France’s ban on full veils is official today. Anyone who wears the Muslim niqab or burka will be fined $216. Already at least 59 people have been arrested. France’s 5 million strong Muslim minority is pledging civil disobedience. The problem
No, apparently its not those 72 virgins they are promised. Dreaming about….what?! According to a secret report just released under Canada’s equivalent of the Freedom of Information Act titled “The Role of Dreams In the Justification of Jihad,” the Canadian
The Obama Administration pushed hard to make sure that unemployment compensation was extended a few months back. But thus far they have resisted attempts to make sure that our soldiers get paid in the event of a government shutdown. As
With the government shutdown looming, President Obama risks becoming the first Commander in Chief to put soldiers in combat and….not pay them. From Foreign Policy: One consequence of a government shutdown — which will occur on April 8 unless Congress
How bad is America’s standing among our “friends” in the Middle East? Defense Secretary Robert Gates is in Saudi Arabia and the Obama Administration is just happy to just get a meeting with Saudi King Abdullah. Things have apparently improved
Former President Jimmy Carter recently paid a visit to Cuba where he was treated more as a friend than as a former head of state. The Cuban government has now released a translation of his appearance on Cuban television. His
Remarkable. That’s the only word for this story. His buddies have now nick-named him “Headshot.” From the Marine Corps Times: “Manning the top of a compound south of Sangin, Afghanistan, Sgt. Paul Boothroyd III took a sniper round to the
Former Soviet dictator Mikhail Gorbachev celebrated his 80th birthday with a bash in London on Wednesday. And celebrities were out in force to glorify the life of a dictator. Tickets went as high as $160,000. Talk about surreal: the co-hosts
Former Soviet dictator Mikhail Gorbachev celebrated his 80th birthday with a bash in London on Wednesday. And celebrities were out in force to glorify the life of a dictator. Tickets went as high as $160,000. Talk about surreal: the co-hosts
Why on earth would the United States arm the Libyan opposition if it includes members of Al Qaeda? Part of the reason is because President Obama and his aides have a myopic view of what causes terrorism. Most of us
The Left often accused President George W. Bush of running an “imperial presidency.” But the label fits Barack Obama much better. When George W. Bush took US forces into Iraq, he received congressional approval. But Barack Obama? He’s engaged in
This was not a new speech. It was an old Obama speech with some of the words changed. It had elements of his Egypt speech in 2009, as well as his “race speech” after Jeremiah Wright was introduced to the
President Barack Obama is likely to speak tonight about how the humanitarian crisis in Libya compelled him to commit American resources to stop Gaddafi. (Never mind that there are humanitarian crises all over the Middle East right now.) He’s also
The French Presidential elections are about one year away, but there is plenty of news that has the European political establishment quaking. President Sarkozy is running for reelection and he faces opposition from Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry. But leading
Two distinct crises in different parts of the world. A natural disaster in Japan that has claimed more than 10,000 and rocked an entire country. And a brewing civil war in Libya that is calling into question the reliability and
The allied governments don’t seem to have a common view on what the objectives in Libya might be, and the strategy seems to be one of supporting anti-Gaddafi forces in their plodding war with Tripoli. Does it matter that this
The lack of clear objectives in Libya also means that there is no clear exit strategy. Great Britain’s Armed Forces Minister, Nick Harvey, conveyed that reality when he was asked how long Britain would be involved in Libya. “How long
As we continue to stumble, mumble, and bumble into war with Libya, there are huge questions about what our objectives are and should be. And those questions have divided the alliance of countries who are engaging in actions against Gaddafi.
The horrific photos of US soldiers posing with dead Afghan civilians should be rightfully condemned. That is not the sort of battlefield conduct we should condone by America’s finest. But what about the larger questions? What are the larger questions?
General Alexander Postnikov, who is commander of the Russian ground forces, announced in Pravda that Russia weapons are inferior to both US weapons and those made by China. “The combat vehicle arsenal, artillery systems and small arms produced by the
Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff just went on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and declared that the international coalition could achieve it’s goals in Libya and Gaddafi could stay in power in the end. “That’s
As my friend Marc Thiessen points out in the Washington Post, Gaddafi actually won a big victory in recent days. Two weeks ago Obama announced that Gaddafi had to go. But in his speech on Friday authorizing military action, Obama
The Europeans are flying air sorties and the US is firing missiles at Libyan forces. There has been a long drawn out debate about the merits of airpower. Airpower advocates believe that used properly and by itself, airpower alone can
UPDATE: News reports indicate that Libyan forces continue to shell the rebels. Now that the international community has decided to get tough with Gaddafi, suddenly the Crazy Colonel has announced a cease-fire. Military operations are said to have stopped. “[Libya]
In an interview with Euronews, son Saif Gaddafi said: “Sarkozy must first give back the money he took from Libya to finance his electoral campaign. We funded it and we have all the details and are ready to reveal everything.
In an emotional exchange at a congressional hearing with Congressman Walter Jones (R-NC), General David Petraeus was challenged to “be honest” about when US troops will come home from Afghanistan. “You know, 15, 16, 17 years, for God sakes, how
Now that the west has refused to take any military action to help the rebels fighting Gaddafi, the Crazy Colonel has been emboldened. “Strike Libya?” he said in a speech yesterday. “We’ll be the ones who strikes you! We struck
Japan is still trying to figure out the extent of the massive human toll of the tragedy that has befallen that country. The toll will reach biblical proportions. But in a few weeks they will need to begin charting plans
The Left, as ever, seems more interested in scoring political points and using a crisis to serve their agenda than actually helping people. The crisis in Japan continues to unfold but already there have been declarations that we are witnessing
UPDATE: 11 hours after this story was posted, The People’s Daily has posted a story about plane that is bringing relief supplies from China to Japan. Let’s hope there will be plenty more. The catastrophe that has befallen Japan is
The USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier is running helo relief operations into earthquake devastated Japan. And our Marines? Marine forces in Japan are delivering food, water and other supplies to assist in disaster-relief efforts following the massive earthquake and tsunami
Seventy years ago at the end of March 1941, the German Afrika Korps attacked British forces around El Agheila, which is now occupied by the Libyan rebels. The Germans would fight the British and Americans fiercely in the desert before
Nicely done! “President Shimon Peres on Thursday made unusual comments on Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi during a meeting with students in the Bayit VeGan boarding house in Jerusalem. Peres said that in his opinion Gaddafi should work for the Dior
I’m generally pessimistic about the Middle East—and the region never disappoints. I imagine that the situation there will get worse before it gets better. And the stakes will only get bigger for the west as time moves on. As Praveen
The New York Times offers two blasts against Congressman Peter King today for his scheduled hearings on radical Islam. The consistently ridiculous Bob Herbert accuses King of harboring “a fierce unhappiness with the Muslim community in the United States.” And
Jeff Abramson, deputy director of the Arms Control Association, recently told Fortune Magazine: “There’s an Obama arms bazaar going on.” And it’s no exaggeration. Obama has personally pushed for large weapons sales such as the $4 billion aircraft deal with
Congressmen Jack Kingston, R-GA, makes a good point. As he recently told Defense Secretary Robert Gates at a hearing, when you are 18: “You can buy a house. You can go to jail. You can get married. You can go
As the Middle East is flush with dramatic change, the assumption of many is that this might bring us the era of democracy is the region. But the most powerful political and cultural force in the region is Islam. Is
As the Chinese government has become more assertive in economic affairs, it is continuing to expand it’s military base. The Chinese government has announced that they are increasing defense spending by 12.7% this year. These “official statistics” are assumed by