Mr. Putin is doing his best to look like a potential partner. On Tuesday, after weeks of obfuscation, his government suddenly confirmed that the Islamic State was responsible for the bombing of a Russian airliner last month, and Russian forces carried out a rare wave of attacks against the Islamic State capital, Raqqa.
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Teaming up with Russia in Syria Could be a Dangerous False Step for the U.S.
Posted November 19th, 2015 at 12:15 pm (UTC-5)
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Refugees Another Casualty of Paris Attacks
Posted November 18th, 2015 at 3:54 pm (UTC-5)
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A group of American governors has declared it will not settle any of the 10,000 Syrian refugees the U.S. government has pledged to accept. But that position only amounts to an empty threat. State governors cannot make such decisions legally.The attempt to refuse refugees, which President Barack Obama described as a “dark impulse,” reflects a sense of fear following the devastating attacks by Islamic State militants across Paris. And it cuts to the heart of America’s historic identity: to be a country that welcomes those in great need whose lives are threatened. Despite the president’s vow to continue that tradition, others are pointing to shocking terrorist attacks at a soccer match, a concert and Parisian cafes as reason to tighten up America’s borders, lest just one terrorist slip by.
The Islamic State Paradox
Posted November 18th, 2015 at 11:44 am (UTC-5)
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[ISIS] is partly a totalitarian state and partly a transnational terrorist organization. As a state it can be attacked and defeated, at least temporarily. And yet, paradoxically, the more we in the West attack the state, the more its appeal as a terrorist organization will grow among those who see the West as an enemy.
What Paris Taught Us About the Islamic State
Posted November 17th, 2015 at 4:20 pm (UTC-5)
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The few remaining senior leaders of al Qaeda must be scratching their heads. Their complex hijackings and bombings required months or years of planning … ISIL has figured out how to strike at the heart of its adversaries … It’s repeatable, cheap, and effective
America’s Politicians are Feeding the Islamic State Narrative
Posted November 17th, 2015 at 3:27 pm (UTC-5)
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[I]f U.S. politicians define Islam as the problem and cast aspersions on Muslim populations in the West, they are feeding the Islamic State narrative. They are materially undermining the war against terrorism and complicating the United States’ (already complicated) task in the Middle East.
War Is Interested in You
Posted November 17th, 2015 at 10:32 am (UTC-5)
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The American-led experiment meant to determine whether the Western world could live with the existence of the virulent Islamic State ended… when at least eight men armed with automatic weapons and suicide belts conducted one of the most daring and coordinated attacks on a Western target the world has seen in over a decade.
Obama Must Wage War on the Islamic State, Not Merely Harass It
Posted November 16th, 2015 at 1:40 pm (UTC-5)
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The president was right when he called the Islamic State a cancer, but it is a cancer that metastasized on his watch. Paris is proof.
What Next?
Posted November 16th, 2015 at 11:41 am (UTC-5)
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The scale of the attacks across Paris is forcing a global rethink on how to prevent terrorism. Even as the violence unfolded last Friday evening, world leaders were going live, sending a clear message to the Islamic State that such carnage will not be allowed to stand. As the dead and injured are mourned, and Parisians try to absorb the terrible reality of the coordinated attacks, governments are asking what else must be done to stop such evil.
After Paris, a Global Resolve to Dispel Islamic State’s Darkness
Posted November 16th, 2015 at 11:07 am (UTC-5)
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It is easy to agree on the darkness of the militant ideology that drives IS, and to try to protect against its reach … But it also requires hard work to agree on the light that should replace that darkness and to end the IS threat for good – with something sustainably good.
The Barbarians Are Inside, And There Are No Gates
Posted November 16th, 2015 at 9:30 am (UTC-5)
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When the Allahu Akbar boys opened fire, Paris was talking about the climate-change conference due to start later this month, when the world’s leaders will fly in to “solve” a “problem” that doesn’t exist rather than to address the one that does. But don’t worry: we already have a hashtag (#PrayForParis)
Kerry: “We are on the right track” in Syria
Posted November 13th, 2015 at 5:33 pm (UTC-5)
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Secretary of State John Kerry gave an impassioned defense of the Obama administration’s strategy regarding Syria and the fight against the Islamic State. Kerry made his remarks at the United States Institute for Peace on November 11, 2015.
The Real War
We are confronted by a virus that is closer to epidemiology than to traditional state-to-state warfare. We will have to eradicate this virulent religious intolerance and violence here at home and across the planet. This is an extraordinarily difficult challenge.