Outside the Beltway

No, I am not kidding.

Five minutes is an eternity in the current information environment.

The country music singer was 62.

The longtime politician and statesman is gone at 75.

It’s much bigger than it appears.

A man made famous for discovering Iraq’s WMD program was virtually nonexistent is gone at 82.

The President commits a Kinsley gaffe.

A trailblazing diplomat has died at 84.

The disintegrating military situation is leading to escalating brutality.

Pundits like Thomas Friedman struggle with premature prognostication.

What if the “fake news” is really fake news?

How do we know when our government is telling us the truth?

The Vietnam War hero and one-term Georgia Senator has died at 79.

The trailblazing soldier-statesman has died at 84.

The wonders of hindsight.

He was both the youngest and oldest man to run the Pentagon.

The answer seems simple but it isn’t.

President Biden has a second chance to do the right thing.

The National Security Advisor to Presidents Ford and GHW Bush has died.

The President didn’t want to hear about bad behavior from Moscow, so he wasn’t told.

How to translate understandable frustration at injustice into tangible reform?

In recent weeks the US has ramped-up pressure on Maduro.

President Trump is making ridiculous threats against the regime in Iraq that are likely to draw it closer to Iran.

The assassination of a top Iranian official on a visit to Baghdad is having the expected negative impact on our relationship with Iraq and the fight against ISIS.

Amid protests over American airstrikes, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has become a target.

Houthi rebels in Yemen have claimed responsibility for a massive attack on an important Saudi oil facility.

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s actions toward two Democratic Congresswomen,seemingly at the bidding of President Trump, is the latest example of the growing partisan divide over policy toward Israel.

The Trump Administration unveiled new sanctions against Iran yesterday. They’re unlikely to accomplish the entirely unrealistic goals the President claims to have in mind.

As we head toward a potential crisis in the Persian Gulf, the consequences of the President’s lies are coming home to roost.

A new poll indicates that at least some Democrats continue to hold Biden’s 2002 vote in favor of the Iraq War.

American military intervention in Venezuela would make the situation in that country worse, not better.

Walter Jones, a former supporter of the Iraq War who became one of the most prominent anti-war voices in Congress, has passed away at the age of 76. He will be missed.

The Trump Administration is reportedly preparing to withdraw the small contingent of American troops from Syria. If it actually happens, this would be a good move.

Kofi Annan, who served as Secretary-General of the United Nations at the dawn of the “War On Terror,” has died at the age of 80.

Donald Trump had to be talked down from considering military intervention in Venezuela.

With the start of the Singapore Summit just hours away, it’s not at all clear what the respective parties can possibly agree to other than what amounts to a photo opportunity.

Echoing the Obama Administration, the Trump Administration is arguing that it did not need Congressional authorization to attack Syria earlier this year.

South Korea’s President is saying that Kim Jong Un has renewed his supposed commitment to ‘denuclearization,’ but it isn’t at all clear what that means.

Not surprisingly, the North Koreans are pushing back against American efforts to force them into a corner on denuclearization.

The United States is apparently looking to Libya as a guide for upcoming talks with North Korea. The DPRK most likely sees the fate of that nation and its leader as a warning.

Without Congressional authorization, any attack on Syria would be illegal, but don’t expect Congress to do anything about it.

From Europe to the Middle East, to Asia, America’s allies are concerned about what the selection of John Bolton as National Security Adviser means going forward. They should be, and so should every American.

By threatening to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran, Donald Trump is making it far less likely that any upcoming talks with North Korea will succeed.

John Bolton is leading a cry for preemptive war against North Korea.

Continuing a long-standard tradition, the Trump Administration claims it doesn’t need to get legal authorization to keep American troops in Syria.

Expecting North Korea to agree to diplomatic talks that are aimed at getting rid of their nuclear weapons is asking for the impossible, and ensuring there will be no progress on the diplomatic front for the foreseeable future.

Americans were once largely united in their opinions about Israel and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. That’s not the case anymore.

On North Korea, there are two options, deterrence and war. And only one of those options makes sense.

Kurds in Iraq voted overwhelmingly for independence in a non-binding referendum, and the result is threatening to create a new conflict in the Middle East.

Things are getting far more complicated on the Korean Peninsula. Diplomacy isn’t working, and a military option would most likely lead to disaster.