Waging war is more often a sign of weakness, not strength, on the part of our leaders.
It’s When He Most Tries to Appear Strong That Obama Is at His Weakest
read more
President Barack Obama
An Off-Ramp From Our Iran Policy Could Take Us on the Scenic Route to Peace
Nowhere is it written in stone that U.S. policy on Iran must continue to suffer from a failure of imagination.
War Talk, Peace Talk
It is difficult to avoid bumping into Jeffrey Goldberg these days. The Atlantic commentator’s prediction that there is a good chance Israel will strike Iran by next July to destroy its alleged nuclear weapons program has got everyone talking, and writing, and then talking some more.
Statement of Phyllis Bennis in advance of President Obama’s speech detailing ‘the end of the war in Iraq’
The U.S. occupation of Iraq continues on a somewhat smaller scale, with 50,000 troops. These are combat troops, “re-missioned” by the Pentagon with new tasks, but even Secretary of Defense Gates admits they will have continuing combat capability and will continue counter-terrorism operations. The 4500 Special Forces among them will continue their “capture or kill” raids while building up the Iraqi Special Operations Forces as an El Salvador-style death squad.
Top U.S. Leadership Endorses Unified Security Budget
In 2010 for the first time, the Secretaries of Defense and State and the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have all expressed support for a unified national security budget (USB). This endorses the recommendations of the Task Force on a Unified Security Budget, which releases its yearly report (link) today.
Picture Obama Authorizing a Nuclear Attack
When it comes to who to retaliate against and how, a nuclear-terror attack presents an almost insoluble dilemma.
Leave Afghanistan and Declare bin Laden Dead in One Fell Swoop
What if we not only left Afghanistan but declared bin Laden dead? (The burden would be on jihadis to prove he’s alive.)
Foreign Policy: C-
In his first year in office, Barack Obama gave several exceptional speeches on foreign policy. In Prague, he endorsed nuclear disarmament. In Cairo, he called for a new engagement with the Islamic world. In Oslo, he repudiated torture. At these moments, the new president firmly broke with the policies of his predecessor and provided a glimpse of what a new, cooperative, just U.S. foreign policy could be.
Yemen: Deja Vu All Over Again
Barack Obama is not the first U.S. president to find Yemen a challenge. And the current $70 million package of military and security assistance is not the first $70 million US aid program to Yemen.