Britain’s Mixed-Up Middle East Policy

July 29 2015

Prime Minister David Cameron recently delivered a rousing speech about the need to take seriously the dangers of radical Islam. Yet, his government has signed an agreement with Iran that will most likely allow that country to develop nuclear weapons. Douglas Murray writes:

Everybody who knows anything about foreign policy understands its complexities. Perhaps it is not surprising that behavior that would get you designated an “extremist,” “subversive,” and even “terrorist” at home might have to be viewed differently abroad. . . . Perhaps behavior that is extreme at home must be tolerated abroad. But the question really is not why the UK government is willing to maintain a double standard. The real question is why, when it comes to the most extreme, anti-Western nation-destroyer of them all—a country committed to the annihilation of a UN member state—Her Majesty’s government would not only permit it to have any nuclear project, but would trust the word of a regime with stated genocidal intent when it says that it is not pursuing genocidal weaponry?

Read more at Gatestone

More about: David Cameron, Iran nuclear program, Politics & Current Affairs, Radical Islam, United Kingdom

How the U.S. Can Retaliate against Hamas

Sept. 9 2024

“Make no mistake,” said President Biden after the news broke of the murder of six hostages in Gaza, “Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes.” While this sentiment is correct, especially given that an American citizen was among the dead, the White House has thus far shown little inclination to act upon it. The editors of National Review remark:

Hamas’s execution of [Hersh Goldberg-Polin] should not be treated as merely an issue of concern for Israel but as a brazen act against the United States. It would send a terrible signal if the response from the Biden-Harris administration were to move closer to Hamas’s position in cease-fire negotiations. Instead, Biden must follow through on his declaration that Hamas will pay.

Richard Goldberg lays out ten steps the U.S. can take, none of which involve military action. Among them:

The Department of Justice should move forward with indictments of known individuals and groups in the United States providing material support to Hamas and those associated with Hamas, domestically and abroad. The Departments of the Treasury and State should also target Hamas’s support network of terrorist entities in and out of the Gaza Strip. . . . Palestinian organizations that provide material support to Hamas and coordinate attacks with them should be held accountable for their actions. Hamas networks in foreign countries, including South Africa, should be targeted with sanctions as well.

Pressure on Qatar should include threats to remove Qatar’s status as a major non-NATO ally; move Al Udeid air-base assets; impose sanctions on Qatari officials, instrumentalities, and assets; and impose sanctions on Qatar’s Al-Jazeera media network. Qatar should be compelled to close all Hamas offices and operations, freeze and turn over to the United States all Hamas-connected assets, and turn over to the United States or Israel all Hamas officials who remain in the country.

Read more at FDD

More about: Gaza War 2023, Hamas, U.S. Foreign policy