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"My friends, it matters here if nothing is done. It matters if the world speaks out in condemnation and then nothing happens," said Secretary of State John Kerry in a speech this afternoon. "Just longing for peace does not necessarily bring it about." As Kerry called Bashar al-Assad "a thug and a murderer," the White House said in an intelligence report that it has "high confidence" the Syrian government was responsible for chemical-weapons attacks on civilians. "This is common sense. This is evidence. These are facts," said Kerry, calling the proof "clear" and "compelling." "So the primary question is really...

New Jersey governor slams Kentucky senator for anti-national security positions. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie blasted Sen. Rand Paul’s (R., Ky.) foreign policy views as “dangerous” on Thursday, making him one of the few high-profile Republican lawmakers to publicly attack Paul’s non-interventionist positions.“As a former prosecutor who was appointed by President George W. Bush on Sept. 10, 2001, I just want us to be really cautious, because this strain of libertarianism that’s going through both parties right now and making big headlines, I think, is a very dangerous thought,” Christie said.“You can name any one of them that’s engaged in...

Sen. Lindsey Graham told a "cheering" audience Tuesday that if the relationship between the U.S. and Iran doesn't improve by the end of summer, he will ask Congress to authorize going to war."If nothing changes in Iran, come September, October, I will present a resolution that will authorize the use of military force to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb," the South Carolina Republican said, according to a post on CQ Roll Call, at a conference for members of Christians United for Israel today. "The only way to convince Iran to halt their nuclear program is to make it...

John Kerry may have established a reputation for being anti-war early in his career. But he’s no more immune to the powers of the Washington foreign policy establishment than anyone else, and has become more hawkish as his stature has risen. Kerry made a name for himself as a spokesman for Vietnam Veterans Against the War in the 1970s, but he was one of many Democrats who voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq in 2002 and was an early proponent of implementing a no-fly zone in Libya in 2011. He may have attacked Bush on the Iraq...

The Obama administration has concluded that Syrian President Bashar Assad's government used chemical weapons against the rebels seeking to overthrow him and, in a major policy shift, President Obama has decided to supply military support to the rebels, the White House announced Thursday. "The president has made a decision about providing more support to the opposition that will involve providing direct support to the [Supreme Military Council]. That includes military support," Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communication Ben Rhodes told reporters. Focus on political resolution in Syria, says Sen. Reed President Obama has repeatedly said that the use of...

Washington (CNN) -- In a critical indication of growing U.S. military involvement in the civil war in Syria, CNN has learned Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is ordering the deployment of up to 200 troops to Jordan, according to two Defense Department officials. The troops, which will come from the headquarters of the 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss, Texas, "creates an additional capability" beyond what has been there, one official said. The group will give the United States the ability to "potentially form a joint task force for military operations, if ordered," he said. The new deployment will include communications...

South Korea Confirms That A Direct Heavy Torpedo Sank The Cheonan, But Still Won't Accuse North Korea Gus Lubin May. 1, 2010, 8:57 AM South Korea's own CSI team has figured out the exact cause of the Cheonan shipwreck, except for one key detail. Here's what they know so far, according to Chosun Ilbo: A team of scientists believes that the Navy corvette Cheonan sank after being hit by a heavy 206 kg torpedo that ran at a speed of 65 km/h.... exploded underwater 2.3 m from the ship with power equivalent to 206 kg of TNT... a series of...

There is nothing conservative about the war in Afghanistan. The Center for Defense Information said a few months ago that we had spent over $400 billion on the war and war-related costs there. Now, the Pentagon says it will cost about $1 billion for each 1,000 additional troops we send to Afghanistan. One Republican Member from California told me recently that we could buy off every warlord in Afghanistan for $1 billion. Fiscal conservatives should be the ones most horrified by all this spending. Conservatives who oppose big government and huge deficit spending at home should not support it in...

We seem to have tied our future and fate to this tiny nation, Israel, with about the same population as Ireland -- but why? I guess I’m in the minority since even those pillars of conservatism Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are committed, body and soul, to Israel. Maybe I’m missing something here but I just can’t understand why, since that commitment has drawn us into that roiling cesspool of hatred and violence that is the Middle East....I admire Israel’s determination to defeat Hezbollah at all costs and despite world condemnation, something the United States simply refuses to do with...

JERUSALEM — Israeli troops and armored vehicles began a massive push toward the Lebanon border late Wednesday, marking the start of a new ground offensive aimed at neutralizing Hezbollah's rocket-launching capabilities, FOX News has learned. Israel also launched an airstrike on Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp, killing at least two people. The camp is home to about 75,000 Palestinian refugees and their descendants who were displaced by the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

Eleven Israelis were killed Thursday in the war with Hizbullah: three soldiers in the ground battles, and eight civilians in the terrorists' stepped-up Katyusha rocket attacks. The news of the three separate incidents was broken all at once at approximately 4:30 PM. The army first released for publication that two soldiers had been killed in battles with Hizbullah in southern Lebanon in the course of the day. Later, it was announced that a third soldier died of his wounds at Rambam Hospital. Early hints of the news had been provided earlier with reports of "very heavy battles" in southern Lebanon....

Israeli warplanes have resumed the bombardment of suspected Hezbollah positions in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut, carrying out three strikes overnight, Lebanese police said. It was the first such strikes on the battered city for several days, which has been heavily bombarded by Israel in a 23-day-old war against Hezbollah guerrillas. At least three explosions rocked the city as aircraft circled overhead. No details of casualties were immediately available but the southern parts of Beirut, considered a stronghold of Hezbollah, have been largely reduced to rubble after earlier heavy Israeli raids. One Israeli has been killed as...

TEHRAN, July 29 — These should be heady days for Iran’s leaders. Hezbollah, widely regarded as its proxy force in Lebanon, continues to rain down rockets on Israel despite 17 days of punishing airstrikes. Hezbollah’s leader is a hero of the Arab world, and Iran is basking in the reflected glory. Yet this capital is unusually tense. Officials, former officials and analysts say that it is too dangerous even to discuss the crisis. In newspapers, the slightest questioning of support for Hezbollah has been attacked as unpatriotic, pro-Zionist and anti-Islamic. As the war in Lebanon grinds on, Iranian officials cannot...

Suez's lesson David Frum National Post Saturday, July 29, 2006 Fifty years ago this past week, on July 26, 1956, the Egyptian dictator Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal. Nasser's act would lead to an international crisis, a regional war and ultimately to the resignation of a British prime minister. "Suez" would become a lesson and a warning against Western meddling in the Middle East. But the lessons and warnings of Suez look very different after 9/11. In 1956, the Suez Canal was owned by the British government and a consortium of British and French private investors. Two-thirds...

United Nations humanitarian chief Jan Egeland accused Israel on Wednesday of committing "catastrophic mistakes" in its attack on Hizbullah, which have caused civilian casualties and alienated the Lebanese public. "It will create a generation of hatred," he said in an interview held with The Jerusalem Post after he had concluded tours of northern Israel, Gaza and Lebanon. "I'm talking more as a friend of Israel than as an aid worker," said Egeland, who noted that he studied at Jerusalem's Hebrew University as a Truman Fellow, while his brother lived on a kibbutz. The UN's under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and...

July 20, 2006, 11:57 PM (GMT+02:00) Jordanian military intelligence relayed information that Hamas had recruited a bomb team in the kingdom. It was on its way to cross into Israel for the strike. Israeli and Jordanian border troops are on a high state of preparedness. The potential targets are the southern port of Eilat, its Arava main road link to the north, the Dead Sea, or the Beit Shean Valley on the Jordan River. This information led defense minister Amir Peretz to announce the closure of the West Bank Thursday, July 20. Israeli security officials have grounds to suspect that...

My country has been "torn to shreds," said Fouad Siniora, the prime minister of Lebanon, as the death toll among his people passed 300 civilian dead, 1,000 wounded, with half a million homeless. Israel must pay for the "barbaric destruction," said Siniora. To the contrary, says columnist Lawrence Kudlow, "Israel is doing the Lord's work." On American TV, former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu says the ruination of Lebanon is Hezbollah's doing. But is it Hezbollah that is using U.S.-built F-16s, with precision-guided bombs and 155-mm artillery pieces to wreak death and devastation on Lebanon? No, Israel is doing this,...

"The air force is ready for any operation that will be necessary during the current military campaign against Lebanon," Brig.-Gen. Yohanan Locker, Commander of the IAF's Air Division, told The Jerusalem Post Thursday night. The officer revealed that IAF fighter jets, helicopters, and AWACs had participated in hundreds of airborne operations over Lebanon since two soldiers were kidnapped and eight others killed in a Hizbullah attack along the northern border on Wednesday. He said that the IAF F-15Is, F-16s, Apache helicopters, and other surveillance aircraft were participating in Operation Just Reward against Lebanon. The air force, he said, has struck...

In a sharp departure from Israel's response to previous Hezbollah attacks, the late-night cabinet session in Tel Aviv unanimously agreed that the Lebanese government should be held responsible for Wednesday's events. In the past, Israel has generally pointed its finger at Hezbollah's patrons, Syria and Iran. "Israel holds the sovereign government of Lebanon as responsible for the action which emanated from its territory and for the safe return of the abducted soldiers," the government said in a statement issued after the meeting. "Israel must act with appropriate severity in response to this attack and it will do so. Israel will...

Israel presses Gaza assault, 31 killed by Kerry Sheridan Fri Jul 7, 10:37 PM ET Seven Palestinians were killed as Israel pressed on with its bloody offensive in Gaza and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas called on the international community to halt the deadly assault. UN chief Kofi Annan meanwhile called for an immediate stop to what he called Israel's "disproportionate use of force" in Gaza but also pressed for the release of an Israeli soldier snatched by Palestinian militants. Israel waged fresh air and ground attacks on northern Gaza, one day after reoccupying land in the deadliest 24 hours in...