Category Archives: War Commentary
Putin
“I’ll assume he’s alive until I see the corpse.” One other possibility is that there’s been a putsch, perhaps over the assassination, and he’s under arrest, but they haven’t figured out who’s in charge yet to make an announcement. But usually such things are resolved much more quickly.
Netanyahu
Why is he doing so poorly? As noted, it’s certainly domestic politics — the Israelis have been living with an existential threat since the nation was founded.
[Early afternoon update]
I wish you guys could read Hebrew.. The butthurt from slanted Israeli journalists tweeting is so strong, it's gorgeous. Aww poor babies.
Hmmmm, not sure why I can’t properly embed that tweet, but here it is. he thinks the debate didn’t go well for the opposition, but we’ll see.
The Bush Negotiations With Iran
How the Obama administration undercut them.
They undercut most Bush foreign policy, whether good or bad.
Iraq
Michael Totten says it’s time to put it out of its misery.
It’s been an artificial construct for a century.
[Update late afternoon, after returning from Mojave]
Michael emails to tell me that the article is no longer behind the paywall.
The Benghazi Documents
I’m sure you’ll be as shocked, shocked as I am to learn that there are huge temporal gaps in them. Because, you know, “most transparent administration in history.” Just like with the IRS.
Hey, it’s not like it’s eighteen minutes, like Nixon.
The Emails And The Clinton Foundation
It’s not two separate scandals, it’s one big hairy one. It makes perfect sense that if she was soliciting foreign funds while secretary of state, she’d not want to do it from a government email account. And those are likely among the ones she hasn’t turned over (among others).
Much of the Clinton criminality in the nineties was similarly intertwined.
[Update a while later]
Huma Abedin, Hillary’s unindicted email co-conspirator.
A Bad Iran Deal
Hey, I’m old enough to remember when the administration used to say that no deal was better than that.
To be honest, though, I don’t think they ever really believed it. They’ve always been desperate for a deal, and are getting more so as the clock ticks. And the Iranians know it. I’ve never seen a worse negotiator than Barack Obama.
Our Valley Forge
Sarah Hoyt says don’t get wobbly (but she uses a few more words than that).
Obama’s Iran Deal
Netanyahu shows that it’s lose-lose:
This was no partisan pitch – this was a heartfelt appeal against allowing Iran — a country that has vowed to annihilate Israel — to access nuclear weapons. The outrage is not that Mr. Netanyahu addressed Congress; the outrage is that President Obama is pushing for a deal that so alarms our allies, and that he went to such great lengths to prevent Americans from hearing the truth.
President Obama had turned Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before Congress into a sophomoric beauty contest, complete with plaintive whines about “fairness.” With his thin-skinned resistance to the Israeli leader’s appearance, Obama created an international ruckus, which only served to publicize Netanyahu’s address. Not agreeing to meet with the Prime Minister, sending various proxies out of the country on bogus missions (Biden’s exile to Uruguay postponed by the flu?), bad-mouthing the Israeli leader and his GOP hosts; the White House even “sternly” warned Netanyahu not to divulge details of the proposed nuclear deal. Whatever Mr. Obama’s intentions, the outcome surely could not have been what he had hoped.
That happens a lot with this clown.
[Update a few minutes later]
Dennis Ross tosses Obama under the bus.