The Cavalier Crusade for a War With Iran
This story originally appeared on July 15, 2016. One year ago, opponents of the Iran nuclear agreement blasted the landmark accord as ushering in the Apocalypse. They are still at it. “After doing everything they could possibly think of to subvert and undermine the nuclear negotiations before their successful conclusion — even... Read more
Bombing Iran Is a Terrible Idea
This story originally appeared on March 28, 2015, more than three years before Pres. Donald Trump ended the Obama-era deal preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Iran hawks are playing with fire. We are close to a nuclear deal with Iran, but opponents continue to step up attacks aimed... Read more
Breaking Down the North Korea Crisis
Whatever you might have heard over the last several days, the United States isn’t about to be engulfed in a ball of nuclear fire, courtesy of Kim Jong Un. It’s a little more complicated than that. That’s not to suggest that the crisis on the Korean peninsula is a... Read more
Why There Are No Military Solutions to North Korea
Any attempt to curtail North Korea’s nuclear weapons program through military force would be an unmitigated disaster. “A conflict in North Korea … would be probably the worst kind of fighting in most people’s lifetimes,” Secretary of Defense James Mattis told CBS News. “The bottom line is it would... Read more
Sleepwalking Toward Nuclear War
On April 6, 2017, the 100th anniversary of the United States entering World War I, American warships launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at regime targets in Syria. The base that absorbed the attack, Al Shayrat air base in Homs province, houses both Russian and Syrian troops, who are allies... Read more
No, You Can’t Have a Small Nuclear War
In the event of a rapidly escalating conflict with the Russians, should the United States conduct a “limited” nuclear strike to coerce the enemy to back down? Or, in Cold War nukespeak, should the United States “escalate to deescalate” the situation? Believe it or not, that is a real... Read more
We Should All Worry About Russia’s Confrontation with Turkey
Turkey’s downing of a Russian fighter jet could get very serious, very quickly. With America pledged to defend Turkey, our NATO ally, any shooting conflict with Russia could draw in the United States – and our 60 nuclear bombs stored just miles from the Syrian border. These air-dropped bombs are located... Read more