syria

War with Iran…Three Differences and One Similarity

Royalty-free stock vector ID: 671941873 Iran has come to the forefront of political and military discourse in the last few weeks, and lost in the shuffle of hyperbolic political statements is exactly what a war with Iran would mean and what would be required from the American public and the military. Too often – as I have learned from personal experience – elected officials promise a quick and easy war when it most decidedly will not be either quick or easy. Make no mistake, Iran is [...]

By |2023-12-13T13:51:31-05:00June 27th, 2019|Blog|12 Comments

The Syrian Conundrum Part Four – Rinse and Repeat

Royalty-free stock vector ID: 211642960 After the latest strikes in Syria, President Donald Trump tweeted, “Mission Accomplished!” Besides the obvious subliminal baggage of using the same term that President George W. Bush used early on in a war in which we’re still embroiled fifteen years later, what, exactly does that mean? What “mission” was accomplished? And I mean beyond the partisan divide. Beyond the left shouting that President Trump was “wagging the dog” to detract from his lawyer’s office raid and FBI Director Comey’s upcoming blistering [...]

By |2023-12-13T13:56:10-05:00April 15th, 2018|Blog|5 Comments

The Syrian Conundrum Part III: Crossing the red line…Again

  To say the least, the Tomahawk strike on Syria has caused a great amount of chatter throughout the world, but most of it is misplaced and some is outright outlandish. I thought I’d weigh in, not in a partisan way, with an agenda, but simply to clear the air a bit. So here, in no order of precedence, are the primary questions being asked: Who did the chemical strike in Syria? The minute I heard that chemical weapons had been used in Idlib, the first thing I [...]

By |2017-11-29T22:34:34-05:00April 9th, 2017|Blog|18 Comments

The Libyan Conundrum Part V: The Enemy Has a Vote

Well, it looks like this administration is finally realizing that just proclaiming victory doesn’t make it so.  Before we went into Libya, I blogged that it would devolve into a mess without a heavy stability and support operation (SASO) on our part, and that the administration was rightfully hesitant to conduct a no-fly zone due to these realities.  The administration then ignored my prescient blog and went ahead with “leading from behind”, with President Obama proclaiming No Boots on the Ground in Libya.  We applied our air power, [...]

By |2013-11-19T11:24:52-05:00November 19th, 2013|Blog|2 Comments

The Syrian Conundrum Part II: From Russia With Love

What a clown-fest.  I’ve wanted to update my latest Syria blog, but one bizarre thing after another kept occurring.  First, Secretary of State Kerry gave an impassioned speech on why we should immediately strike Assad, and, as I said in my last blog, I agreed with him (yes, that’s past tense).  Instead of using his legal powers as president to strike, as Kerry implied would happen, President Obama backed up and asked congress for permission.  Secretary Kerry, in an odd choice of words, scared the pants off of [...]

By |2013-09-12T22:12:08-04:00September 12th, 2013|Blog|7 Comments

The Syrian Conundrum

Syria is all over the news lately, and much like Libya before it, I haven’t heard a lot of talk focused on the correct issues.  Most of the discussion centers around attaining UN or congressional approval, what the U.S. will strike, proof Assad is a crazy man, or the timing.  Then, in the middle of this week, the UK decided they weren’t going to play.  The administration’s response to this news provided the first solid words of sanity after more than two years of misguided foreign policy adventures.  [...]

By |2013-08-31T13:07:15-04:00August 31st, 2013|Blog|6 Comments

Hero to Zero

Syria is turning into a quagmire, and for once, it isn’t the United States that’s stuck in the mud. Surprisingly, it’s the mighty Resistance of the Middle East.  Hezbollah. In 2000, Hezbollah was hailed as the Arabic version of David, fighting off the Goliath of the hated Israel and forcing them to flee from Lebanon.  The Arab world cheered the departure.  In 2006, Israel came back and fought a sharp, short war with Hezbollah, and pretty much had their ass handed to them on the propaganda front.  While [...]

By |2013-06-03T16:48:45-04:00June 3rd, 2013|Blog|5 Comments

Guess What? Another Red Line!

In the movie The Princess Bride, one of the characters repeatedly exclaims “Inconceivable!” every time an event occurs, prompting another to respond, “You keep using that word.  I do not think it means what you think it means.” Substitute red line for “inconceivable” and any reporter could say the same thing about the Obama administration’s current foreign policy proclamations.  I wrote a blog some time ago about the red line the administration proclaimed for nuclear development in Iran, a line that was crossed long ago, forcing them to [...]

By |2013-04-27T16:49:55-04:00April 27th, 2013|Blog|6 Comments

The Libyan Conundrum part IV: How do you like me now?

I’ve blogged about our incursion into Libya on three separate occasions, and the main theme threaded throughout was that getting rid of Ghadafi was only half of the equation.  Stabilizing the country afterwards is the other half, and, as I said back then, our foreign policy just doesn’t seem to get that. Well, it sure does now.  Everyone is scrambling to pin the rose on who killed the U.S. Ambassador and some of his staff, with some blaming a movie that insults Islam as the culprit, and others [...]

By |2012-09-13T23:27:46-04:00September 13th, 2012|Blog|3 Comments
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