We have had a decade now of diplomatic negotiations over Iran's pursuit of nuclear technology in violation of the U.N. Security Council Resolutions on this subject. These have reached their height over the past year, as the Obama administration, along with the UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany, have been seeking to negotiate a "long-term comprehensive solution" to Iran's illicit nuclear program. During these talks, Iran has agreed to limit its nuclear program temporarily in return for some sanctions relief. A final agreement would free Iran of sanctions, while allowing it to maintain a...
We have had a decade now of diplomatic negotiations over Iran's pursuit of nuclear technology in violation of the U.N. Security Council Resolutions on...
Next month will mark the fourth anniversary since the start of the Syrian conflict, and there are no signs that the crisis will abate anytime soon. Assad has demonstrated no remorse, and, indeed, his intransigence has only hardened as he maintains his grasp on power and the enclaves of Syria, thanks to the support from Iran and the United States' unwillingness to engage both ISIL and Assad in a comprehensive strategy. ISIL and other terror groups have managed to wrest control of other large areas of Syria, and they, too, have no intention of giving up the territory they have claimed. Since...
Next month will mark the fourth anniversary since the start of the Syrian conflict, and there are no signs that the crisis will abate anytime soon. As...
The Obama administration's growing track record of secret negotiations, whether this is on the subject of Iran or the release of the five Taliban commanders, is increasingly troublesome. Had the White House consulted more widely, it may have heard that Havana is facing the threats of losing Venezuelan oil subsidies and mounting public pressure for basic reforms within the country. This could have been used to leverage meaningful political concessions on human rights in Cuba by that regime. The release of 53 political prisoners is one area in which the administration did secure a commitment...
The Obama administration's growing track record of secret negotiations, whether this is on the subject of Iran or the release of the five Taliban comm...
ISIS occupies a vast territory. It wants to "carve out a zone of governing territory that would run from Baghdad to Syria to Lebanon." It holds an estimated $2 billion in assets. There has never been in history a terrorist organization as well funded as this terror group. ISIS has used the "virtual caliphate" on the Internet to recruit foreign fighters at an "unprecedented rate." Twenty thousand foreign fighters from 90 countries now make up the ranks of ISIS and, according to intelligence estimates, this includes 3,400 from the West and more than 150 Americans on the ground fighting for ISIS...
ISIS occupies a vast territory. It wants to "carve out a zone of governing territory that would run from Baghdad to Syria to Lebanon." It holds an est...
Given Washington's chronic budget deficit, wasteful spending is intolerable. Even good programs may be unsupportable at levels we would want. But we must also appreciate the many serious challenges we as a Nation, and the U.S. Department of State in particular, faces worldwide. These challenges seem to grow by the day. Iran and North Korea are pursuing nuclear weapons; Russia is gobbling up neighboring Ukraine; we see beheadings, crucifixions, and immolation by ISIS; cartoonists and Jewish shoppers are targeted and killed on Paris streets. Indeed, some days it feels as if the world itself is...
Given Washington's chronic budget deficit, wasteful spending is intolerable. Even good programs may be unsupportable at levels we would want. But we m...
The long history of secret cooperation between Iran and North Korea in violation of international law stretches back for decades. North Korea first sold Iran ballistic missiles during the 1980s during Iran's war with Iraq. By the end of the 1980s, North Korea and China were supplying Iran with about 70 percent of its arms. Move to the 1990s, and Iran and North Korea had moved onto working together to develop long-range ballistic missiles. By the beginning of the 2000s, the Iranians were giving North Korea sensitive data from their own missile tests to improve the North Korean missile systems....
The long history of secret cooperation between Iran and North Korea in violation of international law stretches back for decades. North Korea first so...
The brutalization and oppression of women living under ISIS is almost without parallel, from widespread rape and trafficking to forced marriage and murder. Female captives, including thousands of Yazidi women and girls, are sold as slaves in modern day slave markets. One U.N. official described meeting with a woman in ISIS-occupied territory who was forced to marry 15 different men in 1 year. Some of these so-called "marriages" lasted only 3 days. That is life under ISIS for these women today. Much of this seemingly crazed and indiscriminate violence against women is in fact a sinister and...
The brutalization and oppression of women living under ISIS is almost without parallel, from widespread rape and trafficking to forced marriage and mu...
ISIS has unleashed a campaign of brutal violence, depraved violence, not only against Shia Muslims and fellow Sunnis who do not share their radical beliefs, but against vulnerable religious and ethnic minorities. Many Americans may not realize that Iraq and Syria are home to dozens of ethnic and religious minorities with ancient cultures with deep roots. These communities-Assyrian and Chaldean Christians, Yezidis, Alawites, and others-are under mortal threat in their ancestral homelands. And the mass execution of men, the enslavement of women and children, and the destruction of religious...
ISIS has unleashed a campaign of brutal violence, depraved violence, not only against Shia Muslims and fellow Sunnis who do not share their radical be...
