The first-ever global meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) network of some 200 jurisdictions over the weekend in Paris, “to discuss actions…to combat the financing of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) …and to combat the … [Read more...] about The Salafis Daddy Warbucks – Saudi Arabia
Muslim Refugees
A Response to Bernard-Henri Lévy*
On November 16, 2015, French public intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy published a commentary in which he urges the West to acknowledge that it is at war and must call things by their right names. He subsequently argues that we must battle Islamic jihad … [Read more...] about A Response to Bernard-Henri Lévy*
Refugees, Terrorists and Morality
Not for the first time, and certainly not for the last, America’s leaders are presented with a vexing problem of statecraft, which poses realism versus idealism. Millions of refugees are pouring out of Syria; victims of the more than four years … [Read more...] about Refugees, Terrorists and Morality
Which Side Are YOU On?
The world has been at war for sixty-eight of the past hundred years. World War I lasted four years, World War II six years, the Cold War 44 years and the war with radical is now fourteen years old and counting. Western civilization eventually won … [Read more...] about Which Side Are YOU On?
Obama’s illogic
Left: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and US President Barack Obama. (Photo: Cihan), Nov.13, 2015 The confusion in the President’s thinking and strategy about the current terrorist crisis is frightening in its implications. As the tragic … [Read more...] about Obama’s illogic
Vive la France!
Left: Eiffel Tower goes dark, after Paris terrorist attacks, Nov. 13, 2015 There are perhaps three all engulfing observations to be made from the horrific events in France this past Friday evening as the Muslim day of prayer and rest ended: The … [Read more...] about Vive la France!
Weekly Review, Oct 18-23, 2015
Taiwan's Democracy Needs U.S. Arms - Sol W. Sanders - If there was any doubt that Taiwan is the first democratic state in the long history of the Chinese, it came this week in the buildup to January presidential election. The current ruling … [Read more...] about Weekly Review, Oct 18-23, 2015
U.S. Conflicting Objectives in Syria
Left: The A- 10 plane is famed for its tank-destroying capabilities. A day before Bashar Assad's meeting with Russian President Putin in Moscow, the United States signed a deal with Russia, to avoid entering "the same battle space" over the Syrian … [Read more...] about U.S. Conflicting Objectives in Syria
Weekly Review, October 5-9, 2015
U.S. Does Not Condemn Palestinian Violence - Rachel Ehrenfeld - The White House latest condemnation of the escalating violence in Jerusalem is akin to that issued by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Both are talking from both sides of … [Read more...] about Weekly Review, October 5-9, 2015
Russia’s Return to the Middle East*
A Russian army pilot poses at a cockpit of SU-25M jet fighter at Hmeimim airbase in Syria on Oct 3 2015. (Alexander Kots, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Photo via AP) Russia is back in the Middle East in a wholesale fashion signing huge aircraft sales … [Read more...] about Russia’s Return to the Middle East*