Middle East
200 pieces tagged “Middle East”, newest first.
The Syrian Immigration Cul-de-Sac
The Syrian refugee debate has become a national embarrassment. It begins with a president, desperate to deflect attention from the collapse of his foreign policy, retreating to his one safe zone — ad hominem attacks on critics, this time for lack of compassion toward Syrian widows and orphans.
Read more Commander in Chief 'Not Interested' in 'Winning'
What might become the defining statement of his atrocious presidency.
Netanyahu's Framing of Middle East Situation Is Spot-On
Americans could learn a thing or two from Bibi Netanyahu. The Israeli prime minister was in Washington this week to receive the American Enterprise Institute's Irving Kristol Award. He made some controversial remarks — at least controversial at AEI, where I am a fellow, and where the freedom agenda is alive and well — about the need to be realistic about what's going on in the Middle East. Sometimes, he said, brutal dictators are better than the real-world alternatives: even more brutal Islamist movements hell-bent (or, if you prefer, paradise-bent) to conquer the world.
Middle East Christians Risk Being Expunged
New report reveals the startling situation Christians are facing around the globe.
Not Losing Is a Loser's Game
The Obama administration's weak and failing Middle East policy — the struggle against ISIS and the ultimate fate of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria — revolves around a non-strategy of avoiding a major foreign-policy debacle in the 15 months remaining before a new president takes office. But it's too late. Russia and Iran calling the shots in the Middle East is an American foreign-policy debacle.
Another Ground War in the Middle East?
There is a country in the Middle East ruled by a secular authoritarian regime — a state sponsor of terror — that has reigned for 44 years under the leadership of a father and then his son who belong to a minority Shiite-derived religious sect. For four years, this regime has been the target of a brutal civil war. In that civil war, the regime's two leading antagonists are the al-Nusra Front, which is the local al-Qaida affiliate, and the Islamic State, which has supplanted al-Qaida as the most aggressive Sunni Islamist terror group.
From 'No Boots on the Ground' to 'Direct Action'
Ash Carter lays out a shift in Obama's "smart power" strategy.
Obama, the JV Commander in Chief
After Obama's meeting with Putin, Russia bombs U.S.-backed forces in Syria.
Welcome to Wealthy Middle Eastern Thug Privilege
You've heard endlessly about "white privilege" from the professional social justice warrior gripers. But rarely does that crusading crowd — or their spiritual leaders in the White House — acknowledge the brutal impact of wealthy Middle Eastern thug privilege in America. I'm looking especially at you, Barack, Michelle and Valerie Jarrett (who hosted Black Lives Matter activists at 1600 Pennsylvania last week). The latest case of WMET privilege involves a well-connected Saudi prince arrested on Wednesday after allegedly sexually assaulting a woman at his $40 million Beverly Hills rental mansion. Witnesses reported seeing a bloodied woman screaming for help as she scrambled over an 8-foot wall surrounding the property. LAPD officers charged 28-year-old Majed Abdulaziz al-Saud with sodomy, battery and false imprisonment.
Obama Opens Jihadi Pipeline Into U.S.
He announced our nation would take in an additional 10,000 Syrian refugees.
The Past and Future of the Refugee Crisis
The refugee crisis in Europe is one of those human tragedies for which there are no real solutions, despite how many shrill voices in the media may denounce those who fail to come up with a solution. Some options may be better than others, but there is nothing that can honestly be called a solution. Nevertheless many countries, including the United States, could do a lot better. The immediate problems are the masses of desperate men, women and children, fleeing from the wars and terrorism of the Middle East, who are flooding into Europe. But the present crisis cannot be dealt with as if it had no past and no future.
Houston Mayor: Whatever Floats Your Vote
Jesus said, "Let your 'yes' be 'yes' and your 'no' be 'no.'" Unfortunately, that'll be a lot harder for Houston voters in the next election. Thanks to an administration that apparently sees people as a nuisance in their advance of an anti-religious freedom agenda, voters will have to pay extra close attention this November, when the Houston bathroom bill is finally on the ballot. Mayor Annise Parker is up to her old tricks — the most recent being her intentional manipulation of the ballot language. Although she and the rest of the council have no choice but to bring the issue up for a vote, they still plan on using every stunt in the book to protect the measure — including muddying the question's wording.
Among the Ruins, a Case of Righteousness
Christianity, whose presence in the Middle East predates Islam's by 600 years, is about to be cleansed from the Middle East. Egyptian Copts may have found some respite under Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, but after their persecution under the previous Muslim Brotherhood government, they know how precarious their existence in 90 percent Muslim Egypt remains. Elsewhere, it's much worse. Twenty-one Copts were beheaded by the Islamic State affiliate in Libya for the crime of being Christian. In those large swaths of Syria and Iraq where the Islamic State rules, the consequences for Christians are terrible — enslavement, exile, torture, massacre, crucifixion. Over the decades, many Middle Eastern Christians, seeing the rise of political Islam and the intensification of savage sectarian wars, have simply left. Lebanon's Christians, once more than half the population, are now estimated at about a third. The number of Christians under Palestinian Authority rule in the West Bank has dwindled — in Bethlehem, for example, dropping by half. (The exception, of course, is Israel, where Christians, Arab and non-Arab, enjoy not just protection but civil rights. Their numbers are increasing. But that's another story.)