No, Trump is not committing war crimes in Iran by Michael Rubin

Recommendable!

"One hundred legal scholars signed a letter arguing that President Donald Trump’s threat to target Iranian power plants and bridges could amount to war crimes if carried out. ... 

First ... Few if any of the signatories understand the nuances of Iran or its economy. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or its subsidiaries control and profit from the power plants Trump threatens to destroy. That alone makes them legitimate targets.

Since the end of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, the Revolutionary Guard has expanded its reach throughout the civilian economy, slowly taking over most industries. The independent labor union in Iran erupted largely because the Guard ignored labor regulations, failed to pay salaries, and ignored safety standards. Today, Khatam al Anbiya, the economic wing of the Guard, controls up to 40% of Iran’s gross domestic product. Extracting the Guard’s tentacles from the civilian economy will be the major challenge of the post-Islamic Republic era.

Second, the hypocrisy: If Trump’s mean words and threats of destruction amount to possible war crimes, where have these legal scholars been over the past 47 years, when, on almost every Friday, the Islamic Republic’s leaders led chants of “death to America?” Nor did the Iranian leadership limit itself to rhetoric. Their support for terrorism and proxies across Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen led to the deaths of more than 100,000 people. Indeed, while the American legal scholars salivate about the possibility of labeling Trump as a war criminal, they remain silent that the regime he tries to oust massacred 40,000 over two days in January 2026; launched cluster munitions at Israel and specifically target civilian apartment buildings; and then attacked hotels and economic infrastructure in Gulf Arab states that had not joined the conflict with the U.S. and had forbidden Americans from using their bases. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the targeting of civilian tankers from third nations only adds to the litany of Iranian crimes. ..."

No, Trump is not committing war crimes in Iran | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

US Secretary of State Rubio Risks to fail on Somaliland Opportunity, President Trump needs to intervene by Michael Rubin

Very recommendable! Like Israel just did, the US should recognize the state of Somaliland!

"... Somaliland did everything right. It oriented itself toward the West, was the only democracy in a sea of dictatorships, shut down terrorist cells, and denied its territory to the weapons smuggling that sustained both Yemen’s Houthis and Somalia’s al Qaeda-affiliated al Shabaab.

The State Department never got the memo. At the time, Donald Yamamoto, a career diplomat and one of the Foreign Service’s top Africa hands, was U.S. ambassador to Somalia. He sought to ingratiate himself with Mogadishu, encouraging a de facto embargo of Somaliland while channeling billions of dollars of aid and debt relief to Somalia’s pro-China government. His theory was simple: Mogadishu’s happiness would reflect his success. Keep the money flowing, and Mogadishu would be happy.

His successor, Larry André, Jr., stood firm in the idea before retiring early and going to work for Somalia’s largest telecom provider, lobbying to allow it access to U.S. banks after previous terrorist finance allegations.

Bullies prey on weakness and vulnerability. As secretary of state under former [46th President], Antony Blinken [a total fool] signaled ambivalence.

China launched a proxy war, supporting Somali militias against Somaliland to punish the country for siding with Taiwan and to seize its rare earths by force. 

Somalilanders hoped that Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio would end the State Department’s self-defeating, pro-Beijing policy toward the Horn of Africa and perhaps even recognize Somaliland’s independence as Israel just did. Many in Congress, the Pentagon, the National Security Council, and the intelligence community favor independence. The 2023 National Defense Authorization Act called for the State Department to conduct a policy review. ...

On Dec. 21, 2025, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the recipient of billions of dollars in U.S. assistance, told Chinese television that he endorsed China seizing Taiwan by force. And yet, Rubio’s State Department continues to embrace the Somali president first promoted by former Secretary Hillary Clinton. ...

Just as then-President Harry S. Truman defied the State Department when he recognized Israel in 1948, Trump should defy the State Department to embrace Somaliland, the most pro-American, anti-Chinese country in Africa."

Rubio and Landau Risk Oversleeping on Somaliland Opportunity | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

Trump’s Gaza Plan Won’t Bring Peace or Prosperity by Michael Rubin

Very recommendable! Hopefully, President Trump will not make a fool out of himself on this issue.

Remember and keep in mind that many of the so called Palestinians were Arab immigrants from neighboring Arab countries who came after Israel become a hospitable land thanks to Jewish efforts.

"... What became Israel was a malarial patch of land, a discarded backwater until Zionist settlers drained swamps and transformed it into rich agricultural land.
For all the talk by Palestinian advocates of Zionists as outsiders to the land, the Palestinians themselves were. The Arab influx into the land originated from today’s Syria and coincided with Zionist eradication of malaria.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt observed that, “the Arab immigration into Palestine since 1921 has vastly exceeded the total Jewish immigration during this whole period,” with migrants coming from both Syria and Egypt. As Palestine filled, real estate prices soared—a basic calculation of supply and demand.
In 1937, the British-sponsored Peel Commission reported that a “shortfall of land is, we consider, due less to the amount of land acquired by Jews than to the increase in the Arab population.” If Israel and later Singapore could take a resource-free wasteland and thrive upon it, there should be no reason why Palestinians could not. ...

The problem with Gaza, however, has never been poverty. After all, there are many poor countries—Malawi and Senegal, for example—that are democratic and do not tolerate terrorism. Palestinian proponents can argue that lack of independence explains their embrace of terror, but this too is false.

Somaliland enjoys no international recognition, no appreciable resources, is almost completely Muslim, and yet has developed good governance, a stable democracy, and a no-nonsense attitude rejecting terrorism. Indeed, if terrorists seek to recruit a young Somalilander, his own parents likely will turn him into authorities to keep the peace and prevent the stain to family honor. Such stability, democracy, and success are the major reasons why Somaliland deserves the investment and recognition more than the Palestinians of Gaza. ...

Famously, when Israel turned over Gaza, they transferred its economic infrastructure to the Palestinian authorities. I visited at the time and saw the greenhouses and industrial sites upon which Gaza could have staked its economy and provided jobs; instead, they chose to loot and destroy.

Nothing has changed. The problem has never been poverty, but rather ideology. Too many Gazans would rather remain poor and kill Jews than get rich and live in peace. They root their logic in a twisted religious exegesis that money will not reverse. ..."

Trump’s Gaza Plan Won’t Bring Peace or Prosperity | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

U.N. Ineffectiveness in Yemen Shows Cyprus Was Right to Reject 2004 Annan Plan by Michael Rubin

Recommendable!

"European diplomats and many United Nations officials, ... are optimistic that they can make progress on the fifty-one-year dispute, especially after residents of the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus ousted hardliner Ersin Tatar in favor of the more moderate Tufan Erhürman, a mild-mannered lawyer and former negotiator. ...

Still, Erhürman’s election showed the unease even among Cypriot Muslims about Erdoğan’s religious agenda, which is foreign to the tolerant, laid-back practices that Turkish Cypriots traditionally favor. ...

Unfortunately, too many U.N. officials, Western diplomats, and Turks blame Greek Cypriots for the failure of the U.N.’s 2004 Annan Plan to make Cyprus a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation. In the subsequent referendum, Turkish Cypriots accepted the plan by a two-thirds majority, while three-quarters of Greek Cypriots rejected the plan.

In the decades since, Turkish diplomats and many frustrated U.N. and European officials have heaped blame upon Greek Cypriots for missing the opportunity for peace. Turks responded by increasing their unilateralism.  ...

Greek Cypriots were correct to reject the Annan Plan for two reasons:
First, it laundered Turkish aggression.  ... the idea that it would have brought peace to the island is nonsense.

It would have allowed both the Turkish Army and Turkish settlers to continue their occupation permanently. Turkey and its proxy state would collect concessions within days, while Greek Cypriot rights would only kick in years later. Should Turkey or Turkish Cypriots violate the Annan Plan, there would be no recourse or consequence. Put another way, the Annan Plan was all smoke and mirrors, but no substance. ...

The United Nations pulled the same stunt nearly a quarter-century later in Yemen. The United Nations does not recognize the Houthi government of Yemen and views its 2014 seizure of Yemen’s capital Sana’a as illegitimate. Still, the United Nations sends mixed message by maintaining its offices in the occupied capital even though it recognized an alternate government based in Aden. As it appeared an Emirati-led force might attack the main Houthi port at Hudaydah, many within the U.N. system pursued the need for an agreement to bring calm to Yemen, if not peace. ...

The Stockholm Agreement did neither. The Houthis retained control over customs and port operations, albeit with a uniform change and the facade of being apolitical port workers. Inspections became optional; the agreement only mandated boarding for those ships that officially declared themselves to inspectors. The Houthis thrived and strengthened. Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani resigned in disgust at the U.N.’s willingness to substitute a virtue signaling and a signing ceremony for meaningful peace and security. History has proven al-Yamani correct. Tens of thousands of Yemenis have died since the Stockholm Agreement as a result of its perpetuation of Houthi rule. ..."

U.N. Ineffectiveness in Yemen Shows Cyprus Was Right to Reject 2004 Annan Plan - Middle East Forum "Tens of Thousands of Yemenis Have Died Since the 2018 Stockholm Agreement as a Result of Its Perpetuation of Houthi Rule"

The imperialist and colonial power Russia Must Be Broken Up by Michael Rubin

Food for thought! A very provocative headline! Rubin's short summary of Russia's imperialism and colonialism is very recommendable!

In general, are many smaller, homogenous countries more peaceful than some large countries?

It is odd that Rubin did not mention Stalin and his invasion of Poland, the Baltic States and Finland.

"Key Points and Summary 

– ... that forcing Ukraine to cede territory for peace rewards Russian aggression and entrenches imperial ambitions.

-He portrays Russia as a long-running colonial empire whose leaders deny the legitimacy of non-Russian identities.

-The only durable solution, he contends, is Russia’s dissolution into its constituent republics—much as the fall of Austro-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Yugoslavia ultimately enabled more stable politics.

- ... the West to recognize Russia’s ethnic republics as occupied nations, prepare for population shifts, and secure nuclear weapons during any breakup.

-The goal: shrink Russia to its historical core and permanently remove the engine of revisionism.

...

President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, continue to discuss a peace settlement in Ukraine that would have the former Soviet state cede territory in exchange for peace. 

It is a shortsighted move that is more likely to spark conflict than extinguish it. 

After all, in both 1991 and 1994, Russia had recognized the territory it now demands as Ukrainian. [Plus, the Ukraine gave up all its nuclear weapons for Russian guarantees of territorial integrity and security.]

By forcing Ukrainian concessions under fire, Trump not only rewards aggression but also endorses Putin’s imperialist narrative. ...

The Russian Empire, in contrast, relied upon its armies and expanded along its borders. 

In the 16th century, Russia expanded, conquering khanates such as Astrakhan and Kazan, both of which were successor states built on the fragmented remains of the Mongol Empire. 

Russian forces then continued into Siberia itself. The 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk set Russia’s land border with Qing dynasty China, confirming Russian control over the Lake Baikal region.

In the 18th century, Russian forces turned west, conquering the Baltic, Poland, and seizing territory from Sweden. Only the strength of the Prussians stopped Russia’s westward expansion. 

In the early 19th century, Russian forces wrested the Caucasus from Persia, seizing control over Georgia, Armenia, Daghestan, and what later became Azerbaijan.

Russia’s defeat in the 1853-1856 Crimean War stymied its southward expansion into Ottoman domains, and so its forces drove eastward instead, erasing numerous states and kingdoms from the map. Gone today are the khanates of Khiva, Samarkand, and Bukhara.

In 1860, Russia seized the Amur region from China, reaching the Pacific Ocean.  

While the Russian Empire was smaller than the British Empire in total landmass, Russia’s colonial possessions dwarfed those of France. 

Russia also distinguished itself with its brutality. It enslaved conquered people like the Aleuts, and displaced or killed more than 95 percent of the Circassians during Russia’s conquest of their territory between 1863 and 1878. Nor were the Circassians alone: Russian troops forcibly displaced Chechens, Tatars, and indigenous Siberians. Cultural suppression was rampant. ...

The subsequent collapse of Yugoslavia into more homogenous units unleashed an era of opportunity if not affluence, once they defeated the rapid nationalism and irredentism of Serbian President Slobodan Milošević. In 1990, Yugoslavia’s per capita income (in current dollars) was approximately $3,700; today, Serbia’s average per capita income is four times that; it is even higher in Slovenia and Croatia. While American officials may see in Yugoslavia’s downfall a cautionary tale about the fracturing of states, the real lesson is opposite: The key to peace is the defeat of irredentism. War was not inevitable when Yugoslavia collapsed; Milošević precipitated it. Putin today is analogous to Milošević. ..."

Russia Must Be Broken Up | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

For Turkey, Israel Is the Appetiser but India Is the Main Course by Michael Rubin

Recommendable! A critical article about Osman sultan Erdogan!

Remember, Turkey is a NATO member!

If indeed Turkey under Erdogan hosts Hamas terrorists in Istanbul, then this is really bad!

"The mask is off Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hamas terror, Erdoğan has sided unapologetically with Hamas and even suggested Turkey could go to war against the Jewish state. He has called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet a “genocidal cadre”, and called Israel itself a “terror state”. Even as he supported the Donald Trump-initiated Gaza peace talks, he reportedly opposed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s presence at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit in Egypt.

Erdoğan’s threats are not bluster. He hosts Hamas’ top military planners; Hamas planned multiple terror attacks on Israel from its Istanbul office under Erdoğan’s protection. ..."

For Turkey, Israel Is the Appetiser but India Is the Main Course | American Enterprise Institute - AEI "Erdoğan’s antipathy toward India runs deeper. Just as he sees the fall of the Ottoman Empire as a reversible tragedy, so too does he view the fall of the Mughal Empire in the same way"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

It’s Time to Ban Turkish Air from U.S. Airspace by Michael Rubin

Food for thought! The Turkish government owns about 50% of Turkish Air!

Turkey is a NATO member, but Osman Sultan Erdogan has some odd ambitions!

Remember Cyprus?

"Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says Turkey no longer will allow Israeli planes to overfly its airspace. Fidan, one of the top enablers of Hamas in Turkey, says President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took the action in solidarity with Gaza. Turkey’s action is now a frequent tool of its regime: It previously has banned both overflights of Armenian passenger planes heading from Europe to Yerevan and flights into Sulaymani, the seat of Iraqi Kurdistan’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, in protest of that group’s political alliance with Syrian Kurds fighting the Islamic State and opposing Turkey-backed Islamist extremists. ...

More than a decade ago, leaked tape recordings revealed a conversation between Erdoğan’s private office and Turkish Air arranging a shipment of Turkish arms to Islamist terrorists killing Christians and moderate Muslims in Nigeria.

This summer, officials in Côte d’Ivoire, a country with an old and diverse Lebanese business community, told me that Turkish Air had carried smuggled gold meant for Hezbollah. ..."

It’s Time to Ban Turkish Air from U.S. Airspace | American Enterprise Institute - AEI "Turkey’s Airspace Action Against Israel, and Its Support for Hamas, Should Compel President Trump to Act Immediately in Response

Osman Sultan Erdogan with wife

False Genocide Charges Don’t Help Palestinians by Michael Rubin

Recommendable! Israel is dealing with very coward terrorists hiding behind and abusing the civilian population as shields!

"... For decades subsequently, Israeli policymakers — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — nevertheless restrained and limited Israeli actions. In April 2002, 23 Israeli soldiers died in Jenin raiding a bomb-making factory and rolling up a terror cell. The Israelis attacked on the ground because of Jenin’s density and the purposeful Palestinian strategy to station terrorists and bomb-making factories in civilian areas. Had the Israel Defense Forces not cared about collateral damage, they could simply have bombed the location and eliminated the same cell without sacrificing any of their own. Nevertheless, the international community screamed bloody murder, with the United Nations suggesting Israel’s “Jenin Massacre” killed 500 innocent Palestinians. In reality, Israel killed 53 Palestinians, 48 of whom were terrorists.

Israeli restraint was also behind its so-called “mowing the lawn” strategy: Whenever Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad launched missiles or attacks on Israel or neared the capability to do so, Israel would engage in pin-prick attacks to degrade terrorist capabilities, kill bomb makers, or destroy the factories transforming ostensibly humanitarian supplies into lethal weaponry. It was the ultimate kick-the-can-down-the-road strategy that cost the lives of 1,200 Israelis on October 7, 2023, but the Israelis sought to walk the tightrope between tactical effectiveness while shielding themselves from international criticism.

As dishonest as the United Nations, European officials, and media were then, they are exponentially worse now. Almost two years since Hamas invaded Israel during a ceasefire and killed more Jews in a single day than at any time since the Holocaust, the United Nations and European Union have yet to investigate how international assistance they provided ended up creating the largest military tunnel network since the Vietnam War. Donors have not asked how the hospitals they built became covers for prisons and torture chambers and how the doctors they salaried had their silence if not complicity purchased.

..."

False Genocide Charges Don’t Help Palestinians | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

Independent Palestine would be a disaster for Palestinians by Michael Rubin

Recommendable!

P.S. Perhaps, the Sinai peninsula could be used for a Palestine state.

Some western leaders (e.g. Macron, Starmer, Merz, Carney, Albanese) even think that the 89 year old Mahmoud Abbas and his long discredited and failed terrorist organisation Palestinian Authority were the right choice for a Palestine state. Ridiculous!

"... Palestinians have long been the world’s largest if undeserving welfare case, for decades sucking up more money per capita than any other humanitarian cause. Such short-sighted generosity has come at the expense of Palestinian agency. Palestinian politicians knew naïve donors would always bail them out and so never developed functioning governance or services, preferring instead to embezzle money or funnel it into tunnels and terrorists.

As a result, there is only one certainty: An independent Palestine will be a disaster for Palestinians. Should the international community cudgel Israel into accepting a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem, the result will be a morass of misery.

There is no shortage of examples of new states descending into failure. It has been almost 15 years, for example, since the world recognized South Sudan as its newest independent state. Today, South Sudan is a disaster.  ... Transparency International ranks it as the world’s most corrupt country, worse even than Somalia. Its politicians, tribes, and militias quickly took up arms to use against rivals. More than 400,000 South Sudanese have died in the civil war that erupted two years after independence.

South Sudan has been the rule, not the exception. Consider other newly independent states:

Kosovo has only now emerged from the political and economic instability that marked its first 15 years of independence, with organized criminal gangs taking advantage of its weak institutions.

Eritrea, which gained independence in 1991 after a 30-year war, enslaves its population with open-ended national service, rivals North Korea as a police state, and is the world’s leader in transnational repression. Even a so-called success story such as Timor-Leste remains weak. Its per capita income remains only one-quarter that of Indonesia, the state from which it won independence in 2002. ..."

Independent Palestine would be a disaster for Palestinians | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

Mahmoud Abbas, officially the "President of Palestine"

Photo dated 2023. More evidence that Macron is a fool!

The Missing Peace in east Africa’s Great Lakes Region by Michael Rubin

Recommendable! Will President Trump be able to make a difference?

"... more than six million people have died in successive Congo wars over the past three decades ..."

The Missing Peace in Africa’s Great Lakes Region | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

On The Problem with Iran’s Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi by Michael Rubin

Recommendable! I am also not convinced to bring in this crown prince unless for a transition period or so. Maybe he is not up to the job to turn Iran into a modern, moderate, democratic and peaceful country.

The crown prince is now in the news almost every day!

"Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi is, without doubt, Iran’s most recognizable opposition figure. ... 

Ironically, one major problem is his obsession with not repeating his father’s mistakes. Organizing the Iranian diaspora and internal opposition can be like herding cats. Reza Pahlavi, however, chooses not to wrangle them for fear of the dictator label. At times, such passivity can be valuable; at other times, however, it appears cowardly, if not negligent. The Islamic Republic fears unity of purpose among anti-regime Iranians; unfortunately, Pahlavi has given them little about which to worry… yet. ..."

The Problem with Iran’s Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi | American Enterprise Institute - AEI "Pahlavi’s Anti-regime Organization Reflects His Hands-off Political Style, and He Must Impose Some Discipline to Move Forward"

The Crown Prince

US Deploys seven B-2 Stealth Bombers in Diego Garcia Amid Tensions with Houthis and Iran with Palki Sharma

This some serious sabble rattling! I don't think the US needs B-2 Stealth bombers for the Houthis, but rather for Iran.

Regime Change Is Coming to Turkey by Michael Rubin

Recommendable!

"Start Preparing Turkey’s Truth and Reconciliation Committee: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu should end any pretense in the State Department that Turkey is a democracy or that Erdoğan plans to step down when his presidential term theoretically ends. Erdoğan plans to rule for life. ...

Nor could Erdoğan alone have so decisively transformed Turkey. For this reason and if Turkey is to heal, it will be necessary to establish a truth and reconciliation commission to identify the fraud, corruption, dishonesty, and repression at the heart of Erdoganism, unravel it, and enable rehabilitation for those whose lives Erdogan ruined. Simply put, Erdogan has done more to abuse democracy in Turkey than Colonel Alparslan Türkeş or General Kenan Evren who respectively led the 1960 and 1980 coups. ..."

Regime Change Is Coming to Turkey | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

What Russia’s Exit from Its Syrian naval Base Should Teach the United States by Michael Rubin

Recommendable! Either taking over the abandoned naval base or making sure it is not taken over by another country (e.g. China).

"... The Syrian government under Ahmed al-Sharaa and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham ... decision to revoke the Russian lease over its naval base in Syria’s Mediterranean port of Tartus is a net positive for the United States. An American effort to take over the Russian lease could be an even greater positive. ..."

What Russia’s Exit from Its Syrian Base Should Teach the United States | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

India Needs to Consolidate Its Control in the Western Indian Ocean by Michael Rubin

Recommendable! India, a rising superpower!

"The I2U2 (India, Israel, United Arab Emirates, and United States) partnership, while not a military alliance, is key to security in the Indian Ocean basin. Each partner has an interest in trade, countering radicalism, freedom of navigation, and security. Each also faces mutual threats.

Not all partners are equal in their capacity, however. While each I2U2 member has an interest in trade and security, India has broader capacity in the Indian Ocean region, especially as the United States increasingly hesitates to project power. Too often, however, Washington and New Delhi only focus on

Chinese penetration in the eastern Indian Ocean and ignore the Western Indian Ocean and the African littoral states. United States Naval presence in the region is limited. ..."

India Needs to Consolidate Its Control in the Western Indian Ocean | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

It’s Not Just Gaza. After the Ceasefire, Hamas Will Win the West Bank Too by Michael Rubin

This is a serious concern! Will the Hamas take over West Bank and displace the ineffectual PLA run by 89 year old Mahmoud Abbas? 

The ceasefire-hostage deal was bad! The Palestinian people probably consider Hamas the winner who successfully stared down Israel!

"... Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is 89 years old and in the twentieth year of his four-year presidential term. Unlike his predecessor Yasser Arafat, the chain-smoking Abbas has not appointed a successor. Transition is coming, and all Palestinian factions seek to position themselves for the post-Abbas era. Even prior to October 7, 2023, Hamas sought to infiltrate and establish cells in Nablus, Jenin, and other West Bank towns. ..."

It’s Not Just Gaza. After the Ceasefire, Hamas Will Win the West Bank Too | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

Lesson Israel Should Learn: Take No Prisoners by Michael Rubin

I disagree with Rubin's harsh and probably illegal conclusion! 

However, he has a point that a long history clearly proves that hostage for prisoner deals do not work! On the contrary, they encourage, in particular suicidal, terrorists!

Like in the latest case, Israel seems willing to swap 33 hostages for about 1000 prisoners, among them murderers!

Ransom for hostages by terrorists should be more vigorously avoided, resisted, and deterred!

Rubin correctly points out that President Reagan is guilty as well: "President Ronald Reagan opened the Pandora’s Box of ransoming Americans held hostage by Iran and its Lebanese proxies and created a dynamic that only encouraged more hostage-taking."

Lesson Israel Should Learn: Take No Prisoners | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

Could Turkey Pose as Great a Nuclear Threat as Iran? by Michael Rubin

Certainly, President Erdogan has shown strong ambitions and beligerence to become a modern Osman sultan in recent years! This has raised some questions about Turkey's membership in NATO.

"... While the world focuses on a possible Iranian nuclear breakout, however, a stealth nuclear threat looms. Turkey’s Russia-built nuclear plant will become operational this year. The notion that it is proliferation-proof rests on the assurance of Ankara and Moscow. Even if proliferation does not occur at the plant, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may replicate Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s strategy. Iran used its Russian-built Bushehr reactor to legitimize orders and imports it could then divert to supply its covert program.

Speaking on the centennial of the beginning of Turkey’s independence movement just over five years ago, Erdogan hinted at nuclear weapons ambitions. “Several countries have missiles with nuclear warheads, not one or two. But [they tell us that] we can’t have them. This I cannot accept,” he declared. It was not a one-off event. On Sept. 7, 2024, Hayrettin Karaman, Erdogan’s personal theologian, published an essay arguing, “Either the Islamic world must unite and collaborate with China and Russia, or Turkey must move forward by acquiring nuclear warheads and weapons.” Erdogan has chosen both, apparently.

And, like Iran, Turkey seeks to work on the triad of weaponization: enrichment, warhead design, and delivery. Beginning in 2021, for example, senior Turkish and Pakistani generals and military industry heads have met, apparently to discuss delivery systems. ...

one important difference: While Israel can strike at Iran, Turkey’s NATO membership protects it from similar preemptive action. Erdogan may despise the West and hate its primary defense alliance, but he does not withdraw Turkey for two reasons: First, he can use NATO’s consensus provisions to paralyze it from within, and second, he wants NATO mutual defense commitments at least until Turkey gets the bomb, in effect using NATO as a shield against Israel. ..."

Could Turkey Pose as Great a Nuclear Threat as Iran? | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

Eritrea Is the North Korea of Africa: America Must Act by Michael Rubin. Really!

I am not sure the US needs to directly intervene in the case of the small country of Eritrea!

"Eritrean diaspora is estimated to be quite large, comprising around half of the country's population" (Google Search result)

"... The incoming Trump administration may choose to ignore Eritrea, but this would be a mistake given the instability it can catalyze and terrorism is sponsors, as well as the financial impropriety in which Eritrean officials engage in the United States. ...

It is also essential to sanction Isaias, his family members, and key confidants among his military and intelligence service. As Isaias nears the end of his life—he is 78-year-old, has suffered a stroke, and is generally in ill-health—it is time the United States plan for transition. Eritrea is less a state than a criminal enterprise. ..."

Eritrea Is the North Korea of Africa: America Must Act | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

Should Israel Attack Turkey’s Nuclear Plant? by Michael Rubin

Food for thought!

How many countries in the Middle East are pursuing to develop nuclear weapons? Which country will be next besides Israel to have a working nuclear weapon?

For as long as Erdogan is still President of Turkey perhaps Turkey should not have the capability to develop nuclear weapons. Erdogan acts like a dubious Ottoman Sultan!

Note: Turkey is a NATO member!

"Turkey’s Akkuyu nuclear plant may begin trial operation in 2025. The move toward operations comes just over 15 years since Turkey signed an agreement with Russia to cooperate on the construction of a nuclear power station near Mersin.

Such a nuclear plant should never be allowed to function. 

Turkey is one big seismic zone. Devastating earthquakes strike Turkey every few years. Even discounting corruption in Turkey’s construction sector, the Akkuyu plant poses an untenable risk to all of Europe. ...

As with the Iranian civilian nuclear reactor at Bushehr, the problem has never been diversion at the civilian energy plant, but rather using the civilian program as cover to acquire and divert goods to a covert program. ...

Turkey is both an irredentist power, openly challenging century-old agreements that define its borders and a terror sponsor in all but designation. Erdogan openly supports both Hamas and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, and there is ample evidence that he has also assisted both Al Qaeda affiliates in Syria and the Islamic State. ...

Then, there are other means to knock Turkey’s nuclear reactor offline. The Stuxnet virus set Iran’s nuclear program back years; Turkey is not immune to cyber-attacks. Even if Israel were responsible for inserting a virus into Turkey’s atomic software, it is unclear that NATO would deem this a reason to react. ..."

Should Israel Attack Turkey’s Nuclear Plant? | American Enterprise Institute - AEI