US and supposedly other coalition aircraft are striking Daesh (there, that's better) targets in Syria. Here's the official Pentagon statement: "I can confirm that U.S. military and partner nation forces are undertaking military action against ISIL [ISIS] terrorists in Syria using a mix of fighter, bomber and Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles," Pentagon Press Secretary Rear … Continue reading Airstrikes happening in Syria

After I just got done explaining why I use "ISIS" instead of "ISIL" or "Islamic State," I see this story in National Journal, and also in WaPo, about the other ISIS: the Institute for Science and International Security. The (relatively) good ISIS is naturally upset about being mistaken for the bad ISIS: The institute has … Continue reading Good grief, there’s no good name for these guys

This is a few days late, but I did a couple of pieces on Iran last week for LobeLog that are worth mentioning, what with Hassan Rouhani addressing the UN General Assembly this week and with US officials talking about "glimmers of progress" in recent talks. Although, before we get to that, let's talk about … Continue reading How does the Iranian public feel about the nuclear talks?

Here's one of the top on-air talents at one of America's leading news outlets, on voting rights: Fox News host Elisabeth Hasselbeck on Monday argued that requiring a “citizenship test” to vote made the outcome of elections “more meaningful.” Two Republican state legislators in Utah last week announced a bill that would require students to … Continue reading Making people pass a test before they’re allowed to vote? What could go wrong?

Lawfare has an excellent essay up today, by South Asia expert and Georgetown professor C. Christine Fair, on the rise of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent and what Ayman al-Zawahiri may be hoping to achieve with the new franchise's launch. Obviously just by virtue of its long presence in the Pashtun tribal regions of … Continue reading Good read on Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent

Some wild and contradictory stories have been coming out of Egypt with respect to the status of the Pyramid of Djoser, which I wrote about at my rarely updated historical preservation blog. Since people seemed to like my recent post on Stonehenge, I thought I'd put this here as well since it's along those same … Continue reading What’s going on with Djoser’s Pyramid?

Fox and the far right continue to beat the long-dead corpse of parody: Former congressman and Tea Party icon Allen West: The world need to step up against Islamo-fascism but I suppose fighting Ebola is easier for a faux Commander-in-Chief than to fight a real enemy of America.  Nice optics there Barack, good try to … Continue reading President Kenya HUSSEIN Nobama is sending soldiers to shoot Ebola with bullets, so why not ISIS too?

I realize that Congress was originally constituted as a part-time body (members were only paid a per diem until 1815, when they started to earn a whopping $1500 per year), but, you know, we pay them like full time workers nowadays: So why don't they try working something approaching full time for a change? And … Continue reading What a way to make a livin’

Dan Froomkin at The Intercept is asking whether America is just playing into ISIS's hands by going to war with them: There are many reasons the U.S. shouldn’t go to war with the Islamic State — and the best one may be because that is exactly what they want us to do. A growing number … Continue reading Maybe ISIS has trapped us, but are they also trapping themselves?

This supposedly liberal magazine is so hell bent on salvaging World War III out of what they perceive to be Barack Obama's insufficient zeal to do war on the Cossack that not a day goes by anymore without some borderline unhinged screed pouring forth from its internet tubes. Today's screed is courtesy of Adrian Karatnycky: … Continue reading Seriously, what the heck is wrong with The New Republic?