Today is, of course, the 70th anniversary of the annihilation of Hiroshima, the first use of an atomic weapon in war. That single bomb killed tens of thousands of people immediately, and many more from radiation-related effects over the following weeks. Its effects haunt survivors to this day, in the form of elevated cancer risks. … Continue reading On Hiroshima

It's probably safe to say that you've heard of Darfur, the site of some of the 21st century's most egregious war crimes, courtesy of Sudan's unfortunately not arrested President Omar al-Bashir. Twelve years after Bashir's government decided to deal with unrest in Darfur by pretty much depopulating the place (300,000 people were killed), many people … Continue reading Sudan’s other war crimes

For the second day in a row, some guy in Mississippi (probably the same guy both times, who may have been taken into custody a short time ago) has fired shots in the general vicinity of a military facility, Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, where "Jade Helm 15" exercises were going on. If you don't know … Continue reading Who’s going to take responsibility?

Max Fisher is upset about a couple of things. First, he's irritated that Vice-President Joe Biden's 2006 call for Iraq to be federalized, with significant autonomy for its Kurdish, Sunni Arab, and Shiʿa communities, has, in the collective imagination of the DC foreign policy establishment, somehow morphed into a call to partition Iraq into three … Continue reading Joe Biden’s Iraqi federalism idea isn’t “terrible,” it just probably wouldn’t do much good

John Bolton (R-YouKiddingMeWithThatMustache) most famously served for a little over a year as George W. Bush's Ambassador to the United Nations, in which capacity he surely must have been the very first UN Ambassador from any country who had once openly wondered whether the world would notice if "ten stories" of the UN building just … Continue reading Here it is, the most disingenuous argument against the Iran deal

Folks, Bloomberg View columnist Eli Lake is mad that President Obama is scaring people about the Iran deal. Yes, that's right, Eli Lake took time out from his busy schedule of scaring people about Saddam Hussein's WMD, Al-Qaeda's conference calls, and, uh, the Iran deal, to criticize somebody else for exploiting the "Politics of Fear": … Continue reading Fighting Barack Obama’s (?) Politics of Fear on Iran

Monsoons have caused massive flooding and landslides throughout Myanmar, killing at least 46 people and stranding hundreds of thousands or potentially millions, many of whom have been driven out of their homes and many more of whom live in areas so remote that it would be difficult for aid to reach them in perfect conditions. … Continue reading Myanmar flooding: where to donate

Pastor, attorney, and walking hate crime Scott Lively is one of those good conservative folks who know their American history. These guys know their American history so well that, after a brief attempt at imparting some objectivity upon it, the College Board recently decided to just turn over its AP US history framework to these … Continue reading Thank goodness we let these guys control the US history curriculum

Suddenly things are going pretty well for Yemeni forces loyal to President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. They're claiming to have gained control of Yemen's largest air base, Al-Anad field north of Aden, which they retook a couple of weeks ago. Anad was lost to the Houthis and their allies in March. Saudi air power and … Continue reading Yemen: government forces win another important victory

It took just under 2 years from the end of the Iran-Iraq War for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's relations with his two biggest allies, Kuwait and the United States, to be irrevocably destroyed. Yesterday, of course, was the 25th anniversary of Saddam's decision to invade Kuwait and officially kick off the Gulf War, aka "The … Continue reading Happy 25th birthday to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait