Iraq’s Descent Back into Civil War Makes the Case for American Energy Independence

By: Repair_Man_Jack (Diary)  |  May 2nd at 10:45 AM  | 

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

-George Santayana (HT: Wikiquote)

America now faces a typical conundrum that has plagued all of our recent Presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower all the way forward to President Barack Obama. We depend upon the Middle East for much of the energy that provides our motive power. As a result of this debilitating dependence upon people who hate us and practice a system of ethics and morals totally alien to our own, we are increasingly compromised and forced into courses of action that do not benefit our national commonweal. If we produce enough of our own energy, while curbing our domestic consumption, we can break this cycle of self-sabotage. If we don’t break the cycle, every US President going forward will wage his own, pointless version of a Punic War in Western Asia. I describe the current state of play below.

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When is the Madness in Afghanistan Going to Stop?

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  August 30th at 09:36 AM  | 

Another week, another 2 U.S. soldiers gunned down by Afghan soldiers. Imagine if a Republican president assumed office 9 years into a mildly successful war and incurred more casualties under his watch due to an aimless effort fraught with egregious rules of engagement.  Wouldn’t you expect there to be a body count every night on the news along with gory pictures of the failing, rudderless | Read More »

BREAKING: Brett McGurk Withdraws Nomination

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  June 18th at 03:23 PM  | 

Reports are coming across the wire and lots of reporters on twitter saying Brett McGurk, the man Barack Obama chose to be Ambassador to Iraq, has withdrawn his nomination even though he cleared the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. McGurk has been under fire lately for using his State Department email address to carry on an affair with a Wall Street Journal employee now in Iraq. | Read More »

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 »

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 »

Iraq War ends on Bush’s schedule, not Obama’s

By: Dan Spencer (Diary)  |  December 15th at 03:31 PM  | 

President Obama and the biased media wing of the Democrat Party are heralding the “official” end of the Iraq War. They are neglecting to note that in order to get the Democrats’ nomination, presidential candidate Obama promised to remove all combat brigades from Iraq within 16 months: Whatever nuance Barack Obama is now adding to his Iraq withdrawal strategy, the core plan on his Web | Read More »

Obama to reduce Iraq strength to 3,000, lose election…

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  September 6th at 03:30 PM  | 

…and set up the bank shot in 2016 for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, apparently: The Obama administration has decided to drop the number of U.S. troops in Iraq at the end of the year down to 3,000, marking a major downgrade in force strength, multiple sources familiar with the inner workings and decisions on U.S. troop movements in Iraq told Fox News. [snip] This | Read More »

Brad Thor Talks About Full Black and the Patriots in America’s Special Forces

By: Brad Jackson (Diary)  |  July 28th at 10:18 AM  | 

Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by New York Times’ best selling author Brad Thor to discuss his newest thriller Full Black, how he develops material for his books, the importance of highlighting the work of the fearless patriots in America’s Special Forces, and the upcoming Warner Bros. film adaptations | Read More »

Lying – The Most Fun a Politician Can Have with His Clothes On

By: Brad Jackson (Diary)  |  June 15th at 10:12 AM  | 

Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson is joined by Pejman Yousefzadeh and Elizabeth Blackney to discuss the GOP presidential debate in New Hampshire, and John Mearsheimer’s new book, “Why Leaders Lie: The Truth About Lying in International Politics.” We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to | Read More »

Key votes on Abortion, DADT, START, and Gitmo This Week.

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  May 25th at 11:43 AM  | 

Today, the House will consider two bills with some amendments that are important to conservatives. Abortion After a period of morning speeches, the House will finish work on H.R. 1216- the fourth bill brought to the floor that defunds mandatory appropriations for an Obamacare program.  This bill rescinds all unobligated funds for graduate medical training programs created under Obamacare.  It also subjects the remaining appropriations | Read More »

Benjamin Netanyahu’s Speech to Congress: a Reinforcement, not a Renegotiation

By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary)  |  May 24th at 04:00 PM  | 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to a joint session of the U.S. Congress for the second time today (and for the first time in fifteen years), fresh off a meeting with President Obama on Friday, Obama’s Middle Eastern address Thursday, and dueling weekend speeches between the two leaders at AIPAC. The first few minutes were well-used defining the scope of the current fight against | Read More »

MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell *had* 32 teeth.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  May 6th at 09:30 AM  | 

I know this, because I just watched him crawl on the floor trying to retrieve them after he tried to push around former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy This one’s going around. Newsbusters, @adambaldwin, the Daily Caller – take your pick. Particularly enjoyable was the part where she called O’Donnell a liar:

TX Senate Dem recruit once object of scorn for military interrogations

By: Beltway Whispers (Diary)  |  April 16th at 05:10 PM  | 

Did national Democrats’ recruitment of former Iraq commander Ricardo Sanchez transform the Texas Senate race from a blow-out into a marquee 2012 contest? Not a chance, say Republicans eyeing the race. For deep red Texas GOP’ers, the most significant task is clearing the primary field, which includes former solicitor general Ted Cruz, ex-railroad commish Michael Williams, former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and car dealer-turned-secretary of | Read More »

On Intervention and Opposition to the Libyan Engagement

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  March 29th at 11:19 AM  | 

“Right now, the best case is simply to sit back and root for injuries between the warring parties in Libya — not intervening for either side.” Using the same rationale George W. Bush used to go into Iraq, Barack Obama has now gone into Libya. It seems that the world is upside down. Suddenly Republicans are concerned about going into a Middle Eastern country and | Read More »