clifford d. may

  • May: A bloody day in London town

    May: A bloody day in London town

    The ideologies driving the carnage can’t be fought until they’re understood “The Kafir’s Blood Is Halal For You, So Shed it.” That’s just one of the catchier headlines in a recent issue of Rumiyah, a slick online magazine published by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL. A “kafir,” of course, is a…


  • May: Trump’s pivot to North Korea

    May: Trump’s pivot to North Korea

    It’s high time the United States deals with the most imminent nuclear threat America can do anything but America can’t do everything, at least not within a four-year time frame. That suggests that the American president – any American president – needs to prioritize. In 2011, President Obama decided that the Muslim world should no…


  • May: No rushing the peace process

    May: No rushing the peace process

    The Palestinian-Israel conflict cannot be resolved anytime soon JERICHO, WEST BANK – This palm-fringed oasis in the Jordan Valley has been continuously inhabited for 10,000 years. That justifies it billing itself as the “oldest city in the world.” Officers of the Palestinian National Security Force (NSF) headquartered here will proudly tell you that it’s now…


  • May: The West isn’t worse than the rest

    May: The West isn’t worse than the rest

    Americans and Europeans should stop apologizing to the world Intellectuals of the left and those influenced by them judge the United States and certain European nations as uniquely guilty of imperialism, colonialism, racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, Islamophobia – the list goes on. But is the West really different from the rest when it comes to…


  • May: The kingdom, the power and the petroleum

    May: The kingdom, the power and the petroleum

    Saudi Arabia’s plan to become a start-up nation RIYADH – Saudi Arabia is changing. When government officials here tell you that, you take it with an oversized grain of salt. But when Saudi human rights activists say the same, you pay attention. “Baby steps,” is how one bright young woman phrases it. She has studied…


  • May: Border disputes

    May: Border disputes

    A nation of immigrants has the right to decide who may enter, how many and when Al Qaeda does not value diversity and it’s not an equal opportunity employer. The same can be said of the Islamic State. And when the rulers of the Islamic Republic of Iran want to commit an act of terrorism…


  • May: Putting a price tag on the United Nations

    May: Putting a price tag on the United Nations

    American taxpayers may be paying out a lot more than it’s worth This may come as a shock: It’s possible, not likely but possible, that a committee of officials from the Defense, State and Justice Departments, as well as the National Security Council, will conduct a review of the disproportionate funding the United States provides…


  • May: Defending the civilized world

    May: Defending the civilized world

    Eradicating ‘radical Islamic terrorism’ will require a long war In an inaugural address that was more purposeful than poetic, President Trump last Friday vowed to “unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate from the face of the Earth.” I hope we can agree, across party and ideological lines, that those…


  • May: Defining violent extremism down

    May: Defining violent extremism down

    There are Iranian moderates; Rafsanjai was not among them Death, where is thy sting? For Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, it certainly didn’t come from the mainstream media. The 82-year-old former Iranian president died of a heart attack earlier this month. The New York Times called him an “influential voice against hard-liners” and “a main voice…


  • May: Lost in cyberspace

    May: Lost in cyberspace

    Cyberespionage is a concern, but cyberwarfare is far more serious Russia’s hacking of the Democratic National Committee was mischievous. Did it change the outcome of the 2016 elections? No evidence suggests that and the intelligence community isn’t claiming that. So those who are may be presumed to have an agenda: to establish the narrative that…


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