Subscribe to FDD

Analysis & Commentary

25th January 2012 – The Long War Journal

ISAF Captures Senior Taliban Commander in Helmand

Bill Roggio

In a raid earlier this month, International Security Assistance Force personnel captured a senior Taliban military commander who directed operations against NATO and Afghan forces in northern Helmand province. more...

23rd January 2012 – The Jerusalem Post

Christians in Iran, Syria Face Rising Persecution

Benjamin Weinthal

Christians in Iran, Syria Face Rising Persecution

There has been a wave of violence targeting Iranian and Syrian Christians over the past month, say Christian news reports. In addition, Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who has been on death row since 2010 for seeking to register his home-based church, refused to renounce his Christian beliefs in exchange for his release from prison. more...

19th January 2012 – The National Interest

The Palestinian Campaign to Delegitimize Israel

Jonathan Schanzer

The Palestinian Campaign to Delegitimize Israel

Israeli envoy Isaac Molho met Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat recently for the third time in the new year. The talks, widely praised across the international community, have been billed as a much-needed jumpstart for negotiations between the two sides. more...

19th January 2012 – Scripps Howard News Service

Militant Islamism, Islamism, Islam

Clifford D. May

Militant Islamism, Islamism, Islam

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has described the Muslim Brotherhood as “secular.” Vice President Joseph Biden recently said the Taliban “is not our enemy.” more...

18th January 2012 – The Long War Journal

Leaders of German al Qaeda Cell Living in Iran

Thomas Joscelyn

In early October 2010, US forces launched a drone airstrike against a militant compound in North Waziristan, Pakistan. The intent of the strike was to kill members of a German al Qaeda cell that had plotted to assault European cities in a manner similar to the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India. more...

18th January 2012 – CNN

How U.S. Can Help Stop Bloodshed in Syria

Ammar Abdulhamid

How U.S. Can Help Stop Bloodshed in Syria

After more than six months of silence, Syria's leader, Bashar al-Assad, spoke last week for only the fourth time since the beginning of the country's widespread uprising in March. His words show that he is as delusional now as when the protests began. more...

17th January 2012 – The Wall Street Journal

The Embargo That Can’t Wait

Emanuele Ottolenghi

The Embargo That Can’t Wait

Iran's recent threats to close the Strait of Hormuz have elicited worldwide concern about escalation in the Persian Gulf. The unrest along the strategic waterway has raised the specter of war and spiraling oil prices; Hormuz is the obligatory daily transit point for nearly 20% of world energy resources. more...

17th January 2012 – National Review Online

On Iran, Emulate TR

James Woolsey, Robert 'Bud' McFarlane

On Iran, Emulate TR

In the first week of 2012, President Obama finally approved tough sanctions on Iran’s central bank, aiming to cripple Iran’s oil trade and thwart its advanced efforts to possess a nuclear weapon. more...