Without Exit Visas from Israel, Gaza Students Miss Fulbright Opportunity
White House Released Climate Change Report
CIA Chief Says Al Qaeda is Nearly Defeated in Saudi Arabia and Iraq
US Urges UN to Search for Additional Nuclear Sites in Syria

Scott McClellan has gotten enough press for his new memoir of his service as Press Secretary for President George W. Bush.  I’m not going to bother dissecting all the issues he raises, but there is one that is particularly relevant.  Among his “revelations,” he contends now that the White House press corps dropped the ball [...]

Marines Accused of Proselytizing in Fallujah
Commentary: Islam and Nazism
UN Predicts Food Prices Will Remain High
Senior DHS Official Calls “War on Terror” Terminology Counter-Productive
Human Rights First Report Recommends Terror Trials in US Courts

Report Released by US Climate Change Science Program
CIA Foresees Power Struggle to In the Event of Replacing Bin Laden
Tehran Faces Off Against IAEA
Female Jihadists Find their Voice on the Internet

Mortality Rates in Russia Causing Alarm, Shrinking Working Population
Iraq Claims Al Qaeda is Forcing Iraqi Youths to Train for Suicide Bombing
Iraqis Losing Patience with Sadr Militia

It is an unfortunate fact that American elections nowadays bring out a special sort of incoherence in foreign policy discussions. The on-going debate over whether talking to Iran represents some sort of “appeasement” would be amusing if it did not have such high stakes attached to it.
Let’s begin with the basics. The United [...]

FBI counterterrorism division severely understaffed
Commander in Iraq Claims AQI Never Weaker
Audit Reports that Overal FBI Treatment of Detainees Not Harsh

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is a pro.  He is sharp, insightful, and decisive.  He has a vision for the U.S. Department of Defense and is not afraid to tackle difficult challenges–or threaten institutional golden-calves–to achieve it.
He is also a strategist, in the purest sense of that word.
In November of last year, Gates gave an [...]

FBI Reports of Abuse at Guantanamo Ignored by NSC
Tehran Moves to Block Access to Human Rights and Women’s Issues Websites
Gates Describes Serious Challenges to Closing Guantanamo
Special Operations Command Backs away from Wider Antiterrorism Role

Following the 9/11 attacks, there was a broad international consensus on the legitimacy of an American military response against al Qaeda and the Taliban government of Afghanistan that harbored the terrorist movement.   Lost in the shock of the attacks was an appreciation of how extraordinary this consensus was.  In practical terms, the international community was [...]