They Lied About Afghanistan. They Lied About Iraq. And They Are Lying About Ukraine.

They Lied About Afghanistan. They Lied About Iraq. And They Are Lying About Ukraine.

The playbook the pimps of war use to lure us into one military fiasco after another, including Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and now Ukraine, does not change. Freedom and democracy are threatened. Evil must be vanquished. Human rights must be protected. The fate of Europe and NATO, along with a “rules based international order”…

The Difference Between Secrets and Lies – Can the White House Even Understand the Difference?

The Difference Between Secrets and Lies – Can the White House Even Understand the Difference?

Recent developments in Washington relating to Ukraine and the Middle East remind me that there is a big difference between maintaining secrecy when a situation warrants it and lying over issues where there is no compelling reason to do so beyond political expediency. Having spent more than twenty years in American intelligence agencies where secrecy…

Syrian President Al-Assad Plays a Strong Hand in Diplomatic Poker

Syrian President Al-Assad Plays a Strong Hand in Diplomatic Poker

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has put restoration of control of all of Syria at the core of efforts to manage multiple Middle Eastern rivalries that often play out in his war-ravaged country. Mr. Al-Assad’s demand means different things to different parties. For a group of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab…

The Lords of Chaos

The Lords of Chaos

Two decades ago, I sabotaged my career at The New York Times. It was a conscious choice. I had spent seven years in the Middle East, four of them as the Middle East Bureau Chief. I was an Arabic speaker. I believed, like nearly all Arabists, including most of those in the State Department and…