A Syrian refugee who was reportedly denied asylum and was about to be deported detonated a backpack bomb outside of a crowded festival in Ansbach, Germany, yesterday evening. Fortunately it appears that only the terrorist was killed, but 15 others were reportedly injured in the blast--he was apparently denied entry into the festival before he … Continue reading Terror attacks, and how we Americans approach them

ISIS bombers strike a Hazara protest in Kabul, killing more than 80 people. I discuss that and also explain a bit about who the Hazaras are.

The 18 year old boy who murdered nine people in Munich yesterday does not seem to have had any ties to nor to have drawn any inspiration from any jihadi terror groups like al-Qaeda or ISIS. If anything, he may have drawn inspiration from the Anders Breivik case, though that connection is still mostly speculation … Continue reading Munich update

As you may recall, three weeks ago the Obama administration declared that it did the math and its airstrikes in "non-war zones" like Yemen and Pakistan have only killed between 64 and 116 civilians since 2009. That this figure is considerably lower than any independent estimate apparently didn't give the White House any pause. Trust … Continue reading Hitting what we aim at

In which I try to find something nice to say in the aftermath of Turkey's failed coup attempt.

French authorities are saying that Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, the man behind this week's terror attack in Nice, "radicalized himself very quickly," which if you grab your decoder ring is another way of saying "we have no idea who this guy was or why we've never heard of him before." But whoever he was or whatever … Continue reading ISIS finally takes credit for Nice

I don't have a lot of updates to offer on last night's attempted coup and I don't have a whole lot of time to offer them, but here are the high points: Barring the coup equivalent of a miracle, this attempted coup is over and Erdoğan is the winner Everything I've seen about the coup … Continue reading Turkey’s day after

Updates on the attack in Nice and some thoughts on everybody's grand plans for preventing more attacks like it.

Several hours ago a truck drove into and through a crowd of people gathered to celebrate Bastille Day in Nice, France. At least 77 people were killed according to the latest figures on TV, with at least 50 more injured. The driver was reportedly "zigzagging" (for up to two kilometers) once he'd driven into the … Continue reading Developing story: apparent terrorist attack in Nice, France

It's been one year since the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which limits Iran's nuclear program in return for international sanctions relief, was signed in Vienna. I have had a much higher than usual slate of paid writing to do this week, some of which is actually very relevant to the JCPOA's anniversary, but I … Continue reading Happy JCPOAnniversary