The underlying causes of chaos in the Middle East are indigenous. But Obama hasn’t helped. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online President Obama claims he inherited a mess in the Middle East. Not so. Fracking and horizontal drilling on private lands in the U.S. had taken off in the last years of the …
Traditional pillars of the tiny democracy’s security have begun to erode. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East and North Africa. Eight million Israelis are surrounded by some 400 million Muslims in more than 20 states. Almost all of Israel’s neighbors are anti-Israeli dictatorships, …
Because Turkey is not Israel. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online Limassol, Cyprus — Cyprus is a beautiful island. But it has never recovered from the Turkish invasion of 1974. Turkish troops still control nearly 40 percent of the island — the most fertile and formerly the richest portion. Some 200,000 Greek refugees never …
Elite opinion believes Israel will lose “long-term” whatever happens in the next weeks. Not necessarily. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online In postmodern wars, we are told, there is no victory, no defeat, no aggressors, no defenders, just a tragedy of conflicting agendas. But in such a mindless and amoral landscape, Israel in …
How to lose battles and gain sympathizers. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online Once again neighboring enemies are warring in diametrically opposite ways. Hamas sees the death of its civilians as an advantage; Israel sees the death of its civilians as a disaster. Defensive missiles explode to save civilians in Israel; in Gaza, civilians are …
by Bruce S. Thorton // FrontPage Magazine Israel’s military operation to degrade Hamas’ ability to rain rockets down on Israeli cities has stirred up the usual noisy and nasty protests in Europe. We need not dwell on demonstrations by Muslim immigrants, whose genocidal Jew-hatred has been an Islamic tradition for 14 centuries. More revealing is …
by Bruce Thornton // FrontPage Magazine Scenes all too familiar from the Arab conflict with Israel have followed the murder last Wednesday of a 16-year-old Palestinian, Mohammed Abu Khdeir. Mourners at his funeral chanting the Muslim war-cry “Allahu Akbar” as they carry the boy’s open coffin, the crowd shouting slogans like “Intifada rise up” and “America and …
by Bruce Thornton // FrontPage Magazine Every parent should be happy for the Bergdahl family, whose son was returned to them after five years of captivity among the Taliban. But every parent is not the president of the United States, whose primary responsibility is to protect the security and interests of all Americans, both …
by Bruce S. Thornton // FrontPage Magazine The Washington Post reports that some members of Secretary of State John Kerry’s senior staff think it’s time to say “enough” of Kerry’s futile and delusional attempts to broker peace between the Israelis and Arabs and implement the “two- state solution.” That’s a revelation one would think the chief diplomat of …
The prejudice against Israel in diplomatic matters is as troubling as more cruse bigotry agains Jews. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online An obscure academic organization called the American Studies Association not long ago voted to endorse a resolution calling for a boycott of Israeli universities. The self-appointed moralists were purportedly outraged over the …