The Fairy Tale Stops in Tripoli
The fairy tale stopped in Tripoli. At first it appeared that Libya’s Moammar Qaddafi would succumb in short order as did the regimes in Tunisia and Egypt. His support appeared to be unraveling as diplomats and high-ranking officers and even Cabinet members scurried to disassociate themselves from the regime that they had long served. It […]
Defense Dept. Docs Express Concerns about Release of Guantanamo Bay Prisoners
Washington (CNSNews.com) – Pentagon documents made public on Wednesday by a government watchdog group show the Bush administration’s concerns that prisoners released from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility would put American lives at risk. The documents, all from the Bush era, come at a time when Obama administration officials have given mixed messages about closing […]
Six Steps to Reining in the Administrative State
In many ways, Obamacare clarified the problem of the administrative state. Congress routinely writes vague laws, delegating its authority to bureaucrats who make detailed regulations covering every aspect of our lives: from the light bulbs we use to the health care coverage we purchase. In passing Obamacare, Congress transferred important aspects of its legislative authority […]
US Sends Warships to Suez, Troops Stationed in Libya
The United States is moving warships, planes and troops close to Libya and two assault ships passed through the Suez Canal Wednesday morning. The USS Ponce and the USS Kearge, carrying approximately 400 marines passed through the waterway on the way to eastern Libya, where rebels are in control as Muammar Qaddafi continues to rule […]
Yet Another New Obamacare Bureaucracy
Once again, Obamacare shows that, when it comes to health care reform, the saying “Hey, it’s the thought that counts” just doesn’t cut it. Proponents of the new law argue that its stringent insurance regulations will help consumers, but these new regulations also threaten some existing employer-sponsored plan arrangements. To avoid a flood of workers […]
Treatment of Libya Illustrates the Fatuousness of the Human Rights Council
On March 18, the United Nations Human Rights Council is scheduled to consider its final report of Libya’s human rights record that was conducted under the body’s Universal Periodic Review. The first part of the human rights review of the “Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya”, conducted on November 9, 2010, was an all too […]
My Optimism about the New Arab Revolt
by Daniel Pipes National Review Online March 1, 2011 Unprecedented convulsions across the Middle East, from Morocco to Iran, prompt three reflections: First, these rebellions fit into the context of a regional chessboard, what I call the Middle East cold war. On one side stands the “resistance” bloc led by Iran and including Turkey, Syria, […]
Iran Adopts Bill Clinton’s ‘New Middle East’ Phrase
When Bill Clinton was president, he envisioned a ‘New Middle East” based on the failed Oslo Accords, which blew up in 2000 with the Second Intifada, also known as the Oslo War. Iran now says a new Middle East indeed is on the way, but one with the Islamic Republic as its axis. “Iran’s pivotal […]
Collective Bargaining Is Not A Right
The New York Times has a stroy out today purporting to show that “Majority in Poll Back Employees in Public Sector Unions.” But like much of what The New York Times publishes, this poll is completely worthless. To understand why just look at the question they used to justify their headline: Collective bargaining refers to […]
Avigdor Lieberman as Israel’s Foreign Minister
by Daniel Pipes October 7, 2009 updated Jan 21, 2011 I congratulated Avigdor Lieberman when he took office as Israel’s foreign minister in April 2009. Here I shall occasionally follow his outspoken and unconventional role in office. “Lieberman fashioning new foreign policy” writes Haviv Rettig Gur in the Jerusalem Post, showing that the foreign minister […]
Shattered Lens: Part 4 – Lighting Candles, Inflaming Bias
Shattered Lens: Part 4 – Lighting Candles, Inflaming Bias In Part 3 of our Shattered Lens study, we highlighted how wire service photographers use clever photographic techniques to present a false impression that enhances images of Palestinian “suffering”. In that particular case, we focused on the use of bars. In this chapter we see how […]
