Harlan Ullman

Ten years ago this month, the United States launched Operation Iraqi Freedom against Saddam Hussein.  The real reason for this invasion was President George W. Bush’s freedom agenda with its aim of changing the geostrategic landscape of the Middle East by imposing democracy on Iraq.  The stated casus belli was Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction that, as Bush and his National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice warned, could lead to a “mushroom shaped cloud” exploding over our heads.  But, the WMD cupboard was bare.  Saddam fell and was later executed because of his fear of revealing the truth. In the run-up to the war, the U.S. commander, Army General Tommy Franks, [...]

As President Barack Obama arrives in Israel for his first state visit, clearly Iran will dominate the agenda along with discussions over Syria, the Arab Spring and even the Palestinian issue (although Israeli settlements in occupied territories may be missing in action as too politically sensitive).  In last week’s interview for Israeli television, the president concluded that Iran was at least a year removed from achieving a useable nuclear weapon.  The intent was to dampen any enthusiasm for an attack this year on the part of newly re-elected Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu.   And Mr. Obama’s address to the Israeli public (and not the Knesset) will doubtlessly incorporate that argument. Meanwhile, [...]