The congressional debate over whether to support President Barack Obama’s call for military action against Syria will revolve around the issue of “U.S. credibility,” but here’s the sobering fact: U.S. credibility around the world has already taken a huge hit due to White House actions of recent weeks. Each day seems to add another wrinkle …
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The public run-up to all-but-certain U.S. military action in Syria in response to the al-Assad regime’s chemical weapons usage is undercutting the very message that President Obama feels compelled to deliver. For starters, Administration officials continue to say that the President still has not made a final decision on whether to respond forcefully – despite …
Continue reading “White House undercuts its professed steadfastness in very public ways”
Of all the challenges on his plate, U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey worries most about something nebulous – whether the United States can “maintain our swagger” on the world stage. “Even the Miami Heat,” Dempsey told Washington’s WTOP radio this week, referring to the two-time NBA champs, “if they don’t walk out there with …
Continue reading “America’s ‘Swagger’ Shrinks, World Suffers”
Oye. Didn’t I, as Israel’s prime minister, already have enough problems? Let’s see: Syria’s most radical rebels are gaining strength among the opposition to Bashar al-Assad, so they’ll be better positioned to turn their guns on us after they topple him. Meanwhile, the Golan Heights is growing more dangerous as al-Assad threatens to convert his …
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey’s acknowledgment this week that Iran “is a threat to U.S. national security in many ways,” and not just in its pursuit of nuclear weapons, is both welcome and timely. In highlighting Iran’s nuclear pursuit, U.S. policymakers and pundits have cast insufficient light on Tehran’s other activities in the …
President Obama’s counter-terrorism strategy, which he unveiled last week in a high-profile speech at the National Defense University, is less off-base than incomplete, reflecting his effort to limit the scope of the problem and the requirements of the response in ways that will prove inadequate to the challenge. In nearly 7,000 words, Obama expressed ambivalence …
In his 2010 book, The Strong Horse, Lee Smith counseled that, in the Middle East, what matters in shaping the loyalty of the masses is which “strong horse” – whether a person or a country – can impose its will on others. The title refers to the celebratory remark by Osama bin Laden after the …