U.S. Officials: Al Qaeda in Iraq Behind Deadly Bombings in Damascus and Aleppo, Syria

By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary)  |  February 10th at 10:26 PM  | 

U.S. officials have reportedly confirmed that deadly bombings in the Syrian cities of Damascus (in December and January) and Aleppo (Friday) were the work of al Qaeda in Iraq, whose members were acting with authorization from al Qaeda central head and Osama bin Laden successor Ayman al-Zawahiri. According to McClatchy: The Iraqi branch of al Qaida, seeking to exploit the bloody turmoil in Syria to | Read More »

Rethinking the Calls for Intervention in Syria

By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary)  |  February 10th at 06:00 AM  | 

My RedState colleague and good friend Victoria Coates recently wrote a post calling for a humanitarian intervention in Syria on behalf of the opposition and civilians who are being killed daily by Bashar al-Assad’s regime.  She writes: “In dealing with Libya and Syria, consistency need not be the hobgoblin of little minds but can rather be the hallmark of a consistent and coordinated foreign policy.  | Read More »

‘Act of Valor’: Exploitative, Opportunistic, or Just Good Clean Fun?

By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary)  |  February 6th at 07:20 PM  | 

I’ve been engaged in a twitter discussion with some good friends and acquaintances (and, being that it’s twitter, with some folks I don’t know from Adam) about the upcoming film Act of Valor. The film, for those who were comatose during the Super Bowl ad blitz, is a Navy recruiting video on major steroids that features several active duty SEALs and Special Warfare Combatant Crewmen | Read More »

A question for ANY GOP Presidential campaign out there…

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  February 5th at 11:54 AM  | 

…why are none of them talking about Operation Fast & Furious? And when I say ‘talk’ I mean ‘bringing it up at every opportunity, complete with raised voices and angry tones.’ Seriously. This is an easy issue to be on the right side of: everyone agrees – now – that it’s bad to create a sting operation where you facilitate the running of guns to | Read More »

Fast & Furious update: Holder’s deputy CoS briefed in December 2010.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  January 30th at 09:30 AM  | 

There’s been a lot of commentary, obviously, about the information found in the latest Department of Justice Friday afternoon email dump with regards to the administration’s catastrophic Operation Fast & Furious. For those who need a reminder, OF&F was a program by which political appointees in the Obama administration ignored federal rules and basic common sense in order to facilitate the illegal resale of firearms | Read More »

A Successful Rescue in Somalia and a Psychological Lift for America

By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary)  |  January 25th at 03:00 PM  | 

Last night, a joint force from America’s Tier One special operations command conducted a raid on a pirate camp in Somalia, freeing two hostages – an American and a Dane – and killing their captors before exfiltrating north to Djibouti via helicopter. USA Today‘s lead paragraph captures the mission well, while also serving as the best recruiting pitch for the Navy’s Sea, Air, and Land | Read More »

Former John Kerry staffer John Kiriakou arrested for blowing CIA agents’ cover.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  January 23rd at 09:30 PM  | 

Mind you, you wouldn’t know that from the Washington Post’s article on the arrest of John Kiriakou. While the Washington Post – from appearances, somewhat reluctantly – reported that Kiriakou (a former CIA officer and Senate Foreign Affairs staffer) had been arrested for revealing names, operations and investigations to the media back in 2008-2009, the paper completely neglected to mention who Kiriakou ended up working | Read More »

Why We’re Not Going to War with Iran

By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary)  |  January 20th at 05:30 PM  | 

“U.S. Ponders Ways to Use Force on Iran” “Here’s How the U.S. Could Invade Iran” “U.S. Said Set to Attack Iran” “Does [the U.S. President] Plan to Invade Iran?” “Saudis Deny U.S. Planned to Attack Iranian Oilfields” “U.S. May Attack Iran Missiles: White House Mulls Ways to Protect Gulf” “[U.S.] Navy Denies Plan to Attack Iranian Ships in Persian Gulf” “U.S., Allies Setting Stage to | Read More »

‘Bin Laden’s Legacy’: Al Qaeda’s Economic War on the West

By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary)  |  January 13th at 12:01 AM  | 

TEN YEARS HAVE passed since terrorists hijacked airliners and flew them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  In that period, America has fought wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, carried out hundreds armed drone attacks in Pakistan and Yemen (among other locations), and conducted covert operations around the world, all in the name of what President George W.  Bush termed the “Global War on | Read More »

‘Jihad Joe’ and the Radicalization of American Muslims

By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary)  |  August 31st at 06:00 PM  | 

AT A TIME when so many books on politics, religion, and world events are little more than puffed-up pamphlets which are simultaneously high on hyper-partisanship and low on facts, J. M. Berger‘s Jihad Joe, a treatment of the radicalization and actions of American Muslims who have dedicated themselves to “violent jihad” (the author’s chosen term), is a breath of fresh – and troubling – air.  | Read More »