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Facebook Fatwa: Saudi Clerics, Wahhabi Islam and Social Media
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies has released the first-ever study of what radical Saudi Wahhabists are preaching to their followers about the United States and non-Muslims on social media sites.
Learn MoreAnalysis & Commentary - Michael Ledeen
BarackObama.ir
Did you know that the Islamic Republic of Iran has devoted a website to President Obama? more...
Cracks in the Iranian Monolith
The Iranian regime loves to boast of its military strength, international clout and hold on domestic power. Much of this is accepted by outside experts, but in fact the regime is in trouble. Iran's leaders have lost legitimacy in the eyes of the people, are unable to manage the country's many problems, face a growing opposition, and are openly fighting with one another. more...
Only in America
Over the weekend, I participated in one of those events that makes you feel good to be an American. more...
The New ‘Pentagon Papers’
This is first-rate commentary, and oorah! for the New York Times for publishing it. Bottom line: Nothing new here, save perhaps some operational details that may cost NATO lives. The punditry has been weak, because so many who haven’t studied Afghanistan for the past several years now suddenly feel qualified to comment. They aren’t. more...
Jim Lobe, ‘Neoconservatives,’ and War on Iran
Jim Lobe has probably devoted most of his time for the past decade “exposing” what he takes to be the enormous and malevolent influence of “neoconservatives” on American foreign policy. And yet he doesn’t have the time to listen to what some of us say. more...
Revolution, Iranian and Otherwise
For most of modern history it was taken for granted that you could not go from dictatorship to democracy without a violent conflict. That was because tyrants had fallen either after losing a war (King George, Czar Nicholas, Hitler, Mussolini) or at the hands of a violent insurrection. more...
Iran Heats Up: The Bazaar Strikes Back
The death spiral of the Islamic Republic seems to be gathering momentum. That big fire at a major oil well I told you about last week continues unabated, with big flames and clouds of noxious black smoke pouring out. And these are the people who offered to clean up the much larger catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. more...
Happy Birthday, Modern World
That’s what the 4th is, the modern world’s birthday. Those who signed the Declaration knew it was a revolutionary event–rulers must henceforth be accountable to the people, because the people are endowed with God-given rights–and they were right. Wave after wave of democratic revolution have swept the world ever since. more...
Seeing Iran Plain
The apologists for the Iranian regime generates so much nonsense that a whole crew of fact checkers could be gainfully employed simply exposing them. Let' s take two: 'the Islamic Republic has never invaded anybody,' and, 'the regime is in control, the opposition is dead.'The first is invoked to silence anyone who wants to take action, [...] more...
Iran Wimps Out
As I told you a while back, they’re not going to take on Israel by sending ships — with or without the Revolutionary Guards — to challenge the Gaza blockade. The details are delicious. more...
The Failed Frontal Assault of Fareed Zakaria
Now comes Fareed Zakaria to denounce the 'fantasy' of an Iranian revolution. His main target is Sen. John McCain, but while he’s at it Zakaria unloads on Reuel Gerecht, Bret Stephens, and 'the neoconservatives.' He is so pessimistic about the prospects for the Green Movement that he is willing to entertain the possibility that Ahmadinejad [...] more...
The Fatal Follies of Containment
Cliff May has an outstanding piece arguing, correctly I think, that containment will not work with a nuclear Iran. It would be too costly to maintain, involve too many countries with conflicting interests, and require us to fight an endless series of small wars, with the very fractious internal political battles that we have already seen in Iraq and Afghanistan. Michael Anton has analyzed the costs of containment at greater length here. And Bret Stephens does his usual thoughtful job in Commentary. more...
Iran’s Revolution Has Only Just Begun
Today is the first anniversary of the fraudulent election that kept President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power, igniting huge demonstrations all over Iran. At the time, very few outside observers believed that most Iranians hated the regime of "Supreme Leader" Ali Khamenei and Mr. Ahmadinejad and were willing to risk their lives to bring it down. more...
Iran Joins the Flotilla’NOT
The Iranians have announced that “if the Supreme Leader gives the word,” the Iranian Navy will accompany future flotillas to Gaza. more...
The Spy Swap that Really Happened: The Case of Agent ‘Lily’
I’ve of course been following the story of the French release of Ali Vakili-Rod, the Iranian assassin of former Prime Minister Shahpour Bakhtiar. If you like assassinations, that one — in Paris in early August, 1991 — is a real masterpiece. The three-man killer team beat an elite force of Parisian police, and cut Bakhtiar’s throat so efficiently that no one heard a sound, and they got away so quietly that the body wasn’t found for three days. more...
Don’ t You Just Love Hezbollah? It’ s So Interesting’Like Freddie Kruger
As the extraordinary Andy McCarthy points out on The Corner, White House terror “expert” John Brennan–and his boss, President Obama– seem to think that we should be cultivating the “moderate” elements in Hezbollah. more...
Iran: Happy Anniversary, Dictator
We are very nearly at the first anniversary of the great Iranian electoral hopes and hoax of June 12, 2009. While Iran has changed dramatically in that period of time, many analysts have reverted to form, arguing that the regime has learned how to dominate the monster protests by combining terror against dissidents, propaganda and disinformation against the Green leaders, and subversion of the “social networks” that, for a while, enabled the opposition to coordinate protests in many different cities. And yet, it is quite obvious that the regime is very frightened of the Iranian people. We saw proof of that from the most reliable source: the behavior of the tyrannical regime. more...
Shahzad the Sleeper
As you might imagine, I have been trying to get in touch with the spirit of my old friend James Jesus Angleton, the late, legendary former chief of CIA counterintelligence, ever since the failed bombing attempt in Times Square. At long last I got to the Ouija board to connect, and after the usual throat clearing (I can’t figure out whether smoking in the world to come is a form of punishment or bliss) there he was. more...