On ISIS and the Syrian Refugee Crisis: Peace Takes Courage, So We Will Have War

A day after ISIS operatives killed over a hundred people in Paris, the French military dropped some bombs on Raqqa, Syria—the de facto capital of the Islamic State. The attack was mostly symbolic, as probably no ISIS agents were killed. But it signaled how the West would be dealing with ISIS. Unfortunately, it also signaled […]

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The Resurgence of Bacha Bazi: How Our War in Afghanistan Put Homosexual Pedophiles Back in Power

The practice of “bacha bazi” goes back many hundreds (perhaps thousands) of years in the Middle East and Asia. Many powerful warlords and rich merchants have long held to a surprising sexual perspective: “Women are for children. Boys are for pleasure.” It might be hard for us to wrap our heads around this, but our […]

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Japan Parliament Breaks Out in Fisticuffs During Pacifism Debate

You can’t make this stuff up. Apparently tensions rose in a spirited debate in the Japanese parliament about whether or not Japan should allow its Self-Defense Forces to engage in wartime activities outside the country: Legislators scuffled in Parliament and demonstrators took to the streets on Thursday as Japan’s governing coalition moved to secure final passage […]

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After Iran Nuke Deal, Iran Hates US Even More

It’s often the case with bullies: you give them what they want, and they despise and disrespect you even more for it. Such is apparently the case with Iran. We delivered a pretty lax nuclear deal to Iran, one which almost guarantees that they will have nuclear weapons very soon. And how did they respond […]

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The War Stories We Need to Hear vs. The War Stories We are Told

I have a few relatives and friends who fought for the US military overseas. A very few of that few have been willing to talk about their experiences as soldiers in other countries. But most of them have been reluctant or unwilling to tell war stories. My brother-in-law told me recently that he used to ask […]

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Rand Paul Says GOP Hawks Have Helped ISIS Grow Stronger

With words closely echoing his father’s foreign policy concerns, Rand Paul has said that the GOP penchant for making war has actually created the current ISIS crisis: In an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Paul was asked about the criticism he’s received from GOP hawks like South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and Arizona Sen. John […]

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What Does Climate Change Have to Do With Our Military?

President Obama recently spoke at the commencement for the Coast Guard Academy. He decided it was as good a time as ever to bring up climate change: Climate change is one of those most severe threats. This is not just a problem for countries on the coasts or for certain regions of the world. Climate […]

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Is the US the Biggest Threat to Middle East Stability?

An opinion piece in Forbes by Doug Bandow claims that the biggest threat to Middle East stability is actually the intrusive involvement of the US military: The situation is serious, but Washington policy is almost beyond parody. Announced Secretary of State John Kerry, the U.S. was “not going to stand by while the region is […]

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The Final Price of War in the Middle East … $6 Trillion!

There are many reasons we shouldn’t be waging wars in the Middle East. But one of the most compelling at this point should be that we just can’t afford it. According to a recent study, our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will have a final cost of nearly $6 trillion: “As a consequence of these […]

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Should We Declassify the Redacted 9/11 Report Pages?

Recently, House Resolution 14 has been forwarded to declassify about 28 redacted pages of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s 9/11 Report: Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) and former Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL) met on January 7 with families of those who were killed in the 9/11 attacks as well as representatives from the […]

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