Diana West - Page 2

Eight years and three months ago, I wrote a column inspired by the furor over statements by General William Boykin attesting to the religious dimension of the so-called war on terror. The thought that there might be a religious dimension

Military censorship only goes so far. Now we know, contrary to official reports, at least two US Marines were hit by the bomb driven into the Kajaki Sofla bazaar by a suicide bomber on a motorcycle on January 18, 2012.

Beastweek decided to take a swipe at Geert Wilders this month — no particular reason, just because he’s still there. It’s a singularly empty piece, a selection of complaints by Christopher Dickey rattling around, anchored by an almost comically validating

When anti-abortion advocate Austin Ruse explained to his audience that because his sturdiest allies at the United Nations were Muslims countries, his international anti-abortion coalition could not also be an international religious freedom coalition, my dhimmitude-meter kicked on — dhimmitude

Having declared its policy of censoring information about Afghan-on-Western attacks inside the wire — an outrage! — ISAF now seems to be censoring information about every other kind of troop casualty, too. From the AP today: KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) —

Eight charged; seven cleared; one, please, let’s hope, to go. Finally, the last “Haditha” trial is in progress, and, thanks to Nat Helms at Defend Our Marines, everything you need or want to know about the proceedings, the witnesses, the

The Secretary of State wears clothes, all right, but is she really ready to deal? — The Wall Street Journal reports: JANI KHEL, Afghanistan–In the American war against the Taliban, on whose side are the Afghan police? For many U.S.

Somehow, the face of American-born Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Daood Sayed Gilani, aka David Coleman Headley, comes as news to me. Don’t know how I missed it, but it seems that news stories detailing his poisonous international career as a star facilitator

The New York Times sees — but knows not what it sees. KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan soldier turned his gun on American military personnel while they were playing volleyball at a camp in southern Afghanistan, killing one and wounding

I am deeply saddened and shocked to learn that Tony Blankley has died. Tony, by virture of his quite remarkable career and background spanning Hollywood and Washington, California and the East Coast, the US and Great Britain, was himself a

Heard an interesting talk this week by Austin Ruse, who, heading up a Catholic NGO at the United Nations, is on a professional and vocational quest to prevent the UN, in its various documents and legal instruments, both non-binding and

If I were a psychiatrist, I could find the perfect label for the depths of denial or heights of delusion that manifest themselves in Frederick and Kimberly Kagan’s latest declarations on Iraq published in the Washington Post as “opinion.” “Fantasy”

The gutted offices of Charlie Hebdo, Paris. Under Islamic law — not Islamist law — Molotov Cocktails replace letters to the editor. The Daily Mail reports: “Offices of French magazine torched after latest edition mocked Prophet [sic] Mohammed” First, notice

During a semi-bi-annual clean-up of my study, I came across an undated scrap of Washington Post on which Brookings’ Robert Kagan briefly but thoroughly excoriated George Will for advocating US withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan. It apparently dates back back

Deputy District Gov. Mohammad Akbar Khan (left) sits with Navy Lt. Asif Balbale (center) and Lt. Cmdr. David Todd in the district governor’s compound in Sangin, Afghanistan, Sept. 3. —- Asif Balbale is a Muslim Navy chaplain and imam. He

France’s Sarkosy may find it perfectly swell that an “al Qaeda asset,” Adbelhakim Belhadj, is commander of rebel forces in Tripoli, a story gradually seeping into MSM consciousness. According to the Asia Times’ Pepe Escobar, however, Belhadj, founder and “emir”

Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the man who twice upheld death sentences in the Bulgarian nurses show trial and is poised to lead post-Qaddafi Libya. But don’t worry: The State Department says he’s a refomer. — While making a correction in my

Italian minister Roberto Calderoli shows off a Mohammed cartoon on a T-shirt on Italian TV in 2006. In response, thousands took to the streets in Benghazi, ten people died in the ensuing violence directed at the Italiian embassy, Calderoli resigned,

With non-Constitutionally-US-supported anti-Qadaffi forces taking Tripoli today, it looks as if — to be as delicate as a NATO commander — the “flickers” of Al Qaeda and Hezbollah have won. In franker words, America’s jihadist allies, a significant presence among

Gen. David Petraeus, June 23, 2011, in confirmation hearings before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee — In an April 2011 column, I argued that both Barack Obama and the COINdinista Right had good (for them) reasons to perpetuate wars in

Al-Awlaki: The CIA thinks studying his case is not “current” or “comprehensive” enough — Last week, the CIA didn’t hold a scheduled, three-day conference on “homegrown radicalization.” This was due in some significant part, I am hearing, to pressure from

This week, a three-day conference hosted by the CIA on “homegrown radicalization” was supposed to have taken place at CIA headquarters. It did not. The conference was abruptly canceled — or, softening the blow, “postponed.” Question: Did pressure from what

Birmingham, England — I’ve been keeping watch on the fiery vortex of British rioting at View from the Right, where Lawrence Auster is tracking events with a close and critical eye on the reportorial blind spot on race that has

Times of London photo: Admiral William McRaven on Nanawate Day, 2010 — From the St Pete Times: Just days after 30 U.S. troops, including 22 Navy SEALs, died when their helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan, Adm. William McRaven took

Birmingham, England — I’ve been keeping watch on the fiery vortex of British rioting at View from the Right, where Lawrence Auster is tracking events with a close and critical eye on the reportorial blind spot on race that has

The Afghanistan blame game begins with Time magazine putting it out there, albeit gently: The influx of troops, requested by General Stanley McChrystal, approved by President Barack Obama and overseen by General David Petraeus, brought stability to some areas in

Marine BG John Toolan: More stuff for Afghans … or else. — At the very end of this story lies the money quote on the thunking bankruptcy, military and political, of the American strategy in Afghanistan. It is the bankruptcy

The International Islamic News Agency (never heard of it before; get used to it a la “Gallup Abu Dhabi”) reported on August 1, which, as the dateline notes, is also Ramadan 1 (or vice versa): JEDDAH, Ramadan 1/Aug 1 (IINA)-During

Photo: Sgt. Derrick Miller, 27, of Hagerstown, MD, who was convicted this past week of the premeditated murder of an Afghan man in 2010. The husband and father of two was assigned to a Connecticut National Guard unit and attached

On the frontpage of the New York Times today, there is a big story about sharia (Islamic law) — no, I don’t mean the below-the-fold story about the teen-aged couple in Afghanistan recently yanked from their car by a group

This week’s syndicated column is about the shameful spinning of the Norway Massacre. But I would like to post a more personal comment. As I noted in the column, my name is mentioned nine times in admitted killer Anders Breivik’s

9th/12th Royal Lancers, Leicester, 2009 — RTT News reports: A NATO soldier, shot dead while on patrol in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, has been identified as British. “An individual wearing an Afghan National Army uniform turned his weapon against International

I went to the ISAF website this a.m. to see if there was any further information on yet another NATO soldier’s murder at the hands of yet another Afghan army member, this one not to be confused with last Saturday’s

Eureka! COIN has “borne fruit” in Afghanistan! Who cares what it means. So says Petraeus Maximus in yet another exit interview, this one with American Forces Press Services and posted at the Pentagon website: During his last full week commanding

Gen David Petraeus: “No country has suffered more from Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida than Afghanistan.” That comment from a June interview with Military Times stopped me cold. Partly, it was the pat sweep of the superlative. But it was

In his slim book on Churchill, Paul Johnson unearthed a highly instructive quotation to highlight the foundation of some of Churchill’s greatest strengths as a wartime leader: He didn’t worship, defer to, and otherwise treat military men as the Oracle