Ahmadinejad
The American Voices of the Islamist Regime in Iran
Two former U.S. officials make the case for accommodation
Two follies have long haunted American policy on Iran. Some critics and foes of the Islamic regime in Tehran have preferred “no negotiation with the regime” as the proper American policy. They have argued that even talking to the regime confers upon it a legitimacy that it does not possess and does not deserve to possess. The regime, this camp claims, is on the verge of collapse, and negotiating with it would only prolong its moribund life. READ MORE >>
Dictators in Turmoil
Having failed (and failed abysmally) to curb Iran’s nuclear vault, what’s called the “international community”—a very silly phrase, isn’t it?—is attempting to focus an accusatory spotlight on Israel’s long-held (but ritualistically shrugged off) capacity to make atomic war. The truth is that an Israel without nukes is an axiomatic target for wave combat in which hordes of soldiers, terrorists, and civilians would be deployed almost haphazardly literally to overwhelm the Jewish state. READ MORE >>
When Will He Ever Learn
I don’t know whether I should have ended the headline above with a question mark or an exclamation point. The first of my options would suggest that the president might actually learn from his palpable mistakes. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. But, to tell you the truth, I felt that would be playing with my readers. My alternative would hint—more than hint, I suppose—at my utter exasperation with Obama’s foreign policy. I don’t really want to go there. Still, are you not really exasperated with him and with it? Or are you one of those who care only about domestic affairs? READ MORE >>
If You Want To Sanction Iran You'll Have To Sanction Venezuela. Fat Chance! But There's More To The Peril, Much More
Robert Morgenthau, the sage district attorney of New York County since 1975 who at age 90 is leaving office this winter, knows a good deal about banks. After all, he was the one who in the early nineties prosecuted the B.C.C.I. scandal, a model of the international misuse of banks. In a sense, he grew up with banks, his father having been secretary of the treasury under Franklin Roosevelt and his immigrant ancestors having been among the aristocracy of German Jewish bankers in 19th century New York. READ MORE >>
Narrative Dissonance
"I mean, in a way, Obama's standing above the country, above--above the world, he's sort of God." These drug-addicted words come from Evan Thomas, a longtime editor at Newsweek. He uttered them on Chris Matthews's MSNBC show. Such words would wreak havoc on any person's ego, even Barack Obama's. It also would enrage his enemies. After all, the president has told us that he is a mere student of history, and that he is. READ MORE >>
