James Jay Carafano

Frequent flyer miles don’t add up to successful foreign policy

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Obama has put more than a few miles on the Air Force One odometer. But travel is no guarantee of foreign policy success. Indeed, Mr. Obama is winging his way toward one of the foreign policy records compiled by any U.S. president.

Ignoring religious genocide is an Obama atrocity

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Oppression, persecution, even genocide—such is the heartbreaking experience of minority communities in the Greater Middle East.

Obama’s last chance: put boots on the ground and snuff ISIS

WASHINGTON, D.C.—President Obama has no choice now. If he wants to defeat ISIS, he’ll have to become a real war leader. He may not like it, but putting troops on the ground is the surest way to win this war.

When it comes to strategy, Putin is the Roadrunner and Obama is Wiley Coyote

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Kremlin is not our friend. Nor is Moscow a 10-foot tall threat to our national interests.

If Iran starts cheating, Netanyahu has no choice but to strike

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Vienna Agreement overseeing Iran’s nuclear program brought no joy to Tel Aviv.

Obama’s cuts leave every military branch weaker than on 9/11

WASHINGTON, D.C.—A “tiger mom” might go ballistic if her child came home with a “needs improvement” on his kindergarten report card. But most adults wouldn’t panic. They know there is time to get the kid up to standard before the deadline for that Harvard application falls due.

Obama’s naive offer to Iran puts US, Israel and entire Middle East at risk

WASHINGTON, D.C.—President Obama’s strategy of negotiating with Iran could put the Jewish state at risk. And it could well make the world less safe for America, as well—but not in the way most think.

Obama’s “Leading from Behind” has U.S in full retreat

WASHINGTON, D.C.—“Leading from behind.” A White House official coined that phrase in 2011 to describe President Obama’s Libyan policy. His political opponents quickly seized on that characterization as an apt metaphor for how the president conducts foreign policy.

Big losers are Cubans yearning to breathe free; U.S. credibility

WASHINGTON, D.C.—President Obama’s decision to make nice with Cuba’s repressive, anti-American regime creates a great number of losers. Topping the list, of course, are the people of Cuba. They are starting from a bad place, lacking fundamental freedoms. And Mr. Obama negotiated no promises from the Castro brothers to ease up on the repression.

Optimism fades as Obama’s Middle East policies implode

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Secretary of State John Kerry recently floated a mind-numbing idea: to help turn back ISIS, the Islamic terrorist group that has seized control of more than a third of Iraq—suggesting the U.S. could enter a cooperative arrangement with the mullahs of Iran.

Obama's unilateral withdrawal will pluck defeat from jaws of victory

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of State, National Security Advisor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Henry Kissinger is, by all measures, a foreign policy heavyweight. At a recent black-tie dinner, he stood — stoop-shouldered and peering imperiously over his signature thick, black-framed glasses — and remarked: "Unilateral withdrawal is not victory."

Obama’s foolish negotiations with Iran could unleash the dogs of war

WASHINGTON, D.C. — War is a great leap into the dark. It is a chancy affair to predict when a particular act will end with the troops going over the top.

Hillary’s bungling of Benghazi will come back to haunt her in 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will soon become Citizen Clinton once more. She’ll rake in huge speaking fees, juicy book deals, corporate board seats and dozens more honorary doctoral degrees. But none of that can ever wash away what happened at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.

Middle East crumbles as Obama kow-tows to Islamists and pursues “peace dividend”

WASHINGTON, DC — Wars can’t be fought and won according to a timetable. If calendars could control, then all wars would be over by Christmas.

U.S. must be willing to strategically bomb Iran, but only as last resort

WASHINGTON, D.C. — “Bombs away” should not be the first military response from the U.S., but respond we must. Closing international waters is a blockade — essentially an act of war against other states.

New strategy can overcome failed policies exposed on Wikileaks

WASHINGTON, D.C. —The Wikileaks “Afghan War Dairy” documents the problems encountered by Afghans and the allied forces in 2004-2009. The war effort was under-resourced. Troops were spread too thin. Intelligence officers within our supposed ally Pakistan were actively assisting the Taliban.

Despite bad media, quasi-military contractors provide good bang for the buck in war zones

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Jon Postol was a defense contractor. A one-man shop, he ran something called ARPANET.

Airline bomber suspects should face military tribunals

WASHINGTON, DC -- Beware of fixating on Guantanamo Bay and the coming terrorist trials. You just might miss the real issue of how to deal with captured terrorist suspects.

Obama must find a way to win fast in Afghanistan or risk new wars erupting across the globe

WASHINGTON, D.C. — There’s little chance Kabul will become Saigon 1968. If the war in Afghanistan starts going south for allied forces, President Obama will probably quit rather than risk getting bogged down.