MIDDLE EAST
DRAWDOWN
Last Wednesday, President Obama announced that in July he will start drawing down American troops from Afghanistan. Ten thousand will be gone by December 31, another 23,000 by summer 2012. It’s more than time. America’s post-9/11 invasion of Afghanistan was warranted to find Osama bin Laden and destroy the training camps he’d established under Taliban…
Read MoreTWO BOYS AND BIN LADEN
The other day I saw two boys running home after school. The “hare” sprinted ahead then faltered and stopped. The “tortoise” kept running and disappeared from view far ahead. I thought of conservatives—and many liberals, too—who take the “hare” or sprinter’s approach to the economy. Either push some free-market buttons or throw government cash at…
Read MoreGOLDSTONE REDUX
Yesterday, a missile fired from Gaza struck southern Israel, wounding two—one critically. Israel retaliated, killing five Palestinians. Hours later, Hamas announced that militants had agreed to a cease-fire. Whether the cease-fire will hold remains to be seen. These unfortunate events come less than a week after Richard Goldstone wrote a revealing article in the Washington…
Read MorePOST-MUBARAK EGYPT AND TORAH
The king is dead, long live… Who? Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, who held the presidency for thirty years, has stepped down. The army has taken command, at least temporarily. Egyptians find themselves free. Well, that’s the theory. The reality is anyone’s guess. Omar Suleiman, Mubarak’s former security chief and vice president, expressed doubt that the revolution…
Read MoreTHE TRUE BLASPHEMERS
A friend disagreed with my post of 12-3-10, “Snow Globes and Islam’s Civil War.” I wrote that Islamists hate us not because of what we do—although American foreign policy has often been misguided and not infrequently brutal—but because of who we are. (I expressed extremely rare agreement with former President George W. Bush.) The January…
Read MoreTHE EMPEROR’S NEW OLD CLOTHES
The emperor is naked. Again. Now what? In Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale, “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” two weavers offer the emperor a new suit from cloth so delicate those who are stupid or foolish cannot see it. The Emperor accepts and wears his new clothes in a parade. Everyone praises his beautiful outfit. Only a…
Read MoreNETANYAHU REJECTS THE RABBIS
An overabundance of hatred burdens our world. Witness everything from the ranting of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran’s intention to stone yet another woman for adultery to Oklahoma’s attempt to constitutionally ban Muslim Shariah law, which plays no role in the state’s legal processes. But some people get it right. Take the response of…
Read MoreSNOW GLOBES AND ISLAM’S CIVIL WAR
Know those cute little snow globes—souvenirs of cities in northern climes? Don’t think about carrying one onto a plane. A few weeks ago, I saw a no-snow-globes sign in the New Orleans airport. New Orleans! But I don’t downplay the Islamist threat. Bombs hidden in shoes or underwear or vehicles where crowds gather pose real…
Read MoreSTUMBLING BLOCKS AND THE MEDIA
All the world’s a stage, Jaques comments in Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Shakespeare, however, could not anticipate how literally that statement would be taken centuries later following the establishment of the United Nations. World leaders love to strut upon that particular stage—none more than Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Given yet another 15 minutes of…
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