What lessons might we learn from the whole experience of the Iraq war?
Middle East & Israel
Netanyahu’s Victory: Good For Israel, Bad for Obama and Nuclear Iran
Once Iran has a nuclear weapon, it’s reasonable to assume that they might use it, on day one, a threat we never necessarily faced with the Soviets. The people of Israel have no choice but to pay attention to this fact.
Why Netanyahu and Israel Make So Many Uncomfortable
The real war in the Middle East is not military; it’s ideological.
A Bitter After-Taste in Iraq
You cannot create instant freedom like you are making instant coffee.
Another Galling Betrayal in Afghanistan and Iraq
We insisted on trying to create a “democracy” in the Middle East — a place with a history going back thousands of years, without a single democracy.
Why Obama and People Like Him Hate Israel
Associated Press reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat alongside President Barack Obama on Friday and declared that Israel would not withdraw to 1967 borders to help make way for an adjacent Palestinian state. Obama had called on Israel to be...
Jewish Settlements and Israeli Law
We are hearing a lot now about Israel's creation of "Jewish" settlements on "Palestinian land." These settlements are created, we are often told, to extend the "apartheid state" of Israel by squeezing out the local populations and establishing a superior Jewish ruling...
Israel vs. Hamas: Pretty Talk and Ugly Realities
No phrase represents more of a triumph of hope over experience than the phrase "Middle East peace process." A close second might be the once-fashionable notion that Israel should "trade land for peace." Since everybody seems to be criticizing Israel for its military...
America Should Not Abandon Israel — The Front Line of Civilization
I just returned from a speaking engagement at Tel Aviv University (see pictures here). My honorarium was four days of sight-seeing in Tel Aviv, Abu Gosh, Jerusalem, En Gedi and Masada, and a series of meetings with writers, policy analysts, academics and writers. I...
On “Staying the Course” in Iraq
The solution is actual victory in the wider war against Islamofascism. The solution is to bomb Iran–and not just its nuclear facilities–and to crush all the states that sponsor terrorism.
The War in Iraq: Worse Than Doing Nothing
On the anniversary of 9/11, we are reminded that the forces of Islamic totalitarianism continue to threaten our lives. What should we do to protect ourselves? Depressingly, today's prevailing answer is to urge some form of "diplomacy"--and rule out as inconceivable...
The Nightmare of Being a U.S. Combat Troop in Iraq Hamstrung By Washington’s Battlefield “Ethics”
Americans rightly admire our troops for their bravery, dedication and integrity. The Marines, for instance, are renowned for abiding by an honorable code--as warriors and as individuals in civilian life. They epitomize the rectitude of America's soldiers. But a...
What Bush Did Wrong in Iraq
The Iraq Study Group has issued many specific recommendations, but the options boil down to a maddeningly limited range: pull out or send more troops to do democracy-building and, either way, "engage" the hostile regimes in Iran and Syria. Missing from the list is the...
Washington’s Failed War in Afghanistan
America's campaign in Afghanistan was once widely hailed as a success in the "war on terror." We have nothing more to fear from Afghanistan, our policy makers told us, because the war had accomplished its two main goals: al Qaeda and its sponsoring regime, the...
Israel’s Government Deserves Moral Condemnation
The Government of Israel deserves moral condemnation for its overall response to Hezbollah. The primary purpose and moral obligation of any legitimate government is to protect the lives and rights of its own citizens. Hezbollah, a military wing of the Islamic...
Israel’s “Obligation” to the U.N.
Secretary of State Rice has stated that Israel has an "obligation" to respond to the U.N.'s demand for a cease-fire in Lebanon. Since when does any sovereign government have an obligation to reply or have anything at all to do with the U.N.? Keep in mind that Rice is...
Israel at War: Problems and Fallacies
Now that Hezbollah, Hamas, the Palestinian people (who elected Hamas), the people of southern Lebanon (who sit idly by as a group of armed thugs turn their country into a base of operations), Syria, and Iran have showed their hands and begun a shooting war with Israel...
Appeasing a Mortal Enemy: The U.S.-Israeli Suicide Pact
The Iran-Hamas-Hezbollah axis is fully responsible for initiating the war on Israel, but the Islamists' aggression is the logical product of U.S.-Israeli policy. The longstanding commitment of Israel and America to "diplomatic engagement" with Palestinians and...
Israel: No Longer a Paper Tiger?
The blame for the current fighting falls entirely on Israel's enemies, who deploy inhuman methods in the service of barbaric goals. While I wish the armed forces of Israel every success against the terrorists in Gaza and Lebanon and hope they inflict a maximum defeat...
Washington’s Failed War in Afghanistan
Unlike the seemingly endless war in Iraq, America's campaign in Afghanistan is widely considered a success in the "war on terror." We have nothing more to fear from Afghanistan, our policy makers tell us, because the war accomplished its two main goals: al Qaeda and...
How Israel Can Win
Since I argued in an earlier column that Israel can and must defeat the Palestinian Arabs, a barrage of responses have contested this thesis. Some were trivial (Ha'aretz published an article challenging my right to opine on such matters because I do not live in...
Israel’s Substitute for Victory: Managing Conflict Without Resolving It
As Israelis go to the polls, not one of the leading parties offers the option of winning the war against the Palestinian Arabs. It's a striking and dangerous lacuna. First, some background. Wars are won, the historical record shows, when one side feels compelled to...
Civil War in Iraq
The bombing on February 22 of the Askariya shrine in Samarra, Iraq, was a tragedy, but it was not an American or a coalition tragedy. The destruction of the Golden Dome, built in 1905 and one of the holiest shrines of Shiite Islam, represents an escalation of the...
U.S. Should Not “Stay The Course” In Iraq
In Iraq, we must crush the insurgency immediately–which includes choking its backers, Iran and Syria–and let the Iraqis themselves take on the responsibility of establishing a government that will not threaten America.