Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom director Nile Gardiner on Iran’s missile test today: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0DU7_DwO3Q[/youtube]
From our 33 Minutes blog: Earlier this week we mentioned Iran’s defiance and nuclear ambitions, President Barack Obama’s too-friendly request to enter into talks with Iran, the necessity to build agreed-upon missile defense shields in Poland and the Czech Republic, and Israel’s desire to take more aggressive action against Iran. Today’s post reaffirms why we blogged about these issues. My Way News reports that Iran test-fired an advanced missile today, with a range far enough to hit Israel, southeastern Europe, and our bases in the Middle East. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made …
In the past year, Russia’s defense spending has risen 34 percent. China’s defense spending has risen 15 percent. Within the past four months, Iran and North Korea have tested missiles that could someday carry warheads to Europe or the United States. With such conventional and asymmetric military capabilities rising around the world, what is the Obama Administration’s plan? To decrease overall defense spending, including on critical programs such as the F-22 stealth fighter, even though the U.S. Air Force has stated up to 60 more F-22s would be needed to …
Shmuley Boteach asks some brilliant questions in his article today in the Jerusalem Post that examined President Obama’s handshake diplomacy, like: ALL THIS LEADS to one important question. Suppose Obama succeeds in building friendships with Chavez, Castro, Ahmadinejad and the Taliban. What then? Does America still get to feel that it stands for something? Will we still be the beacon of liberty and freedom to the rest of the world, or will we have sold out in the name of political expediency? And do any of us seriously believe that presidential …
Spot on op-ed by Jackson Diehl in the Washington Post this Sunday. Diehl writes: New American presidents typically begin by behaving as if most of the world’s problems are the fault of their predecessors — and Barack Obama has been no exception. … Now comes the interesting part: when it starts to become evident that Bush did not create rogue states, terrorist movements, Middle Eastern blood feuds or Russian belligerence — and that shake-ups in U.S. diplomacy, however enlightened, might not have much impact on them.
In its rush to diplomatically engage Iran, the Obama Administration has found itself in the embarrassing position of appearing to be softer than France, which until recently had been a leading advocate of Europe’s “critical engagement” with Iran — a policy which offered Iran lucrative trade deals, but precious little criticism. The Administration reportedly is considering the unilateral abandonment of a crucial condition embedded in the 2007 diplomatic initiative made by the P5 + 1 (the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany) which required Iran to …
Yesterday the Obama administration announced that it would directly participate “from now on” in international talks with Iran over its nuclear program. These talks, supported by the Bush administration, were led by Britain, France, Germany Russia and China, but the U.S. did not participate. “There’s nothing more important than trying to convince Iran to cease its efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said. The Washington Post reports this morning: “Iran offered no immediate public response to the announcement.” Oh really?
“Arriving in Tehran,” Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez declared, “for us is like arriving at one’s home town.” It certainly should be as this is his sixth as President. The purpose of the visit, Chavez announced was to form with Iran a “common revolutionary front … in the world.” As for patching up relations with President Obama and the U.S. in the run-up to the Fifth Summit of the Americas, to be held in Trinidad and Tobago from April 17-19, Chavez was less positive. I don’t have much hope, because behind …
Barring a sudden change in weather, sometime tonight North Korea will likely launch a multistage rocket over Japan, far into the Pacific Ocean. The Kim Jong Il regime is claiming the launch is a test of their civilian satellite program, but it is widely understood that this claim is just a pretext for testing their Taepodong-2 intercontinental ballistic missile. A 2001 National Intelligence Estimate by the U.S. Intelligence Community assessed a two-stage Taepo Dong-2 could target Alaska, Hawaii, and the western United States while a three stage missile could threaten …
The USA Today cites an independent report that questions the effectiveness of the ground-based missile defense interceptors the United States plans to deploy in Europe to counter a potential long-range Iranian nuclear-tipped ballistic missile threat. The report comes from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an auditing and investigative arm of the Congress. While GAO reports may be “independent,” that does not mean they provide a fair and credible assessment of Pentagon programs. Last week, Army leaders held a press conference after a GAO report claimed to have identified a $21 …
