Trump Foreign Policy
February 23, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
Democrats seem nearly unanimous in their outrage over the assassination of the leading Iranian terrorist, Qasem Soleimani. Some Republicans have also expressed opposition to President Trump’s decision to take Soleimani out. I thought it was a great move. I’m delighted that Soleimani has joined Osama bin Laden, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in the ranks of those wondering where the heck those virgins are. However, I questioned whether
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January 28, 2020 — John Hinderaker
That is how President Trump bills the Israeli-Arab peace plan that he unveiled today. You can download the entire proposal, titled “Peace to Prosperity: A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People,” here. I haven’t had time to digest the entire plan, but the Jerusalem Post summarizes the high points: Borders: Trump’s plan features a map of what Israel’s new borders will be, should it enact
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January 15, 2020 — John Hinderaker
President Trump signed the “Phase One” trade agreement with China today at the White House. The agreement is far-ranging; you can read its entire text here. Among other things, it includes “commitments from Beijing to purchase $200 billion of U.S. products over the next two years, halt intellectual property theft and refrain from currency manipulation.” In return, the U.S. has reduced or eliminated some tariffs on Chinese-manufactured goods, but other
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January 15, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Rep. Brian Mast is a double amputee courtesy of the munitions disseminated by Qassem Soleimani in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. (Rep. Mast himself sustained his injuries in Afghanistan.) We posted Rep. Mast’s remarks condemning his Democratic colleagues on the floor of the House last week in “Brian Mast speaks.” Rep. Mast followed up his remarks on the House floor in the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing yesterday (video below, C-SPAN
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January 12, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Rep. Brian Mast is a double amputee courtesy of the munitions disseminated by Qassem Soleimani in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. Rep. Mast himself sustained his injuries in Afghanistan. Beyond the 600-plus Americans whose deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq by such munitions can be attributed to Soleimani are the many more who have been grievously wounded and disfigured. Rep. Mast is representative of them in his person and spoke up on
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January 11, 2020 — John Hinderaker
Iran has been roiled by protests and demonstrations following its government’s admission that its troops shot down a Ukrainian airliner. A few hours ago, President Trump produced two tweets in Farsi, supporting the Iranian people. (Parenthetically, I assume that Trump doesn’t know Farsi, so that apparently answers the question whether anyone besides the president gets involved in his tweets.) Here they are, with English translations: به مردم شجاع و رنج
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January 11, 2020 — John Hinderaker
The London Times has an interview with Ben Wallace, Great Britain’s Defense Secretary, that offers a good perspective on American foreign policy under the Trump administration. It is interesting, in particular, to contrast the reporter’s editorializing with what Wallace actually says: Britain must prepare to fight wars without America, the defence secretary has warned, amid concerns that President Donald Trump will pursue an ever more isolationist foreign policy. Isolationist? I’m
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January 8, 2020 — John Hinderaker
Iran tossed a few missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq yesterday, ostensibly in retaliation for the killing of Qassem Soleimani. The regime gave warning of the strikes, which injured no one and did little property damage, likely on purpose. Iran promptly announced that it was done retaliating. In other words, please don’t hit us again! It is revealing that the regime thought it necessary to lie about its counterstrikes. FARS
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January 8, 2020 — Scott Johnson
President Trump just concluded his formal statement on last night’s attack by Iran on the two bases in Iraq. He opened his statement with the vow that Iran will never acquire nuclear weapons on his watch and observed: “Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world.” He reported that no American or Iraqi lives were
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January 8, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Iran retaliated against the United States last night for the termination of Qassem Soleimani with extreme prejudice. From inside Iran it fired some 15 ballistic missiles at two Iraqi bases housing U.S. forces — one in Erbil in northern Iraq and the large Al Asad base in western Iraq. One missile hit the base in Erbil (apparently four missed); ten hit the Al Asad base. No U.S. or Iraqi casualties
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January 6, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
At Power Line, we sometimes refer to the Washington Post as an adjunct of the Democratic Party. To an even greater degree, the Post is an adjunct of official Washington — the cadre of career bureaucrats and former officials who consider it their God given right to set policy, regardless of what elected officials desire. (There is, of course, considerable overlap between official Washington and the Democratic Party). Thus, it’s
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January 6, 2020 — Steven Hayward
Over at Instapundit, Glenn Reynolds posted an interesting message from a Facebook friend who wishes to remain anonymous. Here’s the relevant part: Following the death of Soleimani, it seems like nearly the entire DC / academia / journo natsec/forpol commentariat has penned variations on exactly the same essay: the President has acted hastily, has no plan, and isn’t capable of envisioning or handling what happens next. The template was established
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January 4, 2020 — John Hinderaker
Iran or its proxies fired a few mortars and rockets at the Green Zone in Baghdad today: Two mortar rounds hit the Green Zone in Baghdad on Saturday and two rockets slammed into a base housing US troops, security sources said, according to AFP. No one was injured. This is a pretty lame response to the killing of General Soleimani, and I assume there is more to come. I do
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January 4, 2020 — John Hinderaker
General David Petraeus gave an interview yesterday on the significance of the killing of Qasem Soleimani. It is well worth reading: Marco Werman: How did you know Qasem Soleimani? Gen. David Petraeus: Well, he was our most significant Iranian adversary during my four years in Iraq, [and] certainly when I was the Central Command commander, and very much so when I was the director of the CIA. He is unquestionably
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January 3, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
When Iranian-backed militias attacked the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Ayatollah Khamanei reportedly boasted that America “cannot do a damn thing” about it. This harked back to America’s failed effort in 1979 to rescue hostages Iran held. During a demonstration in Tehran following that fiasco, one of the signs said, “America can’t do anything.” All nations respect nations that can do things — in other words, nations that effectively wield power.
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January 3, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Referring to the targeted assassination of Iran’s terrorist mastermind Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad yesterday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo explained: “It was time to take action.” The FOX News clip below from its morning news show runs short of two minutes, but Pompeo knows what he is talking about and should be heard out. AEI’s Marc Thiessen and Danielle Pletka explored the role of the Democrats in encouraging Iran in
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January 3, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Let’s see if you can sort the sane from the “other” in the following hot takes on the termination with extreme prejudice of Iran’s terrorist commander Qassem Soleimani at the order of President Trump yesterday. Rich Lowry comments: This is an incredibly bold move that shows that Trump’s red line against harming Americans was very real. The conventional wisdom that Trump is just a Twitter tiger, which was driving news
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