Articles by Clifford D. May
Angels don't make great soldiers. And the Kurds, with American training, assistance, advice and combat air support, were enlisted to fight the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, a barbaric enemy of Americans, Kurds and other civilized nations.
Published
October 22, 2019
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Mr. Trump's defenders say he is doing it for the troops, bringing them home where they'll be safe. But America's warriors volunteer not to be safe at home but to keep their fellow Americans safe at home by targeting our enemies wherever they live and plot.
Published
October 15, 2019
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For more than 40 years, George Will has been producing erudite political commentary. Most often, I find myself agreeing with the arguments presented in his twice-weekly columns for The Washington Post. When I don't, I have to wrack my brains to figure out why, and how I might frame a cogent dissent.
Published
October 8, 2019
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Malaysia's most celebrated Jew-hater is Mahathir Mohamad, the country's 94-year-old prime minister. Last week, Columbia University joined in the celebration.
Published
October 1, 2019
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Why are diplomats such clever negotiators? That's a trick question. They often are not. How would they acquire such skills?
Published
September 24, 2019
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I'd sleep better if Ambassador Bolton were still on the job. He'd be the loudest and most vehement voice opposing both appeasement and isolationism.
Published
September 17, 2019
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On September 11, 2001, a sparkling late summer morning, enemies of America hijacked four passenger jets and turned them into guided missiles.
Published
September 10, 2019
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It's been 40 years since I've been to Iran. I'd love to return. At present, that seems inadvisable.
Published
September 3, 2019
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The other day, President Trump took it into his head to buy Greenland. That stirred outrage and anger. "Thankfully," said Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, "the time where you buy and sell other countries and populations is over."
Published
August 27, 2019
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While Ms. Tlaib and Ms. Omar support boycotting Israelis they profess outrage that Israelis might choose to boycott them.
Published
August 20, 2019
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Two years ago this month, Zalmay Khalilzad, the distinguished diplomat who has served as America's ambassador to both Iraq and Afghanistan, praised President Trump for adopting "a realistic position regarding peace talks" with the Taliban, "moving away from President Barack Obama's pursuit of reconciliation regardless of the deteriorating military situation."
Published
August 13, 2019
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"Only the dead have seen the end of war." Plato made that incisive observation a rather long time ago.
Published
August 6, 2019
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Just over a year ago, Volodymyr Zelensky was a comic actor. One day, his rant against Ukrainian politics and politicians, surreptitiously recorded, goes viral on social media. The result: He's elected president of Ukraine with 67 percent of the vote.
Published
July 30, 2019
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At the State Department, human rights have generally been a not-so-high priority. The big kahunas tend to focus on war and peace, allies and adversaries, national security and global economics.
Published
July 16, 2019
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Is a new "age of nationalism already upon us?" That premise will be debated in Washington, July 14-16, at the "kick-off event" of the Edmund Burke Foundation, a fledgling public affairs institute dedicated to "strengthening the principles of national conservatism in Western and other democratic countries."
Published
July 9, 2019
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Abba Eban, who was serving as his country's foreign minister after Israel defended itself from Egypt, Syria and Jordan in the Six-Day War, is said to have lamented that Palestinians "never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity."
Published
July 2, 2019
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"God has planted in every heart," President George W. Bush famously said, "the desire to live in freedom," I've never been convinced that's true. But the desire to live in freedom has been planted in some hearts. In Hong Kong in recent days, we've been witnessing a bracing demonstration.
Published
June 25, 2019
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Donald Trump strutted on the European stage last week and, it seems to me, put in a boffo performance. He wore white tie and tails. He charmed Queen Elizabeth. He gave the heroes of Normandy what may be, sadly, their final curtain call.
Published
June 11, 2019
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In 2002, Joshua Muravchik, a distinguished scholar, wrote a history of socialism which, he thought, might also be considered an epitaph for socialism.
Published
June 4, 2019
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Defenders of the nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran predicted that President Trump's sanctions would have little impact unless our European friends joined in. They were dead wrong.
Published
May 28, 2019
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