-By Warner Todd Huston Vice President Joe Biden wants everyone to just calm down. He says that it’s “ much too premature ” to judge the Obama administration’s efforts in Afghanistan. Apparently, after a year of focusing on “the right war,” America is still waiting for the Obama administration to “develop” its policies there. But one thing seems sure, the Obama administration has already excluded the possibility that more troops will be sent if Biden’s comments can be believed. When asked if the additional 30,000 troops are successful, will…
Dan – You relative newbies need to consult the wisdom of the ancients your slightly older colleagues. You cannot discuss the role of facial hair in politics without referencing the grand tradition of pogonophobia posts in the Corner. For example, brother Steyn 2005: I like John Bolton’s moustache, which seems to me rather Balkan, and thus potentially discombobulating for European foreign ministers. On the broader subject of the rampant pogonophobia in Western politics, as one of the more hirsute National Review contributors, I note that the Brookhiser…
What would your reaction be if President George W. Bush, his father, or any president of the last 100 years had referred to African-Americans as a “mongrel people?” You’d be shocked at the tone-deafness, right? Maybe outraged, determined to vote for his next opponent, maybe even calling for his resignation? How about if President Obama said it? President Obama calls African-Americans a ‘mongrel people’ President Obama waded into the national race debate in an unlikely setting and with an unusual choice of words: telling daytime talk show hosts that African-Americans are “sort of a mongrel people.” The president appeared on ABC’s morning talk show “The View” Thursday, where he…
Most PBS stations tonight will air Paul McCartney: In Performance at the White House , a concert performed back on Wednesday, June 2 at which the ex-Beatle delivered a cheap shot at former President George W. Bush: “After the last eight years, it’s great to have a President who knows what a library is.” ( Earlier NB post ) Wednesday’s USA Today noted PBS won’t air that comment which came after the Obama family had left the East Room…
Step back for a minute. It is a “known fact” that BP’s actions and handling of the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon caused the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It is an actual fact that the oil spill did not start until after the oil platform sunk. There is a growing body of evidence that the Coast Guard and fire team handling the blaze on the platform made a series of mistakes that contributed to the oil spill. In fact, in one of the first…
I don’t think that the new?British prime minister David Cameron is some sort of closeted europhile, but?pronouncements such as those described below?do suggest that he is a man who understands little about the EU and even less about Turkey. AFP has the details: ? ANKARA?– Prime Minister David Cameron said Tuesday he was angered by the slow pace of Turkey’s European Union accession talks and warned against shutting Ankara out because of anti-Muslim prejudice. Cameron’s strong support for Turkey’s limping EU bid puts him in stark contrast to fellow EU heavyweights France and Germany who argue against letting the mainly-Muslim country of over 70 million people to become a full member. That?Cameron blames the Franco-German stance…
The Wikileaks documents, though very different and much less significant than the Pentagon Papers, could well wreak a great deal of damage and give comfort and assistance to the enemies of the West. The Taliban, its allies, and its sponsors across the border may well gain extremely useful information about U.S. and allied tactics. Moreover, the documents’ publication is also a death sentence for some of the named Afghan informants and assets in the leaked materials. Of course, as a genuine enemy of the United States who wants to see it defeated in Afghanistan and elsewhere, this is unlikely to trouble Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. He is one of those obsessive anti-American, hard-left…
There’s a lot people are reading from the Guardian today. This should be on the top of the pile: Iran is engaged in an extensive covert campaign to arm, finance, train and equip Taliban insurgents, Afghan warlords allied to al-Qaida and suicide bombers fighting to eject British and western forces from Afghanistan , according to classified US military intelligence reports contained in the war logs. The secret “threat reports”, mostly comprising raw data provided by Afghan spies and paid informants, cannot be corroborated individually. Even if the claims are accurate, it is unclear whether…
There’s a lot people are reading from the Guardian today. This should be on the top of the pile: Iran is engaged in an extensive covert campaign to arm, finance, train and equip Taliban insurgents, Afghan warlords allied to al-Qaida and suicide bombers fighting to eject British and western forces from Afghanistan , according to classified US military intelligence reports contained in the war logs. The secret “threat reports”, mostly comprising raw data provided by Afghan spies and paid informants, cannot be corroborated individually. Even if the claims are accurate, it is unclear whether the activities they describe took place with the full knowledge of Tehran …
There’s a lot people are reading from the Guardian today. This should be on the top of the pile: Iran is engaged in an extensive covert campaign to arm, finance, train and equip Taliban insurgents, Afghan warlords allied to al-Qaida and suicide bombers fighting to eject British and western forces from Afghanistan , according to classified US military intelligence reports contained in the war logs. The secret “threat reports”, mostly comprising raw data provided by Afghan spies and paid informants, cannot be corroborated individually. Even if the claims are accurate, it is unclear whether the activities they describe took place with the full knowledge of Tehran or are the work of hardline elements of the semi-autonomous Islamic …