Clifford D. May

Western values are the best

On various occasions and beginning decades before he was elected president, Ronald Reagan warned that "freedom is never more than one generation from extinction." He understood, and he wanted others to understand, that liberty is not an entitlement. It's a rare and precious commodity that "must be fought for."

July 11, 2017

Hezbollah will start a conflict backed by Iran

Eleven years ago this month, Israel went to war with Hezbollah, Iran's Lebanon-based Shi'a proxy militia. The fighting began when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israeli villages and missiles at Israeli armored vehicles patrolling the border. Three Israeli soldiers were killed. Two were kidnapped and taken into Lebanon.

July 4, 2017

Qatar must join in anti-terror fight

In the aftermath of the terrorist atrocities of Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush drew a line in the sand. "Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make," he announced. "Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists." Since then, disappointingly if not surprisingly, more than a few nations have straddled that line, providing support to America and America's enemies alike.

June 13, 2017

Six-Day War led to 50-year occupation

Fifty years ago this week, the young state of Israel faced the threat of extermination -- a second Jewish Holocaust in a single century. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser stated candidly what he and other Arab leaders envisioned. "Our basic aim will be the destruction of Israel," he said.

June 6, 2017

Manchester terror attack shows jihadi hatred of the West

The slaughter of 22 concertgoers in Manchester last week was followed four days later by the murder of 29 Christians traveling by bus to a monastery in the desert south of Cairo.

May 30, 2017

Iran elections still unfair and not free

News must be new but it needn't be surprising. The decidedly unsurprising news out of Iran last week: There was an election (of sorts) and the winner was Hassan Rouhani, the incumbent president.

May 23, 2017

Border security and immigration are simple

The nation-state is a relatively new idea -- scholars generally trace it back to the 17th century. It has its flaws, but has anyone come up with a better approach to world order? A nation-state enjoys sovereignty over its territory. Territories are separated by borders. Securing those borders may require barriers and controlled points of entry.

May 16, 2017

Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood manage to fool many people

"Hamas Drops Call for Israel's Destruction," headlined The Wall Street Journal last week. The New York Times told its readers: "Hamas Moderates Talk on Israel." And the United Kingdom's The Guardian concluded that Hamas had produced a document likely to "ease peace process."

May 9, 2017

Religious freedom attacked on all sides

"I believe that God has planted in every heart the desire to live in freedom." So said President George W. Bush in 2004. Leave for another day the debate over whether such a belief is more hopeful than realistic. What we do know: Tyrants and terrorists around the world are persecuting, torturing and slaughtering those whose hearts do desire freedom -- even the most basic.

May 2, 2017

Defense contractor Iran deals should be stopped

Sometimes international law is ambiguous. Sometimes not. When it comes to murdering civilians and using chemical weapons to get the job done, there are no gray areas, no fuzzy lines, no mitigating circumstances.

April 25, 2017

Turkey’s democratic experiment fails

On the grounds of the Turkish Embassy facing Massachusetts Ave. in Washington, D.C. is a statue of Mustafa Kamal Ataturk, father of the Republic of Turkey, the nation-state he built from the rubble of the defeated Ottoman Empire and Islamic caliphate.

April 18, 2017

Donald Trump Syria actions were correct course

If you're still unsure about whether President Trump did the right thing when he launched 59 cruise missiles at Syria's Shayrat air base last week, consider the alternative.

April 11, 2017

Islamic extremism results in less freedom of speech

Whatever happened to Charlie Hebdo? For years, the French satirical magazine threw spit balls at polite society. Its writers and cartoonists particularly delighted in ridiculing religions and pieties. Some people found that amusing and thought-provoking. Others were appalled and offended. Such is life in a free country.

April 4, 2017

London terror attacks must be understood

"The Kafir's Blood Is Halal For You, So Shed it." That's just one of the catchier headlines in a recent issue of Rumiyah, a slick online magazine published by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL.

March 28, 2017

Donald Trump’s North Korea policy changing

America can do anything but America can't do everything, at least not within a four-year time frame. That suggests that the American president -- any American president -- needs to prioritize.

March 21, 2017

Pakistan a source of Islamic terror

Pakistan was meant to be a model, an example for other nations to emulate. It was founded after World War II, as the sun was setting on the British Empire and India was preparing for independence. India's Muslims, though glad to see the end of the Raj, were apprehensive about becoming a minority in a Hindu-majority land.

March 14, 2017

Israel-Palestine peace process cannot be rushed

This palm-fringed oasis in the Jordan Valley has been continuously inhabited for 10,000 years. That justifies it billing itself as the "oldest city in the world."

March 7, 2017

Left makes America apologize

Intellectuals of the left and those influenced by them judge the United States and certain European nations as uniquely guilty of imperialism, colonialism, racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, Islamophobia -- the list goes on.

February 28, 2017

Saudi Arabia attempts to be a legitimate nation

Saudi Arabia is changing. When government officials here tell you that, you take it with an oversized grain of salt. But when Saudi human rights activists say the same, you pay attention.

February 21, 2017

Border security necessary to head off disputes

Al Qaeda does not value diversity and it's not an equal opportunity employer. The same can be said of the Islamic State. And when the rulers of the Islamic Republic of Iran want to commit an act of terrorism -- the bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, to take just one example -- they are likely to give the assignment to members of Hezbollah, a radical Islamic group of the Shia persuasion. They are highly unlikely to recruit Unitarians, Mormons or Baha'i.

February 7, 2017