Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- January 18, 2013

 

Algeria Crisis Is A Wakeup Call For America -- Frida Ghitis, CNN 

(CNN) -- The news that a large number of Westerners, including several Americans, had become hostages in North Africa shook the U.S. once again out of the delusion that it is possible to turn away from the world's problems.

Many Americans would like nothing better than to forget about the rest of the planet and focus on all the challenges crying for attention at home. After more than a decade of fighting costly and painful wars in faraway lands, people have grown weary, tired of worrying about complicated conflicts that seem to have no connection to their own lives.

 But then bad things happen.

Read more ....

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials  

Algeria Attack Shows The Arab Spring Morphing Into The War On Terror -- Christopher Helman, Forbes

Is Mali the next Afghanistan? -- Matthew Schofield, McClatchy Newspapers

Why Africa backs French in Mali -- Lansana Gberie, Special to CNN

Extremists are not the partners for Mali solution -- National Editorial

Don’t Overreact to Mali (or the Hostages). Let the Obama doctrine lead the way. -- Fred Kaplan, Slate

Libya Is Messy. So Was Eastern Europe in 1991. -- Ali Tarhouni, Bloomberg

U.N. rules and Syrian intervention -- John B. Bellinger III, Washington Post

Saddam footsteps -- Daily Star editorial

Trying to make sense of Pakistan -- Ghaffar Hussain, The Commentator

Analysts: Political party polls in Kenya a failure -- Tom Odula, AP

Europe Must Prepare for Life Without America -- Con Coughlin, Telegraph

The Pacific President: In his second term, Obama is taking a decisive turn away from Europe – and Britain -- Freddy Gray, Spectator

What’s behind Cuba’s new travel policy? -- Mimi Whitefield, Miami Herald

The Death of Fatah and the Future of Palestine -- Dalia Hatuqa, The Atlantic

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- February 22, 2011

Moammar Gaddafi Must Pay For Atrocities -- Washington Post Editorial

REPORTS FROM Libya Monday were sketchy and confused, but one conclusion appeared certain: The beleaguered dictatorship of Moammar Gaddafi was waging war against its own people and committing atrocities that demand not just condemnation but action by the outside world. Al-Jazeera reported that warplanes had joined security forces in attacking anti-government demonstrators in the capital, Tripoli; human rights groups said hundreds had been killed in clashes in the country's east. Libya's own delegation to the United Nations described the regime's actions as genocide and asked for international intervention.

Read more ....

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials

The End of a Libyan Crime Family: They might hold out temporarily, but it’s over for the Qaddafi clan. -- Michael C. Moynihan, Reason

Libya: ‘No-Fly’ Zone in Context -- J. E. Dyer, Commentary Magazine

Bloodshed in Libya: The Impotence of the West -- Carsten Volkery, Spiegel Online

Revolution and the Muslim World -- George Friedman, Real Clear World/Stratfor

The Arab Revolution: Revolution: 1848 and 2011 -- Robert Zaretsky, Le Monde

How Obama Lost Karzai: The road out of Afghanistan runs through two presidents who just don't get along. -- Ahmed Rashid, Foreign Policy

What does it really mean that Iran sent ships through the Suez Canal? -- Joshua Keating, Foreign Policy

State: CIA or not, Davis still has immunity -- Joshua Keating, Foreign Policy

How Labour let in 3 million immigrants, in defiance of the overwhelming wishes of the British people -- Sir Andrew Green, The Daily Mail

Asia’s Opium Resurgence -- Tom Fawthrop, The Diplomat

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- February 21, 2011

The Shattered Myth Of A Moderate Qaddafi Heir -- Elizabeth Dickinson, Foreign Policy

As violence grows in Libya, an urban myth -- one that has been passed around diplomatic circles for the last half decade -- has been effectively shattered: that Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, is the moderate, Western, reform-oriented heir that London, Paris, and Washington have been waiting for.

By now, you'll have seen Saif al-Islam al-Qaddafi, the second oldest son of the Libyan leader, on air defending the brutal decades-long rule of his father. In a speech that had echoes of his dad's long and rambling incoherence, Saif blaimed the ongoing protests on everyone from criminals to Islamists. He promised that Qaddafi would fight to the last protestor.

Read more ....

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials

Libya on the brink -- Blake Hounshell, Foreign Policy

Why Yemen's youths are not bowing to government pressure, violence -- Laura Kasinof, Christian Science Monitor

The Cairo connection -- Amitav Acharya, Times of India

UPDATED: The strange case of Raymond Davis, a ‘strategic corporal’ in Pakistan -- Robert Haddick, Small Wars Journal

Al Qaeda's Sputnik Moment -- Washington Times editorial

Start bringing terrorists to Gitmo again -- Marc Thiessen, Washington Post

Why the U.S. Should Engage the Muslim Brotherhood -- Philip Mudd, The Atlantic

No more Western hugs for Russia's rulers -- Mikhail Kasyanov, Vladimir Milov, Boris Nemtsov and Vladimir Ryzhkov, Washington Post

Pentagon Turns Eyes Toward Asia -- Richard Weitz, The Dilomat

China, the elephant in the global economic-recovery room -- Doug Saunders, Globe And Mail

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials On The Unrest In Libya

Libya's oil wealth not trickling down -- Robert Plummer, BBC
What next for the 'Mad Dog' of Libya? -- Al Jazeera
Gaddafi will not survive protests: Sahad -- ABC News (Australia)
Libya and the Qaddafis -- Amy Davidson, New Yorker
Libya protests analysis: 'For Muammar Gaddafi it's kill or be killed' -- Ian Black, The Guardian
Is this Libya's new revolution? -- Dirk Vandewalle, CNN

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- December 20, 2010

VILLAGE MEETING - U.S. Air Force Capt. Ryan Weld, center, and Romanian Forces from Task Force Black Scorpion talk with villagers during a shura in Khleqdad Khan, Afghanistan, Dec. 19, 2010. Weld is assigned to the Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson

Afghan Pluses And Minuses -- Arthur Herman, New York Post

The main point of last week's presidential report on America's progress in Afghanistan was no surprise: We're making "fragile" progress in our nine-year war there, but not enough. Yet it's what President Obama and his advisers aren't saying about Afghanistan that's vital to making up our minds on whether this war is worth it.

Read more ....

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials

Afghanistan Feels the Squeeze -- Newsweek
The darkness of our wars -- James Carroll, Boston.com
How to succeed in Afghanistan -- Robert Grenier, Al Jazeera
Mixed review on Afghanistan -- Miami Herald editorial
Let's Un-Surge in Afghanistan -- Richard Haass, Wall Street Journal
Surge Protector -- Max Boot, Weekly Standard

Is Pakistan Losing Patience in the War on Terror? -- Robert Baer, Time Magazine

No clear path (in Pakistan) -- Huma Yusuf, Dawn

India's defense policy arrives at the crossroads for best buys -- Harsh Pant, Japan Times

New defense strategy in Japan -- Asahi editorial

‘Small war’ in Korea is postponed -- Robert Haddick, Small Wars Journal

France's missile sale to Lebanon: Missiles are but a symptom -- Jerusalem Post editorial

Piracy free-for-all: West turns blind eye, but it shouldn’t be tough to solve this cancer of the seas -- Peter Worthington, Toronto Sun

A democratic test for Venezuela -- Jackson Diehl, Washington Post

World Opinion On U.S. Military Bases In Gulf

From Real Clear World:

World Public Opinion goes polling:

Asked whether the US having naval forces based in the Persian Gulf is a good idea or a bad idea, 14 of 20 nations say it is a bad idea, three say it is a good idea, and three are divided. On average across all publics polled, just 22 percent say it is a good idea for the US to have naval bases in the Gulf, while 52 percent say it is a bad idea.

Majorities opposing US naval bases in the Gulf are highest in the Middle East, led by Egypt (91%) and the Palestinian Territories (90%) and followed by Turkey (77%), Jordan (76%) and Azerbaijan (66%).

Read more ....

Update: Abu Aardvark follows up with a great post on these figures.. The link is HERE.

Commentaries On Wars And Conflicts -- May 22/23, 2008

Bin Laden is out there -- L.A. Times
Israel and Syria's Secret Talks -- Bobby Ghosh, Time Magazine
How Israel-Syria Talks Could Affect Iran Ties -- Kevin Peraino, Newsweek
The Day Lebanon Died -- IBD Editorial
Winners and Losers in the Lebanon Crisis -- Charles Chuman, Pajamas Media
The Power of Hezbollah -- Los Angeles Times
Has Maliki Conquered Sadr City? -- Mark Kukis, Time Magazine
Don't mention the war -- The Australian
Oil's perfect storm may blow over -- The telegraph
Why oil prices rise -- Russell Roberts, Cafe Hayek
The Big Question: Does Opec have too much power, and is it to blame for the high price of oil? -- The Independent
Mbeki must face up to South Africa's xenophobia -- William Gumede, The Independent
South Africa's Wake-Up Call -- Alex Perry, Time Magazine
Food insecurity -- International Herald Tribune
Caught red-handed: Chavez And Farc -- Ben Whitford, The Guardian
Islamism's false narrative -- Ali Eteraz, The Guardian
Appease Iran? -- James Lyons, Washington Times
Obama already reinforcing A'jad in Iran -- Thomas Lifson, American Thinker
Obama on Iran: Nuance or Confusion? - David Reinhard, The Oregonian
Yet more Obama positions on Iran -- Ed Lasky, American Thinker
Mythmaking for the Next War -- Steve Chapman, Real Clear Politics
Taking Stock of the War on Terror - David Ignatius, Washington Post
Europe is a geopolitical dwarf -- Kishore Mahbubani, Financial Times
China's glasnost -- Nicholas D. Kristof, International Herald Tribune