(AP) – The 21-year-old college student in Baghdad lost her father during the Iraq War to gunmen from a rival Muslim sect. Now she dreams of an Iraq where all people can “enjoy stable life and security.” The young bus
Plenty of documentary filmmakers would love to grill Vice President Dick Cheney on his political career. R.J. Cutler, best known for producing The War Room and directing The September Issue, got the chance after convincing the reticent politician to speak
Mark Kelly’s campaign against “assault weapons” such as the AR-15 rifle has sparked a local backlash. On March 13, a Tucson, Arizona radio host published a photograph of former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords holding an AR-15 rifle at a gun range. Giffords has since
(AP) – A string of explosions tore through central Baghdad within minutes of each other on Thursday, followed by a coordinated assault by gunmen who raided a government building and battled security forces in the streets. The attack left at
MSNBC host Chris Matthews said if former Vice President Dick Cheney was water-boarded he would admit that we went to war in Iraq under false weapons of mass destruction claims…
With Washington facing the risk of more Al Qaeda splinter groups pouring into Syria from Iraq, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is increasing “support to elite Iraqi antiterrorism groups.” The goal is to shut down Iraqi-based groups who have “strong ties”
Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) says the “appalling” waste of U.S. reconstruction funding in Iraq demonstrates the need for a “top-to-bottom” review of the State Department and the decision-making process for dispersing aid. According to Corker: The extent of waste and
What if political strategy and tactics are far less important than the current debate about Republican fortunes implies? What if political outcomes are determined by particular media events–and reactions to them? I’ve been kicking around a little theory I’ll call
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is dead, according to Vice President Nicolas Maduro. Chavez had been battling cancer for the last two years. The Venezuelan president had close ties with Cuba’s Castro family, making numerous treks to the island country for cancer surgeries
Vice Presiden Joe Biden told AIPAC Monday that while the administration wants a diplomatic solution to a nuclear free Iran, the President “isn’t bluffing” and will use military force to keep Iran nuke free. Transcript: “We’re also mindful that pursuing
I’ll be speaking on a panel at CPAC 2013 about “Benghazi and Its Aftermath: U.S. Middle East and Southwest Asia Policy.” My focus will be the great strategic mistake of June 2009, when we could have sealed victory the War
Jihadist fighters of Al-Nusra Front have seized control of a checkpoint on northeast Syria’s border with Iraq, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday. The rebels overran the post at Yaarubiyeh in oil-rich Hassakeh province on Thursday after
Presidential leadership is a prominent theme at this year’s Oscars–and a lacking theme in American politics today. Three contenders for the Oscar provide an alternative: Lincoln, Argo, Zero Dark Thirty (Obama). Each was written with a view to current (Democratic) politics. Tony
In an interview with the Georgetown Public Policy Review in 2011, former Sen. Chuck Hagel indicated that he opposed President Barack Obama’s policy in Libya, arguing that “Libya was a mistake” and that President Obama been wrong to declare that
It’s rather rich being lectured on journalistic accuracy and the use of anonymous sources by a magazine whose impassioned, almost polemical reporting on the Iraq War was often based on anonymous sources–and one, moreover, that recently fired a writer for
In a speech to the Cato Institute in July 2007, then-Sen. Chuck Hagel claimed that relations with North Korea were “moving in a positive” direction because of multilateral talks with the regime of Kim Jong-Il, rather than the path of confrontation the
My favorite is James Madison, though most of the “experts” put Washington and Lincoln at the top. Where does Obama rank? Most of those same “experts” put him somewhere in the second quartile, i.e. not the best but better than
In reviewing dozens of speeches delivered by former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) over the past several years, one common theme emerges: he has very little interest in defense policy, and a great deal of interest in international diplomacy. Indeed, Hagel
Something strange is going on. Federal non-military agencies have bought two billion rounds of ammunition in the last 10 months. The Obama Administration says that federal law enforcement agents need the ammunition for “mandatory quarterly firearms qualifications and other training
(AP) Al-Qaida in Iraq claims deadly Baghdad attackBAGHDADAl-Qaida’s local franchise in Iraq has claimed responsibility for car bombings that killed at least 37 people in mostly Shiite areas of Baghdad. The U.S. SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant forums, says
Sen. John Barrasso said on CNN’s “State Sunday on Chuck Hagel “wrong about Iran, wrong about Israel, wrong in Iraq, wrong with nuclear weapons.”
(Reuters) – The U.S. general nominated to oversee a vast region that includes Afghanistan on Thursday backed keeping Afghan forces at a peak strength of 352,000, contrary to current plans to shrink them after NATO declares the war over next
(AP) – Syrian rebels captured most of an oil field in the energy-rich northeast on Thursday, the latest in a string of strategic conquests this week that also included a dam and the defenses around a major airport. The opposition
(AFP) – The Iranian dissident group MEK on Wednesday accused Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of ordering a deadly attack on its camp in Iraq and said the Iraqi government facilitated the assault. The People’s Mujahedeen of Iran (MEK)
Esquire magazine lied about a Navy Seal who helped kill Osama Bin Laden being ineligible for health benefits from the Veteran’s Administration–and they won’t fess up. In a story written by Phil Bronstein, who runs the so-called Center for Investigative
