by James Spencer It seems that there has been a rapidly building expression of international disquiet about the relationship between the ideology of Salafi Jihadism and Wahhabism, the state religion of Saudi Arabia (and—less well-known—of Qatar.) As Gideon Rachman recently… Continue Reading
by James Spencer “Tell me how this ends,” then-Major General Petraeus reportedly asked during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. This was a surprising question, since none other than former Secretary of Defense and then-Vice President Dick Cheney had foreseen the likely… Continue Reading
by James Spencer Of all the many failings of the Invasion of Iraq, the most egregious must surely have been the failure to plan properly for what followed the inevitable military victory. A toxic combination of airstrikes and 10 years… Continue Reading
by James Spencer Recently, the UK’s youngest suicide bomber died in Iraq, and a British convert to Islam was killed fighting for al-Shabaab against the Kenyan Army. At much the same time, President Obama has confessed that the US still doesn’t have a complete… Continue Reading
by James Spencer Some hard-bitten fathers have been known to advise their youthful offspring that whenever someone prefaces their remarks with “To be honest,” they are about to lie through their teeth. The same might be applied to politicians who… Continue Reading