Barack Obama's handling of the Syrian crisis grows more troubling by the day. The president, who recently declared that action in Syria was vital to U.S. security, has now made any such action nearly impossible. And Obama may have set himself up for a clash at the United Nations similar to what happened to President Bush before the war in Iraq.
Gay Americans are jubilant over the Supreme Court's recent decisions on gay marriage. But just as LGBT Americans are gaining rights, gay Russians are losing theirs. This crackdown on homosexuals is another step in Vladimir Putin's campaign to destroy Russian democracy, and America cannot sit idly by.
Wednesday’s IAEA report offered more proof than ever that Iran is racing toward a nuclear weapon. Even President Obama acknowledges this fact. Yet Obama has refused to endorse the tough approach advocated by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. The reason is simple: Israel faces an existential threat of an Iranian nuclear attack, while the United States does not.
The New York Times is at it again, using its “news” section to attack Israel ahead of President Obama’s visit. In Sunday’s front-page article, the Gray Lady claims that Israel has destroyed the peace process by building apartments in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians hope will be the capital of their state.
As the Syrian crisis rages on, all eyes remain fixed on Russia. Vladimir Putin’s autocracy has prevented any meaningful action at the United Nations, and continues to help President Assad murder his own people. In fact, Assad may have fallen already had it not been for Russia’s support.
In December 2011, President Obama withdrew all U.S. troops from Iraq after failing to negotiate a new Status of Forces Agreement with the fledgling democracy. Many military advisers, government officials, and Iraqi leaders opposed Obama’s decision, fearing it would diminish America’s influence in Iraq, destabilize the country, and damage America’s interests in the region. In the past year, many of these fears have come to fruition.
President Obama’s nomination of Chuck Hagel was meant to send a message, and it has: That President Obama is not serious about stopping Iran’s nuclear weapons program, and that Tehran has an anti-Israel ally in the president’s war cabinet.
For the past week, Americans have been glued to coverage of the tragic school shooting in Connecticut. They are understandably outraged by the senseless massacre, and are demanding their government do something about it.
During the 2008 campaign, President Obama promised he would close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility within a year of his inauguration. Four years later, Guantanamo remains open and will remain open for the foreseeable future. President Obama blames Congress for this failure and says he has reformed the military detention system and bolstered America’s image throughout the world.
Joseph Stalin once famously said that a single death is a tragedy, but a million deaths is a statistic. He was right. We know that Stalin murdered tens of millions of people, but we can’t really conceive what that means. We can’t picture the individual suffering. We just hear the statistic.
Earlier this month we learned that U.S. oil imports from Saudi Arabia increased significantly this year. The conventional wisdom is that the United States must unconditionally support the Saudi monarchy in order to keep the spigot running. The conventional wisdom is wrong. In fact, pushing Riyadh to reform is the only way to preserve our access to Saudi oil.
One lesson from the Arab Spring is clear. When a dictator flees to a “coastal region” or “tribal stronghold,” the end is near. So amidst reports that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has fled Damascus, it’s likely his days are numbered.
On Monday, U.N. envoy Kofi Annan told the world he and President Bashar al-Assad had “agreed” on an approach to end the bloodshed in Syria. According to Annan, the two men concurred on the “need to end the violence” and discussed possible approaches for doing so. But what Annan was really telling the world was that he, and the United Nations, no longer has any credibility when it comes to Syria.
President Obama said on Friday it was “wrong” and “offensive” to suggest that White House staffers purposefully released classified national security information. Yet The New York Times recently published firsthand reports of President Obama’s approval of the Stuxnet cyber-attack on Iran.
During his recent speech in Kabul, President Obama sought to close the door on Afghanistan as an election-year issue. He congratulated the troops, hailed the progress that’s been made due to his leadership, and reiterated his promise to withdraw most troops by 2014. As the president got on Air Force One, the message was clear: You won’t be hearing much else from me on Afghanistan (except, perhaps, to tout the death of Osama bin Laden).
Iran is more determined than ever to produce a nuclear weapon. But sanctions and other Western efforts are having an impact, and Tehran now claims it wants to negotiate. The U.S. and Europe should expose this stalling tactic for the sham that it is. And the West’s policy on Burma provides the perfect paradigm for doing so.
One of the most frivolous and disgusting lawsuits in recent memory was heard before a federal court in San Diego this week. PETA, a group that is supposed to stand for “ethical treatment,” filed a lawsuit claiming that SeaWorld had violated the 13th Amendment rights of orcas in its theme park. This is not a story from The Onion. It is a sad but true story that demonstrates PETA’s depravity, as well as the tremendous waste and inefficiency in our legal system.
Vladimir Putin, once viewed as an adept politician, is stunningly out of touch. His close confidants are fleeing in droves, revealing the systemic corruption in his government. His poll numbers are dropping, raising the possibility that he may not win on the first vote in the upcoming (and rigged) presidential elections. And on Saturday, a record number of Russians defied freezing temperatures and threats of persecution to call for his removal.
Newt Gingrich’s fall in Iowa has been attributed to many factors, ranging from attack ads to poor organization. But Gingrich also made a critical mistake that most losing politicians do: his campaign was focused on the past. From his promise to be the “Reagan Republican” to his 21st Century Contract with America, Gingrich kept asking people to vote for a return to the past. But voters want the next great American leader. And that’s what a successful campaign and candidate must be.
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