The Lion's Den

Secure Freedom Radio Originally published at Daniel Pipes

Unlike nearby Israel, which is also surrounded, Cyprus lacks either a military option or protective fences.

The Nation of Islam's historic role as a bridge between American blacks and Islam ended in 1975 when W. Deen Mohammed followed his father, Elijah Muhammad, as leader of the Nation and immediately disavowed his father's folk religion, bringing his followers to normative Islam, the Islam of the Middle East. From then on, despite the theatrics of Louis Farrakhan, the Nation has been in a long downward trajectory. Now comes evidence, thanks to Tony Ortega in the Village Voice and Eliza Gray in The New Republic, of a jaw-dropping turn by Farrakhan, 79, to Scientology; as Gray's subtitle puts it, "America's two weirdest sects join forces."

If Hamas knows it cannot defeat the Israel Defense Forces and will get a bloody nose for its efforts, it obviously has motives other than victory in mind.

It happens every four years, as U.S. presidential elections roll around: I feel like a stranger. That's because news reports blare out what's not of interest: trivial statistics (171,000 jobs added in October; jobless rate up 0.1 percent to 7.9 percent), biographical irrelevancies (claims that Romney outsourced jobs to other countries when at Bain Capital), and forgettable gaffes (Obama saying that "Voting is the best revenge"). This limited discussion misses the main points.

The military has grown so large because of preferential tax treatment, subsidized labor, an extra-legal status, and old-boy networks.

His singular foreign policy accomplishment, trumpeted ad nauseam, was the execution of Osama bin Laden.

When will American politicians and military leaders eventually realize that training foreign soldiers does not allies make them?

Barack Obama's approach pulls the United States back from its customary adult role and has it join the children.

Special Ops used to be about capturing or killing enemies; now it's about shaping public opinion.

The AWACS Israel is selling to Turkey will potentially be used against Israel in the Mediterranean Sea.

Ahmed Shafiq, the former air force commander and former president Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister, actually won the presidential race by a narrow margin.

Surviving the strikes will permit Assad to boast that he defeated the United States.

The sort of reasoning going around in Turkey regarding the Israeli strike in Syria can quickly leave one with a sore head.

I vote Republican because I support the party's core message of individualism, patriotism, and respect for tradition, in contrast to the core Democratic message of dependence, self-criticism, and "progress." I am inspired by the original reading of the U.S. Constitution, by ideals of personal freedom and American exceptionalism. I vote for small government, for a return of power to the states, for a strong military, and an assertive pursuit of national interests.

Even the modestly dressed and Islamist friendly Catherine Ashton did not escape being photoshopped.

Middle East expert Daniel Pipes appeared on the 'Cross Talk' program to argue that the West should use its influence to oppose Islamism instead of supporting it.

"Whoever tries to uproot us from the city of our forefathers will achieve the opposite."

Obama got away with saying that he had characterized the attack on the Benghazi consulate as a terrorist incident because the moderator confirmed his point; in fact he misrepresented the facts when he said "The day after the attack, governor, I stood in the Rose Garden and I told the American people and the world that … this was an act of terror."

Both Hamas and Fatah are playing the game of pretending to end violence.

Dallas was a bastion of right-wing kooks with a vast legacy -- now, watch how this bastion gets blamed for the communist Oswald...

If Assad is winning, Western governments should respond by helping the rebels to prevent Assad from crushing them.

One must expect future non-suicide bombers to turn to niqabs or burqas, as many terrorists and criminals have repeatedly done.

Other characteristically Muslim crimes taking place in Western countries include honor killings, female genital mutilation, and slave holding.

Middle East expert Daniel Pipes advocates backing Assad in Syria to keep the civil war there going.

Barack Obama has a weak record in the Middle East, but one would not learn this from the debate, where Mitt Romney praised Obama's achievements ("It's wonderful that Libya seems to be making some progress"), agreed with Obama more than he disagreed, and rarely pointed out his failings. Presumably, Romney took this mild approach to establish his likability, competence, and suitability to serve as commander-in-chief.

What is it about Jewish organizations that they acclaim their opponents?

Assassination sends a specific signal to others not to follow in the victim's footsteps.

Though my suggestion to now back Assad to prevent Jihadi takeover and allow both sides to fight themselves to exhaustion was rejected, it seems now the administration is taking note of my counsel.

Middle East expert Daniel Pipes' thoughts on the Biden-Ryan debate.