Clifford D. May

Making sure foreign enemies fear the United States military

Americans are smart enough to figure out how to make fighting the United States militarily -- conventionally, asymmetrically or in other ways -- stupid.

January 28, 2020

Iranian regime’s ‘gray-zone’ war tactics are the new norm

You heard it last week from smart people on both the left and right. President Trump's droning of Gen. Qassem Soleimani put America "on the brink of another war," wrote Martin Indyk, a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Echoed Fox News' Tucker Carlson: "It looked like we were on the brink there!"

January 21, 2020

Iran’s Ali Khamenei misjudges President Trump and loses his leading terrorist

At 80 years of age, Ali Khamenei is an old man in a hurry. The ruler of the Islamic Republic of Iran regards himself as the leader of a global revolution, one that began years before the advent of al Qaeda, that jihadi-come-lately.

January 7, 2020

Nikki Haley, all-American neo-Trumpian

From 2017 to 2019, Nikki Haley served as United States ambassador to the United Nations. She was a breath of fresh air -- proud of American achievements, unashamed of American power.

December 31, 2019

The war against Christians

Grinch that I am, in the days leading up to Christmas I immersed myself in "The Thirty-Year Genocide: Turkey's Destruction of its Christian Minorities, 1894-1924."

December 24, 2019

Anti-Semites suffer defeats in the U.K. and the U.S.

If you happen to be an anti-Semite, you've had a disappointing week. In Britain, the Labor Party suffered its worst defeat in decades. The election was a stunning rejection of Jeremy Corbyn, the party leader who has called members of Hamas and Hezbollah his "friends."

December 17, 2019

America must stop helping China’s Communist regime grow richer and more oppressive

Is there a moral case for continuing to intertwine our economy with China's, for helping the regime prosper?

December 10, 2019

‘Did you have a horrible Thanksgiving?’

Among the blessings for which I was grateful last week: I did not sit down for Thanksgiving dinner with Charles Blow.

December 3, 2019

Troubles between Congress and religious freedom

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is a small government agency that has done good work in the past and may do good work in the future -- if it's not transformed into a politicized bureaucracy.

November 26, 2019

Palestinian Islamic Jihad provokes Israel and finds itself a lonely combatant

Palestinian Islamic Jihad has been supported and directed by the theocrats in Tehran who regard the annihilation of Israel as a goal that unites Islamists, whether Shia like themselves, or Sunni such as PIJ and Hamas.

November 19, 2019

Clarence Thomas: An exceptional American who defied the odds

"Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words" is the story of one exceptional American, but it's also a story about America,

November 12, 2019

Bernie Sanders, Ilhan Omar not concerned about world’s most oppressive empires

At a rally for Bernie Sanders in Minneapolis on Sunday, Rep. Ilhan Omar told a cheering crowd that she was excited to campaign for a presidential candidate who "will fight against Western imperialism and fight for a just world."

November 5, 2019

The end of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi but the Islamic State continues

The elimination of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is a battle won. But it is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the end of the "endless war." Islamism, in all its fury and diversity, goes marching on.

October 29, 2019

The Kurds are not angels

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.

October 22, 2019

President Trump not ending the endless war in Syria

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.

October 15, 2019

George Will and American power

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.

October 8, 2019