Things are not going too well for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Syria: The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis) threatened to leave the city of Aleppo to government forces unless its rivals stop their attacks against it within 24 hours. Isis has suffered losses in two days of … Continue reading This is what happens when you try to fight two civil wars at once

The term "neoconservative" has evolved over time. It started out in the 1970s meaning more or less exactly what it sounds like: "new" conservatives. These were New Deal liberals who spent the 60s not getting high or laid (so, mostly they were pricks?) and being increasingly irritated that other people were frequently doing both, and … Continue reading Do neocons dream of dismembered body parts?

Still on the subject of Syria, Assad has been striking Aleppo for the last couple of weeks using a particularly brutal contraption known as a "barrel bomb." These are exactly what they sound like: big metal barrels packed with explosives and shrapnel, dropped from a helicopter with a lit fuze timed to go off at … Continue reading Syria’s “barrel bombs” and what they say about Ghouta

In war, and life too I suppose, spillover is sometimes inevitable. For example, it seems like there is no way to keep turmoil in Syria from eventually and unfortunately making its way to Lebanon. The world got a stark reminder of that truism on Friday, when a car bomb killed Mohammad Chatah, a leading Lebanese … Continue reading Spilling over

In Yemen, when Al-Qaeda screws up, they apologize: Qassim al-Rimi, commander of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, said in a video posted on militant websites that the attackers were warned in advance not to enter the hospital within the complex, nor a place for prayer there. But he said one fighter did. “Now we acknowledge … Continue reading Soft power means having to say you’re sorry

Ron Fournier wrote A Thing, wherein he declares the Obama Presidency over a scant three years early on account of how Obama is exactly like Bush, because Both Sides. If that's his thesis, then it could have been very interesting and important if this influential DC opinion-maker had expounded on it in substantive, relevant areas, … Continue reading Ron Fournier is…The Least Self-Aware Man in the World

Sure, it's a borderline narco-state run by a corrupt drug lord who probably cheated to win re-election, women still have no rights, and the Taliban is still a grave threat, but Afghanistan? You better believe it's Mission Accomplished.

In the past I've labeled the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) as "neo-conservative," and that was perhaps...well, actually it was pretty accurate. But even a stopped clock is right twice a day, and way back in January WINEP published a smart piece on Al-Qaeda's activity in Yemen. Its author, Daniel Green, seems to … Continue reading Soft power doesn’t usually involve a body count