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Al Jazeera reports that Abdel Fatah Younes, the top rebel military commander, has been killed: Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the chief of the NTC, blamed Younes’s killing on gunmen loyal to Gaddafi in a press conference late on Thursday night. He said Younes had been summoned from the front line to appear before a “panel of [...]
Filed under: foreign policy, politics
McCain’s comments (and the controversy they caused ) raise an intriguing question: Has McCain the straight-talking maverick been reborn? ~Chris Cillizza The answer to the question is no, but it’s not because there ever was a “straight-talking maverick” to be reborn. It isn’t even an intriguing question. The idea that McCain has ever been a [...]
Filed under: politics
Ron Paul has picked up a valuable local endorsement ahead of the Ames straw poll: Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has fresh bragging rights after picking up what is surely a coveted endorsement on Monday. Cory Adams – the Republican chairman of Story County in Iowa – endorsed the Texas congressman’s presidential bid at a [...]
Filed under: politics
Carne Ross describes the failure of international policy in Somalia: International policy to stabilise Somalia has been a total failure. Yet, the same policies persist. In 2000, the “international community” set up what it thought was a legitimate government in Somalia, in an attempt to create a political consensus where none existed. Today, the so-called [...]
Filed under: foreign policy, politics
Prof. Bacevich discusses the “cheap grace” and “false freedom” involved in public expressions of support for the military: To stand in solidarity with those on whom the burden of service and sacrifice falls is about as far as they will go. Expressions of solidarity affirm that the existing relationship between soldiers and society is consistent [...]
Tony Karon reviews the causes of the recent outbreak of violence in northern Kosovo, and considers the official reactions: The battle for the border posts occurred amid a politically inspired trade dispute between Kosovo and Serbia. Kosovar police tried on Monday to take over the crossings, which have been run since 2008 by an EU [...]
Filed under: foreign policy, politics
Third, the US cannot abdicate NATO leadership. This does not mean acting unilaterally, but neither can the US take a back seat. It is understandable that Americans would be frustrated that Europe does not pull more of the load. But an America that “leads from behind” is not leading at all. We must lead, and [...]
Filed under: foreign policy, politics
Citing the latest Gallup numbers, Christian Heinze concludes that Pawlenty has disappeared: It’s time to stop calling T-Paw a first tier candidate. We should have stopped calling him that several weeks ago. The more interesting question is whether Pawlenty is still a second-tier candidate. Alexis Levinson investigates what it was that led people to mistake [...]
Filed under: politics
It is understandable that the Israeli government wants to make its occupation and settlement policies seem reasonable and justified when they aren’t, but even by the standards of clumsy hasbara this video (via Joe Carter) is exceptional: The bit around the 3:00 minute 2:45 mark when Ayalon claims that the Balfour Declaration somehow entitles Israel [...]
Filed under: foreign policy, politics
This venture was a typically botched Wilsonian war from the start but to launch a gratuitous war and then lose it is about as pure a show of fecklessness as can be imagined. President Obama needs to finish the job. Fast. ~Walter Russell Mead The rebels now say that the offer for Gaddafi to remain [...]
Filed under: foreign policy, politics