Outside the Beltway

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

A Saturday night debate wasn’t likely to get much attention to begin with. A Saturday night debate in the wake of a major terrorist attack, and a major football game for Iowa’s premier college football team, likely got even less attention. That’s probably good news for Hillary Clinton, and bad news for her two remaining rivals.

Like most Republicans, Jeb Bush either fails or refuses to recognize what an utter, unjustifiable disaster his brother’s decision to invade Iraq actually was.

Two potential candidates for the Republican nomination in 2016 traded barbs this week over the President’s new policy toward Cuba.

A little round of Qs and As on US-Cuban policy.

Rand Paul is one of the few Republicans who seems to be evaluating the new policy toward Cuba through something other than an outdated Cold War perspective.

For a year that started out with regaining long-lost territory in Ukraine, 2014 is not ending so well for Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

The United States is, in fact, doing the exact opposite.

Benjamin Wallace-Wells wonders with some irritation “Why Henry Kissinger Never Goes Away.”

If you’re still not convinced that we lost the war in Iraq, this should settle the argument.

The opponents of the temporary deal reached in Geneva have been making some ridiculous historical analogies.

A proposed Syria authorization being considered in the Senate places several limits on Presidential authority to act, but it’s unclear if those limits can actually work.

The president’s public dithering on Syria is drawing jeers from friend and foe alike.

Humanitarian wars have their own grammar but not their own logic.

The White House confirmed today that the goal of any military intervention in Syria would be very limited. Which makes one wonder what the point of doing anything actually is.

We’re almost certainly going to launch punitive strikes against Syria. They’ll almost certainly be ineffective.

As President Obama’s red line has been crossed more brazenly, he continues to sound reluctant to intervene in Syria while positioning forces to do just that.

A decade ago. a certain New York Times columnist was more right than your humble host.

While the military was ousting Egypt’s democratically elected president, the US Secretary of State was on his yacht.

Revisiting an old posting of mine on the subject.

Would a formal guarantee of Israel’s security deter Iran from whatever nuclear weapons development program it has?

Recent comments from Russian officials suggest that the nation may be preparing to cut its longtime ally loose.

They are playing the game without rules in Egypt.

Several key members of the Syrian government were killed in a suicide bomb attack today in Damascus.

Andrew Exum notes that most analysts who call for military intervention fail to specify the particulars.

We, as a country, need to remember that do not hold levers that allow us to move events this way or that

After 3,193 days and more than 4,000 lives, the American war in Iraq is officially at an end.

Current events have underscored who holds political power in Egypt in the post-Mubarak era.

The Secretary of Defense has some words of warning for those advocating military action against Iran.

The post-Gaddafi era has been made permanent. What comes next?

For a peace envoy, Blair has some nonpeaceful ideas.

What does the apparent outcome of the war in Libya mean for the so-called “Responsibility To Protect” doctrine?

Success in Libya does not make the American mission any less unjustified than it was on the day President Obama announced it.

Steve Benen has coined the phrase “Thank America Last” to describe those avoiding praise of President Obama for success in Libya.

The U.S. and its allies are calling on Bashar Assad to step down, but there’s little we can do when he says no.

A few Republicans have picked up on John McCain’s criticism of critics of the Libya mission as being “isolationist.”

The War Powers Act’s 90 day limit is in sight. Will Congress force the president’s hand?

Remember Egypt?

Elias Isquith proclaims my Atlantic essay “How Perpetual War Became U.S. Ideology” to be “a total disaster.”

Technology has saved the lives of countless American soldiers. But it’s made going to war easier.

Why the United States has found itself in a seemingly endless series of wars over the past two decades.

One can almost hear the pitter-patter of American boots in the distance.

As allied involvement in Libya’s civil war increases, there are signs that the rebels may not be able to close the deal.

Ten days after sending American forces into kinetic military action in Libya, President Obama addressed the nation to explain “what we’ve done, what we plan to do, and why this matters to us.”

Tom Ricks doesn’t understand why we need an exit strategy in Libya.