Stories by Jamie Fly
The Obama Retreat
Jul 02, 2012
Last week, we wrote on this page that given the Obama administration’s lack of leadership on Iran in this “period of consequences,” Congress should step in to fill the void. As our editorial went to press, a bipartisan group of 44 senators began to do just that. In a letter organized by Senators Robert Menendez and Roy Blunt, the group outlined a series of steps Iran would have needed to take at the June 18-19 Moscow talks to justify further negotiations. These included shutting its previously c Read more
No Iranian Nukes
Jun 25, 2012
Two years ago, we wrote in these pages that we were entering with respect to Iran what Winston Churchill called in 1936 a “period of consequences,” in which “the era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays is coming to its close.” And so it finally is. The Obama administration has remained committed to procrastination and half-measures, to soothing and baffling expedients. But even friends of the administration now acknowledge the obvious: After al Read more
Russia's Weapons Deal: Not Dead
3:28 PM, Sep 30, 2010
Last week, the Kremlin announced that Russian president Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree banning delivery of its advanced S-300 air defense system to Iran. For years, Iran watchers have followed Russia’s 2007 contract to deliver the system to Iran closely, given the S-300’s potential to upend the regional status quo. The highly capable system can defend sites against attack by a range of platforms, including aircraft and ballistic missiles. Iran’s possession of such a system would represent Read more
Is Obama up to the Task?
The need to stop Iran.
2:15 PM, Sep 24, 2010
“The United States and the international community seek a resolution to our differences with Iran, and the door remains open to diplomacy should Iran choose to walk through it. But the Iranian government must demonstrate a clear and credible commitment and confirm to the world the peaceful intent of its nuclear program.” - Barack Obama, September 23, 2010 “some segments within the U.S. government orchestrated the attack to reverse the declining American economy and its grips on the Read more
What’s a Little Spying Between Friends?
How many Russians at the embassy in Washington and the Russian Mission to the United Nations are packing their bags?
5:00 PM, Jul 02, 2010
The headline of Peter Baker’s piece in Thursday’s New York Times pretty much says it all: “Despite Arrests, Working to Rebuild Russia Ties.” Fresh off what the White House hailed a successful visit by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to Washington, the Obama administration was confronted by the unfortunate fact that Moscow has apparently not received the message that the “reset” meant relegating the Cold War to the ash heap of history. The arrest of a network of undercover Russian spi Read more
A Period of Consequences
Our dangerous Iran policy.
Jun 21, 2010
The passage last Wednesday of a fourth U.N. Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on Iran was the latest act in the tragicomedy that is U.S. policy toward Iran. Administrations of both parties have pursued the same failed policy for the last several years. Even while successive rounds of sanctions against Tehran have been threatened and engagement tried, the Iranian regime has made steady progress towards a nuclear arsenal, supported terrorist groups, and assisted those fighting Amer Read more
No Daylight?
12:57 PM, Jun 03, 2010
On Tuesday, the day after Israeli commandos prevented a flotilla from breaking the naval blockade of Gaza, ABC News reported the (supposedly) definitive U.S. position. Under the headline, “Official: U.S. Will Stand with Israel,” Jake Tapper wrote, “I’m told there won’t be any daylight between the US and Israel in the aftermath of the incident on the flotilla yesterday.” Stirring stuff, but unfortunately, little more than a day later, daylight began appearing all over the place. First, a Read more
Debunking the Administration's Nuke Myths
2:06 PM, Apr 09, 2010
With healthcare reform behind him, President Obama has turned his attention to what is perhaps his number one foreign policy priority: nuclear disarmament. On April 6, the Obama administration released a new Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) report, outlining U.S. nuclear weapons strategy. The NPR is not the dramatic document that some on the left had hoped for, but in a sop to Obama's base, does revise U.S. declaratory policy to limit the instances in which the United States will use nuclear weapons Read more
The War Over the War in Iraq
It continues...
12:39 PM, Mar 29, 2010
Even though Iraqis turned out in droves to vote in parliamentary elections, and even though the Obama administration prepares to withdraw the last combat forces from Iraq this summer, opponents of the Iraq war amazingly continue to propagate the myth that the Bush administration led the country to war based on fabricated intelligence. Over at Politics Daily , Pete Wehner has written a detailed rebuttal of this argument as part of an exchange with David Corn. As someone who spent several yea Read more
Obama and Iraq
What will he do if the going gets tough?
12:13 PM, Mar 11, 2010
As Iraqi election officials tally the votes from Sunday’s parliamentary elections, the Obama administration faces some difficult choices in the weeks and months ahead. Despite the apparent success of the election and the limited violence associated with it, there is the potential for uncertainty in the coming months as Iraqi parties wrangle for control of a new governing coalition. The Obama administration appears tempted to claim political credit and move on. Last month, Vice President Bid Read more
Iran Reveals its Real Intentions
The centrifuges continue to spin.
9:08 AM, Feb 19, 2010
In the days preceding the thirty first anniversary of Iran’s Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Khamenei threatened that Iran would deliver a “punch” to the West. Most observers assumed that this meant that Iran would launch several missiles, perhaps photoshopping in a few more for added effect, and call it a day. But February 11, 2010 may go down in history as the day Iran made its real intentions for its nuclear program known publicly, while the rest of the world exerted a collective yawn. Read more
Herzliya Dispatch II
With him, everything is opposite.
5:30 PM, Feb 05, 2010
The 2010 Herzliya Conference in Israel ended with a whimper on Wednesday evening. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, delivering the 2010 Herzliya Lecture, stunned the audience of Israeli and international security experts by using his prime time platform to speak about almost every issue except Israel's security. Netanyahu's speech focused on the need for Israel to have a strong economy, and his government's plans to increase understanding and appreciation for Israel's heritage. Worthy mes Read more
Herzliya Dispatch
Some thoughts from Israel.
9:41 AM, Feb 03, 2010
Herzliya, Israel The first full day of meetings at the Herzliya Conference in Herzliya, Israel began on Monday, aptly enough, with a panel discussion entitled “Still Special? U.S.-Israel Relations.” The fact that the organizers even had to pose the question intimated that something was amiss, but surprisingly, the majority of the panelists ignored reality and argued that the relationship was not threatened. This was perhaps due to the fact that two of them were representatives of the gover Read more
What Happened to “Crippling Sanctions?”
Maybe after A'jad gets a bomb.
12:28 PM, Jan 15, 2010
Now that we’re two weeks into 2010 and the Obama administration’s end of 2009 deadline for progress with Iran is quickly disappearing in the rear view mirror, one would expect that the administration would be moving towards the “crippling sanctions” that Secretary of State Clinton threatened Iran with for most of 2009. Instead, there are reports that the administration is still flirting with a possible deal to transfer some of Iran’s low enriched uranium out of the country. As Laura Roze Read more
Undermining McChrystal
After delaying the surge, White House officials are upset because troops aren't deploying fast enough to Afghanistan.
1:25 PM, Jan 11, 2010
In 2009, President Obama made several courageous national security decisions, including extending his campaign timeline for withdrawal from Iraq and sending tens of thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan. Both contravened many in his party who wanted U.S. troops out of Iraq as soon as possible and who are worried that Afghanistan will become Obama's Vietnam. Those who have made the latter case are well represented in the White House. During President Obama's months-long review of Ge Read more
Obama's Terrorist Engagement Strategy
He's going to talk them to death.
6:23 PM, Jan 05, 2010
Buried in Peter Baker's article for the New York Times magazine, "Inside Obama's War on Terrorism" are a few revealing nuggets about the President's approach to, dare I say, the GWOT. First, despite Baker's title, the President doesn't believe in a war on terrorism: "Rather than seeing terrorism as the challenge of our time, Obama rejects the phrase "war on terror" altogether, hoping to recast the struggle as one of a number of vital challenges confronting America. The nation Read more
