By George Friedman and Reva Bhalla.

The decision over whether to send more U.S. troops into Afghanistan may wait until the contested Afghan election is resolved, U.S. officials said Oct. 18. The announcement comes as U.S. President Barack Obama is approaching a decision on the war in Afghanistan. During the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, Obama argued that Iraq was the wrong war at the wrong time, but Afghanistan was a necessary war.| MORE ›

The left continues to demonize critics on a scale seldom seen before. Not only has the White House declared war on an entire news channel – Fox News – but leftist commentator, news channels, newspapers and magazine do their best to convince the public that all opposition is “unpatriotic” as well.

Reason compiled a handy list of prime examples of Democrats calling Republicans and critical Independents “unpatriotic,” “unAmerican” and what not:| MORE ›

America and Iran agreed earlier this year that Iran would send 75% of its enriched uranium stockpiles abroad, where it would be converted into fuel, which Iran needs so desperately. Or so the mad mullahs say. When the US informed Europe about the deal, some European administrations rebelled. It was too much of a concession to Iran they said; a nation that could not be trusted to live up to its side of the bargain.

The White House disagreed, saying the deal would reduce tensions considerably.| MORE ›

President Obama has called small businesses “one of the biggest drivers of employment.” So why is the Obama administration brushing off the needs of small businesses?

First, three of Obama’s major economic initiatives either ignore the needs of small businesses, or they are potentially detrimental to future small business development:

1. The TARP and stimulus:| MORE ›

It’s utterly amazing, but the war against Fox News continues unabated. Yesterday morning it were David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel who criticized the news channel, saying “it’s really not news – it’s pushing a point of view.”

And you know the White House is going too far when even the New York Times says it should drop the matter altogether:

It could all be written off as a sideshow, but it may present a genuine problem for Mr.| MORE ›

If you thought that every radical member of the Obama administration would’ve been exposed by now, I’m afraid you’re wrong. You see, it seems that White House Communications Director Anita Dunn is one of Mao Zedong’s biggest fans:

“You’re going to make choices, you’re going to challenge, you’re going to say why not. You’re going to figure out how to do things that have never been done before.| MORE ›

I’m currently rereading Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince. What strikes me most about this little book reading it for the second time is Machiavelli’s utter disregard for morality. It’s not that he’s immoral, he’s amoral. Ethics simply don’t concern him.

No, Machiavelli’s theory isn’t meant to teach ambitious rulers (or politicians or strategists) how to be just, but how to be effective.| MORE ›

Ed Morrissey reminds us that whatever their flaws, and whatever policies of theirs may be bad, the President of the United States and the Democratic majority are not the next coming of utter evil:| MORE ›

This commentary is by Robert Ellis

Like Ireland, Cyprus has been a victim of geography and both are today still divided. As the Arab geographer Muqaddasi wrote in 985: “The island of Qubrus is in the power of whichever nation is overlord in these seas”. And with its position 40 miles off the southern coast of Turkey and 70 miles from Syria it has been a strategic prize for centuries.| MORE ›

Today, I was directed toward an article in the Hammond, Louisiana Daily Star about a justice of the peace who refuses to marry interracial couples (emph. mine):

A justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple last week because of concern for the children who might be born of that relationship.

Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace for Tangipahoa Parish’s 8th Ward, also said it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long.| MORE ›