Arms and Athletes in Bahrain: Al Khalifa’s Deadly Game

by Emile Nakhleh A few days ago, Bahraini officials announced they “foiled an attempt to smuggle explosives and arms, some made in Iran and Syria, into the country by boat.”  Around the same time, the government also contended it had… Continue Reading

Saudis Should Welcome A US Move Toward Iran

by Thomas W. Lippman Shortly after President Obama’s startling telephone conversation with Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, a Saudi Arabian journalist wrote that “The phone call between Obama and Rouhani shocked the Gulf states, Jordan, Turkey, Israel, and other countries.”  No matter… Continue Reading

Obama’s War

by Robert E. Hunter With President Obama’s decision to step up arms supplies to the rebels there, Syria’s war has become his war. This was not part of his game-plan. Obama did inherit a mess in the region. This included two… Continue Reading

Iraq: Maliki & Co.’s Path of Folly

by Wayne White The Biblical quotation, “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” could not be more relevant to what Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s near unremitting hostility toward Iraq’s powerful Sunni Arab minority has generated: a rising drumfire… Continue Reading

President Obama: Keep Your Nerve on Syria

by Robert E. Hunter “Then we’ll have done all we can.” “Very heartless.” “It’s safer to be heartless than mindless. History is the triumph of the heartless over the mindless.” Yes, Prime Minister. President Barack Obama, it is said, has… Continue Reading