Peace and Security
Footing the Bill While Israel Thumbs Its Nose
It's tax season again. How about a little accounting? Every year, Washington sends $3.1 billion of taxpayers’ hard-earned money to Israel. It’s only fair to ask what Americans are getting in return. That seems especially appropriate now. Israeli Prime Minister...
Diplomacy Defeats War for a Change
With their groundbreaking agreement over Iran's nuclear enrichment program, negotiators in Lausanne, Switzerland scored a major victory for diplomacy over war. Both sides made major concessions. But Iran's concessions are far greater. Tehran agreed to severe cuts in...
Bumps in the Road
Risky War Business
From the Islamic State to the streets of Paris, Americans get bombarded daily with fresh reminders of conflicts around the world. What's harder to figure out is what to do about it. What would actually make us safer? Some politicians urge knee-jerk reactions. Spend...
Mortgaging the Pentagon
Say you really want a sports car, a vacation, a big new house, or some other fancy thing you can’t really afford. You know that if you buy it, you’ll bust your budget. It would mean a ramen noodle diet and a threadbare closet from now to eternity for you and your...
The Bibi-GOP Clown Show
That Bibi is such a piece of work. On March 3, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walked into our Capitol as though he owned the place, stuck a thumb in President Barack Obama’s eye, and walked out to multitudes of cheering Republicans. Is that a mensch or...
Bibi Love Fest
When Bibi Came to Town
When Benjamin Netanyahu looked out over the joint session of Congress that had assembled to hear him speak on March 3, the Israeli prime minister almost caught a glimpse of something unusual: empty seats. That would've been a rarity in Washington, where bipartisan...
Some Good News from the Middle East
There's not much good news coming out of the Middle East these days. But one reason to take heart is the progress of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the West. Even as new conflicts sprout up elsewhere, a three-decade standoff between Tehran and Washington could...
When Your Armed Neighbor Comes Knocking
A North Carolina grand jury has indicted an atheist with a history of virulently anti-religious statements in the murder of three Muslim American students in Chapel Hill — a young couple and the wife’s sister. The victims’ family and friends say the killings were the...
