The National Interest takes a contrarian view on the new National Defense Strategy.

The President talked about national unity last night, but given his own rhetoric as a candidate and as a President, it’s a call that seems to be hypocritical.

With the Administration set to commit the United States to a forever war in Syria, it’s time for Congress to act.

While everyone is paying attention to the government shutdown, the Trump Administration is preparing for a never-ending, unwise, and unauthorized military commitment in Syria.

One year after his Inauguration, Donald Trump is the most unpopular new President since the invention of modern polling. However, his numbers are generally the same that they’ve been for some time now.

A horrible terror attack in Egypt.

A month that was highlighted by the capture of the ISIS capital city of Raqqa ends with an apparent lone wolf ISIS-inspired attack in New York City

Another day, another Trump lie.

America has become involved in conflicts around the world, largely without the knowledge of the American people or the consent of their representatives, and it doesn’t appear that’s going to end anytime soon.

The capital of the purported caliphate declared by ISIS has apparently fallen, but that doesn’t mean the end of ISIS. In fact, it may make the group more dangerous.

Iraqi military forces begin to crack down against Iraqi Kurds after last month’s independence referendum.

Tensions continue to rise between the White House and Foggy Bottom.

Stephen Paddock’s crime was clearly terrorizing, and will impact the lives of survivors, families, first responders in many ways for a long time. Based on the currently available evidence, though, the Las Vegas shooting was not “terrorism.”

The U.S is joining the rest of the world in refusing to recognize the independence referendum conducted by Iraqi Kurds.

Progress in Saudi Arabia, but there’s still a long way for this backward, discriminatory society to go.

Kurds in Iraq voted overwhelmingly for independence in a non-binding referendum, and the result is threatening to create a new conflict in the Middle East.

Once again, Congress is abdicating its Constitutional responsibilities.

President Trump’s Afghanistan policy sounds awfully familiar, and it’s likely to lead to the same results.

Based on initial reports, Trump’s Afghanistan policy looks a lot like what we’ve seen for the past sixteen years.

At least thirteen dead in an apparent terrorist attack in Spain.

We can not condone vandalism and worse.

On the special election for US Senate in Alabama

Another night of terror in the United Kingdom.

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.