Free Republic

It's no secret in Hong Kong that I was with my boss (Jimmy Lai, the owner of Apple Daily) and a few others recently walking the halls of government in Washington D.C. Saw Speaker Pelosi and other leaders in the House and Senate. Visited the State Department. Met some folks from administration, the think tanks, and of course always see the very switched on human rights groups. This week I shot down to D.C. and saw a few folks in a follow-up. All staffs and officials. Working level folks have best info. Both trips to D.C. were in regard to...

Senior Pentagon officials struggled on Wednesday not to contradict national security adviser John Bolton’s bellicose declaration this week that the U.S. won’t leave Syria until Iran does. Those officials are pushing ahead with the war’s original aim: defeating the so-called Islamic State. But while the goal of defeating ISIS is closer than ever, Bolton has pushed its end even further back. “I would disaggregate overall U.S. policy objectives from our military activities,” Robert Karem, the assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, told a congressional panel on Wednesday. “We are not seeking war with Iran. … We are not...