Foreign Affairs

The “Bush Surge” vs. the “Reid Surge”

By Mac Owens | April 20, 2007 |

Not too long ago I posted a criticism of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the Speaker of the House of Representatives, for trekking to Damascus to meet with the thug dictator of Syria. In arguing against her trip, I used a scene from the Godfather as an analogy: Sonny dissenting from a decision made by his…

“Sonny” Pelosi, Redux

By Mac Owens | April 6, 2007 |

Here’s what our friends at Power Line have to say about “Sonny” Pelosi’s trip to the Middle East. ‘We have pointed out that Speaker Pelosi’s attempts at diplomacy in the Middle East haven’t received good reviews from the Israelis or, here at home, from even the Washington Post. However, according to WorldNetDaily, she’s big hit…

The Situational Pragmatism of Congressman Langevin

By Marc Comtois | April 5, 2007 |

In addition to talking about Iraq with Dan Yorke, Congressman Langevin also talked about Speaker Pelosi’s recent botched Syrian excursion and said she was following the precepts of the Iraq Study Group report (PDF). While Langevin condemned the regimes of both Iran and Syria, he also offered that–as per the Iraq Study Group–pragmatic diplomacy was…

Langevin Stuck in November ’06

By Marc Comtois | April 5, 2007 |

I had a chance to hear a portion of Dan Yorke’s interview with Congressman Jim Langevin yesterday afternoon. When asked about Iraq, Rep. Langevin continued to trumpet the line that things are getting worse in Iraq and that the “surge” won’t work. They’ve already made up their minds and this unwillingness to reassess the situation…

Iran Declares Victory and Gets Out

By Carroll Andrew Morse | April 5, 2007 |

Is it possible that the West’s self-flagellation about the release of the 15 British sailors kidnapped by Iran is going a wee bit too far? For instance, in his list of 7 reasons what Iran gained as a result of this incident, David Frum includes this point…The Iranians succeeded in…establishing that Britain at least and…

Whither the European Union?

By Carroll Andrew Morse | April 3, 2007 |

Today’s Projo editorial on the uncertain future of the European Union isn’t terrible, but its focus on economics obscures the real source of EU weakness that has been painfully demonstrated by the ongoing situation between Great Britain and Iraq. In case you’ve forgotten (and you probably have, given the EU’s weak reaction), the 15 British…

“Sonny” Pelosi: Are the Democrats Seeking a “Separate Peace” with Syria?

By Mac Owens | April 2, 2007 |

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is set to visit Syria for a meeting with a regime that the Bush administration has called a state sponsor of terrorism. Needless to say the White House is not exactly pleased. The best way to explain the logic of the White House’s displeasure is to recall a scene…

Britain and Iran

By Mac Owens | March 31, 2007 |

Re the seizure of the British sailors and Royal Marines by the Iranians, Lord Nelson must be spinning in his grave. It is Nelson, after all who said, among other things, “Our country will, I believe, sooner forgive an officer for attacking an enemy, than for letting it alone” and “No Captain could do wrong…

Common Ground and Credit Where Credit Is Due

By Carroll Andrew Morse | March 23, 2007 |

The liberal foreign policy worldview too often begins from an assumption that America is a problem needing to be solved by the rest of the world and that eveyone will be better off once America has been put in its proper place. As a corollary, liberals are often prone to dismiss repressive actions by other…

Take Note Liberals: Even Hillary Clinton Thinks Venezuela is On the Wrong Track

By Carroll Andrew Morse | March 19, 2007 |

According to the Associated Press, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York thinks American energy policy should be directed to undercutting governments that don’t support American values — like the government of Hugo Chavez of Venezuela…[Hillary Clinton] pledged to promote energy independence and drew laughs from the crowd when she described replacing ordinary light bulbs…