Ramirez: Who moved my cheese?

With the lid coming off of what very clearly looks like an attempt to cover up the nature of the attack on our consulate in Benghazi, Obama administration apologists have stepped up their efforts to flood the debate with paraphrases of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s attempt to shut down discussion of the White [...]

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US issues a curious warning on Libya travel.

How well has that Western intervention worked out in Libya? Starting well over a year ago, Western nations all pulled out of Benghazi — the city the intervention was supposed to protect — after it became clear to all but the US that radical Islamist “militias” had seized control of the city and region.  The [...]

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Respect.

And the British government is apparently unhappy about it, too.  Sources within Whitehall told the Daily Mail that the Obama administration’s decision to skip sending an envoy to what has become a de facto state funeral for one of America’s staunchest Cold War allies came before the Boston terrorist attack yesterday, and that the White House [...]

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1514 to ... 3.

The Falkland Islands held a plebescite yesterday to make a statement on self-determination, and a statement they delivered. When asked whether they chose to remain in the United Kingdom as a self-governing territory or opt for any other status, 1,514 people voted to remain British. They barely edged out the alternative, squeaking past by just [...]

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US, Britain increasing commitment?

Residents of Timbuktu celebrated today as French troops liberated the fabled city from the grip of Islamist terrorists and Touareg rebels, ending ten months of control by the uprising. With this victory in hand, France is now signaling that they will reduce their offensive operations in Mali: The rapid advance to Timbuktu, a day after [...]

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The tyranny of privilege.

Imagine, if you will, that Roe v Wade had resulted in a punt by the Supreme Court, ruling that state laws apply to abortion laws and that the issue was best addressed in legislatures — as opposed to finding that the Constitution somehow protected abortion as a right with nary a mention of health care, [...]

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Tone.

A minor classic via Newsbusters. This is stupid, yes, but not for the reason it seems at first blush. I don’t think Jones is saying that NATO troops, who’ve spent more than 11 years killing the Taliban, should fret about hurting their feelings. I think she’s saying that Harry’s already enough of a target that [...]

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What could go wrong?

You know what would really improve the quality of journalism, at least in the opinion of the EU?  Give bureaucrats the power to fire reporters for, er,abuses. The European Union scolded the UK for not establishing a government “council” to oversee its media industry, and called for “councils” in every member state with the power [...]

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Self-determination?

Call it Madison Avenue diplomacy, or at least the London equivalent of Madison Avenue.  Argentina’s president bought ad space in left-leaning British newspapers to publish an open letter to Prime Minister David Cameron, urging him to open negotiations on the transfer of sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.  Instead, Cameron sent a stark warning in reply that [...]

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"We lost Europe."

The UN General Assembly will vote later today to admit the Palestinian Authority as a non-voting observer state, the first official recognition of statehood for the Palestine by the world body — boosted by Western approval, or at least tacit approval.  Germany announced earlier this morning that it had reversed its earlier position and decided [...]

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And the UK, too?

Yesterday, the US warned the Palestinian Authority not to seek recognition at the UN General Assembly, but the warning doesn’t appear to have carried much weight with Mahmoud Abbas … or even our closest diplomatic allies. Earlier this morning, France’s Foreign Minister announced to the National Assembly that it would vote in favor of granting [...]

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“I thought it was a bit of a fuss about nothing."

Were Mitt Romney’s comments about Olympic security impolitic?  I think we can agree on that, as did our own Mary Katharine Ham and Charles Krauthammer did last night on Fox News.  When a political candidate goes abroad, it’s usually to demonstrate that he can bolster relationships with key allies, not start kerfuffles.  (The President we [...]

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Hideout

The last time we checked in with Julian Assange he was having yet another bad day in court. The wheels of Justice in London were turning slowly, but they finally rejected his last appeal to prevent his extradition to Sweden on sexual assault charges. Given a couple of weeks to put his affairs in order, [...]

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Protected by all sides in Libya.

The strange and murderous journey of Abdel Basset al-Megrahi has finally come to a destination, at least according to his brother.  The Lockerbie bomber died in his bed this weekend of cancer almost three years after a sleazy deal with the British government sent him back to Libya: The former Libyan intelligence officer convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie [...]

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"There’s been quite a lot of forestalling and other manoeuvring to avoid the top rate.”

Barack Obama has spent the last several months insisting on a tax hike for higher income earners in the US, casting it as an issue of “fairness” and of deficit reduction.  In his State of the Union speech, Obama used the word “fair” or a derivative nine different times, and calling for the wealthy to [...]

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Entirely out by 2014's elections?

Barack Obama has difficult decisions ahead of him this summer as he mulls over his pledge to draw down American troop levels after the late 2009 surge and a new, aggressive COIN strategy has made progress in Afghanistan.  His main partner in the NATO coalition has complicated the problem for the US.  UK Prime Minister [...]

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