War is a miserable business. The lives of a nation’s finest patriots are sacrificed. Innocent people suffer and die. Commerce is disrupted, economies are damaged. Strategic interests shielded by years of patient statecraft are endangered as the exigencies of war and diplomacy conflict. However heady the appeal of a call to arms, however just the […]

In the aftermath of the violence on September 11, American politicians from Geogre W. Bush on down have tripped over themselves to affirm that the vast majority of Muslims living in the United States are just ordinary people. Here is how the President put it during a visit to a mosque on September 17: “America […]

WASHINGTON To read the headlines, you would think a major rift was growing between the U.S. and its only dependable ally in the Middle East. Our State Department “demands” that Israel end its forays into West Bank terrorist centers and promise never to respond punitively again. Israel “rebuffs” this angry order and “defies” the U.S. […]

#1 No such thing as “conditional sovereignty” Aluf Benn reported in Ha’aretz today that Prime Minister Sharon plans to offer Arafat a sovereign state – if he stops the violence – without requiring agreement on final borders or the resolution of the Jerusalem and refugee issues It should be noted that there is no such […]

What do Muslims think of Osama bin Laden? Ask Westerners and you’ll hear how marginal he is. President Bush says bin Laden represents a “fringe form of Islamic extremism . . . rejected by Muslim scholars and the vast majority of Muslim clerics.” American specialists on Islam agree. “Osama bin Laden is to Islam like […]

The United Nations has won the Nobel Peace Prize. Congratulations! With the Nobel award to the UN, hope springs eternal. Now, the most deserving individuals or groups — so long and unjustly overlooked — have a chance. If the UN deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, then . . . Woody Allen deserves the Loyalty to […]

On Oct. 1, 2001, President George W. Bush casually mentioned that the Mitchell Report is the basis of future peace talks between Israel and the PLO. One year after that report was commissioned, perhaps the time has come to take stock as to whether that report was indeed "balanced and fair." In late October, 2000, […]

Washington (CNN) – Members of the House of International Relations Committee Wednesday criticized the Bush administration in unusually harsh language for opposing Israeli targeted killings while it hunts down suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden “dead or alive”. Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-New York, the ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on the Middle East and Asia, […]

Moments of international crisis have a way of stripping away diplomatic facades and exposing uncomfortable truths. One of the disturbing realities clarified by last month’s terror attacks is Saudi Arabia’s tolerance for terrorism. Students of America’s deeply cynical relationship with Riyadh have long known that the kingdom did little to discourage Islamic extremists, as long […]

Of the five countries described below, can you identify the one(s) excluded from the US-led coalition in the war on terrorism? Country A is free and democratic, a steadfast ally of the United States. Its citizens know what it means to be victimized by terrorism, and they were deeply shaken by the Sept. 11 atrocities. […]