RSS Parrot

American veterans know the cost of a military-first foreign policy

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/veterans-us-foreign-policy/

Published: August 6, 2026 04:05

My nearly 32-year career in uniform has taught me many lessons. One of the most important is that the gap between operational military success and strategic political outcomes can be significant and is rarely, if at all, closed by increased military…

Surprise strikes signal Iran is digging in for a long war

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-iran-strikes/

Published: August 6, 2026 04:05

In recent weeks, Iran has gone on the offensive, striking commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz and launching a surprise attack on U.S. forces in Jordan. From a distance, these moves look like self-defeating escalation. Why should a badly damaged state,…

Bored of Peace: Why is Trump undermining his own Gaza plan?

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/hamas-disarmament/

Published: August 5, 2026 14:31

A lot can change in a week. Barely five days after President Donald Trump hailed the “historic agreement” on Hamas’s disarmament by the Board of Peace (BOP) — the body Trump created to oversee his Gaza Peace Plan — the very same Board of Peace has now…

El-Sayed overcomes $30 million AIPAC spend, wins Michigan primary

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/michigan-democratic-senate-primary/

Published: August 5, 2026 11:29

Abdul El-Sayed became the latest progressive insurgent to win a Democratic nomination contest on Tuesday, when he bested sitting House Rep. Haley Stevens to become the party’s nominee for Senate in Michigan. At the time of writing, with 95% of the votes…

Will Trump meet his Suez moment & seize Hormuz deal on the table?

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/iran-oman-deal-hormuz/

Published: August 5, 2026 09:56

Oman and Iran appear close to a temporary arrangement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, potentially providing both an exit from the current round of fighting and the foundation for a more durable maritime order. Washington should welcome such an…

Are US and Israel benefitting from 'migration blackmail' against Spain?

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/morocco-spain-migrants-israel/

Published: August 5, 2026 04:05

Questions continue to swirl around the flash flood of nearly 60,000 migrants who swam or walked from Morocco into Ceuta, a tiny Spanish enclave on the tip of Africa last week. How did so many migrants manage to breach Moroccan border security forces, who…

Trump's quick hits allow for  AFRICOM comeback on continent

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-s-quick-hits-allow-for-africom-comeback-on-continent/

Published: August 5, 2026 04:05

Donald Trump’s foreign policy features chaotic decision-making and bombastic rhetoric. But some of his half-baked ideas could have lasting consequences, creating escalation pathways that his successors may be unwilling to close. West Africa provides a…

The Helsinki Commission is a Cold War relic that needs to go

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/helsinki-commission/

Published: August 5, 2026 04:05

Every government institution should periodically be asked a simple question: is it still performing the mission for which Congress created it?That principle has become a hallmark of the Trump administration. Through the Department of Government Efficiency…

Iran and Ukraine depleted 'virtually all' US long range missiles: Report

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/munitions-iran-ukraine/

Published: August 4, 2026 13:57

Reuters reported this morning that the U.S. has used “virtually all” its long-range precision strike missiles during its war on Iran.Reuters’ sources would not say exactly how many of these surface to surface weapons, known as Army Tactical Missile Systems…

US is the real loser if Senate passes virtue signaling Russia sanctions

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/russia-sanctions-bill/

Published: August 4, 2026 04:05

As the Senate returns to Washington for its last week in session until mid-September, it faces a long to-do list. But for many senators, the top priority is not enacting legislation that will help Americans but instead rushing to approve the Lindsey O.…

Robert Kagan: Sometimes US intervention is worth blowback

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/robert-kagan-iran/

Published: August 4, 2026 04:05

Robert Kagan surprised some people. One of America’s most influential hawks condemned the Trump administration’s botched war in Iran, suggesting in The Atlantic in March that U.S. involvement in the Middle East has been a catalyst of, rather than a prudent…

Fox News screaming desperately into wind as Trump loses grip

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/iran-war-fox-news/

Published: August 3, 2026 04:05

Fox News has always served as a purveyor of Republican war propaganda, but its coverage of the Iran conflict has been particularly aggressive, and in many ways unmoored from reality, giving their viewers a more than skewed vision of what President Donald…

The collapse of national sovereignty in the Middle East

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/world-war-three/

Published: August 3, 2026 04:05

Those who anticipated that a U.S. war against Iran would risk igniting a region-wide conflagration are looking prescient. The latest metastasis of the conflict has included airstrikes by both the United States and Saudi Arabia in Iraq, against Iraqi…

Navy retiring USS Fort Worth halfway through lifespan

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/littoral-combat-ship/

Published: July 31, 2026 19:53

This week, the Navy retired a littoral combat ship only halfway through its lifespan.The USS Fort Worth, a surface combatant ship which cost $400 million to build, entered service in 2012. It was originally meant to serve until the late 2030s, but was…

Trouble in Paris? There's a Gaullist cure for that American hubris

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/europe-independence-us/

Published: July 31, 2026 04:05

Last month, as world leaders prepared to gather in France for the G7 Summit, French officials had Donald Trump on the mind.Using its privileges as host, Paris worked diligently to avoid any hiccups that might upset the U.S. president. First, it delayed the…

Party elites so blind they can't see their base turning against the war

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/republican-support-war-iran/

Published: July 31, 2026 04:05

Last week, only four House Republicans voted with 210 Democrats to pass a war powers resolution to end the U.S. war with Iran.That means 208 House Republicans voted to continue the war. Hours later, the Republican-led Senate killed the measure, with only…

Will naming, shaming & sanctioning terror in Sudan stop bloodshed?

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/terrorist-sudan-rsf/

Published: July 31, 2026 04:05

In June, a bipartisan group of senators introduced the Preventing External Aggression and Conflict Escalation (PEACE) in Sudan Act of 2026. In the House, the pending U.S. Engagement in Sudanese Peace Act and the RSF Terrorism Designation Act partly overlap…

Houthis v. Saudi Arabia: Round 2. This time it's regional.

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/houthi-attack-saudi-arabia/

Published: July 30, 2026 04:05

On July 28, Saudi air defenses shot down drones launched from Iraqi territory by “Iran-affiliated terrorist militias,” a Saudi ministry of defense statement read.The attacks targeted oil facilities in the Eastern Province and at the capital, Riyadh,…

Trump's Lebanon fantasy is running smack into reality

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-hezbollah-lebanon/

Published: July 30, 2026 04:05

On June 26, two official delegations — one from Israel and one from Lebanon — signed a framework agreement with great fanfare in Washington. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, openly enthusiastic, framed the event as paving the way toward “lasting peace and…

How much is your support for Israel worth? Try $1 billion.

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/israel-influence-campaign/

Published: July 30, 2026 04:05

Israel is spending wads of cash on public diplomacy in a desperate attempt to reverse waning American support for the country after it stands accused of genocide in Gaza and pushing the U.S. into the Iran war.Since Oct. 7, Israel has spent over a billion…

Ukraine's 'turned tide' doesn't comport 'with basic military reality'

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/ukraine-media/

Published: July 29, 2026 04:05

Encouraged by Ukraine’s sustained advances in drone warfare, Western media is abuzz with the idea that Kyiv just might be able to defeat Russia after more than four years of bitter fighting.In May, TIME hailed Ukraine’s drone industry as giving Kyiv “the…

Trump's favorite drug trafficker returns triumphantly to Honduras

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/juan-orlando-hernandez-pardon/

Published: July 29, 2026 04:05

Former President Juan Orlando Hernández, the convicted drug trafficker pardoned by President Donald Trump last December, flew triumphantly home to Honduras on Sunday in full, ambitious glory. He stepped off a private plane wearing a crisp white shirt,…

Zelensky's dangerous gambit to merge the Iran and Ukraine Wars

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/zelensky-iran-war-trump/

Published: July 28, 2026 17:34

As Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky arrives in Washington, much indicates that he is no longer merely trying to draw greater American support into its war against Russia. Increasingly, it appears to be pursuing something far more consequential: merging the…

Zelensky's big idea for Trump: Ukraine is the Israel of Europe

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-zelensky-meeting/

Published: July 28, 2026 15:30

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky landed in Washington with a bang Tuesday, just days after Ukraine carried out a missile strike against an Iranian cargo ship in the Caspian Sea.The attack appears to be part of Zelensky’s effort to win over President…

Trump is playing chicken with America's oil reserves

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-oil-reserves/

Published: July 28, 2026 04:05

Back in 1975, reeling from the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973, President Gerald Ford signed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. The law established the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and framed it as a rainy day fund, made ready for the benefit…

Before Lindsey there was Fritz, an anti-Iraq war, Israel skeptic

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/lindsey-graham-funeral/

Published: July 28, 2026 04:05

Funeral services for Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died suddenly on July 11 at the age of 71, will take place on Tuesday in Washington and Wednesday in his home state of South Carolina.Graham was known as an astute conservative politician, a military hawk, and…

The new US push for peace in Libya is — surprise — about the oil

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/massad-boulos-libya/

Published: July 28, 2026 04:05

Massad Boulos — Trump’s Africa and Middle East envoy who is also the father-in-law to Trump’s daughter, Tiffany — has focused much of his diplomatic work in recent months on Libya, criss-crossing the country to meet with members of Libya’s two rival…

Oman is cozying up to China as US throws Mideast into disarray

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/china-oman/

Published: July 27, 2026 04:05

Earlier this month, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Miao Deyu met with Omani National Security Council Secretary-General Idris Abdulrahman Al Kindi. The pair reaffirmed support for each other’s core interests, discussed deepening cooperation between the Belt…

As Myanmar collapses, it’s time for China to step up and be the hero

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/myanmar-civil-war-china/

Published: July 27, 2026 04:05

The Burmese people continue to suffer as the brutal civil war in Myanmar heads toward its sixth year. The conflict was recently brought home to America with China’s arrest of Min Zin, an American citizen who heads the Institute for Strategy and Policy…

Zelensky's 'Freya' missile defense scheme could backfire. Here's why.

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/ukraine-air-defense-missiles/

Published: July 27, 2026 04:05

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, neutralizing Russia’s ballistic missile threat is a key to ending the war that continues to ravage his country. “This is Russia’s last major advantage,” he told fellow leaders at the NATO summit earlier…