Did You Hear the One About the Nuclear Ban in the Middle East?
With a month long conference in New York concerning the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a big story lately has been the provision in the treaty calling for a nuclear free Middle East. The thought is a good one, but with Iran allegedly working towards nuclear bombs and the assumed nuclear arsenal of Israel, the likelihood of … Read more
Another Lebanese Dilemma?
Lebanon is a country full of contradictions and odd juxtapositions. It has a western-influenced government and a military financially supported by the US while Hezbollah – a group that the US considers a terrorist organization – is an active member of the government. The constitutionalized sectarianism in Beirut forces controversy and conflicts of interest. Once … Read more
Why Success Is Not Important
In today’s Asharq Alawsat, Hada Al Husseini wrote an op-ed declaring that the next 3 months are paramount to the US Middle Eastern policy. In a certain light, Husseini is correct; the next three months are very important for the US. On the other hand, the three months following will be just as important. Besides … Read more
Why Iran Should get “the bomb”
In the New York Times, yet another op-ed was written discussing Iran and Nuclear weapons. However, this article approached it from a distinct perspective; that is, the benifits of Iran obtaining “the bomb”. The author, a defense analyst at the Air Force Research Institute, offers an interesting perspective. Here are the five reasons he gives; … Read more
The Return of Deterrence to Washington
I have talked a lot about the possibility of war between Israel and Lebanon and have concluded that such an outcome is unlikely and war would only arrive if Netanyahu or Nasrallah made a major strategic error. If Hezbollah is viewed as the aggressor in such a conflict, it will lose some serious credibility in … Read more
Ignorance and Antagonism
Sadly, not a day goes by where calls for an attack on Iran are not heard. From the pages of the New York Times to Foreign Affairs to Newsweek credible and scholarly men and women continue to call for sanctions and/or military options to be considered and enhanced. This is a dangerous and ignorant assertion. … Read more
In historic about-face, a president decides to hold off on crazy
A couple of weeks ago, I posted about how a restless Congress was on the verge of passing HR 2194, the bill expanding the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act. With the January 1st deadline looming up ahead, President Obama was at risk of either looking like a liberal pansy unable to follow through on his … Read more
What to Read on Iran
A lot has been written on the unrest in Iran since the disputed elections six months ago and a lot more has happened in the last few days. There have been massive anti-government protests and pro-government demonstrations; opposition members have been arrested and government officials are calling for harsh punishments for protestors or at least … Read more
The Importance of Being Turkey
A couple of days after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed the year’s end deadline imposed by the West to accept a nuclear deal, the Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that Turkey would be an acceptable place for an exchange of enriched uranium for nuclear fuel. The original plan had Iran sending enriched uranium to France … Read more
A Green Revolution, Part 2 – Insanity
Immediately after posting about Iran, I read an amazing op-ed in the New York Times that very explicitly calls for American, not Israeli, military action against Iran: The final question is, who should launch the air strikes? Israel has shown an eagerness to do so if Iran does not stop enriching uranium, and some hawks … Read more
