As we have been reporting, Iran is increasingly expanding its presence in Latin America, as evidenced in Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent tour to Ecuador, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. More troubling, of course, are reports uncovered by the Univision News Network that Iran is using Latin America as a base for possible terrorist plots against the United States. Unfortunately, despite the obvious national security threat of Iran’s increasing reach in Central and South America, this Administration’s policy toward Latin America has been devoid of urgency to reassert American leadership in …
Turkey may no longer be the friend the United States once knew. The Washington Post reports that thousands gathered in Istanbul on Saturday, shouting “Damn Israel!” in protest of the clash between Israeli forces and “peace activists” on a Turkish-flagged ship. The protest, together with dangerous shifts in Turkey’s foreign policy and inflammatory rhetoric from its prime minister, lead to questions about the country’s posture toward the West. The Washington Post reports: The incident occurred as Turkey has been strengthening ties with Muslim governments in the region — becoming more …
Although Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has found little time to reciprocate the Obama Administration’s diplomatic engagement efforts, he apparently is eager to engage an international audience at a U.N. forum next week. He is planning to travel to New York City on Monday to address the U.N. conference reviewing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This is the same treaty that Iran is subverting by exploiting loopholes to advance its nuclear weapons program. Ahmadinejad’s appearance will be a major embarrassment for the U.N., which has failed to take decisive action to pressure …
Now that that the massive healthcare bill has been signed into law, President Obama can no longer make excuses for neglecting foreign affairs. Just last week, he postponed an upcoming trip to Indonesia and Australia for one final push to pass Obamacare—a trip he had already pushed off a year ago for the same reason. Australians are among many foreign publics complaining that Obama is taking their support of the U.S. “for granted” and wonder if they are still on Obama’s foreign policy radar. For the recent Iranian new year, …
In addition announcing the launch of a research rocket, three Iranian-made satellites, and a tactical shift on a proposed International Atomic Energy Agency deal on uranium, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threw another disingenuous curve ball yesterday by claiming that talks were underway with the United States for an exchange of prisoners. In an interview on state television Tuesday, Ahmadinejad was asked about the fate of three American hikers detained in Iran and claimed that the United States, not Iran, was at fault: “They have arrested our citizens for nothing… this is very …
Iran’s government today announced the successful launching of a research rocket carrying a mouse, two turtles and worms into space. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad trumpeted the launch as a “very big event” and promised on state-controlled television that “The scientific arena is where we could defeat the (West’s) domination.” The launch of the Explorer-3 rocket is part of Iran’s ambitious space program, which concerns many Iran-watchers because the same technology used to launch research rockets and satellites can also be used to deliver warheads in ballistic missiles. Significantly, the launch was …
As President Obama reads press accounts of his speech on health care reform last night, he is likely to skip over an important editorial on foreign policy appearing in today’s Washington Post: Mr. Chavez was in Tehran again this week and offered his full support for Mr. Ahmadinejad’s hard-line faction. As usual, the caudillo made clear that he shares Iran’s view of Israel, which he called “a genocidal state.” He endorsed Iran’s nuclear program and declared that Venezuela would seek Iran’s assistance to construct a nuclear complex of its own. …
I am proud my colleagues on the Armed Services Committee succeeded in securing a 3.4 percent pay raise for our troops as well as critical advance funding for twelve new F-22 air superiority fighters in the National Defense Authorization Act. However, I am extremely disappointed that the Democrats failed to take this opportunity to draw a line in the sand and show the leaders of rogue regimes that the United States will not back down from investing in a strong missile defense system. Without question, the Obama administration has a …
What are Iranians protesting? Many Iranians were outraged by the alleged landslide re-election victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, Ahmadinejad’s prime challenger, charged that the regime had tampered with the ballot count and had stolen the June 12 election from him and the Iranian people. Over time, the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators have shifted their focus from protesting the widely-doubted election results to denouncing the legitimacy of the regime itself. Chants of “Death to the dictator” have replaced “Death to America” on Iranian streets. …
Despite President Ahmadinejad’s dismissive and arrogant attitude toward the “weeds” that have sprung up to reject his alleged election victory, massive crowds of Iranians continued their protests against his regime for a fifth straight day. The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has backpedaled away from his initial blessing of the election results as a “divine assessment” and now has promised a partial vote recount in an effort to defuse the crisis. This maneuver, which undoubtedly is a subterfuge to drain away support for opposition rallies, is unlikely to result in a …
