middle east
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May: The Qatar ultimatum
In the war against terrorism, some nations are with us, some are against us and some are both In the aftermath of the terrorist atrocities of Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush drew a line in the sand. “Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make,” he announced. “Either you are…
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May: The battles of Britain and Egypt
Jihadis aspire to ‘cleanse’ the Islamic world and force the West to submit The slaughter of 22 concert-goers in Manchester May 22 was followed four days later by the murder of 29 Christians traveling by bus to a monastery in the desert south of Cairo. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for both attacks. In an internet…
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May: Faithless
Religious freedom, the most basic liberty, is under attack in more and more lands “I believe that God has planted in every heart the desire to live in freedom.” So said President George W. Bush in 2004. Leave for another day the debate over whether such a belief is more hopeful than realistic. What we…
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May: The end of Turkey’s democratic experiment
Erdogan now has the power to make his country more authoritarian and more Islamist On the grounds of the Turkish Embassy facing Massachusetts Ave. in Washington, D.C. is a statue of Mustafa Kamal Ataturk, father of the Republic of Turkey, the nation-state he built from the rubble of the defeated Ottoman Empire and Islamic caliphate.…
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May: A mission accomplished in Syria
President Trump is re-establishing the power of deterrence If you’re still unsure about whether President Trump did the right thing when he launched 59 cruise missiles at Syria’s Shayrat airbase last week, consider the alternative. He knew that Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad had yet again used chemical weapons to murder Syrian civilians, women and children…
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May: What went wrong in Pakistan
How the first modern Islamic state became an Islamist dystopia Pakistan was meant to be a model, an example for other nations to emulate. It was founded after World War II, as the sun was setting on the British Empire and India was preparing for independence. India’s Muslims, though glad to see the end of…
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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…
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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…
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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…