Samuel Knight

*After his historic conversation with President Obama, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was greeted by both supporters and protesters upon his return to Tehran. While hardliners threw shoes and eggs at Rouhani, they were outnumbered by supporters by about four-to-one. Trita Parsi, head of the pro-dialogue anti-theocracy National Iranian American Council, tweeted that the footwear missiles […]

Jim Naureckas at FAIR tries to poke holes in the Obama administration’s claims to have “no doubt” Assad used nerve agents in Ghouta. Of the most compelling of his points – the 90 minute delay between the launch of the supposed offending rockets and the asphyxiation, and the apparent lack of human intelligence sources on […]

Amid a lackluster labor market, and a widening gap between rich and poor over the span of his administration (which, to be fair, inherited an absolute train wreck of an economy), President Obama can claim a minor victory in one arena: the number of homeless Americans has slightly declined over his first term. The numbers […]

Since it’s rise, driven by the largesse of callous oligarchs, one can’t help but think of the “some men just want to watch the world burn” line from The Dark Knight when discussing the Tea Party. This new-look GOP’s approach to fiscal policy and legislating has all the grace of arson. Now, it appears, according […]

On ABC’s “This Week,” John Kerry inadvertently highlighted the problem with the Obama administration’s decision to hinge the case for attacking Syria on American credibility – it’s already in short supply. Kerry revealed that, in trying to appeal to the world that the U.S. must prepare to intervene to maintain its integrity and the credibility […]

*As Glenn Greenwald pointed out: lost amid the praise for President Obama for doing what the Constitution asks of him is the fact that it might not ultimately matter. As TIME reported, “Obama’s aides made clear that the President’s search for affirmation from Congress would not be binding. He might still attack Syria even if […]

*The New Yorker’s John Cassidy dug up JSOC chair Martin Dempsey’s Congressional testimony on the possibility of neutralizing Assad’s chemical weapons arsenal. Dempsey said such an operation could cost “billions” and that it would be extraordinarily difficult to pull off. We must anticipate and be prepared for the unintended consequences of our action. Should the […]

President Obama announced today that he will ask Congress for its approval before directly intervening in the Syrian Civil War. In a brief Rose Garden speech with Vice President Biden by his side, Obama laid out why he thinks the United States should intervene, and why he thinks Congressional approval is important, even though he […]

In an article published by The Hill today, “defense” industry lobbyists have proven again why they’re among the lowest lifeforms on the planet. A number of them (joined by think-tank nomenklatura — often difficult to distinguish from “defense” lobbyists) argue that the Ghouta crisis will give opponents to DOD sequestration cuts some moral ammunition. …Michael […]

Much of the commentariat’s speculation over the possible consequences of a U.S. attack on Syria is focused on how Assad might respond. What mustn’t be discounted or marginalized in attempting to predict how it will all unfold is how forces sympathetic to Assad might react independently of the embattled Syrian strongman. The Alawite leader’s Shia […]